Reducing training loads before competition is widely used in many sports, especially individual sports.
This is based on the assertion that reducing the load allows athletes to look fresher during competitions and show their best qualities. And it works. No self-respecting swimmer or runner would ever approach a serious competition without reducing training loads during the preparatory period.
Most of the studies conducted on the topic of reducing loads in the pre-competition period focused more on individual sports than team sports. But there is absolutely no reason not to believe that the same principles would not work in team sports.
What benefits can this provide?
It's hard to say for sure, but a number of tests show an average improvement of 3%. This result may seem insignificant. This means that your players will be able to run 3% faster and in a certain period of time run not 15 meters, but 15.5. As a coach, I would like to see this happen every day.
When should you start reducing your load?
Research shows that 1 week to 1 month before competition is effective. For young football players participating in the tournament, it is reasonable to start reducing their loads 7-10 days before the competition.
How and by how much should the load be reduced?
Of the most effective schemes, the exponential method leads to the best results, when at first the loads decrease slightly, but the rate of their decrease constantly increases as the competition approaches. By the end of the preparatory period, the duration of training should decrease by approximately 50%.
Please note that the duration of training should decrease, while their INTENSITY remains at the same level. This is the key point of this method. In cases where both the duration and intensity of training were simultaneously reduced, athletes did not show an increase in efficiency during competitions or were even less efficient.
You will understand the effectiveness of this method when your striker is simply first on the ball.
Cold baths
For many years, athletes have believed in the beneficial effects of cold baths on the recovery process after hard training. This was based on the theory that when muscles damaged during training are cooled, blood flows out of them and harmful substances are removed along with it. When the muscles are warmed up again, blood quickly returns and promotes the recovery process. It sounds convincing, but there is almost no evidence that it works. Most studies conducted have found neither positive nor negative effects. However, many athletes firmly believe in the regenerative effect of cold baths, and I would not discourage anyone from using them. This may be due to the placebo effect and helps athletes feel more confident during the recovery period, which leads to a positive effect, despite the fact that it is more psychological in nature.
Dream
This part of the preparation is very simple. Sleep is good. Whether it affects performance during short-term competition is debatable (some evidence I'm aware of suggests it does), but one thing that is certain is that severe sleep deprivation will negatively impact performance. Try to get your players to go to bed early and get up to 10 hours of sleep after tough games.
Nutrition after exercise
Everyone knows the importance of proper nutrition before exercise. But what and when you eat after training sessions is also extremely important. After exercise, you have a 2-hour window during which your body is most efficient at storing carbohydrates and converting them into glycogen. Namely, glycogen supplies players with the energy they need for tomorrow’s game. Footballers with high levels of stored glycogen (which is used in large quantities during a match) will perform better than others. Below are a few key points to follow:
Try to start eating immediately after exercise. The first half hour is the best time to eat, but the window will last 2 hours. After this, the digestibility of carbohydrates and proteins will be sharply reduced.
During this window, try to consume 1 gram of carbohydrates per kilogram of your weight.
For optimal results, proteins should be consumed along with carbohydrates. Consume 0.3 grams of protein per 1 kilogram of weight.
Grocery list:
The list may be endless, but below are a few of the most useful products for these purposes:
Sports drinks, especially those containing carbohydrates and proteins in a 3/1 or 4/1 ratio;
Sports bars;
Chocolate milk;
Tuna sandwich.
Conclusion:
Lately we've talked about a few things you could do to improve your team's chances of success in the tournament. Each of these things is easy to implement and requires little effort and planning. On their own, each of these factors may not be that significant, but together they will give your team a huge advantage over the competition.
One of the most frequently asked questions by students is: "How can I prepare for competitions?".
The best way to prepare for a competition is to follow a plan created by an instructor or coach. If you are a top-class competitor, everything must be scientifically proven and all you have to do is train and perform. However, if you are one of the thousands of local competition competitors, then you are responsible for creating some or all of your pre-event training plans.
The very first thing you should do is determine the level of competition you are preparing for and how much time you have. Ideally, for local competitions, a few months are enough to get in shape. You can improve your skills to the required level by spending about 2 months on general practice and a month on specific sparring techniques and strategies. However, for international level competitions planning must begin at least one year in advance. Once you've decided on your competition level and training time, you can create a customized plan.
Individual training plan
For international level competitions, the first type of training you should undertake is essential physical preparation. It includes: plastic exercises (rhythmic gymnastics), running and lifting weights.
At the beginning of your competition preparation regimen, your daily training should consist of 70% general conditioning and 30% fundamental technical element practice. Ideally, this plan continues for 4-8 weeks to achieve the proper physical condition for competition.
The next stage of preparation consists of sports-specific training—improving the physical condition of individual muscles used in the competition. For martial arts, this means explosive alternating sparring, target drills, heavy bag speed work, stretching, step training, and sport-specific strength training. During this period, 50% of the training time should be devoted to physical endurance and 50% of the time to skill development. 
After 4-8 weeks of the sport-specific training phase, the focus should expand to pre-technical practice. This practice includes free sparring, target work, and heavy bag work to strengthen reflexes of individual skills and speed. In this phase of training, 30% of training time should be devoted to physical endurance and 70% to the development and improvement of skills used in competition. This stage should take a period of time at least equal to the time spent on the previous 2 stages. If additional time is available, it should be spent expanding the technical preparation phase.
The final phase of competition preparation consists of improving mental preparation and strategy. During this time, in the weeks leading up to competition, the athlete must have a solid foundation of skills. In the last weeks, there must be a playful element. The athlete must remain focused and avoid injury (illness). At least one week before competition, all hard contact training should cease and the athlete should conserve energy for competition day.
