As many of our race seasons come to a close, we look forward to a break in the heavy training.
We begin to think of the upcoming off season and what we can work on to race even better next season.
Strength training can be a welcomed break from our usual routine of Swim, Bike, and Run.
Think about adding these exercises, shared by Mark Allen , to help with run leg speed and power on the bike.
Showing posts with label Articles - Biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Articles - Biking. Show all posts
Broken Brick Workout...You want me to do it again!
The Broken Brick Workout?
Most triathletes are familiar with the traditional brick workout - a bike ride followed immediately by a run. This simulates racing conditions and helps your body adapt to the transition of switching quickly from cycling to running.
Sprint and Olympic-distance focused triathletes can keep the distances on the shorter side, riding 10 to 20 miles and then running anywhere from 1 to 3 miles. 70.3 and Ironman distance athletes tend to go longer - riding anywhere from 2 to 5 hours and then running anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours. Brick workouts like these, used appropriately and at the right times, are crucial to triathlon success.
The Broken Brick -
A more involved type of brick workout is what we call the broken brick. This starts out like a traditional brick but the cycle is repeated 2 or 3 times. For example, an Olympic distance racer might add a broken brick of 3 x 10 mile bike / 2 mile run into their training schedule three or four weeks out from their key race.
The effort should increase during each round so the last round is at or faster than goal race pace. These workouts are challenging and should be considered "key" workouts, both in terms of rest going in and recovery afterwards. You don't want to do this type of brick every weekend!
A few differences between Broken Bricks and Traditional Bricks:
More frequent transitioning adaptation from cycling to running (and back, for duathletes) helps athletes train self-monitoring and pacing abilities - if you go too hard on the first round you will know it on the last round. During Ironman training broken bricks (3 x 30/3 miles) the body does not sustain quite as much breakdown because the run is not continuous (allowing a bit of recovery between each 3 mile run section) Broken bricks enable "mental toughness" - it is challenging to go back out on the bike after that first round
I plan broken bricks for most of my athletes, from sprint to expert level, about once a month leading into the season and occasionally as time / racing permits during the race season.
If you currently do not include these, definitely consider it!
USA Triathlon coach Marty Gaal, CSCS,
offers multisport coaching at One Step Beyond.
Sprint and Olympic-distance focused triathletes can keep the distances on the shorter side, riding 10 to 20 miles and then running anywhere from 1 to 3 miles. 70.3 and Ironman distance athletes tend to go longer - riding anywhere from 2 to 5 hours and then running anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours. Brick workouts like these, used appropriately and at the right times, are crucial to triathlon success.
The Broken Brick -
A more involved type of brick workout is what we call the broken brick. This starts out like a traditional brick but the cycle is repeated 2 or 3 times. For example, an Olympic distance racer might add a broken brick of 3 x 10 mile bike / 2 mile run into their training schedule three or four weeks out from their key race.
The effort should increase during each round so the last round is at or faster than goal race pace. These workouts are challenging and should be considered "key" workouts, both in terms of rest going in and recovery afterwards. You don't want to do this type of brick every weekend!
A few differences between Broken Bricks and Traditional Bricks:
More frequent transitioning adaptation from cycling to running (and back, for duathletes) helps athletes train self-monitoring and pacing abilities - if you go too hard on the first round you will know it on the last round. During Ironman training broken bricks (3 x 30/3 miles) the body does not sustain quite as much breakdown because the run is not continuous (allowing a bit of recovery between each 3 mile run section) Broken bricks enable "mental toughness" - it is challenging to go back out on the bike after that first round
I plan broken bricks for most of my athletes, from sprint to expert level, about once a month leading into the season and occasionally as time / racing permits during the race season.
If you currently do not include these, definitely consider it!
USA Triathlon coach Marty Gaal, CSCS,
offers multisport coaching at One Step Beyond.
Summer heat is here... Time for Hydration 101
Hydration 101
article excerpt by Infinit "The First & and; Last Word in Sports Nutrition"
Do you know how much you should be drinking to stay hydrated
during training or racing?
