Training With Dr.Romanov: TRAINING Archives

TRAINING

THE NATURAL WAY TO FITNESS
Enough has been written about work-outs and how to stay in shape, training, routines, etc. There are so many ways - it's not even possible to start counting. Most of us, however, find them boring after a while and hence unable to put in the needed continuous effort. And it is not surprising, we as humans were not meant to run in place on treadmill and still not get anywhere, or stand in front of the mirror counting the reps with free weights. Here's one activity that some of you might find interesting and a remedy for your athletic boredom.... [Continue reading...]

RUNNING IN HOT & SUNNY WEATHER
Running and exercising in hot and sunny weather can be fun and beneficial to your overall well-being, if it's done right. There is always that "if", isn't there? Sun is necessary for all living things, but in large doses it can be severe. Sun is good for your eyes, your skin, your overall health, so if you prepare for your training the right way - you will have a good workout, a bit of a healthy tan and an option to go for it again during your next session, compared to torturing yourself and suffering a heat stroke, getting... [Continue reading...]

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE REST
It is a well-known fact that most people need about 7-9 hours of sleep every night to recuperate from stress of daily activities. And it is a similar situation in sports - people participating must always remember to get adequate amount of rest between training sessions. There are those of us that couldn't handle more than a couple of days of exercising or running a week. Then there are those few that have the innate need to be active and train 5-7 days a week. The overwhelming majority of people falls into the middle category that requires an equal amount... [Continue reading...]

REACHING YOUR PEAK PERFORMANCE
How to reach your peak performance? It is a journey. There are various points of view, but they mostly focus on things that are really secondary factors as well as the resultant ones. From the Pose Method point of view, training requires a categorically different approach to the conventional paradigm of training. The basis of the training program should be the focus on technique - the skill of doing. This skill development is and should remain the most important element of training. In the past you probably thought of your training in terms of physiological factors such as breathing, heart... [Continue reading...]

DEVELOP YOUR PERCEPTIONS TO DEVELOP YOUR ATHLETIC ABILITIES
There are three main components of development of higher level athletic abilities: 1. Improving your body physically, 2. Improving your perception and 3. Improving your skill level. Everything else either falls under these three categories or is a "side effect" of development of all or any of the three. All three are very interconnected and are very important, but nothing is as powerful and significant as perception. A slight change in perception can change everything. In running, Bannister's famous Mile run in under 4 minutes (3 min 59.4 s) is one of the most famous examples of breaking barriers by... [Continue reading...]

DOPING IN SPORTS: LETHAL EPIDEMIC
Anabolic steroids (aka dope) are artificially produced male hormones known as testosterone, they are illegal now in sports and should remain that way. Steroids are also being banned in production of food nowadays. (Who knew they were doing it to begin with?) Steroids can make women infertile, leave men impotent and cause serious birth defects. Steroids can have a negative impact not only on your body, but your life too and cause premature death. Here are things that you must know to see a complete picture. DRAMATIC INCREASE IN MUSCLE MASS. That's why the bodybuilders are hooked on steroids. Schwarzenegger... [Continue reading...]

HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR OWN TRAINING
When there is no coach in the picture to help you train, make various training decisions and evaluate your training and your progress, it is important that you yourself know what's going on and how to keep an eye on everything you do and how things pan out. The best part is that you really don't need to know all the details. By following the basic guidelines you can successfully conduct your own training sessions, avoid over-training and achieve good results. There is a "Golden Rule of Norm", formulated by Professor Anokhin in the 50-60s in Russia, that goes along... [Continue reading...]

TIRED OR SLEEPY AFTER TRAINING? NOT GOOD. CHANGE YOUR TRAINING PLAN.
Feeling tired after training is something that is desired by some elite and amateur athletes, approved by coaches and is often recommended as part of a good and effective training session. As if you're not tired - you didn't train enough. Luckily, not everyone agrees, as common sense dictates to some that being tired is not part of a normal program. A feeling of being tired after training is not a good thing. Period. It doesn't equal a good training session. It doesn't mean you improved. It doesn't mean you gave it all you got, at least not in a... [Continue reading...]

TIPS FOR RUNNING/TRAINING IN COLD WEATHER
Cold weather could be a nice thing, but it could also mean sniffles, aches, spasms and fevers that we could do without. We all know to dress warmer, that's common sense (at least to the majority of us), but is there anything else you should consider? Absolutely. WARM UP INDOORS. This is an important part of training in general, and it becomes crucial in cold weather conditions. Warming up indoors oppose to taking your entire training session outdoors, will help you benefit more from the warm-up process and will help your body function better. If you've ever walked out of... [Continue reading...]

