WHETHER YOU\u2019RE AN owl or lark, it doesn\u2019t really matter what time of the day you actually get your workout done.<\/p>\n
So says one of the country\u2019s top middle-distance running coaches, Pat Hogan of Ennis Track Club in County Clare.<\/p>\n
Hogan, who has coached a slew of national champions over the past two decades, believes there must be a sensible approach to training with regards when the best time is to do it.<\/p>\n
Specifically talking about running, Hogan says that because most runners are either in school, college or work, the best times are first thing in the morning and straight after work \u2014 but he\u2019s not a fan of the lunchtime run.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an ideal situation, because most runners are either in school, college, or work there must be an element of \u2018fitting it in\u2019 and even if you have to train twice most days \u2013 like a lot of actual competitive athletes do, you\u2019re talking morning and evening. Morning, you\u2019re talking any time before work, 6\/7\/8 or\u00a09am\u00a0and from\u00a05pm onwards again in the evening is best. That would be ideal,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMorning is best to just wake up the system. Let\u2019s pretend you\u2019re doing a workout in the evening as well; you must get out in the morning to get the most out of the evening session. If you want to get a harder workout in the evening you wake up the system with an easy five-mile run in the morning. By doing that you\u2019re getting the body ready for something hard in the evening but you allow six to seven hours between workouts to recover and get some stretching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evening training, despite some evidence suggesting that working out towards the end of the day fatigues the body, must be done in a certain \u2018window\u2019, according to Hogan.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cMost of the time you\u2019re with people who are just finishing work or college in the evening around\u00a05-6pm. So ideally, you go home, get some stretching done, do your training \u00a0but be ready \u00a0for bed around 10,\u00a010.30pm. I think you can\u2019t leave it too late to get out because then you\u2019re eating late and trying to get stretching in as well so I\u2019d say \u00a0\u2019don\u2019t be out after\u00a010 o\u2019clock\u2019.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nAs regards squeezing in a run at lunch-time, he\u2019s less than sure of its merits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would think if you have to get it in, you have to get it in,\u201d he says, followed by a long pause. \u201cIf you\u2019re trying to go the afternoon and evening it\u2019s a bit squeezed. But if you only have a slot in the afternoon then you have to do it, I suppose. Rushing it will mean you won\u2019t do it right; you haven\u2019t time to warm up or cool down. If you can out only once in the day, then go in the evening to allow you more time.\u201d<\/p>\n
On stretching\u2026<\/h3>\n
\u201cI value flexibility and mobility for the athlete after work in the evening for 10 or 15 minutes. Runners tend to have a lot of gluteal medial issues where that muscle group is weak and tight, so you also need to work on that with stretching to loosen it out. Running is just the same thing repeated so you need to do other things after you\u2019re finished training to ensure you can do a quality workout again that day, or the following day.\u201d<\/p>\n
On foam rolling\u2026<\/h3>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s useful but I don\u2019t know how effective it is for some parts of the body. I think if a runner takes 10 or 15 minutes to do foam rolling or static stretching or some type of stretching and mobility then that will all help. I think runners tend to think of running as only running and they forget the other elements, the other things that can make a difference. So foam rolling is helpful along with mobility and stretching. On its own I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s effective enough, but fit it into other things. Then you\u2019re looking at a better all round looser athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Training aids (stop watches and heart rate monitors, specifically)\u2026<\/h3>\n
\u201cThey have a value, they are useful but you have to be wary of them and I am very careful with them. A lot of my athletes use them, we will cross-reference them against heart rates and. I\u2019d use the Borg scale (Rate of Perceived Exertion, scale 1-10). I will use a heart-rate monitor, but I\u2019d be wary of them. They have a place but they\u2019re not the be-all and end-all. \u00a0Sometimes I throw all that stuff away and go by feel because that\u2019s what we do in competition. And you have to learn to be able to run by feel. When we go out in cross-country races we don\u2019t know the course and you have to know how you\u2019re actually feeling right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
In summary<\/h3>\n
\n
- Fit your training in around your daily schedule; there is always time<\/span><\/li>\n
- Training in the morning easy gets your body ready for a harder session in the evening<\/li>\n
- Evening training must be done in a certain \u2018window\u2019<\/li>\n
- Stretching, foam rolling and mobility exercises are vitally important<\/li>\n
- Give the lunch-time run a skip, unless absolutely necessary<\/li>\n
- Learn to train on \u2018feel\u2019 and don\u2019t place too much emphasis on training aids like heart rate monitors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHETHER YOU\u2019RE AN owl or lark, it doesn\u2019t really matter what time of the day you actually get your workout done. So says one of the country\u2019s top middle-distance running coaches, Pat Hogan of Ennis Track Club in County Clare. Hogan, who has coached a slew of national champions over the past two decades, believes there must be a sensible approach to training with regards when the best time is to do it. Specifically talking about running, Hogan says that because most runners are either in school, college or work,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,47],"tags":[85],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}