Infinit explains a trend it has seen over the past couple of years, the issue...
"Athletes have no idea exactly how much they should be drinking in order to stay hydrated. It is a HUGE component of how you will perform. If you lose 2-3% of your body weight in water loss you will lose 5-15% of your watts (power output). For an athlete that weighs 150 pounds, only a few pounds that will make the difference between a solid result and potential disaster.
Salt does not prevent dehydration or cramping. That is the stuff of urban legend. Salt is a transporter of fluids. You need salt, but only enough to move water out of your gut into your system. The movement of water is the key to prevent dehydration and possibly cramping issues. If you are not drinking enough, I don’t care how perfect your formulation is, you might be in for a long day. For most males the target should be around 375 mg of sodium per hour and females around 325 mg. It should be a blend of electrolytes containing sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. To reiterate, salt is a transporter. You don’t have to overdue electrolyte intake. You only need enough to move the liquids you are putting into your system.
There are two things that you must have in order to train and race efficiently.
DO A SWEAT RATE TEST! How are you going to know how much you need to be drinking if you don’t have a handle on how much you are sweating? Remember, no product in the world is going to prevent you from dehydrating if you are not drinking enough. Your hydration target will vary somewhat depending on the heat and humidity, but this is a crucial component to race day performance.
• Before your workout empty you bladder, and record your weight
• Record how much you drink during the workout
• After the workout, re-empty your bladder and re-weigh yourself
• Take the weight you lost, ADD the amount you drank, then divide by the number of hours you worked out.
That will give you an hourly hydration target. I would do it a few times to have an average. Your hydration target will need to be adjusted somewhat for heat and humidity. But this is key information for performance.
Calorie and electrolyte intake (in a form that is isotonic). Most athletes perform better by not overdoing calories and salt. Rule of thumb is 2 calories per pound of lean body weight. Obviously some people need more and some people need less. Long distance racers typically need more calories per hour than sprint racers. But these are solid starting points based on working with thousands of athletes.
So there it is. With those these small pieces of information you can have a great race.
• Know how many calories per hour you need
• Know how much you need to be drinking per hour
• Put your nutrition in a form that is isotonic
It does not have to be complicated. Remember simple and repeatable. Follow those simple steps and you will perform the way you want with no nutritional issues."
See this full article and many other great nutrition tips and training articles at Infinit Loop
article excerpt by Infinit "The First & and; Last Word in Sports Nutrition"
during training or racing?
Infinit explains a trend it has seen over the past couple of years, the issue...
"Athletes have no idea exactly how much they should be drinking in order to stay hydrated. It is a HUGE component of how you will perform. If you lose 2-3% of your body weight in water loss you will lose 5-15% of your watts (power output). For an athlete that weighs 150 pounds, only a few pounds that will make the difference between a solid result and potential disaster.
Salt does not prevent dehydration or cramping. That is the stuff of urban legend. Salt is a transporter of fluids. You need salt, but only enough to move water out of your gut into your system. The movement of water is the key to prevent dehydration and possibly cramping issues. If you are not drinking enough, I don’t care how perfect your formulation is, you might be in for a long day. For most males the target should be around 375 mg of sodium per hour and females around 325 mg. It should be a blend of electrolytes containing sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. To reiterate, salt is a transporter. You don’t have to overdue electrolyte intake. You only need enough to move the liquids you are putting into your system.
There are two things that you must have in order to train and race efficiently.
DO A SWEAT RATE TEST! How are you going to know how much you need to be drinking if you don’t have a handle on how much you are sweating? Remember, no product in the world is going to prevent you from dehydrating if you are not drinking enough. Your hydration target will vary somewhat depending on the heat and humidity, but this is a crucial component to race day performance.
• Before your workout empty you bladder, and record your weight
• Record how much you drink during the workout
• After the workout, re-empty your bladder and re-weigh yourself
• Take the weight you lost, ADD the amount you drank, then divide by the number of hours you worked out.
