Endurance Handbook

SECTION 1

Race Walking At this level we will introduce the basics of race walking although we strongly advise against any specialisation at this age. General Safety Cross country, roads and the hills can provide some hazardous situations so those in charge of groups of young people must take full account of safety. For further details on safety and other useful tips for managing running groups please refer to the Run in England website www.runinengland.co.uk Competition Young children are full of energy. Programmes in school and club sessions should run to a quick timetable and cater for large teams. There should be lots of events other than endurance races providing many places for the teams to fill thus giving an opportunity for children of all abilities to take part. It is important for all children to contribute to the overall team performance and feel valued. The emphasis at all times must be on team involvement and enjoyment. WEB COPY ©EVEQUE

INTRODUCTION

Endurance for Other Sports Reduced focus and poor decision making are clear signs of tiredness in all sports as competitors become fatigued and are unable to participate to their full potential. Rugby, netball, football, hockey and individual sports such as tennis can last well over an hour, including time taken for breaks in play, and sports men and women need to be able to perform and make decisions throughout their match time. Although the participants may only be directly active around 50% of the time, poor endurance conditioning will dramatically impair performance as the time increases. Consider this example taken from the BBC Sport Academy website; How far does Wayne Rooney run? He covers around 11.82 km during a 90 minute match. How much of this is spent sprinting? This is all broken down into different categories of speed. 4,000m Wayne is walking WEB COPY ©EVEQUE

4,800m jogging 1500m running 1,000m light sprinting 500m sprinting

Interval training sessions are favoured in most sports and are usually performed in the same training environment in which the sport is played. The basic endurance activities, games and tests outlined in this book are appropriate for all sports to integrate into their training to increase the endurance levels of their competitors and ensure their performance levels are not compromised as they enter the final stages of their matches and events.

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