On race day, try to arrive on time (well in advance) for registration, weigh-in and warm-up. If you are speaking in the afternoon (afternoon), bring water or juice and a snack to keep your energy levels up. After registering, go through your plan and review your most important techniques.
If you know when you are competing, plan to start your warm-up approximately 30 minutes before the start of the match. If you don't know when you're performing, as is often the case in competitions, try to remain cool and collected. If you win the first fight, you will most likely have to compete again. Take a few minutes to relax and cool down after a bout, then ask your coach what you did well and where you need to work harder in the next bout. Pay attention to injuries sustained during the fight (bandage or apply ice). 15-20 minutes before the fight, start preparing physically and mentally. Follow this pattern until the competition is over. Believe in your strength, never give up, achieve your goals.
Pre-launch state
Pre-launch state It occurs long before the start of competitions, several days or even weeks before important performances, and proceeds through the mechanism of conditioned reflexes, i.e. the type of stadium, gym, presence of opponents, sports uniform and any other things related to the tournament or training affect the athlete. The influence of these factors is expressed in emotions, which in turn play a certain role on the effectiveness of performances.
The ideal form of pre-start state is combat readiness, which ensures the best psychological mood and functional preparation of athletes. Pre-launch fever And pre-launch apathy I are conditions in which an athlete loses the ability to adequately perceive what is happening, which often leads to disastrous results.
Naturally, it is necessary to learn how to enter a state of combat readiness in an extreme situation, for example, before a competition.
The simplest way to develop combat readiness in an athlete is to develop a certain habit for competitive conditions. The more often an athlete competes in competitions of any level, friendly matches, important tournaments, or simply gets used to the fact that, for example, sparring is an integral part of training, the faster he will develop a conditioned reflex that is inherent in all living beings - the desire to survive.
It has been noticed that for different psychological types of people, achieving a state of combat readiness occurs in different ways. Sanguine and phlegmatic people quickly adapt to new conditions and, accordingly, they are more likely to be combat ready. Due to their psychological qualities, chalerics and melancholics require more time to develop the necessary functional state.
Although every competitor eventually develops his own pre-competition training pattern, this framework will help you get started in your own training regimen. Always keep your training goals in mind and strive for consistent, measurable improvement on your path to competition.
Psychological attitude
Psychological attunement before each performance involves an intellectual attunement for the fight, which consists in clarifying and detailing its plan, a volitional attunement associated with mobilizing readiness for maximum volitional efforts and the manifestation of the necessary volitional qualities in the upcoming fight, and a system of influences that reduce or increase the emotional tension of the athlete. It is very important that the coach, taking into account the characteristics of the nervous system, excitability, anxiety and other qualities of the taekwondo fighter, is able to choose means of increasing or decreasing emotional tension so that it reaches the optimum immediately before the fight. For athletes with an inert and strong nervous system, the adjustment to battle should begin much earlier than for taekwondo athletes with a weaker and more mobile one, for whom it is advisable to use a greater number of means of distraction and relaxation on the days of competition and in the breaks between them. Psychological impact in combat includes a brief analysis of the taekwondo player’s actions in between rounds, advice and correction of his behavior, stimulation of volitional efforts, and reduction of tension. The psychological impact after the end of the fight includes normalizing the mental state, “removing” emotions that interfere with an objective assessment of one’s capabilities and prospects for further performances, and stimulating the athlete’s self-confidence. Psychological impact during the break between individual battles - analysis of past battles, tentative programming of the next performance, taking into account the enemy’s strengths. Neuropsychic recovery - reducing mental fatigue and tension through the use of various means: active recreation, entertainment, distraction, self-hypnosis systems, etc.
Medical supervision
Leading taekwondo athletes of republics, regions, cities, students of children's and youth sports schools, masters of sports and candidates for master of sports, as well as first-class athletes are subject to medical examination. The dispensary method is the most effective form of medical observation of athletes. It allows for systematic observations of changes in physical development, health and performance of taekwondo athletes.
The objectives of medical examinations are: to determine the possibility of admission to training and competitions, to assess the impact of classes on health, to establish the level of training of a taekwondo athlete.
Medical examinations are divided into primary, repeated and additional. During medical examination, medical examinations consist of basic (primary), current (staged) and additional. Particular attention is paid to the state of the taekwondo athlete’s nervous system. During medical examinations, various modern research methods (clinical, physiological, biochemical, electrophysiological, etc.) are used to comprehensively study the state of health and performance of athletes.
Thus, every six months, each athlete undergoes a general medical examination, which includes passing all tests and passing all the specialists of the dispensary. Medical control is also carried out before all competitions. Competition participants, no earlier than 3 days before the start of the competition, undergo a medical examination in the amount of a medical control card (form No. 227) with a mandatory conclusion from an ENT specialist, a neurologist, and receive admission to the competition from a sports doctor assigned to this sport.
Proper nutrition
The food of taekwondo athletes should be mixed and varied: dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, etc. Particular preference should be given to foods rich in proteins, phosphorus, and vitamin B1. A taekwondo player needs a lot of vegetables and fruits. They supply the body with carbohydrates, vitamins and mineral salts, and also contribute to the rapid normalization of the alkaline-acid balance, which is disturbed after intense training loads. The daily carbohydrate intake is 9.0–10.0 g per 1 kg of weight. In a taekwondo athlete's diet, complex carbohydrates should make up 64%, and simple carbohydrates – 36%. Eating a lot of sugar is not recommended.
Honey is a valuable product containing easily digestible carbohydrates. The fructose it contains is an excellent way to nourish the heart muscle. Therefore, taekwondo athletes are especially advised to consume honey after intense training and competition. Honey should be drunk at night. The sugar content in the diet, accordingly, decreases. It is especially useful to use a potassium mixture that improves heart function: honey, nuts, dried apricots, raisins.
