Training scientist Max Rieder emphasizes: "Every movement is better than none." In the interview, the expert from the Olympic base in Garmisch-Partenkirchen talks about football breaks and quarantine sports.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Max Rieder (57) has been active in competitive sports for 30 years, for 20 years he has been looking after professional athletes from skiing - including Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg - as well as up-and-coming skiers at the Olympic base in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. As a training scientist, he knows exactly how to set the right training stimuli and how non-training affects the body. In an interview, the man from Oberammergau talks about the muscles after two weeks of corona quarantine, explains why endurance athletes can see peace of mind for 14 days and how footballers can counteract a chaotic training start after the forced break.
Mr. Rieder, imagine that: you are healthy in quarantine and two weeks without exercise.
... there is no such thing. Moving is always possible.
But if you shouldn't go out.
Then I would know many, many ways to keep myself fit.
There are lots of exercises for the muscles. But what about the condition? How much will she suffer in two weeks?
Of course, it always depends on the starting point. Let's take a fit recreational athlete who runs regularly, several times a week, or goes up the mountain. A two week break is not particularly noticeable.
So there is enough air for a half marathon after a 14-day break?
If you did it before - sure. You won't notice a big difference in breathing. Only the legs may become heavy. A question of the muscles.
Two weeks break - the muscles don't like it at all
Even if you trained your muscles at home?
Then of course not as strong, possibly hardly. There is a lot to compensate for. But it will probably pinch a bit on a longer route anyway. One cannot replace the specific running load without running 100 percent.
If someone really does nothing for two weeks: what do the muscles say?
They don't like that. Neither do I (laughs). Anyone who has ever had an injury knows: after a few days, the muscle will already break down. As I said, this is also noticeable when you run.
Quarantine or not: Some were not allowed to train. Soccer players, for example. Your forecast: will the first training session be a mess?
There is a possibility (laughs). One or the other will be wondering whether he has ever been able to handle the ball on his foot or whether he has forgotten how to play football.
What will it catch?
Certainly a lot has been lost in cooperation and in the quick eye. The soccer player is characterized by spatial vision. Estimating where the ball is going, how the opponent is moving. Add to that your own movement with the ball, the quick reaction to the environment. It's all very complex.
... and is probably difficult to improve without football training?
One can train the neural system, the brain and the eye, for oneself.
Eye training for the soccer players
How?
For example, through eye training. You first look at a point in front of you on the table, then look out of the window, fixed a point about 40 meters away. You jump back and forth between these two points. This improves peripheral vision. Or you look to the bottom left and top right, then bottom right and top left, always alternating without moving your head.
And that should help footballers?
The best training for soccer is of course soccer. But yes, these little exercises definitely help. This compensates at least a little for the lack of training in the team and with the ball. The same applies to the perception of one's own movement.
What do you mean by that?
The player - and this applies to all other sports - must always know where he is in the room and how. This can also be trained well.
Give us another example.
This is basically possible with every balance or stability exercise. You close your eyes and concentrate on your body. Does your back sag? Do I keep the leg horizontal? Is my head straight? Are my legs parallel? So I get a feeling for my body in the room.
Footballers shouldn't just go jogging
What else do footballers have to watch out for so that they don't start from scratch in their first training session?
Basically, of course, you should keep yourself fit. And don't just go jogging. In the long run, that would be counterproductive. Footballers need a super fast start. The first steps are crucial. That means: interval training, short sprints, quick steps - they can also be done in the living room. Regardless, it makes sense that everyone uses the time to train things that have long been neglected.
Stretching for example?
For example. Or you strengthen the back, the belly, the side, work on the trunk stability, improve the balance. Everything that every athlete, whether professional or not, whether runner, footballer or skier, urgently needs.
Are recreational athletes aware of this?
A lot has happened in recent years. Some areas also benefit from a certain trend. Gymnastics and stretching - whoever hears this loses their desire, it doesn't sound particularly sexy. Now it's called a mobility session - it's already fun. Formulated somewhat exaggerated. But that's an important point. You shouldn't get cramped. Motivation and having fun is the most important thing.
So that you can move at all.
Exactly - and you stick with it once you've started sport. You can only do that if you enjoy it. Basically, every movement is better than none.
In the country more joggers and cyclists through Corona
What is your impression: Do people move more or less through Corona and its consequences, such as short-time work?
It may be different in the city. But I think they move more in the country. In any case, I've never seen so many people cycling or jogging as in the past few weeks. For some it is immediately clear that the pants and shoes have not been around for a long time.
Are you happy?
Right. I think movement is in our genes. Many have only forgotten them. If only a few people think about it again, then something is already won. Movement heals is good for the brain, the muscles, everything.
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