That will give you an hourly hydration target. I would do it a few times to have an average. Your hydration target will need to be adjusted somewhat for heat and humidity. But this is key information for performance.
Calorie and electrolyte intake (in a form that is isotonic). Most athletes perform better by not overdoing calories and salt. Rule of thumb is 2 calories per pound of lean body weight. Obviously some people need more and some people need less. Long distance racers typically need more calories per hour than sprint racers. But these are solid starting points based on working with thousands of athletes.
So there it is. With those these small pieces of information you can have a great race.
• Know how many calories per hour you need
• Know how much you need to be drinking per hour
• Put your nutrition in a form that is isotonic
It does not have to be complicated. Remember simple and repeatable. Follow those simple steps and you will perform the way you want with no nutritional issues."
See this full article and many other great nutrition tips and training articles at Infinit Loop
Rain predicted...make the best of it and train for a rainy (day) race.
The Upside of a Rainy Day
Jim Rutberg and Chris Carmichael offer some suggestions on how to make rain your ally on race day.
(Chris Carmichael is founder of Carmichael Training Systems, the Official Coaching Partner of Ironman and Ironman 70.3. Jim Rutberg is a Pro Coach for Carmichael Training Systems, Inc.)
One of the wonderful parts of triathlon is that races rarely get called for rain. Auto racing and baseball have their rain delays, but a downpour won't stop triathletes from pushing on. Sure, some races get delayed and some have to be cancelled or altered due to lightning, but if you're going to be a triathlete you're eventually going to ride through a soak-you-to-the-bone bike leg. Yet rain doesn't have to be the end of a beautiful day if you know how to ride fast and stay safe on wet roads.
The Upside of a Rainy Day
Heat is an endurance athlete’s primary enemy and the harder you work the more heat your body produces. Racing in the middle of a sunny mid-summer’s day just makes it more difficult to keep your core temperature from rising out of control. In these conditions, rain can really help keep you cool. This means it will be easier for you stay on top of your hydration. Better hydration means you’ll stay stronger longer through the bike leg and have more energy left in the tank for the run.
Of course, the same rain that keeps you from overheating can also cause your body temperature to drop too much, which means hypothermia is not out of the question, even in the summer. Sudden rain storms can drop air temperatures 20 degrees in less than an hour and the rain itself can be quite cold. This is especially true if you’re racing at higher altitudes. If rain is threatening and you’re competing in an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 race, leave T1 with a rain jacket. If the rain is warm and you don’t use it, no harm done. But if the temperature drops significantly and you can’t stay warm through exertion alone, then that jacket may be the only thing standing between you and a DNF.
Staying Safe
Staying warm is part of staying safe when you’re riding in the rain. As you get cold you lose focus, or you focus more on being cold than on controlling your bike. Either way, you’re not concentrating on going fast or keeping the rubber side down. But if you can ride safely and manage your core temperature, you can have a great race in the rain. Here’s what you really need to remember about staying upright on wet roads:
Avoid road paint, grates, and manhole covers: Wet steel and paint are among the slipperiest materials you’re going to encounter on the roads. Ironically, a lot of athletes will ride on top of white lane lines because they’re sometimes smoother than the road surface, but they’re really slick when you make a turn. Also, watch out for painted crosswalks, directional arrows in intersections and railroad crossings.
Brake early and in a straight line: Some brake/wheel combinations work better in the rain than others, but none work as well as when they’re dry. It will take you longer than usual to slow down and you want the vast majority of your braking done before initiating a turn, so really think ahead. Pulling hard on your brakes in the middle of a wet corner is likely to be the start of a wild ride.
Test your equipment in training: This tip comes directly from the preceding one, but you’d be surprised by the number of athletes who don’t take their race-only gear out for a rainy-day test ride. Do yourself a favor and get out there with the carbon wheels and your full race setup and make sure you know how your bike’s going to handle in wet weather. If you have to find out your brake pads are next-to-useless in the rain, better to realize it on a training ride.