Vitamins
It is advisable to carry out additional fortification with the help of vitamin complexes that contain various vitamins in the most optimal ratios - multivitamin preparations “Undevit”, “Dekamevit”, “Complivit”, “Centrum”. Along with them, you need to take up to 100 mg of vitamin C daily, since these preparations do not contain enough vitamin C for taekwondo athletes. It is especially advisable for a fighter to regularly take Ascorutin, since Rutin prevents fragility of blood vessels. There is no need to explain what it is for a taekwondo athlete. 
However, it should be remembered that uncontrolled and arbitrary use of synthetic vitamin preparations does not improve athletic performance and can cause various disorders in the body.
Minerals play an important role in the nutrition of taekwondo athletes. A sufficient amount of calcium salts in the diet helps the nervous system and neuromuscular system to excite normally, prevents muscle pain (cramps) that often occurs in athletes, and also reduces the risk of injuries such as fractures. The daily intake of calcium salts is 1–1.75 g. The richest foods in calcium are cheese, cottage cheese, milk, caviar, canned fish, and beans. Phosphorus salts are also important for maintaining athletic performance. The daily norm of phosphorus is 1.5–2.5 g. The richest foods in phosphorus are cheese, liver, meat, fish, beans, peas, oatmeal and buckwheat.
Weight and weight category. The weight category is taken into account based on the athlete’s anthropometric data: height, weight. And it is approved by the coach for the entire preparatory period for the main start. A taekwondo player who is losing weight must regularly receive exercise that promotes profuse sweating.
Depending on the time it takes an athlete to reach the weight category he needs, there are two types of weight loss: gradual (25–30 days) and forced (5–8 days). When losing weight, the athlete for 2.5–3 weeks, without limiting his fluid intake, significantly reduces the consumption of all types of flour products (bread, pasta, as well as products containing sugar and salt) and cereals. As a result of these events alone and the tense pre-competition environment, his weight is reduced by 1.5–2 kg. Then, a week before the competition, you should significantly reduce your intake of all types of liquid, due to which your weight can be reduced by another 1.5–2 kg. If an athlete uses forced weight loss, then on the eve of the competition he may weigh 500–700 g above normal.
With gradual weight loss, the athlete, 3–4 weeks before the competition, begins to gradually reduce the consumption of all foods (including liquids), except for essential proteins, fats and carbohydrates. As a result, in 3 weeks an athlete can lose 3–5 kg in weight. Weight loss requires the athlete to have a good knowledge of his body, the use of special training clothing, compliance with the training regimen, nutrition, and drinking.
Recovery Tools
Auxiliary hygienic measures aimed at increasing the performance of taekwondo athletes and speeding recovery are hydrotherapy, various types of massage, a bath, and a contrast shower.
The effect of a shower on the body depends on the strength of the mechanical action and the deviation of the water temperature from the indifferent temperature (34–36°). Different combinations of these factors produce different effects. A hot and long shower reduces the excitability of sensory and motor nerves and increases the intensity of metabolic processes. A warm shower has a calming effect on the body. Short-term cold and hot showers improve muscle tone and cardiovascular system. An excellent recovery method is a bath; it is not recommended to exercise on the day of the steam room, or for 24 hours after it.
Mode
The main requirement for the daily routine is a rational alternation of work and rest. This helps the body work more efficiently and rhythmically. The daily routine should also include: conducting training sessions at optimal times, using various types of active and passive rest; long and full sleep, performing hardening procedures; regular meals.
When planning a regimen, it is necessary to take into account data on daily changes in the functional state of the body. Throughout the day, a person’s performance changes. Smoothly increasing, it reaches its highest level at 10–13 hours. day, and by 2 p.m. usually decreases. After this, the second wave of increased performance begins, which after 20 hours. gradually decreases. The highest level of psychophysiological functions important for taekwondo athletes, associated with speed, accuracy and high coordination of movements, is observed from 10 to 13, as well as from 16 to 20 hours.
Sleep is important in your daily routine. This is the main and irreplaceable form of recreation. Systematic lack of sleep and insomnia cause exhaustion of the nervous system, decreased performance, and weakening of the body's defenses. Each taekwondo athlete must determine the optimal sleep duration for him and strictly adhere to it. During periods of intense activities, training and competitions, the time allocated for sleep must be increased.
Sleep should be continuous and occur at certain hours. It is advisable to go to bed early and get up early, sleep from 22-23 hours. in the evening until 6–7 o'clock. morning. An indispensable condition for healthy sleep is peace and quiet. Before going to bed, you should avoid anything that can cause excessive stimulation of the nervous system.
During intense activities, training and competitions, it is recommended to sleep during the day. If, after such a dream, lethargy appears and your health worsens, then you should abandon it. Training sessions should begin 1–1.5 hours after a nap.
Hygiene
The main means of skin care is regular body washing. After training, you need to take a warm shower. It cleanses the skin well and has a calming effect on the nervous and cardiovascular systems, increases metabolism and improves recovery processes. After a shower, it is recommended to rub the body well and do a light massage of the main muscle groups.
You need to take special care of your feet: a taekwondo player must take care of his feet. For bruises and abrasions, the legs should be treated. For high impact loads, it is recommended to use elastic bandages and other soft pads made of synthetic materials during training.
Recommendations for beginners on performing training exercises
In order to reach the top class in Taekwondo in the shortest possible time, you need to remember the following:1. As a beginner, you can only improve your level through repetition of poses and movements. If you have no previous experience in other sports, repetition will determine all the improvements in your practice.
Why? To be good at it requires you to be able to control any part of your body in any movement, and in the beginning you don't have that. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly practice and gradually correct the mistakes that will occur. Thus, first we repeat, then we adjust.
2. Correct posture and movement are also very important. And the sooner you achieve this, the better. A movement learned incorrectly is very difficult to correct. The basic elements are very important.
