Gearing Up Your Exercise Program – Beginning Tips on Performance Training

Do you feel like you have hit a rut in your training and aren’t seeing your goals materializing? Do you have the goal of entering a race or event that challenges you? Do you want to take your exercise program to the next level and see how your body responds? Performance training may be the answer to improve the quality of your workouts and meet your goals.

What you’ll need:
• Daily training log (track morning resting heart rate, workout for the day, how your body responded, sleep quality, and daily weight) - Download a sample training log
• Heart rate monitor

Performance training can be applied to almost any kind of sport, including running, walking, swimming, bicycling, cross-country skiing or rowing. The program consists of three phases.

Phase 1: Base Level Aerobic Training – 8-12 weeks
• Easy pace with gradual progression (10% each week) in duration or distance
• Heart rate under 70-75% of maximum (see heart rate monitor booklet or get a formal VO2 max test with your doctor to determine your specific heart rate zones for training)
• Include recovery days (do yoga, stretching, walking, or take a day off)

Phase 2: Aerobic Build Training – 8 weeks
• Higher intensity levels, adding interval training (increased pace for short duration, followed by a recovery period of equal duration)
• Increase the duration or number of intervals by 10% each week
• Heart rate target is about 85% of max but not above this

Phase 3: Anaerobic Build Phase – 4-6 weeks
• For 3-4 weeks, increase intensity of intervals, with longer recovery periods between (recovery period should be twice as long as interval)
• Heart rate target is above 85% of max
• In the 1-2 weeks leading up to your event, gradually taper down your training volume to half

Get full details about this program and each of the phases, including examples

Remember to listen to your body and keep a healthy balance
• Always start with a 10 minute warm-up and end with a 10 minute cool-down
• Recovery days are important to repair and build muscle tissue and to make your body more efficient at using oxygen
• Good nutrition and hydration are key in keeping the muscles well-fueled for quality workouts
• Sleep is critical because your body releases growth hormone while sleeping to allow tissue repair
• Stress and alcohol hampers recovery
• Train well and not necessarily harder
• Evaluate your training log to watch for signs of overtraining/overreaching
• Always consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program

Contributed by Dean Sports Medicine Physician Deanne Eccles-Rotar, MD

Learn more:
Dean Sports Medicine Services
Health Topics A-Z: Sports Medicine

Options for Vision Correction

Tired of wearing glasses or contact lenses? Many people are ditching the hassles of glasses and contacts and turning to refractive surgery.
Refractive surgery refers to any surgery, laser or non-laser, which changes the way the eye focuses light internally, to reduce or eliminate nearsightedness (myopia), astigmatism, or farsightedness (hyperopia). LASIK is the most well-known type of refractive surgery, but these days there are several options for people to consider:

Laser Surgery
• LASIK: A thin flap is created on the outside of the cornea and folded back, so that a laser can reshape the layers deep inside the cornea and correct the eye’s focus.
• PRK: The surface layer of the cornea is removed, and a laser reshapes the middle layer of the cornea to correct the eye’s focus.
• INTRALASE: This procedure is LASIK, using a blade-free process to create the corneal flap with tiny, precise bursts of laser light.
• LASEK: This procedure is a slight variation of LASIK which preserves more corneal tissue, making it a better option for some patients who have thin corneas.

Phakic Intraocular Lenses
• Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL): A paper-thin synthetic lens is micro-surgically placed between the cornea and the iris, and works with the eye's existing lens to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness.
• Clear Lens Extraction (CLE): This procedure involves removing the eye's clear lens and inserting an artificial lens, and it is generally only recommended for patients who are extremely nearsighted.

For more information or to schedule a free refractive surgery consultation, visit the Davis Duehr Dean website, or contact our experts at Davis Duehr Dean Refractive Surgery. Call 608-282-EYES (3937) or 800-362-7796 (toll-free), or use our online contact form.

Learn more:
Davis Duehr Dean Refractive Surgery
Health Topics A-Z: Eye Care

Dean Health System is Excited about Improving our Services for You

Dean & St. Mary's Outpatient Center
On July 1st, 2008, a number of Dean cardiology and cardiovascular surgery physicians moved their Madison clinic offices to the new Dean & St. Mary’s Outpatient Center at 700 S. Park St. The new facility allows the physicians to consolidate their offices into one central location, with immediate access to the adjacent St. Mary's Hospital. A number of other departments will move to the new facility throughout the year. Get more details.

Phone System Updates
You will notice some changes to our automated phone system at Dean:
• Some department phone numbers will change.
• Calls will initially be answered by an auto-attendant which will provide options.
• Your call will be routed to the appropriate staff member who is prepared to help you with your specific request.
This new system will connect patients with appropriate staff in a more timely manner, decreasing waiting times and the need to be transferred. If you would like to provide feedback about our new phone system please call (608) 294-6200. We look forward to receiving your comments.