You’ll often hear the team here preaching about planning your training, tailoring it to your needs, the power of accountability… we could go on for a while, but wouldn’t want to bore you again!

But how do you go about planning your training, and how do you make sure that it is right for you?

Goal setting

Without a goal, how do you know what to put into your training programme? Ask yourself what is the key to reaching your goal? What timescale are you working towards? Do you have smaller goals that will contribute to a larger goal? All of this is key, as without goals, your training can lack focus, become a little muddled, and perhaps not be particularly time efficient! What’s more, goal setting is the ultimate motivator. Once you set your mind to something and start telling people about it, you’re bound to be driven to achieve it!

Baseline measures

First and foremost, you will need to know where you stand at this point in time. What is your current level of performance? And how do you know how far away you are from your goal, or what you need to do to bridge the gap? Without this, how can you be sure that the programme you put into place is providing you with the performance improvements that you are chasing?

What is vitally important though, is that whatever baseline measure you choose it is repeatable. Futher down the line you’re going to want to revisit the test to track progress and see how far you’ve come, and what’s still to do.

Work / Life / Training Balance

Unfortunately, we can’t all dedicate the same time to our training (and recovery!) as elite athletes are able to. We have to consider countless work, social, family and other commitments, and organise a busy training schedule around them. Often it can be a case of squeezing in a session here, squeezing a session in there, but does it have to be?

Just as with altitude higher isn’t always better, more hours spent training doesn’t always mean more results. Quality over quantity. If we are able to plan our training effectively, we can usually get more bang for our buck than by training sporadically and planning on the fly. By planning your training and ensuring that every session you do has a purpose, you can train more efficiently, making it easier to find time to train. Not only that, but knowing exactly what you have to do on a daily basis when it comes to training means that you can schedule it in to your diary in advance, and ensure that every minute spent training, is a minute spent chasing your goal.

Accountability

Have you ever found yourself looking outside and thinking, “am I really going to run in that weather?”, or looking around the house for things to do, delaying the act of training so much that you can no longer fit the session in?

Now think about how many times you have done that when you have agreed to train with a friend, or booked an exercise class which would encounter a penalty if you didn’t show up. It’s probably quite a lot fewer right?

If you are held accountable, by a coach, a friend or a gym class, you become far more likely to get that all important session in. Over time those sessions add up, and could easily become the difference between hitting your goals, or falling just short!

What does that mean to me?

When it comes to your training, think about all of the above. If you can spend an hour sitting down to set your goals, understand your training, and put a plan into place each week, you may well find yourself with a far more effective training programme, and even some extra hours elsewhere!

Think you need some help with planning and preparation?

Don’t be afraid to ask. We can’t all be experts in everything we do. Just because you need to ask for help doesn’t mean that you can’t do it yourself, or won’t be able to further down the line – every expert in their field has asked for help, they are always learning, that’s why they are experts!

If you want to arrange a time to sit and chat to one of the team about the training programmes that we offer here, just get in touch on [email protected], or call us on 020 7193 1626.

Bespoke programming from The Altitude Centre

We offer programmes in three categories, Gold, Silver and Bronze, with varying levels of support for each. Programmes are tailored around your commitments, goals, and events, so the more information you can provide, the more detailed the programme can be!

Gold Standard

• Initial consultation (in person or on the phone) to discuss your time and your training goals in more detail.
• Initial baseline testing, and interpretation of results.
• Weekly chat to discuss progress. Daily email/text support if required.
• Bespoke, weekly, day by day programme of training sessions to follow, based on weekly discussion.
• Final consultation to wrap up your training and provide final expert advice for your event.
• Alti-Vit (RRP £29.99)

Silver Standard

• Initial consultation to discuss your available time, and your training goals in more detail.
• Bi-weekly catch up to discuss progress and set your training for the next two weeks.
• Bespoke two-week, day by day programme of training sessions to follow, based on discussions.
• Final consultation to wrap up your training and provide final expert advice for your event.

Bronze Standard

• Initial consultation to discuss your available time, and your training goals in more detail.
• Bespoke monthly training plan based on goals and commitments outlined during initial consultation.
• One consultation (in person or via phone) per month scheduled at your convenience to discuss progress, remainder of training, and specific advice for your event.

Just get in touch to find out more!