3. Correct position and movement have a number of features. Firstly, they are simple, there is nothing superfluous in them. Secondly, they are natural. By doing them, you will never get injured or hurt yourself. They may seem inconvenient to you at first, but as you progress to the heights of mastery, you will feel that this is really so. A correctly executed movement in taekwondo is harmoniously combined with the structure of the human body.
4. Basic technique training is always difficult. They increase your power very quickly, which requires your full commitment. But provided that your efforts do not harm your body. If you find that of two similar movements, one requires more effort - you should do it. Remember that only when you train harder than your opponent will you be able to control him.
5. And lastly. Intense workouts are tiring. You must find the strength within yourself to overcome fatigue. It's hard. It's hard to force yourself to continue. You need to remember that this is the only way you can achieve real strength for both your body and your spirit.
In order to plan nutrition in preparation for important competitions, it is necessary to understand how the body stores and burns fuel - both fats, which are available in the form of subcutaneous deposits and in the form of fatty acids in the muscles, and carbohydrates, stored in the form of glycogen in the muscles and liver.When the body needs a certain amount of energy, it converts these stored fuels into glucose and sends it to muscle cells. There, oxygen helps break it down, turning it into adenazine triphosphate (ATP). Within just a few seconds, ATP mixes with water, then breaks down again, releasing heat. Some of this heat helps muscles contract. The rest gives a feeling of warmth. (This explains the fact that shivering - involuntary muscle contractions - warms you up.)
In order to convert fats into glucose for fuel, the body needs both carbohydrates and oxygen.
Thus, the amount of carbohydrate (in the form of glycogen) that is stored in the liver and muscles determines how long the body can continue to perform physical activity. When glycogen reserves in the liver run out, this will mean that the body has lost the main fuel necessary for brain function - weakness, chills will appear, dizziness will begin, clarity of thought will be lost and may throw you into a cold sweat. You can get out of this state very quickly by eating food rich in carbohydrates. If muscle glycogen is truly depleted, it will take at least 10 hours to restore its reserves.
One controversial theory is that drinking a dilute sugar solution during—but not before—a race may help replenish upcoming loss of muscle glycogen, but there is no hard evidence for this. What is known is that this process can cause dehydration, which is a real threat in hot weather.
Even during the most efficient aerobic stage of work, part of the anaerobic process still occurs and some lactic acid accumulates in the body. As muscles continue to contract, they send lactic acid into the bloodstream, releasing it as they bear the most physical strain.
As long as the body receives enough oxygen, the liver converts lactate into additional fuel. If physical activity exceeds the body’s capabilities, the liver is unable to fully satisfy the body’s needs; Lactic acid accumulates in the muscles, causing pain, and the athlete is forced to stop moving because he is unable to continue the exercise.
Nutrition before competition
What you eat 12 hours before training or competition determines the amount of glycogen stored in the body for the work ahead. Food taken 4 hours before the start of classes can hardly have an impact on the quality of work, since it will not have time to be processed by the body and converted into the required amount of energy.
Therefore, upcoming participation in long-distance races and any other competitions requires very careful planning. Since many of these start early in the morning, dinner the day before is usually the body's last chance to stock up on fuel.
Eat more potatoes, whole grain bread, sauces, rice and other carbohydrates - as long as it does not cause weight gain. Eat very little fat, because... they make digestion difficult, and avoid spices, as this can cause indigestion from foods that can cause bloating and gas, such as legumes, cabbage.
This last meal should be low in fiber, as eating it within 24 hours of strenuous exercise can cause stomach upset. This means that you need to give up salads and fresh fruits. (If, however, stomach upset occurs, avoid whole grain bread, milk, or coffee.)
Avoid salt by eliminating sausages and other salted foods. Salt food properly during cooking to ensure there is enough salt in your body to protect against heat stroke, and do not consume too much of it. Salt can cause the body's cells to need extra fluid, which will slow down movements and make them clumsy.
Do not eat less than 2 hours before any physical activity.
When preparing for very important competitions, the last meal (breakfast or lunch) should take place 4 hours before the start. If you begin strenuous exercise before your food has been fully digested, you may experience nausea, gassy side pain, and may even force you to quit the race.
Many people get too nervous and don't eat anything at all 5 or 6 hours before a big competition.
Determine experimentally which food gives you strength, and which, on the contrary, only causes increased urination. When you eat before a competition, the food should be light. Simple and refined carbohydrates, such as white flour products and fruit juices, are digested much faster and contain less fiber than complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain cereals. Avoid fats and proteins because they prolong the stomach emptying process. (Consuming protein also causes extra urine to be produced.)
The goal of eating at this time is to get food from the stomach into the bloodstream as quickly as possible if you want to perform on an empty stomach.
Eating before a race will not provide extra energy to sprinters because the race will be over by the time the carbohydrates are converted into fuel.
When engaging in endurance sports, on the contrary, you can use some of the glycogen newly formed by the body.
If you want to eat anything before a competition, avoid solid foods and try liquid diets specifically designed for this purpose. They provide the necessary amount of nutrients for the muscles and are eliminated from the stomach more quickly than solid foods, so such liquid mixtures and products can also be consumed shortly before competition.
One study from the University of Southern California recommended drinking a drink just 30 minutes before maximal exercise without any side effects on the body.
Drinks have particular benefits for speed-strength athletes, who often perform on an empty stomach in order to feel as light as possible. Drinks are also useful as reinforcement during breaks between games in a tournament (for example, at match meetings, at tennis competitions).
But you should not use drinks for a long time, because even those that consist of so-called natural ingredients are an artificial combination of nutrients necessary for the body and they completely lack fiber. Check the labels on drinks to determine the approximate combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat you need, and then test them ahead of time to make sure they are easily digested by your body.
