As athletes near race season, Xhale coach Caroline Livesey here takes you through how you can make the most of your pre-race days with a recce of the race course, and what you should be looking out for.
Optimising your training recovery strategy
Whether professional or an age-group athlete, understanding how to optimise recovery and developing a plan to achieve this are critical to your progression. Here, Dr Sam Shepherd explains why getting the right nutrition will help you to recover better and reap the rewards the of training. He delves into what key principles you should follow when it comes to recovery and tips on how to implement these into your training plan.
Safe Winter Running Adventures
It’s winter. The weather is cold, grey, wet and windy and it’s dark by 4pm. Fell running at this time of year just isn’t much fun!
However, what about those blue sky days where the air is cold and crisp? What about those days after it has snowed and the weather has calmed down but it is still cold enough that the snow hasn’t turned to slush? What about those dark nights under a big moon and the lights of the nearest village twinkling in the distance – those are great days to be out on the hills!
In this post Dave Taylor (Fell Running Guide) shares some of his top tips for getting out in the winter weather safely.
Getting Started – Part 2
In Part 2 of our coach onboarding series, the team from Xhale present to you some of the basics of coaching using the platform, how to make your coaching more efficient, and how to build plans without your athletes seeing what you are working on.
Strength training for women
Strength training can improve joint stability and flexibility as well as strength itself. In this article Janette Cardy shares some of the key exercises that she recommends for a strength training plan.
It’s never too late – a metaphor for life
Loren Ward from Passion Fit believes that it is never too late to develop your swim no matter your age or experience level. Loren asked some of the teams’ athletes to share what they have learnt about swim progression, and how they apply themselves. But as Loren writes, a lot of these key learnings can be applied to all areas of your life.
The power of swim video analysis
Have you ever considered swim video analysis? Here coach Julian Nagi explains why it is helpful for swimmers to see footage of their swimming, and how you can build it into your training or if you are a coach – make use of swim analysis experts to help your athletes to develop.
An Introduction to Heart Rate Variability
HRV tracking is another tool that can provide an insight into how your body is responding to your training. Through measuring the variability in your heart rate, we can spot patterns in how well you are absorbing your training load and whether you need to push more or hold back.
Bone Density and Strength Training
Janette Cardy shares with us why strength training is important, especially for women, and what benefits it can bring for your bone density and muscle mass.
Why you should stop chasing outcomes in sport
Tom Ward from Passion Fit Coaching discusses in this blog why always being focussed on outcomes can lead to demotivation and disappointment. He presents an alternative approach and shares some of the techniques he uses with his athletes.
The Highs and Lows of Heart Rate Training
This is Part 2 of a two part blog by the Mountain Abandon coaches Nicolette and Pierre. While Part 1 discussed RPE, here Nicolette looks specifically at heart rate training, its use in ultra and trail running, and the importance of understanding your data.
Are you suffering from I.A.S?
Inhibitory Analytical Syndrome (IAS) is something coach Julian Nagi has come across many times in his decades of coaching all levels of swimmers. If you are someone who struggles to swim fluidly because you are concentrating too much on all the technique queues you have been given, then this useful article may help you to progress more quickly. As Julian says “We are imperfect as human beings, and we are definitely imperfect as swimmers. The key is to find the best stroke that works for you.” Rhythm, momentum and flow are the most important words in a swimmers vocabulary and Julian is here to explain why.