Test your apparel in training: Cycling and running in the rain can make for challenging apparel choices, too. Test your eyewear to see if the lens shape provides protection from spray when you’re in an aero position. It’s also a good idea to test your running apparel in the rain because wet clothing is more likely to cause chafing, which is something you want to know about ahead of time so you can apply a skin protectant like Aquaphor during T2.
Keep the bike more upright through corners: All right, so you have the right brake pads, controlled your speed and avoided the painted crosswalk; now you just have to turn. Since your tires have less traction on wet pavement, you can’t lean your bike into corners the way you can when it’s dry. Instead, keep the bike more upright, focus your eyes on where you want to exit the turn, put your outside pedal down and plant your weight on it. Maintain light, and steady, pressure on both brakes if you need to and be patient. A lot of crashes occur when a person gets overzealous about accelerating out of a corner. They shift their weight and jump on the pedals too early, just after the apex of the turn, which is enough to break what little traction they had. Get through the corner and then start accelerating. It may seem to take forever, but it’s only a few seconds and it’s a lot faster than picking yourself up off the ground.
A lot of athletes associate rain with misery and automatically assume their performance is going to suffer when the skies open up. In truth, as long as you can manage your core temperature, you can perform just as well – and in some cases better – in the rain. Learn to be comfortable and confident riding in wet conditions and the only thing your competitors will see is the spray coming off your rear wheel.
This article and other training tips featured at Ironman
Jim Rutberg and Chris Carmichael offer some suggestions on how to make rain your ally on race day.
(Chris Carmichael is founder of Carmichael Training Systems, the Official Coaching Partner of Ironman and Ironman 70.3. Jim Rutberg is a Pro Coach for Carmichael Training Systems, Inc.)
The Upside of a Rainy Day
Heat is an endurance athlete’s primary enemy and the harder you work the more heat your body produces. Racing in the middle of a sunny mid-summer’s day just makes it more difficult to keep your core temperature from rising out of control. In these conditions, rain can really help keep you cool. This means it will be easier for you stay on top of your hydration. Better hydration means you’ll stay stronger longer through the bike leg and have more energy left in the tank for the run.
Of course, the same rain that keeps you from overheating can also cause your body temperature to drop too much, which means hypothermia is not out of the question, even in the summer. Sudden rain storms can drop air temperatures 20 degrees in less than an hour and the rain itself can be quite cold. This is especially true if you’re racing at higher altitudes. If rain is threatening and you’re competing in an Ironman or Ironman 70.3 race, leave T1 with a rain jacket. If the rain is warm and you don’t use it, no harm done. But if the temperature drops significantly and you can’t stay warm through exertion alone, then that jacket may be the only thing standing between you and a DNF.
Staying Safe
Staying warm is part of staying safe when you’re riding in the rain. As you get cold you lose focus, or you focus more on being cold than on controlling your bike. Either way, you’re not concentrating on going fast or keeping the rubber side down. But if you can ride safely and manage your core temperature, you can have a great race in the rain. Here’s what you really need to remember about staying upright on wet roads:
Avoid road paint, grates, and manhole covers: Wet steel and paint are among the slipperiest materials you’re going to encounter on the roads. Ironically, a lot of athletes will ride on top of white lane lines because they’re sometimes smoother than the road surface, but they’re really slick when you make a turn. Also, watch out for painted crosswalks, directional arrows in intersections and railroad crossings.
Brake early and in a straight line: Some brake/wheel combinations work better in the rain than others, but none work as well as when they’re dry. It will take you longer than usual to slow down and you want the vast majority of your braking done before initiating a turn, so really think ahead. Pulling hard on your brakes in the middle of a wet corner is likely to be the start of a wild ride.
Test your equipment in training: This tip comes directly from the preceding one, but you’d be surprised by the number of athletes who don’t take their race-only gear out for a rainy-day test ride. Do yourself a favor and get out there with the carbon wheels and your full race setup and make sure you know how your bike’s going to handle in wet weather. If you have to find out your brake pads are next-to-useless in the rain, better to realize it on a training ride.
