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[RC] IT - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: ti tivers@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== Interval Training allows the coach to manipulate the following variables: Overall workout volume, heat distances, heat speeds, partial recovery rest period durations, number of heats. It is a toolbox of 1000 tools. In planning an IT protocol, you start with a target--in competition, how far and how fast do you want to go, when? Then you look at the last four weeks prior to that event and decide what kind of exercise the horse has to be doing at that time to enable the desired performance. And then you work back and back and back, week by week, until you get where you are today. So, the very first thing you have to know is what conditioning protocol will deliver the kind of athlete you need in competition. While some may call a focus on this "anal", it is the key to delivering a fully prepared athlete that can perform at the top of its natural ability, safely. Simply slapping together a mishmash of exercises that may be fun, or may or may not lead you to your athletic goals, is pretty much a waste of time--and dangerous to the horse. For example, it is seldom necessary to work an endurance horse at maximum HRs. Not necessary and not a good idea, for the most part. If that does occur, it should take place at the very end of the conditioning process. All increases in effort, be it distance or speed, must be taken incrementally--if you give a damn about the horse. While IT has been around since the 50s, and it may be "old news" to some, it is very clear to me that most haven't the foggiest idea of how to put this powerful tool to use in horses. Most endurance riders don't even know what the upcoming competition physiological demands are actually going to be. Thus, they cannot possibly design an appropriate conditioning protocol. As I've said before, if your total workweek mileage doesn't at least match the mileage of the upcoming competition, then you are not prepared for that competition. In addition, the workweek mix should consist of at least one LONG day and one IT day. In the final prep for competition, the LONG day should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3/4 of the competitive distance while the IT day volume should be about half the competitive distance. Repetition days can be far shorter and still have good effects--but these types of workouts stress the structural systems of the horse severely, and should take place only when the horse is structurally fit for them. The primary difference between humans and horses in terms of safety of the exercise is that horses cannot safely handle the levels of fatigue that humans can. Gait biomechanics go to hell with fatigue in the horse, setting him up for dozens of different ways to become injured. Thus, the primary rule for conditioning the horse is, in all aspects, "no surprises". That means the the horse has to be gradually introduced to every stressor it will ever encounter in competition. Distances, speeds, terrain, hoof variables, including boots, angles, toe lengths, shoe types, supportive nutrition--all these cannot be suddenly introduced, but must be properly integrated into the overall conditioning protocol, long before competition is contemplated. That is, for those few who are serious about the competitive aspects of the sport. This is the Big Picture. All controllable variables under intelligent control and progressing, gradually and continually toward the end goal. This may be "anal" in some views, but it is the path to success in athletic competition. Any athletic competiton. ti =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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