National team coach Russia biathlon Andrei Padin, in an interview with , noted that if national athletes are allowed to participate in the World Cup, performing in the mountains will not be stressful for them.
— Your group’s meeting in Izhevsk has just ended. In summary, did everything go as planned?
– Yes, everything is going as planned. The health of the athletes did not fail, everyone was in good health, everyone was in a fighting mood. Therefore, the collection can be rated A, they did a great job. Firstly, we were lucky with the weather – this is one of the main nuances. Secondly, when a large number of teams train in one place, discomfort is created, but there were not many athletes here at that time, so no discomfort was observed.
— Where will the team go after Izhevsk?
— We are heading to a high altitude training camp in Sochi, where we will continue our preparations. In Izhevsk there was a collection, so to speak, working for the mountain. To date, after the past preparatory period, we have increased the aerobic potential of athletes quite well. Now they are at a good level, so I wouldn’t want to lose him during this period. The challenge is to preserve this potential and, if possible, to try to increase it.
After Sochi we will have a small unloading microcycle at home and on the first of November we will start on the snow in Tyumen, in Khanty we plan to go to the competition.
— From now on, our biathletes compete in Russia and not in the mountains. Can you explain in more detail why mountain training is necessary in these conditions?
— Mountain training is necessary to increase aerobic potential. People don’t go to the mountains to perform in the mountains, but because at high altitude, the body fights against hypoxia and stress. Therefore, to increase our performance, we go to the mountains. High altitude training is essential.
Many athletes respond well to high altitude stress. There are those who have an average response, and some sometimes have no response, they can train in the mountains, but remain at their previous level.
— Some biathletes have difficulty with such preparation. How is this compatible with professional biathlon, knowing that international competitions take place in the mountains?
— We all strive to participate in international competitions, and the interesting point is that the international calendar is designed in such a way that every week the starts take place at different altitudes and in different places, and the so-called swing is obtained. And in order for the body to be ready for this, it is necessary to use all possible conditions for training. If you don’t do this during the training process, then it will be much more difficult to do it during the competition period. So, athletes who have difficulty training in the mountains simply have to adapt to it, get used to it. And I would advise them to do more unloved exercises and create more uncomfortable conditions for the body. And it will lead to results. Unloved workouts tell the body what the athlete’s limiting factor is. If the training is uncomfortable and difficult, you should pay attention to it. Why train qualities that nature has already endowed?
— Is the volume of training in the mountains now different from what it was in previous seasons, when our athletes went to the World Cup?
— Much depends on the goals and objectives of the season. I wouldn’t say it’s different. Yes, we cannot organize competitions in the mountains, but training takes place there regularly. But again, it depends on the task at hand for the upcoming season. In principle, it is possible to employ a small amount of mountain training during one of the seasons closest to the main start of the four-year period. And on the eve of the main start of the fourth anniversary, in order to achieve a better effect, you can resort more to mountain training.
— If a miracle happens and after the new year our biathletes are allowed to participate in international competitions, will they be able to compete in the mountains?
“They are quite well prepared, for them participating in mountain competitions will not be stressful. There will be positive emotions and this will encourage them even more to perform at international competitions. And they’re pretty much ready for the mountains, so there’s nothing so scary,” Padin told .
Russian and Belarusian biathletes have been suspended from competitions under the auspices of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).
Source : MatchTV
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