Test your apparel in training: Cycling and running in the rain can make for challenging apparel choices, too. Test your eyewear to see if the lens shape provides protection from spray when you’re in an aero position. It’s also a good idea to test your running apparel in the rain because wet clothing is more likely to cause chafing, which is something you want to know about ahead of time so you can apply a skin protectant like Aquaphor during T2.
Keep the bike more upright through corners: All right, so you have the right brake pads, controlled your speed and avoided the painted crosswalk; now you just have to turn. Since your tires have less traction on wet pavement, you can’t lean your bike into corners the way you can when it’s dry. Instead, keep the bike more upright, focus your eyes on where you want to exit the turn, put your outside pedal down and plant your weight on it. Maintain light, and steady, pressure on both brakes if you need to and be patient. A lot of crashes occur when a person gets overzealous about accelerating out of a corner. They shift their weight and jump on the pedals too early, just after the apex of the turn, which is enough to break what little traction they had. Get through the corner and then start accelerating. It may seem to take forever, but it’s only a few seconds and it’s a lot faster than picking yourself up off the ground.
A lot of athletes associate rain with misery and automatically assume their performance is going to suffer when the skies open up. In truth, as long as you can manage your core temperature, you can perform just as well – and in some cases better – in the rain. Learn to be comfortable and confident riding in wet conditions and the only thing your competitors will see is the spray coming off your rear wheel.
This article and other training tips featured at Ironman
Triathlon Cycling - four key areas to emphasize
Triathlon Cycling - Getting fit for the bike leg
of a triathlon requires four key basic areas.
article by six-time Ironman Triathon World Champion Mark Allen
Cycling for triathlons requires some basic core elements. These are aerobic fitness, position, cadence and strength. Beyond that there are some additional topics like refueling, mindset and overall pacing strategies, but lets take a look at those first four to get your cycling built on solid ground.
AEROBIC FITNESS
This is the bottom ground level base of the base of the cycling performance pyramid. Cycling fitness for triathlons requires key weekly workouts. The first is your long endurance ride with a length that is appropriate for your goal race distance. For sprint races this should be up to about 1.5 hours in length, for Olympic distance up to about 3 hours, for a half Ironman up to about 4.5 hours and for a full Ironman as much as 6-7 hours. This workout not only builds your cycling fitness but is part of the overdistance work that will enable you to have the endurance you need for your race overall.
Next is your tempo or speed session. This is a higher paced effort that is still aerobic during your base phase and then becomes much more intense as it turns into speedwork later. This can be supplemented with some race efforts on the bike either in the form of time trials, fast group rides or hard individual efforts. These will be weekly in your speed phase but should be limited to only once every 3-6 weeks during your base.
POSITION
Even when you are in your base phase, working on getting comfortable and powerful in the aero position will pay off later in your races. The more time you are in that position, the more efficient you become in it. But being comfortable is only partially a function of time spent in it. What will be most important is your actual setup on the bike. And the measure that usually makes a person comfortable or not is the amount of stretch they need to do to reach their elbow pads. The correct position is one that when you are down in it you will find that your upper arm is at the same or steeper angle than the angle of your fork. If your upper arm is more relax or at a more horizontal angle than your fork, then you are too stretched out and will find it tough to stay in the aero position. Make adjustments necessary to bring the arms in closer to the knees if this describes your current position.
CADENCE
The correct cadence rate that is most efficient is going to vary slightly person to person. It will also vary for the same person depending on the race they are targeting. In general, 90-95 rpms is a good starting point for finding that ideal cadence. For those who are large with big muscles they may be most efficient on the lower end of this range, while those with smaller muscles or large cardiovascular capacities will benefit from being in the higher part. Then from race to race, the longer the race the lower the ideal cadence is going to be simply because you are moving away from your peak power output. So for a sprint ideal might be 95-100rpm, and Olympic 90-95rpm, for a half Ironman 85-90rpm and for a full Ironman 80-85rpm. But again this is going to be individual.
