Questions and answers
This page gives answers to the frequently and/or important asked questions !
| Q1 |
| Do you have a training plan for my sport ? |
| The site is generalist and its objective is not to provide training plans contrary to some specialized sites (Ref.). |
| Q2 |
| Do you have a form to calculate the aerobic power for my sport ? |
| A measure of the maximal aerobic power must involve more than 2/3 of muscular mass. Some sports (biking, swimming, rowing, etc.) suppress body weight, add inertia, friction, etc., that complicates the measure and increases tremendously the error margin. There are many measure protocols but the simplest and more correct solution is to use the running time on 2000 m (Ref.). |
| Q3 |
| Why the muscles of sprinters are bigger than those of endurance sportsmen ? |
| Because they have a great proportion of "fast" fibers which are more voluminous than the "slow" ones (Ref.). |
| Q4 |
| What is the difference between the hearts of endurance and sprint sportsmen ? |
| The heart of an endurance sportsman is much bigger and powerful than the sprinter one (Ref.). |
| Q5 |
| What is the proportion of muscular fibers for a weightlifter ? |
| As strength requests the whole fibers, weightlifters have as many "fast" fibers as "slow" (Ref.). |
| Q6 |
| What are the best sports for aged people ? |
| Endurance sports fit better the aged people (without cardiovascular disease). Hard but less violent with bones, articulations, tendons, muscles, they are more profitable for the cardiovascular, hormonal and immunitary system. Possibly, the "carried" sports (biking, swimming, rowing, etc.) are less tiring than running (Ref.). |
| Q7 |
| How to improve the cardiovascular system for a team sport ? |
| In running regularly (once a week at least) and intensively (non-stop) on sufficient distances (5 to 10 kms) (Ref.). |
| Q8 |
| When should I walk or run ? |
| Over 7 km/h, walking uses more energy than running, at the opposite, under 7 km/h, running uses more energy than walking. |
| Q9 |
| What is the origin of stiffnesses ? |
| There are various viewpoints, biomechanical and biochemical. The biomechanical origin would be a muscular traumatism coming from micro-tears of fibers. The biochemical origin would be an inflammatory reaction near damaged cells. |
| Q10 |
| When is the heart suffering ? |
| At the opposite of skeletal muscles fed by systole, the heart is fed with coronary arteries by diastole. It is dangerous to keep it too long in its maximum frequency (Ref.). |
| Q11 |
| Why to warm up ? |
| A warm up starts the biomechanical and biochemical processes before an effort. It is as much important as the effort is violent (strength and speed efforts). Each sportsman must warm up accordingly to his proper feeling (Ref.). |
| Q12 |
| What is the origin of cramps ? |
| A cramp is an involontary contraction due to the change of the usual muscle posture. It comes from a lack of calcium or potassium. |
| Q13 |
| What do the anaerobic threshold and the aerobic threshold mean ? |
| The anaerobic threshold and the aerobic threshold are arbitrary values defined respectively by 4 and 2 mmol/l of lactaemia. The biologic or experimental sense of these "thresholds" is very controversial. They are often used abusively by endurance runners (Ref.). |
| Q14 |
| What is the best sport to lose weight ? |
| The best way to lose weight is to run regularly (once a week at least), not too much intensively but as long as possible (45 min at least). It is also very important to limit the amount of food because the consumed energy has to be close to the produced one (Ref.). |
| Q15 |
| What is the best cardiac level to train ? |
| From minimum and maximum heart rates, it is possible to define target zones characterizing an effort (Ref.). |
| Q16 |
| What does overcompensation mean ? |
| Overcompensation is the process by which a strongly stimulated organism tends to recreate its reserves by exceeding the initial level (Ref.). |
| Q17 |
| What is the interest of body-building ? |
| Body-building (with heavy loads) is fundamental for speed sports because it's the best way to develop the "fast" fibers of muscles (Ref.). |
| Q18 |
| What is the role of carbohydrates in food ? |
| Glucids allow to reconstitute the reserves of glycogen but are transformed into fats when they are in excess. (Ref.). |
| Q19 |
| What are the best lipids ? |
| The polyunsaturated fatty acids are indispensable for our body (cell membranes, nervous system). As our body is not capable of making them, we have absolutely to eat the foods which contain them. (Ref.). |
| Q20 |
| What is the influence of the sport on the blood cholesterol ? |
| Only the endurance sports have an effect on the cholesterol, they increase the good one (HDL-cholesterol) and decrease the bad one (LDL-cholesterol). It is very important to limit saturated fats into the food. (Ref.). |
| Q21 |
| How is it possible to evaluate easily a physical shape ? |
| There is a little test (Ruffier's test) which evaluate simply the physical shape from three heart rates. (Ref.). |
| Q22 |
| In cycling, what is the good pedaling frequency range ? |
| The correct frequency range is about 60 to 100 rt/min but it is more judicious to remain over 80 rt/min in sustained effort. (Ref.). |
| Q23 |
| How to determine the maximum heart rate ? |
| In running intensively on a sufficient distance (more than 4 kms) and finishing with a sprint and/or climbing. (Ref.). |