There's no better feeling than hitting a new PR at a Deka event! Personal Records provide feedback that your training is on the right track and all the hard work is paying off. On the other hand, not hitting PRs makes you feel like you are doing something wrong in your training or performance. While not always the case, most of the time, missing a PR is due to at least 1 of the following 3 reasons.
We've coached a lot of athletes to faster DekaFit/Strong/Mile times, and even to high-level placements at the DekaFit World Championships. We've also placed well at those same World Championships. We provide detailed, Customized Programming that focuses on the athlete, their goals, fitness equipment, time availability, training background fitness level, and more. This is the very best way to help athletes reach their peak performance. Sign up today, download our easy-to-use training app, and we'll get you started on reaching all of your goals in DekaFit.
1. PACING I've personally done over 60 Deka events and it took me quite a few attempts to really dial in my pacing to where I wasn't burning out too early on in the event. I've also judged many athletes at events, and the most common mistake I see is athletes coming out too hot and ending up burning out around the Skierg. I get it. It's a competitive environment. You want to go fast, and the first few zones feel good...but then, all of a sudden, you hit a wall. It was a trap!!! At your next event, aim for a consistent level of effort throughout the whole event or maybe pace yourself so you can give an extra push from the Air Bike on. You should feel "comfortable" in the first 3 zones which all tax the legs. Comfortable means that you are pushing a solid effort but one that you could maintain for a while longer rather than being completely maxed out by the time you hit 500m on the Rower. We've had a lot of success coaching our athletes with this method and it definitely takes some time to adjust to, but often results in a solid PR.
2. TECHNIQUE Taking the time to really dial in on your Zone technique will most likely end up getting you a solid PR even if you don't improve your overall fitness. You'll be able to to go faster while expending less energy which then means you can push harder. The most common technique issues I've seen are on the Rower, Box Overs, SkiErg, Deadball, and Burpees. In my first few Deka events, I ended up going in circles chasing the Deadball around, which was disorienting and wasted a lot of time/energy. 3. STRENGTH TRAINING
Deka events don't exactly require you to become a power lifter, but you'll definitely notice a huge boost in performance if you regularly include strength training into your programming. Strength training will have the biggest impact on Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10....oh wait that's all of them! A lot of athletes are coming into Deka from Running/OCR so they're training focus has been geared towards cardio. On the flip side, you have athletes coming in from a CrossFit/Body Building background so their focus has been more towards strength. The athletes that have more of a cardio background generally do better than those with a strength background, but the strength becomes a huge asset as those athletes develop their cardio. To do well at Deka you'll want your training split to be around 80% cardio/circuits and 20% strength. That 20% of work put towards strength training will have a huge positive impact on your performance.
Your next Deka PR is right around the corner if you implement these strategies! Just remember to allow yourself some adjustment time. Generally, doing anything that your body isn't used to will feel more difficult at first but, with consistency, you'll start feeling the positive results quickly.
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