STRENGTH
The ability to push on the pedals over and over is something that gets developed through riding and through lifting weights. A good strength program for working all of the leg muscles will help with building power output on the bike. Also there are drills that will help you out with this. One is to do some drills on a stationary trainer where you ride with only one leg at a time. This develops the spin neuromuscular patterns. Do these again in the aero position as much as possible.
of a triathlon requires four key basic areas.
article by six-time Ironman Triathon World Champion Mark Allen
Cycling for triathlons requires some basic core elements. These are aerobic fitness, position, cadence and strength. Beyond that there are some additional topics like refueling, mindset and overall pacing strategies, but lets take a look at those first four to get your cycling built on solid ground.
AEROBIC FITNESS
This is the bottom ground level base of the base of the cycling performance pyramid. Cycling fitness for triathlons requires key weekly workouts. The first is your long endurance ride with a length that is appropriate for your goal race distance. For sprint races this should be up to about 1.5 hours in length, for Olympic distance up to about 3 hours, for a half Ironman up to about 4.5 hours and for a full Ironman as much as 6-7 hours. This workout not only builds your cycling fitness but is part of the overdistance work that will enable you to have the endurance you need for your race overall.
Next is your tempo or speed session. This is a higher paced effort that is still aerobic during your base phase and then becomes much more intense as it turns into speedwork later. This can be supplemented with some race efforts on the bike either in the form of time trials, fast group rides or hard individual efforts. These will be weekly in your speed phase but should be limited to only once every 3-6 weeks during your base.
POSITION
CADENCE
The correct cadence rate that is most efficient is going to vary slightly person to person. It will also vary for the same person depending on the race they are targeting. In general, 90-95 rpms is a good starting point for finding that ideal cadence. For those who are large with big muscles they may be most efficient on the lower end of this range, while those with smaller muscles or large cardiovascular capacities will benefit from being in the higher part. Then from race to race, the longer the race the lower the ideal cadence is going to be simply because you are moving away from your peak power output. So for a sprint ideal might be 95-100rpm, and Olympic 90-95rpm, for a half Ironman 85-90rpm and for a full Ironman 80-85rpm. But again this is going to be individual.
STRENGTH
The ability to push on the pedals over and over is something that gets developed through riding and through lifting weights. A good strength program for working all of the leg muscles will help with building power output on the bike. Also there are drills that will help you out with this. One is to do some drills on a stationary trainer where you ride with only one leg at a time. This develops the spin neuromuscular patterns. Do these again in the aero position as much as possible.
Should I be using a Coach... Do I really need one?
Attending a recent Northeast Multisport Expo ViF noticed one of the largest exhibitor categories was that of coaching and coaching related services.
One might think, "Wow, so many coaches and coaching programs or methods!
Can't an athlete just train on their own, do they really need a coach to tell them what and when to do things?"
The answer is Yes and No, as always, it depends.
ViF - Victory is Finishing is about finishing...but you define "Finishing".
Are you at the stage of your journey where "Finishing" to you is now more than reaching and crossing the finish line?
Has "Finishing" become defined more by how quickly you reach that finish line? Do you have a certain finish time or goal you want to achieve this season?
Could a tri or running club, strong training partner, or a coach help you reach your goals?
Kerry Sullivan of Rock Star Triathlete Academy
might help you answer that question with his recent article -
What's the Point of a Coach?
"I truly love coaching, and I believe it is important for everyone, even coaches, to work with a coach. I believe in this so strongly that I work with two coaches: one for swimming, and one for overall triathlon training. Yes, I am a certified coach and experienced athlete in all types of endurance sports, and yet I still utilize coaches.
Why?
1. Often, people can become so focused on moving in a particular direction that they do not even realize that they are headed the wrong way. Needless to say, I have done this and, as a result, I have run myself into the ground, even though I knew better. A coach can stand back, look at things from a fresh perspective, and help the athlete to realize that a different direction is needed. This is the same reason why many corporations hire consultants -- to help them run their companies better.
