Training Tips for newbies
(Ade Clift, Team Future Fitness)

A tricky one, as I believe that there are only two ways to train: the right way and the wrong way. However, what makes it difficult is that what works well for one person, may not work as well for another.

As far as cross-training goes, most competitors who have been 'on the circuit' for a while, will be pretty much aware of the types of training that best suit them. This advice (take it or leave it) is aimed more towards people who would like to get into cross-training and are unsure of how to go about it.

Cross-training itself is so complex due to the number of different exercises and types of exercise i.e., cardiovascular/aerobic and strength/endurance. To be a good cross-trainer you need a combination of both and it's much better to be fitter with reasonable strength, than incredibly strong with not enough cardiovascular fitness and endurance.

Firstly, it is important to set yourself a realistic goal and not one that may leave you with false hopes. I had an email once from a guy who wanted to make the top ten of Ultra-fit in three month's time, even though he had never competed. The advice given was to train properly and compete first at a few of the One on One fitness centre comps (based around similar disciplines as the Ultra-fit event). He did attend one comp and with a finishing time approaching the half-hour mark, I have not seen him at any of the comps since!

A lot of people ask what is the best type of training to do. My response is: always cross-train, do anything and everything. From running, to swimming and rowing to biking, it doesn't matter. The thing to remember is that if you continually do the same things in training, your progress will soon stagnate.

Plan your training around the events that you decide to compete in. An example would be that if you plan to compete in events like Ultra-fit, Box-fit, Iron-man One on One and Tropicana. Make sure that you build sufficient strength and speed, whilst keeping repetitions high in order to adapt to higher levels of lactic acid build up. High volume work will make you body produce more of the smaller capillaries that help transport more oxygen to exhausted muscles and so reduce lactic acid build up.

If your goal is the X-Zone competition or similar, you will need to work more towards stamina and endurance. As long as you have reasonable shoulder strength and the ability to clamber up and down a rope (with
the right technique), endurance is more important than brute strength.

A training plan that I have used for the guys that I personally teach involves base and volume work combined with strength building during the early part of the year. This is followed by strength maintenance, endurance building and slight (slow) bodyweight reduction (which happens naturally through the Summer months when training harder
and longer.)

As most of the competitions take place from the end of March (except Box-fit), it is important to improve strength levels during the early part of the year without neglecting overall fitness and endurance. Once you have reached sufficient strength levels, you may then only need a maintenance programme, i.e. it is not necessary to improve your 1 rep 100kg bench press to 130+kg or more. Try asking an incredibly strong bodybuilder who is used to lifting very heavy weights for a few reps, to bench 50kg for 50 reps when they are tired! The point being that because cross-training comps involve lifting moderate weights for a lot of reps, you need more strength and endurance than strength/power. If you look at most of the top guys (with the exception of a few 6ft+ guys), they are all around 12 stone (ish) bodyweight.

The next thing to think about when training is technique. Forget about 'cutting corners' (dipping the chest during press-ups or not straightening legs on the hip flexor and not coming down low enough on the shoulder press). When it comes to the bigger comps like Ultra-fit you will not get away with bad technique! If you need to ask specific questions regarding the technique of certain exercises, email us. Don't wait until the day of the competition.

In simple terms then:

• The first 3-4 months of the year are spent building strength levels and increasing general fitness endurance.
• After this, increase endurance further with longer, more intense sessions.
• Mix and match your sessions between just cardiovascular exercises (running, rowing, stepping, cycling etc.) with weights only sessions (heavy during the early part of the year, followed with moderate weights and loads of reps) and mixed sessions of both cardio and weights.

The important thing is to find out what works best for you and following the training routines of today's cross-training champs like Michelle Parsons, Hywel Davies and Lee Rankin, will not necessarily mean that you will achieve the same results (unfortunately!).

A basic training programme:
(Weights & Cardio mixed)
1. 10 min of mixed cycling and rowing to warm up both upper and lower body.

2. 10 mins of 4 or 5 different cardio machines (80%+ of maximum effort)

Mixed upper and lower body exercises e.g.

3. Bench-press maximum reps 40kg x 2 sets (25kg for ladies)

4. Hack squats (or similar) maximum reps in two minutes x 2 sets

5. Shoulder press maximum reps 25kg x 2 sets

6. Step ups (14" block with 10kg in each hand, 5kg for ladies) x 2 sets

7. Abs maximum reps in two minutes x 2 sets

8. Lat pulldowns maximum reps 50kg x 2 sets (25kg for ladies)

Then repeat cardio routine (5mins each) and try to beat all half-way distances
E.g. first 10 minute row = 2800mtrs try to do 1400+mtrs second time.

(This is a moderate to advanced type of workout, although 'beginners' could use a similar method, just reduce weights or only do one set of each exercise rather than two.)

There are lots of different training methods used by many different people. For example Kirk Gibbons (Tropicana Champ 2000) would often do the Tropicana course two or three times during one workout. Robert Volpe (Tropicana and Ultra-fit winner) used lots of 400m runs in his preparation. Lee Rankin (Tropicana Champ 2001) and Phil McConnell do 'monstrous,' marathon training sessions during the summer months in preparation for Toughguy, X-Zone and other events like half Iron-man triathlon. Michelle Parsons (Tropicana Champ 2000/2001, Indoor-rowing Champ 2001) splits her training week up in order to do several different types of gym sessions in preparation for the different events that she does. So every one is a little different.

Basically, find out what works best for you and change certain aspects of the training routine that you use every so often.

We would be interested if any other cross-trainer would like to send us (rough) details of the types of training that they do and we'll consider them for inclusion in the training 'tips' section.

For a more personal training programme or if you are not sure that your own training is giving the progression that you would like, contact us and we will try to help. Alternatively contact our friends at the netfit site for more training tips and ideas.