The only liquid food you should avoid is alcoholic drinks. Even a glass of beer will reduce your ability to withstand heat and you will get tired faster. And most moderate doses of alcohol reduce the amount of blood the heart can pump with each beat, while at the same time they increase the amount of oxygen needed by the heart muscles. The presence of alcohol in the body also prevents the breakdown of fats and their transformation into fuel. As a result, the heart and other muscles receive less oxygen and less fuel.
Regardless of whether you eat before a competition, be sure to drink one to three cups of water (more if you can handle that much fluid) both before and after competition. Elite athletes who compete in endurance sports or long matches can drink while competing.
The additional amount of water causes increased diuresis, but also protects the body from heat stroke. Potassium is then excreted, and its supply can be partially restored by drinking fruit juice.
If you compete in sports that require anaerobic activity, hydration is the only thing you need before you start. However, if you participate in cycling, marathon running, long-distance swimming or cross-country skiing, there are three ways your body can develop the ability to use fat for fuel earlier and conserve glycogen stores, while simultaneously increasing the amount of glycogen it can hold. muscles; these are so-called depletion, carbohydrate saturation and simple accumulation.
During muscular work, renal blood flow decreases by 10-20% compared to the resting state, which is accompanied by a decrease in urine formation. In addition, the sweat glands, which function intensely during muscular activity, remove many waste products from the body through sweat and thus partially duplicate the function of the kidneys. Long-term strenuous work (for example, covering the 60-kilometer Tartu Ski Marathon route, cyclist races of 200 - 250 km, etc.) is performed by many athletes without urination.
"Exhaustion"- one of the methods to train the body to use fats as fuel earlier than to use fats as fuel. To do this, once a week you need to free your muscles from glycogen by training until completely exhausted.
The muscles will ache and seem very heavy, coordination of movements will be impaired (you may even need help from a stranger in order to get up, get ready and get home). When the muscles recover - this can take from 12 hours to a week - they will be filled with more glycogen.
Carbohydrate saturation. Another option to trick your muscles into replenishing more glycogen is to use a controversial and dangerous diet consisting almost entirely of carbohydrates, which should be followed six days before the competition. Carbohydrate saturation consists of two phases. In the first phase, you use up the glycogen available in the muscles by exercising to the point of exhaustion, as in the previous case.
During the sixth, fifth, and fourth days before the competition, you deplete all of your muscle glycogen stores by eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and training to the point of exhaustion. Then, for the third and second and one day before the competition, you consume foods consisting of mainly carbohydrates and a small amount of protein, and train without straining.
When you start feeding your muscle cells again with carbohydrates, they react like any hungry organism and absorb much more fuel than they can normally hold. Thus, the muscle fibers are filled with glycogen and become very strong.
This means that on race day your body will be full of glycogen and will be able to withstand strenuous activities for a longer period of time. Carbohydrate loading has recently become popular among athletes, but it is very dangerous and in some cases may not provide additional glycogen storage compared to, say, so-called storage. During the exhaustion phase, you may experience nausea, headaches, weakness, sleep disturbances, and outbursts of rage. The "exhaustion" phase can also lead to a buildup of ketones in the bloodstream - products of immediate fat combustion that can clog the body and harm the kidneys.
“Depletion” is therefore especially dangerous for diabetics, people suffering from kidney or liver disease, and simply for people over 40 years of age. The satiety phase can release myoglobin, a muscle pigment that also clogs the kidneys. It can fill every muscle fiber, including the heart muscle fibers.
If you don't use up all the stored glycogen or if the fibers become overloaded with it, they can rupture.
In addition, tight, glycogen-laden muscles will make you feel uncomfortable, and at the beginning of a long competition you may be significantly slower than your usual pace. Considering all the above dangers, even those who believe in carbohydrate saturation only use it once a year.
This whole process can also cause a backlash.
Carbohydrate saturation can cause muscles to get used to working on glycogen instead of breaking down fats. In order to effectively perform long-term physical activity throughout the year, it is necessary to rely on fats as a source of energy. That's why such a "game" with metabolism once a year can unsettle you and disrupt your training regimen for several months.
Accumulation. To increase your body's glycogen stores, eat more carbohydrates and increase the amount of carbohydrates in your diet four days before the competition.
Instead of storing about 4 g of muscle glycogen per 100 g of body weight; What can be achieved with carbohydrate saturation can accumulate up to 3.5 g per 100 g of weight, says N. Smith, MD, author of Nutrition in Sports, and this is not a big difference for most people.
Make sure not to gain weight, otherwise this may significantly affect your speed capabilities and the results of your performance at the most crucial moment. Drink more water - this will help process additional carbohydrates: muscles need additional fluid, which they take from the bloodstream in order to store excess glycogen. If you do not replace these water costs, the blood flow will become too thick and the kidneys will not be able to function properly.
The method of carbohydrate saturation with its inherent need for training against a background of exhaustion, as well as a large load on the insular apparatus of the pancreas (the hormone insulin is responsible for the synthesis of glycogen from glucose), is unsafe for the health of the athlete.
This two-phase method can be replaced in a safe manner where there is no need to implement a severe depletion phase. So, if an athlete, without preliminary exhaustion, increases the carbohydrate content in food 3-4 days before the competition (in combination with low training loads), then by the time of the start supercompensation of glycogen will also be ensured. However, the accumulation of glycogen when using a safe method will not be as significant as when implementing a method with a depletion phase.
In the first phase, the level of training loads and the athlete’s nutritional pattern should ensure the maximum possible decrease in the concentration of reserve glycogen in the body, mainly in the muscles and liver. To this end, during the first three days of the carbohydrate cycle, the athlete must perform long-term training loads, during which glycogen stores are gradually lost.