2. I love to read about top performers in all different areas, from business to sports. Most top performers employ coaches and or mentors, even though they already have a great deal of knowledge. Tiger Woods, for example, is very knowledgeable on golf, yet he still has many people around him who assist him with all areas of his game.
3. I once read that the two things that will have the most impact on a person's life are the books a person reads and the people with whom he or she chooses to associate with. If a person wishes to develop more strength in a particular area, it is a good idea to surround oneself with knowledgeable and experienced people. That is why many top athletes have coaches, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, and strong training partners.
One might think, "Wow, so many coaches and coaching programs or methods!
Can't an athlete just train on their own, do they really need a coach to tell them what and when to do things?"
The answer is Yes and No, as always, it depends.
ViF - Victory is Finishing is about finishing...but you define "Finishing".
Are you at the stage of your journey where "Finishing" to you is now more than reaching and crossing the finish line?
Has "Finishing" become defined more by how quickly you reach that finish line? Do you have a certain finish time or goal you want to achieve this season?
Could a tri or running club, strong training partner, or a coach help you reach your goals?
might help you answer that question with his recent article -
What's the Point of a Coach?
"I truly love coaching, and I believe it is important for everyone, even coaches, to work with a coach. I believe in this so strongly that I work with two coaches: one for swimming, and one for overall triathlon training. Yes, I am a certified coach and experienced athlete in all types of endurance sports, and yet I still utilize coaches.
Why?
1. Often, people can become so focused on moving in a particular direction that they do not even realize that they are headed the wrong way. Needless to say, I have done this and, as a result, I have run myself into the ground, even though I knew better. A coach can stand back, look at things from a fresh perspective, and help the athlete to realize that a different direction is needed. This is the same reason why many corporations hire consultants -- to help them run their companies better.
2. I love to read about top performers in all different areas, from business to sports. Most top performers employ coaches and or mentors, even though they already have a great deal of knowledge. Tiger Woods, for example, is very knowledgeable on golf, yet he still has many people around him who assist him with all areas of his game.
3. I once read that the two things that will have the most impact on a person's life are the books a person reads and the people with whom he or she chooses to associate with. If a person wishes to develop more strength in a particular area, it is a good idea to surround oneself with knowledgeable and experienced people. That is why many top athletes have coaches, nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, and strong training partners.
Long Course Triathlon Training - for a "Real Person" in the "Real World"
Victors' Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann share Long-Course Triathlon Training for the "Age Grouper" and "Real Life"
(A three part series worth the read!)
5 Keys to Long-Course Triathlon Training: Part I - The focus you put on your training will determine how prepared you are at the start line.
By Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann of Endurance Nation
We'd like to share with you our distilled summary of what long-course triathlon training is all about, learned from our nearly 20 years of long-course training, coaching and racing experience. Our goal is to bring you years and years up the learning curve, saving you tons of time and experimentation. In short, we've made all of the mistakes so you don't have to.
In Part I we'll discuss keys one through four. In Part II we'll discuss the fifth key. Finally, in Part III we'll contrast our approach with the conventional long-course training wisdom.
The Five Keys are entirely a function of the need to both maximize and reserve your training time investment for as long as possible to meet real world constraints.
Everything we do—the workouts, the structure, everything—flows backwards from the fact that you are an age-group athlete living in the real world. Period. We feel very strongly that any discussion on how to train that does not begin, in the first sentence, with defining how much time you have to train, is largely invalid.
In other words, we can't talk about what goes in your training box without first talking about how big your box is.
Life - not a spreadsheet, not a coach, not a book—dictates the size of that box. This is an absolute, do-not-pass-go thing you gotta get through your head. This is all just a game and it must fit within your life.
Endurance Nation's -
Five Keys of Long-Course Training
1. Real-World Volume
2. Maximize Return on Time Invested
3. Fitness = Ability to Perform More Work
4. Intensity = Most Flexible Tool to Manipulate Training Load
5. The Best Predictor of Performance is Pace/Watts at Functional/Lactate Threshold
(A three part series worth the read!)
5 Keys to Long-Course Triathlon Training: Part I - The focus you put on your training will determine how prepared you are at the start line.
