Endurance: 3 things to know to succeed in a competition

1: Plan your sharpening before the competition

Sharpening corresponds to the last days before a major competition. It aims to eliminate training fatigue, while preserving what you have learned, to be at your best on the big day. “In scientific terms, sharpening has been defined as a non-linear progressive decrease in training load, over a period of variable duration, with the aim of reducing the psychological and physiological stress of training in order to optimize sports performance,” explains Dr Fabrice Kuhn.

Indeed, if you train too intensely in the days preceding the competition, your level of fatigue will affect your sporting performance. But you should not abandon all training either and thus risk losing the benefits of the long weeks of preparation. Good sharpening will be the right balance between these two extremes!

According to Fabrice Kuhn, “Proper sharpening can improve performance by an average of 3% (typically 0.5-6%). It can make a real difference. To give you an idea, it’s a gain of 5 minutes during a marathon run in 3 hours, or 18 minutes for an Ironman run in 10 hours. »

Here are some tips from his book The Science of Endurance – Volume 2.

• Gradually shorten the endurance sessions.
• Maintain high-intensity workouts, but reduce their duration while increasing recovery phases.
• Stop weight training for 5 days before the competition.

2: Test altitude acclimatization

If Kenyans from the highlands perform so well, it is because they are acclimatized to altitude and tolerate hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood) well. In France, the Font-Romeu training center was created to allow athletes to prepare for the Olympic Games in Mexico, a city located at an altitude of 2,440 m.

At altitude, atmospheric pressure drops. This results in a decrease in oxygen pressure. The oxygen level in the air remains the same (21%), but the number of molecules present in the same volume of air is lower. “Each breath therefore brings less oxygen, explains Dr. Kuhn. This results in hypoxia which makes any effort more difficult. » Acclimatization to altitude leads to increased production of red blood cells, the cells that transport oxygen, resulting in increased performance. But an internship at altitude is being prepared and it has a cost (accommodation, travel, etc.) unless you live there.

The “ideal” conditions for an altitude training course:

• minimum altitude: 1,600 m, or even more than 2,500 m;
• ideal hypoxia time: at least 12 hours per day for 3 weeks;
• ideal duration: at least 250 hours at 2,100-2,500 m. However, we observe a benefit from 10 days of exposure;
• ideal planning: return to the plains 2 to 5 weeks before the competition;
• frequency: it is wise to regularly do altitude training to activate hypoxic memory.

3: Train your intestines too

“Many athletes test their racing food strategy in training, trying different foods to choose the one that suits them best.notes Fabrice Kuhn. But those who schedule sessions to train their digestive system are much rarer! However, it is a profitable strategy. »

Digestive training aims to improve digestion during exercise: to make your digestive system capable of assimilating more nutrients, and to make it more resistant to digestive disorders. “I hope you give your digestive system the workout it deserves, said Fabrice Kuhn. By training it, you can kill two birds with one stone: improve your digestive comfort and support your performance. »

Recommended procedure:

• 10 training sessions over 2-3 weeks, i.e. 1 or 2 digestive training sessions per week in the 5 to 10 weeks preceding a competition;
• ingest large volumes of liquid to increase your stomach’s tolerance over short sessions (1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes) so as not to cause hyperhydration;
• train yourself to ingest large amounts of glucose: 90 g per hour;
• proceed in stages and gradually increase the quantity of carbohydrates to swallow per hour of effort. Depending on your tolerance, you can start with 90 g/h, before moving to 120 g, then 130 g, 140 g and finally 150 g;
• place some endurance sessions right after a meal.

To learn more, read: The Science of Endurance – Volume 2