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Forest Circuits
One day a week I do circuits. This entails finding a creek bed or up and down area that is about 200 meters long one way. I jog out a course through the banks, winding through areas that will call for agility to negotiate.
I try to incorporate in the route, jumps, balancing walks, tree roots, etc. After I have a route of about 400 meters laid out, I do one, at a controlled speed. Then I do another one slightly faster, trying to bring the time to complete it down by a few seconds. I do at least 4 repeats the first week, and add one repetition each week, until I have reached 10. The route can then be lenghtened or a new one established.
The key is to tax the body in a way that it get some practice doing some movements that orienteering always hands the competitor. The first repetition should be the slowest and the last one the fastest, so controlled speed is what you are looking for. This is just like interval training for track. Take a rest between repeats that is adequate to get the heart rate back down, but don't make it too long. Time the rests.
The purpose of this work-out is to improve agility, and strength. If you never practice leaping over a span, you don't have confidence about whether you can make it. Same goes for walking across a fallen tree bridge. Running through rough obstacles improves your hand/eye coordination. If you read a map while doing this, it would be even better. This work-out will also improve the cardio-vascular system as it will stress the oxygen carrying ability.
source: Miki Snell - compiled by peggy dickison
added on 2000-02-15 14:47:10.0 by ken