There are three main areas to consider when preparing for physical events, short, medium and long term preparation. Your needs will change with the nature of the goals you have chosen. Whether you are looking for tips for a run this weekend or how to get your best performance in few years time, there is always a plan to follow.

Short term

Usually the week before the event, for endurance events the last week of training involves a tapering period and a carbohydrate loading program.

The taper. An athletes training schedule usually build to a high workload over many months. A tapering period in the short term involves reducing the workload and allowing the body to recover fully from the previous months training. Some times it can take up to 6 weeks to fully recover from intense bouts of endurance training. Most recreational athletes would be thinking about how to prepare for their event in the last week before their event. Below are some general guidelines worth considering in the week before an event. To maximise performance on the day you need to be as healthy as possible, confident you have done the work and in a relaxed state of mind.

Give yourself a mental break from training, relax try some more leisure time activities such as movies etc. Do some very light cross training but avoid different activities that may cause undue soreness leading up to the event. Stay supple, swim, stretch and relax.

Medium term

Recreational athletes often choose goals that suit their needs. Typically they are between one and six months away. Perhaps a running goal like building endurance ability to be able to run your first five kilometres, ten kilometres or half marathon event. Or developing speed to reduce your times for these events. Goals such as these need to be obtainable and well planned. Athletes who fail the programming planning stage of the process leave their result to chance. Whilst there are many types of training programs available, not all are appropriate. To analyse your strength and weaknesses takes knowledge and experience. Athletes who approach programs without guidance often injure themselves and experience goal setbacks. For assistance with program development, please contact mark@quickstepcoaching.com.au

Long term

What is your athletic potential? How do you know? How do you plan to achieve it? Long term planning is essential if you are to reach your athletic potential. For example peaking your endurance running performance may take between four and eight years of dedicated preparation, depending on how fit you were when you started. Many athletes feel this time period is too long to think about, but if National or International running goals are desired a long term plan is paramount to success.