Certified Life Coach.org & Coach - Training to Prevent Running Cramps...

You can help prevent running cramps by performing exercises that create change in your program. By this I mean doing things that aren?t part of the normal routine ? mixing it up, if you will. A by-product of this training is that it is sure to enhance running power, speed and performance.

Following are some suggestions to add to your training program. The idea is to get the muscle fatigued in different ways:

1) Tempo training ? work on getting your stride rate up to 180 per minute. This is a must for all runners.

2) Interval training ? involves training such as ?Fartlek? where you vary your speed during an exercise period of around 45 minutes. Developed by Swedish Coach Gosta Holma, Fartlek translates as ?speed play?.

3) One-leg squats ? the benefits of learning to squat with one leg include more strength, flexibility and muscular coordination.

4) Hill training ? my favourite and very applicable for people who suffer running calf cramps and especially if you plan on racing on a hilly course. Racing on hills is almost guaranteed to cause leg cramping, particularly in the latter stages of an event. This is because of the high workload placed on a small muscle group.

Combinations of the above ? for example, perform interval training while running up a sand hill using hand weights.

You can also focus on different aspects more or less at different times of the year. For example, I prefer to do a lot more soft sand running and hill work in the cooler months.

All of these running-specific exercises will improve your running strength and your calf strength and endurance making them more resilient when it comes to the big race or event.

And if you?re a very experienced runner, then incorporating some more varied sessions can not only help you with leg cramps, you can use it as a way to actually reduce the distances you run in training and still maintain the same times or go even faster.

This kind of goes against what most people think, however I?m of the firm opinion that as we get more experienced, less is better.

And if you take a look at many of the older Olympic athletes, they sure don?t train the distances they trained when they first started out. They use competition, appropriate rest and specialised training sessions as the basis of their plan.

For other sports, you could talk with your coach and team mates and design training games that focus on and mimic some of the most difficult physical movements demanded of your body.

Ideally this type of training should form around 20 to 25% of your routine ? any more and you could start to sacrifice speed for strength.

Monitor the results over a period of 6 months and be flexible in terms of how you construct your training plan

This article courtesy of http://www.certifiedlifecoach.org.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.3 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
On June 2, 2006, The Government Released New Jobs Figures – 75,000 Jobs Created In May. The economy has created about 1.9 million jobs over the past 12 months – and more than 5.3 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent – lower than the average of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Revised Report Shows Fastest Real GDP Growth In Two-And-A-Half Years. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent for the first quarter of this year. This follows our economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005 – the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.

Productivity Increased At A Strong Annual Rate Of 3.7 Percent In The First Quarter.

Real Hourly Compensation Rose At A 3.2 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter.

Personal Income Increased At An Annual Rate Of 6.7 Percent In April. Since January 2001, real after-tax income has risen by 12.9 percent, or 7.3 percent per person.

Real Consumer Spending Increased At An Annual Rate Of 5.2 Percent In The First Quarter.

Employment Increased In 47 States Over The Past 12 Months Ending In April. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states in April.

Industrial Production Increased 4.7 Percent Over The Past 12 Months. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing production has increased by 5.5 percent.

This Week, President Bush Nominated Henry Paulson As Treasury Secretary. Paulson has an intimate knowledge of financial markets and an ability to explain economic issues in clear terms. For the past eight years, Paulson has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, one of the most respected firms on Wall Street.

The President Has Expanded Tax Relief And Is Working To Make His Tax Relief Permanent. Two weeks ago, President Bush signed into law a bill that extends the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. This legislation also contains an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch enabling millions of middle-income families to avoid paying higher taxes in 2006.

The President’s Tax Relief Has Helped Spur Growth By Keeping $880 Billion In The Pockets Of American Taxpayers. The Administration reduced taxes for every American who pays income taxes, doubled the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, created investment incentives for small businesses, and put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Growing The Economy And Reducing The Deficit Depend On Controlling The Spending Appetite Of The Federal Government. Every year since the President took office, the Administration has slowed the growth of discretionary spending that is not related to the military or homeland security. The President's last two budgets cut discretionary spending that was unrelated to the military or homeland security, and we are on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

If The Emergency Supplemental Bill – Which The President Has Requested To Help Fund The War On Terror And Hurricane Recovery – Includes Non-Emergency Or Wasteful Spending Or Exceeds The President's Set Limit Of $92.2 Billion Plus Funding To Prepare Our Nation For A Pandemic Flu Emergency, He Will Veto It.

In The Long Run, The Biggest Challenge To Our Nation's Budgetary Health Is Entitlement Spending On Programs Such As Social Security And Medicare. We call on members of both parties to join us in a bipartisan commission to address this critical issue.

The President Will Continue Working With Congress To Restrain Spending In Other Ways, Including Passing A Line-Item Veto. A line-item veto would allow us to cut needless spending, reduce the budget deficit, and ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely – or not at all.