Glycogen consumption also occurs during normal training, but its reserves are replenished during periods of rest; To do this, it is necessary to consume an increased amount of carbohydrates, it is from them that glycogen is synthesized in the body. In such cases, each next training session begins against the background of restored glycogen reserves in the body.
However, in the carbohydrate weekly cycle, in the first three days, the restoration of glycogen stores is blocked by eliminating carbohydrates from the athlete’s diet. During these three days, each successive training load is carried out against the background of under-recovery and, thus, “output” prevails over “inflow”.
The consequence of this phase is the complete depletion of reserve glycogen reserves in the body.
After the completion of the first phase, the situation changes; over the next three days, the training load decreases sharply, and the carbohydrate content in the athlete’s diet increases significantly. Thus, in the second phase, “inflow” is higher than “output”; in starved muscles and liver, the process of glycogen accumulation is especially intense.
Within two to three days, at the specified ratio of training load and nutrition, glycogen reserves in the body are restored to the original level. On the third or fourth day, the glycogen content significantly exceeds the level of the pre-carbohydrate cycle, this is super-recovery (supercompensation). With a successful carbohydrate cycle, the level of glycogen in the body can be doubled compared to the initial state. This is important, because the amount of glycogen reserves limits athletic achievements over long distances.
The indicated phases in the structure of the carbohydrate cycle must be correlated in such a way that the time of the athlete’s participation in a responsible competition coincides with the peak of glycogen supercompensation, in this case there are good prerequisites for achieving high sports results. If in this situation the competition is postponed for 2 - 3 days, then supercompensation is lost, glycogen reserves in the body are reduced to normal levels and the opportunity to establish a high sporting achievement is also lost. Thus, the efforts to saturate the body with carbohydrates are in vain.
The carbohydrate cycle is used by highly qualified athletes; Those involved in recreational physical education should not use it.
How many of you have wondered what you can and cannot do immediately before a competition? Do you mean the preparation of an athlete when there are two weeks, a week, one day left before the start of the competition? After all, scientific and practical sports literature that competently gave advice on what to do before a fight can hardly be found. And even before the championship itself, many, even experienced athletes, begin to experience pre-competition anxiety. Read about what rules you should follow, what you can and cannot do before competitions, in this article.
How much rest do you need?
If we talk about one of the most important components of an athlete - physical, in our case an armwrestler (taken as an example of a combination of technique and strength indicators), then two weeks are considered the optimal period for stopping training before a competition. This period is sufficient for the recovery of muscles and ligaments after pre-competition strength training. During the same time, the nerve fibers come into order and the reaction speed increases. Muscle strength even increases, since the muscle fibers damaged during training are completely healed, the muscles are freed from the products of training activity, the so-called waste products - lactic acid, pyruvic acid, etc. Some professionals begin to rest even three weeks before. However, after such a rest, the muscles may feel somewhat empty: it seems that the arms have become weaker than a couple of weeks ago, the tone has gone from the muscles, and the volume of the muscles has decreased. These are erroneous sensations, there is no need to worry about this. But even they are better than the feeling of heaviness, “clogged” muscles after too short a rest.
Stress: why should you avoid it? From a biology course we know that when muscles contract, it is not the muscles themselves that become tired, but the nerve fibers that send them electrical impulses. So the athlete’s head should be bright, free from all “negativity”.
"Sgonka"
Things get more complicated when an athlete drops weight to get into their weight class. When you’re hungry, you don’t get much rest, and your head is constantly filled with thoughts about food. There can only be one piece of advice here: don’t sit idle. Any activity increases metabolism and energy consumption, which means weight is lost faster. You can add amino acids to your regular food to increase the protein content of your diet. It is very important for the “beaters” after weighing not to immediately jump on liquids and rough heavy food, since the stomach, wrinkled after a hunger strike, will not be able to immediately start working, and rough food will cause discomfort, pain and heaviness in the stomach. It is necessary to introduce the gastrointestinal tract into normal mode gradually. The best way to do this is chicken broth. And some time after the broth you can eat something
more substantial, for example, thick soup, or chicken with vegetables, salad. Everyone here has their own tastes. The main thing is to wait until the appetite comes.
And now - to the attention of beginners. If you come to a big championship where strong guys will fight, you don’t need to find out which of the champions, “monsters” will be in your category. Excessive excitement before competitions is absolutely useless; it is an extra waste of energy. Save your nerves, because there is still night ahead, you need to get a good night's sleep before the fight. What will be will be. And all the stories of your colleagues from other teams about how wonderfully prepared their friends or themselves are, and that they will “tear” everyone here, should be ignored.
At the last moment
Let's move on directly to the competition. Many people had their forearms or biceps “clogged” in wrestling. The reason for this is the fluid that accumulates in the muscles during work. What can be done to prevent this from happening? Just don't drink water! It is best to reduce the amount of fluid you drink starting the evening before the competition. Cut back in the sense of not drinking unless necessary. I’ll tell you from experience: you don’t really want to drink at competitions, and if you do, you can be patient, taking only occasional small sips to moisten your throat. Patience will be rewarded by the fact that your hands will not get clogged during the struggle and will respond well to nerve impulses.
Special attention should be paid to such a common phenomenon among athletes as jitters. Many people know firsthand what it means to “burn out” in competitions. When your hands become weak, you want to sleep, you don’t want to strain. These are nerves, fear of opponents, fear of losing. Anyone who experiences such feelings must, first of all, calm down and pull themselves together. Calmly figure it all out and ask yourself a few questions:
WHY DID I COME TO THE COMPETITION?
SHOULD I TRAIN LONG AND HARD TO FIGHT HERE?
IF I EXPECT TO WIN, THEN WHY AM I WORRIED?
