Medical Advice

SOME TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR START TO THIS SEASON'S MARATHON TRAINING

These are the essential steps that you should not forget to take before even starting training for the marathon, so that this race is a source of pleasure and not hardship.

The Marathon, a true myth of both the Ancient and Modern Olympics, can present health risks when you have medical contra-indications or when you undertake unsuitable training. This foot race makes strong demands not only on the cardiovascular system, but also on the locomotive system (joints, tendons, muscles, etc.). That is why it is important, before resuming this training, carefully to evaluate any cardiovascular contra-indications, on the one hand, (a recent heart attack or uneven heartbeat, etc.), as well as any bone and joint contra-indications (obesity, wearing of the knee, hip, or ankle cartilage or any back trouble, etc.). This very long-distance race may not only adversely affect the body and place considerable demands on the lower limbs, but also place demands on the whole spinal column. That is why it is essential to get a medical check-up with a sports doctor before starting training. The check-up will not only ensure that there are no contra-indications, but will also evalu-ate your present physical condition and your individual potential, according to your sports history. You should also take an aerobic-effort test (VO2 MAX) which will enable you to optimise the real quality of your training.

This VO2 MAX effort test, which is so often requested by marathon runners, enables you to determine not only your stamina level, but, above all, your lactic zone (anaerobic-aerobic threshold) which will constitute the basis for a training plan for the weeks and months to come. This training plan will consist of pure stamina work (adaptation to your heart rate) combined with a repetitive-type training. Since each individual is different, each training plan thus needs to be personalised.

To optimise your marathon training, you must, from the very beginning, respect the slow progression in both the frequency of the training sessions and in the workload.

Moreover, it is essential to deal with any excess weight before resuming training by a suitable diet (optimisation of the weight/body-fat ratio), to properly evaluate the quality of your shoes and how well they suit your morphology, to respect a lifestyle that is suitable for this kind of effort (no smoking, sleeping properly, resting adequately, drinking and eating suitably, etc.).

Dr Hakim CHALABI

Department of High Standard Sport

MOVENTIS

Sport locomotive-system Clinic