Ingrid Roberts with Actress Leeandra Reddy

Darian Townsend - Olympic Swimmer (Gold Medalist)

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DON’T TRAIN TO HARD, SAY THE STARS
The Witness Thursday April 24 2008 By Kate Richards

TIPS: Top sport achievers offer sound advice to local athletes

'OVERTRAINING is a huge mistake." So says swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Darian Townsend, who appeared with other sports personalities at a talk held at Maritzburg Golf Club recently.

Townsend appeared with Nick Stubbs, Craig Turton and Robyn Kime (canoeists) and Kendra Joubert (national tennis and squash player). Advice on sports and training was also on offer from Paul Candler, a biokineticist from Midlands Wellness Centre and Garth Oliver, a physiotherapist from Active Physios.

Common themes emerged during the talks. One of these is that athletes should never over‑train.
Townsend's training is rigorous but he also has a rest day.
On a normal training day he cross-trains and completes nine swimming sessions. He also does weight training three days a week and runs twice a week, but he always has Sunday off.

Townsend lives with Roland Schoeman in, Tuson, Arizona and they like to have a Sunday "braai" with steaks and water. "There is no Castle lager in Arizona,' he quips. Townsend says that you know you have over‑trained if your heart rate is higher than normal when you wake up.

Candler adds that you know you have over‑trained if you feel a loss of enthusiasm about training and your performance deteriorates, in which case many people train harder, exacerbating the problem.

Turton, who came sixth in the 2008 Dusi marathon and second in the non‑stop Dusi, says, "Rather go into a race slightly under‑prepared than having over‑trained." He also believes that diet and supplements are important. Kime, who came second with Laura Thompson in the Dusi, also stressed the importance of diet. I try to have a balanced diet most of the time and take multivitamins every morning. For endurance races nutrition is even more important. I take carbo‑loading supplements for three to four days before a hard race and I make sure to eat a good breakfast on racing days. When I'm racing I try to stay hydrated and I take energy gels whenever I'm feeling low.

All of the featured athletes take supplements and try to eat well, although eating a balanced diet is often tricky for the students.

Candler cautioned that there is currently no control on the exact composition of products in the supplement industry and no system to ensure that they are safe and effective. This can lead to athletes testing positive for banned ingredients in doping tests. "I have friends that have failed doping tests. It's very real," cautions Townsend.

Turton summed up the evening deftly. 1 would like to recommend, to everyone playing sport that they concentrate ' on their diets, train as hard as they can, remember to rest, and never give up.' (They must) keep a strong mind and have a strong body to achieve their goals."

Notably all the speakers supported sensible supplementation, with 4 of the 5 as well as Candler supporting GNLD’s range of vitamins as their preferred range of choice. Candler added that GNLD was the only range he would recommend through his Wellness Centre, based on the level of scientific research in safety and bio compatability for the past 50 years.

The event was organised by Ingrid Roberts and Company, Mentors in Health & Happiness. For more information on Ingrid’s ongoing informative talks, e‑mail imrint@futurenetcoza