Reader's Letters: Noel Frost – Wallingford Rowing Club Junior Coach
Posted by Concept2 News on the 28th of August 2003
The response to my letter last issue was amazing. It seems that some people are - like me - interested in being the best. This being the case, I have expanded on the way I assist Wallingford Rowing Club Juniors (WRCJ). Anyone interested can look on the Internet for their results.As everyone knows, when you finish a race you should be out of breath. In addition you should not be injured (because it takes three times as long to get fit as it does to lose it) and so you must look at the way you train to remain injury free. How then do you improve your cardio vascular (CV) performance and remain fit? For Juniors I ask for 10 repetitions during inhalation and exhalation exercises; at World level, however, I request the same number as pulled in competition. Plus I expect hyperventilation, immediately before the competition and breathing flat out from the start. This is one of the ways in which I won a 2,000m World Championship by 85 metres and clipped 7.8 seconds off the World Record. In addition I used a breathing resistance machine for 250 breathes at morning sessions. I also breathed shallow in the middle of the forward and return strokes, from nearly empty lungs. This allowed the maximum amount of oxygen on to the lung surfaces. Whereas I completed around 400 kilometres per week in CV training, over 300 kilometres were on a reciprocating handle bike, which kept up CV and avoided repetitive strain injury. In addition, I wave trained, so that the best advances were gained from super compensation. While the general principles are known, wave training must be specific to the individual. I am told my most recent success has managed to take some 13 seconds off his best 2,000m time in 10 weeks to a Championship, so he seemed happy. Anyone interested should look at www.iamfit.net.