Training methods Emil Zatopek - star athletics Cold War

Emil Zatopek - running the phenomenon of Czech origin. He was unstoppable on the track and was able to do something that no one before him has not done, and it is unlikely that someone will repeat. Such results Emil managed to achieve with the help of an unusual approach to training that included running on snow and sand, running in any weather and in any conditions. Tells the story of an athlete.

"Czech locomotive" - ​​the name of Emil Zatopek. He was one of the greatest long-distance runners and struggled to retain this honorable title. Since the early '40s to mid' 50s, he was almost unbeatable.

During this period Zatopek set 18 world records and Olympic medals won 5, 4 of which were gold. At the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki, he won the race for 5000 and 10, 000 meters and won the marathon - a feat that is unlikely to be repeated.

In addition to his sporting exploits, Emil Zatopek was known for his incredible friendliness - a quality that in the world, which is divided by the Cold War, made him stand out even more. Despite the difficult political situation for all athletes Zatopek were comrades. Standing on the starting line at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, he told his colleagues: "Today, we all die a little."

In his book, Today We Die A Little! British journalist and writer Richard Asquith (Richard Askwith) tells the story of Zatopek since the early days of his work at a shoe factory in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and before his ascension to the post-war sports Olympus. In addition to describing sporting events, the book presents methods Zatopek training.

Perhaps start with the fact that Emil Zatopek not particularly drawn to the sport and his first marathon run because, the teacher of his college has applied to participate in the traditional marathon of the entire group students. Emil tried to withdraw from the race, citing knee pain, but the doctor diagnosed neither confirmed Zatopek had to flee. As a result, it came second. From that moment, Zatopek decided to start exercising.

Emil Zatopek were very interesting and unusual training methods. He ran in combat boots on Forests, running through deep snow and sand, running with a live load on the back (usually in the role of the cargo performed by his wife). Even running on a huge trough full of water, and dirty laundry. Zatopek trained in all weathers. In this rest he did not despise. According to his wife Dana, Olympic champion in the javelin, Emil always believed that the best way to recover from the race - it's beer.

Zatopek is considered a pioneer of such everyday practice today as interval training. His favorite range - 400 meters. During the preparation for a competition for one training session he ran 100 times for 400 yards and repeating it every day for a week. Emil himself called interval training such "large doses". Over the next two weeks - 150 meters of jogging, 50 times in the morning and 50 times in the evening. For one day a workout with intervals, warm-up and cool down, he ran about 48 kilometers. After a week's rest Zatopek went to Paris, and broke the record at a distance of 5000 meters, running it in 13 minutes and 57 seconds. And the next day he flew to Belgium and became the first runner, who ran 10 kilometers in 29 minutes.

Approach to training Emil Zatopek was really tough, but as you see, productive. However, it is not necessary to repeat his exploits and test such training on their own!