Summer Training

[jspierre]

What do people do? My club's kind of dead now, but don't want just drop things for two months.

What's your approach? (Seriously. The funny things I don't need to solicit from the www).

Strength? Aerobic? x times a week? Set goals?

[Peach]

Summer? Bicycle 1 to 2 hours three times a week, lift weights 45 minutes three times a week, do some workouts on the elliptical trainer, take nice long walks, no fencing until August. Strictly low-impact aerobic stuff and strength training to build a base. Gotta get over all the nagging little overuse strains & pains, get my body back in balance so I'm not all twisted up, refresh my brain and renew my enthusiasm. Not to mention lose my distance and my timing <sigh>. But I don't really need them back until December for the first NAC. The Veteran Worlds women's sabre event doesn't count, it's just a demo, so I'm only starting back fencing a couple of weeks before that. In August, I'm going to do lots of sets of footwork, work on my form, take lessons in the basics and try to correct mechanical errors.

My coach told me at Summer Nationals he doesn't want to see me until August. He is a big believer in building rest into the training cycle, and I'm a big believer in making my training cycle one to two years long, depending on my goals. But at my age I have to think that way, I guess. I'm not going to get a whole lot of sustained peak performance.

[jspierre]

Thanks. Very helpful. I agree with all your points, just don't like to loose all the timing and coordination by laying off for too many weeks.

[Sciurus Rex]

A macro schedule is important. There's an ebb and flow to training throughout a year that you can lose sight of when you're only thinking about finishing one week at a time.

Taking a rest or a break between seasons is vital, even if you feel frustrated about "wasting time." It allows the body and mind to recover, and paradoxically gets your subconscious all revved up and ready to work even harder than if you'd not taken a break at all.

For optimal development, periods of stress should be followed with periods of recovery. This is true for a year at a time as well as a two-hour workout.

Early season training focuses on core physical development -- weight lifting, for example, some endurance training, plyometrics, and even cross-training sports for variety and fun. As strange as it might sound, some coaches suggest that no one-on-one fencing lessons are given during this period. The focus is on building a body that can perform the lessons correctly without failing ("failing" in the sense of your sword arm drooping, for example, or losing your balance as you switch from an advance to a retreat, or running out of breath before the lesson is over).

After about six weeks, you begin focusing on core skills instead (with simple maintenence weightlifting work instead of building new muscle). Workout time increases for footwork combos and basic bladework drills. One personal lesson each week would be appropriate at this point.

After about a month at that level, you ramp up your personal lessons to twice a week. Early season competitions are used as opportunities to prepare for important competitions at the *end* of the season. Competition mental and emotional skills might be discussed more often at this point (as opposed to a more general training mindset that allows you to focus during a lesson). Point-by-point tactics are refined as well as overall strategy for each event.

By the end of the season, you're probably refining certain strengths in preparation for the finale.

You'll notice that this macro training schedule runs almost parallel with a personal lesson, but at a larger scale -- i.e. the coach gets to know you and tests your current ability first without intimidating pressure, then trains you into increasingly complex actions depending on how much your mind and body can handle (established earlier in the lesson).

And finally, at both the macro and micro levels, it's important to cool down again. Maybe even chat about what you've learned during the lesson/season.

... Mmmm ... That's about it for now. I'll probably think of something more to add later. I hope this helps a little.

[jspierre]

Thanks. Also great advice. How about bouting? Would you suggest some level of bouting thru the summer? Frequency? Free fencing versus bouts where you keep score?

[Inquartata]

Take a break between seasons? Take a BREAK? From FENCING?!

Now, THAT I'd need time to recover from!

[Sciurus Rex]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by jspierre:
<strong>Thanks. Also great advice. How about bouting? Would you suggest some level of bouting thru the summer? Frequency? Free fencing versus bouts where you keep score?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">There's no reason why you shouldn't keep up a general level of activity and fitness. Jogging, soccer, chasing your dog through the park ... If you choose bouting, then that's fine. If you're going to be on the strip regularly this early in the season, you could use it as an opportunity to develop relaxed focusing skills instead of getting hung up on point count. It's a good time to allow yourself to "experiment" with mental/emotional changes -- for example, allow yourself to get tense as you try too hard to score a touch, and then on your next two encounters try to consciously reset your attitude so that you're smooth and cool. Forget the score!

But in general, you need to allow yourself some time to have fun without fretting about improvement. Enjoy yourself without second-guessing, "Am I getting better yet?" A break should be a break. And, really, giving yourself permission to relax *will* help later in the season when you make a few bad touches.