WHAT IS A PROPER TRAINING PROGRAM?
Training is a very individual process and training programs are always very individual masterpieces. They are specific structures of volume, intensity and exercise used in training, distrubuted over days and weeks of the cycle, allowing to achive cumulitative effect at the end of the cycle in a selected direction (exercise, distance). A knowledgeable and experienced coach can skillfully lead his athlete to better performance level, better results and a longer career in sports. Majority of people however do not have the luxury of working with a coach and are left to make training decisions on their own. Obtaining a good... [Continue reading...]

TRAINING FOR SPECIFIC DISTANCE IN RUNNING
The subject of training for specific distances in running is not as simple or "obvious" as it might seem. Preparing for a marathon? Then you should run one during training! Getting ready to do a 10K? Then it only makes sense to run 10K during training. Have an 100, 200, 800m race coming up? Keep running until you believe you're getting faster! Right? Wrong! A final goal of anyone running any race is to try to run it with a good resulting time, or faster than before. But simply running more miles will not make anybody a better or faster... [Continue reading...]

THE ROAD TO PERFECTION
What do swimming, golf, tennis, running, dancing or playing a musical instrument have in common? Give up? All these activities are taught through a series of drills! Back on the subject of drills, we'd like to re-emphasize their significance. Many naively think that drills are not important or that they are not for them. So when experiencing set-backs or no progress at all, they don't make the connection between improving technique and perception through drills, choosing instead to alternate routines or try something new, doing "whatever" hoping to get "somewhere." Technique is the cornerstone of an outstanding performance. And drills... [Continue reading...]

RUNNING, JUMPING, THROWING - THE ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES FOR MANY SPORTS
Observing training of various athletes, teams, groups, etc, it is noticeable that there is a strange tendency to focus on some essentials and to completely ignore the rest while training and practicing. It is not clear what guides some coaches and athletes to select what aspect of which technique to work on, but it is painfully clear that the fundamentals are often being completely ignored. Ever heard a coach instructing his student by saying: "Hold the ball like this, with your index finger on point and then just throw it as far as you can". WHO is going to explain... [Continue reading...]

DR.ROMANOV'S SAMPLE TRAINING SESSION FOR SWIMMERS - Beginner Level
This is a very general and basic sample of a training session. Dr. Romanov's training sessions are precise and calculated for each individual athlete he works with, so while all of them use the same techniques, they train according to different programs. Just to offer you some guidance in making your own training sessions for now, below are a few recommendations for beginner level swimmers. A sample training session for runners is also available, click here to read it. 1. WARM UP. Just like a running session, or any other training session for that matter, every swim session should start... [Continue reading...]

LISTENING TO MUSIC WHILE RUNNING OR EXERCISING: PROS AND CONS
We've noticed that this topic was recently among the "hot" ones in magazines. Advice given was all "do it, it's good for you". Don't we wish it were THAT simple. An ultimatum like "don't do it" simply won't do it, so let's lay everything out in the open and you decide what it is you want and how much are you willing to pay to get it. Yes, you read it right, there is no such thing as a free breakfast, everything comes at a price. There are elemental constants and there are passing trends. While this is not... [Continue reading...]

TRAINING OR NOT REALLY?
Let's talk about training today. The idea, the point of training, seems to have a different meaning for different people. As a concept, training should have a much higher purpose than it is currently assigned. But that's for later discussions.

What is "training" for you? Here's what it should be - a process of developing of your various skills. [Continue reading...]

HARD TRAINING VS SKILL TRAINING
Running Forum again and again returns my attention to the headline topic. Hard training philosophy still exists and dominates in the mentality of the large group of runners and triathletes. I understand where it’s coming from and why, and that’s the reason for writing this article. As was said time and again, training in running took “hard work” direction long ago due to an assumption that the main thing to be developed in running is the cardio-vascular system. Science brought up a lot of research data to confirm this assumption and VO2 max concept became a dominant paradigm, which was... [Continue reading...]

MENTAL TRAINING
Mental training includes mental and psycho-emotional focus on your actions or on anything that you do (your strategy, plan, or sports form). Action is what you are training for, developing specific energy, neuro-muscular and psychological pathways and patterns according to your racing requirements and needs. Reaction is your response on somebody's action. It's an emergency recruitment of your energy, muscles, psychological system out of your trained systems. It involves additional energy use and destructs your regulatory system. You should protect your mind and inner systems from any destructive influence from outside, forcing you to: - underestimate your own ability;... [Continue reading...]