Marathon Training Tips for Beginners

If you’re planning on running your first marathon this year, before you start your training, it’s important to create a training plan. Your training program should include answers on how much you are willing and able to train, your experience as a distance runner, and what your fitness level is before the race. Make sure…

Optimal performance in a trusting frame of mind

Athletes practice and train to be able to duplicate what they have learned from these sessions come match time. Being instinctive during a game allows for consistency and proper execution. To be able to compete at your best, an athlete’s trust in the skills learned and developed during practice can lead to better performances and…

Periodization: Preparation for Success

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” Arthur Ashe. Athletes devote many hours of training over a season with a support team consisting of coaches, trainers and doctors to ultimately get the chance to compete at their highest levels. Preparation can be a deciding factor in whether an…

The effectiveness of a pre-competition routine

Athletes train to be able to perform with confidence during competition. They prepare both physically and mentally for all sceneries but there are situations that athletes cannot control on competition day such as weather, the venue or their opponents. Sometimes the unexpected can happen creating unwanted stresses. One way to help ensure athletes feel they…

Polarized training approach

During the Sochi Olympic Winter games in the Adler speed skating arena, the Dutch speed skating team showed total dominance as they hauled in 24 medals out of a possible 36. In fact, the Netherlands’ total medals came from speed skating only. A recent study on the Dutch speed skating team concluded that in the…

Flow State: In the zone for optimal sports performance!

For basketball fans and sports enthusiasts this is a great time of year. March Madness is upon us. In tournaments such as this, when the outcome of a single game determines who plays on and who goes home, a single player hitting their peak can make all the difference. When an athlete can seem to…

The underwater treadmill, an alternative to supplementing your training

It is no secret that athletes are always looking for an edge. As an athlete hungry to improve your performance, sometimes you can only train so hard before it becomes necessary to find ways of supplementing your training. Some athletes enhance their workload through cross training, resistance training or even through taking up another sport….

Warm Weather Training

In Canada, we are accustomed to long winters. As a society, we have adjusted fairly well by moving many of our sporting activities indoors. However, some people still have to do some or all of they’re training outside, or come up with a way to remain in shape during the winter months. Cyclists are relegated…

Training in a Winter Wonderland

by Leigh Cove Algonquin College Sport Business Management Intern Dipping temperatures, blistering winds, and the icy obstacle course that was once a road, usually send many fleeing inside to the safety and warmth of their homes this time of year. For others it’s their playground. Whether you are a General Guideline to Layering: 0°C to…

Should athletes continue to train through illness?

Every athlete during their career has experienced the frustration of illness which often temporarily derails their training. Many times the length of time off is determined by the severity of the illness and the rate of recovery, however, there are many athletes that claim that they’ve pushed through and trained while sick. Training while sick…