IF I DON’T COUNT ON WIN, THEN MAYBE WHAT WILL HAPPEN, AND IT’S NECESSARY
JUST FIGHT - LIKE THE LAST TIME?
Your rivals are the same people, people of flesh and blood, just like you. Turn your fear into aggression! Someone has to lose, that's the sport. In whose place you want to be - a winner or a loser, it's up to you to decide. Competitions are the same training in which we fight with our comrades. Only there are many more comrades here and mistakes are not forgiven. Only those who are confident reach heights. Fight your opponent, not your inner fears and thoughts. And so you will win!
These days before the competition should provide an optimal approach to the start. During this period, in particular, one should not make mistakes in the volume and intensity of training, in the mode, rest and in other components of preparation.
The overall training load is usually reduced in one to two weeks before the start to such an extent as to ensure full recovery of all capabilities.
The volume of special training work is also reduced. The volume of exercises to maintain general endurance and performance, the duration of active rest in the pre-competition days may not be reduced, although the intensity for the most part decreases. After such exercises, the athlete should fully recover during night sleep.
Lighter-volume training in the pre-competition days maintains the functional state of the body and, most importantly, increases the performance of the central nervous system.
Today, there are 3 ways to achieve the best performance of the central nervous system of track and field athletes for competition.
1. For speed-strength athletes, it is important to use the natural increase in excitability (tone) of the central nervous system that occurs in the pre-race days. As noted earlier, with increased excitability (at optimum) of nerve cells, they respond to stimuli with more energetic activity.
Consequently, the success of an athlete in competition largely depends on the optimal level of excitability of nerve cells. Increasing the excitability of the central nervous system, due to its leading role in the body, has a positive effect on all organs and systems that determine the performance of athletes. Hence, an increase in the tone of the central nervous system contributes to the speed of movements, better manifestation of strength and jumping ability.
2. For all track and field athletes, it is very important to ensure the best performance of those nerve centers that determine the performance of the chosen type of athletics and performance in it. This can be achieved by fully restoring their functionality after many weeks of training; for those specializing in short sprints, jumping and throwing, this is achieved by light training (with an intensity of 0.8-0.9 to the competition) and recovery means for 8-10 pre-competition days.
3. For 400 m runners, intermediate athletes, stayers and fast walkers, complete restoration of the functional capabilities of the central nervous system is also necessary, avoiding a significant increase in its excitability in the pre-competition days.
For track and field athletes of this profile, the total volume of training load in the penultimate week before the competition increases against the usual, and in the last week it sharply decreases. However, only the volume decreases, and the intensity, especially 3 days before the start, remains in shortened segments at the competitive level or slightly exceeding it.
An athlete usually begins to worry a few days before a competition, although he does not always feel it. Experience shows that the higher the athlete’s sense of responsibility, the earlier the process of arousal begins and the more significantly excitability rises. Consequently, an increase in excitability occurs before the competition for several days. It is important that she reaches a high level on the day of the competition and maintains this level in the subsequent days of the competition.
It should be taken into account that if in the pre-competition days (usually on the eve of the start) excitement reaches a very high level (this is facilitated by living conditions in the Olympic village, conversations about upcoming competitions, meetings with an opponent, thoughts about a possible result, etc.), then the mechanism may work protective inhibition (more often this occurs during night sleep), protecting nerve cells from overstrain and exhaustion. In this case, the athlete, who felt full of strength and energy on the eve of the competition, wakes up exhausted. “Burned out,” they say figuratively in such cases.
To prevent such a phenomenon, one should, distracting from the problems of sports, fill the time with reading and conversation on issues not related to athletics.
And most importantly, do physical exercises daily, which will prevent excessive development of excitability.
In this case, excitability, as if “held back” in its development, will rise especially high on the day of the competition. This should not be allowed to runners who require endurance during long-term work, and increased excitability of the central nervous system impairs the efficiency of the functions of some organs and systems of runners and fast walkers. As a result, the body's energy expenditure increases compared to usual and, consequently, sports results worsen.
To prevent this from happening, excitability in the pre-race days should be reduced by daily long running and walking in the morning and the inclusion of such work in the main training sessions. In addition, a long run (20-30 minutes) can be carried out at a calm pace 6 hours before the start, as well as a mandatory long run as a warm-up.
Taking many days off from sports training before a competition is a surefire way to crash.
Full restoration of performance before a competition and achievement of maximum functional capabilities are created by reducing the training load, but not by adding rest days. Most of the strongest athletes rest only one day, after which the next day, on the eve of the start, they conduct a light training session. Many of them do without complete rest, replacing it with active recreation (walking, cross-country, etc.). However, it should be habitual.
24 hours before the competition, a warm-up is performed (the same as usually before a training session) or a light workout is carried out.
During the warm-up, you should not strain yourself to the point of sweating. It is better to warm up in a warm training suit. This warm-up relieves excessive excitement, increases metabolic processes, and improves the athlete’s performance in competition the next day. One day of passive rest on the eve of the competition will not be beneficial.
At multi-day competitions, it is not always advisable for a participant to attend competitions before the day of his performance: the athlete-spectator of the competition is also tired.
You can attend them in the following cases: when you need to get acquainted with an example of the technique and tactics of the strongest athletes, to see an opponent running at a different distance; when there are many days before the start, it is necessary to plunge into the atmosphere of wrestling at least a week before. It must be remembered that presence at a competition sharply increases the athlete’s excitement, after which in the next 2-3 days there may be a sharp decline, a decrease in performance, but usually another 2-3 days after this, performance again reaches its highest level.
It is very important not to disrupt your usual way of life in the last days before the competition. This especially applies to daily routine and diet. It is not recommended to use massage for those athletes who have never been massaged before; rest lying down more than usual; talk about possible victories, results, etc.
Participation in the competition also has its own rules. On the day of the competition, the athlete must first concentrate his attention on what is needed to ensure his participation in it, and then tune in to it. On this day, the athlete should not use any sedative pharmacological agents - against an optimal increase in excitability. Excitement on race day usually helps athletes perform more successfully. Of course, you should not use stimulants.
We must remember that at the competition site, excitability will still rise very high, and only average athletes, stayers and fast walkers, as mentioned earlier, need to take off excess excitement with a long run in the warm-up.
Before the competition, you need to prepare and check your equipment, clothes - everything, right down to the strength of the laces and elastic bands.
It is recommended to arrive at the competition 60-80 minutes in advance, so that you can change clothes and warm up without rushing. It must be started in such a way that it is completed shortly before participation in the competition. The athlete must specify the start time of the warm-up, its content, dosage and duration. Naturally, the athlete should easily tolerate the load during the warm-up and it should be familiar. Before the competition they begin to warm up 40-70 minutes before the competition. before the start, leaving time for registration and rest before being called to the start. It is very important that athletes rehearse the warm-up in advance in the designated areas and go all the way to the start site, which will help them avoid unnecessary nervousness and not be late for registration and the start. Experience shows that at the largest competitions the athlete needs to do everything himself, without relying on the help of a coach.
In different types of athletics, warm-up is carried out differently (in duration, intensity, rest intervals, etc.), but in all cases sufficient warming up and adjustment to the upcoming work must be ensured, keeping the body warm (warm suit) during breaks for rest and preparation to the exit to the competition site. It also requires high concentration and attunement at the competition site.
The first part of the warm-up differs from the warm-up in training sessions only in that before the competition, warm-up is achieved by a calmer run, a more gradual involvement in work.
The second part of the warm-up - setting up for the upcoming work - is carried out first in a place specially designated for warm-up. In connection with the preparation for such a setup (putting on special shoes, carrying sports equipment, moving to the exercise site, etc.), a 2-5 minute break may occur. After performing “tuning” exercises (repeating their track and field event in parts and as a whole, with increasing speed, but avoiding maximum effort), athletes must prepare to go to the start site: change into dry shorts and a T-shirt, do a light massage*, rub themselves with products, causing a rush of blood to the muscles, rest, completely relaxing the muscles.
Some athletes find it useful to do some exercises during this break, mainly to improve muscle elasticity and joint mobility. After the break, the athlete continues the second part of the warm-up at the competition site, where the participants are taken out 5-15 minutes in advance. before the start and where they try to perform trial attempts in most athletics events. Trial attempts are necessary: they prepare you for the upcoming participation in the competition, contribute to the necessary accuracy of movements and confidence. However, they cannot be performed with maximum effort, since even one such attempt can sharply reduce performance in the competition. In such cases, athletes say that they are “discharged” even before the competition. Particular attention should be paid to this aspect of the warm-up of athletes, since, despite frequent cases of negative effects of maximum trials, they continue to occur today, especially in throwers.
Often athletes start twice or thrice a day with breaks of 20-60 minutes, and sometimes more. In this case, before each subsequent start, an additional warm-up is needed for 10-15 minutes. Usually this is a slow run (5-8 minutes), slight acceleration in running, adjustment to the upcoming action, carried out without much tension. During short breaks (up to 10 minutes), it is enough just to keep the body warm.
Before the qualifying competition, held in the morning on the day of the main competition, two warm-up options are possible: for those who fulfill the established standard very easily, it can be lightened (but not less than 20-30 minutes), for those who overcome the qualifications with difficulty, a warm-up in in full. If qualifying competitions take place on the eve of the main competition, then a full warm-up is required for all athletes.
During long competitions, it is especially important to keep the body warm, conserve energy and rest properly.
If competitions are held in mid-mountain conditions, then the usual warm-up is used, but it takes longer (25-35%) due to increasing intervals between exercises and is carried out more gradually than in flat conditions. In mid-altitude conditions, the role of training in warming up, especially endurance, increases significantly.
During the warm-up and during the competition, you need to focus all your attention and thoughts on the upcoming performance. You should not conduct “sports” conversations, go to spectators, or interfere with the actions of other athletes. There is no need to rely on the poor results of your opponents; on the contrary, long before the competition one must be prepared for the fact that they can achieve very great success.
One should not consider oneself to have achieved success until the competition is over: success at the beginning is not victory. Complacency often leads to defeat. It is easier to get out of a state of competitive tension than to enter it. This can only be done after the competition is over.
You should never lose heart during a competition. Soviet athletes are distinguished by the will to win, the desire to achieve the intended goal, despite any difficulties. Often an unsuccessful start mobilizes an athlete, and he ends the competition with a victory.
The role of the collective, the team, is very important. A general interest in personal and team victories makes athletes especially sensitive to the successes or failures of their comrades. In this regard, it is important to take into account the possibility of a kind of “chain reaction”. It’s good when the success of one athlete becomes the beginning of the same performance of others. At the same time, the failure of one athlete can play a fatal role for the entire team. Therefore, athletes must understand the essence of such negative influences and resist them. During a competition, you cannot talk a lot about your failure, be in a gloomy mood, share your experiences with other athletes, or talk about the unsuccessful performance of a comrade. If athletes, coaches and managers are full of optimism and inspiration, then there will be no basis for the development of negative “chain reactions” in the team.
After finishing a competition of any scale, the final part is required - slow running (jogging), several relaxation and breathing exercises.
You should not get carried away with training the day after the culminating competition and especially on the second day after it. This can lead to injuries and nervous strain. Mostly this happens after a failure in a competition, when the athlete tries to force training in the following days. At the end of the competition, you need to train, but lightly, less in specialization and more in general physical training.
* If an athlete has reduced excitability of the nervous system (lethargy, apathy, etc.), an stimulating massage is used.