We'd like to share with you our distilled summary of what long-course triathlon training is all about, learned from our nearly 20 years of long-course training, coaching and racing experience. Our goal is to bring you years and years up the learning curve, saving you tons of time and experimentation. In short, we've made all of the mistakes so you don't have to.
In Part I we'll discuss keys one through four. In Part II we'll discuss the fifth key. Finally, in Part III we'll contrast our approach with the conventional long-course training wisdom.
The Five Keys are entirely a function of the need to both maximize and reserve your training time investment for as long as possible to meet real world constraints.
Everything we do—the workouts, the structure, everything—flows backwards from the fact that you are an age-group athlete living in the real world. Period. We feel very strongly that any discussion on how to train that does not begin, in the first sentence, with defining how much time you have to train, is largely invalid.
In other words, we can't talk about what goes in your training box without first talking about how big your box is.
Life - not a spreadsheet, not a coach, not a book—dictates the size of that box. This is an absolute, do-not-pass-go thing you gotta get through your head. This is all just a game and it must fit within your life.
Endurance Nation's -
Five Keys of Long-Course Training
1. Real-World Volume
2. Maximize Return on Time Invested
3. Fitness = Ability to Perform More Work
4. Intensity = Most Flexible Tool to Manipulate Training Load
5. The Best Predictor of Performance is Pace/Watts at Functional/Lactate Threshold
Improve Swim, Bike, Run, Endurance - Victors' shared words
by Jessi Stensland - professional triathlete, movement specialist and
creator of MovementU
Having a specific purpose to each of your workouts is key. Interval training is a great way to help you achieve specific improvements as you work to reach your true potential.
Here is a great example of an interval progression with a basic premise that can be applied to any endurance sports, whether it be swimming, biking or running. It has two goals that are key to increasing your capacity to do work when you train and race:
1. Increase anaerobic threshold
2. Increase leg speed
By improving both your anaerobic threshold and your leg speed, you will increase your endurance for longer distances. The workout involves short, intense intervals followed by a period of rest, and takes into account this work-to-rest ratio.
With increased fitness over time, the intense intervals will get longer and the rest needed will get shorter.
Choosing your speed — You'll want the intense intervals to challenge you beyond your current anaerobic threshold, taking you very close to your maximum effort for each interval.
Choosing your rest — You'll want to take enough rest to be able to continue to perform the hard intervals well throughout the set.
The Workout
After a dynamic warm-up and about five minutes easy of whatever sport you're doing, begin the workout with a one-to-one work-to-rest ratio.
How to Achieve Better Results with Spinning
How to Achieve Better Results with Spinning
by Jesper Bondo Medhus
Spinning is extremely popular and it’s a great way to train your endurance in the winter season. Here are some simple tips that will increase your gains from spinning:
1. Warm up before spinning
Spinning lessons have a normal length of around 50 minutes. For trained cyclists this is a very short amount of time, when this time includes both warm up, intervals and cool down.
Remember that most spinning lessons are made for people who are not very familiar with cycling training. Therefore, I suggest you do a warm up before you enter the spinning room in order to get more training time.
2. Drink water with electrolytes and carbohydrates
Spinning rooms have a very high temperature and high humidity. Therefore, it is quite normal to sweat much more than you are used to.
Some people believe that they sweat more at spinning lessons because they work harder. That is not true.
They sweat more because of the climate, not because they work harder than normally. I will recommend you to drink water with electrolytes and carbohydrates to maintain a high level of performance during the whole session.
3. Choose intervals carefully
Spinning instructors plan their lesson to be interesting and challenging for a wide range of riders. Most of them train spinning only 2 to 3 times week, so they can use all their effort in this short period.
If you do not like the program made of the instructor, consider to use your own program or one of the indoor cycling programs here on Training4cyclists.com It is possible to ride one of these programs without telling the instructor. Just remember to stand up and sit down when the instructor tells you to (and ignore his commands about pacing strategy).
4. Remember rest days
You can’t do intervals every single day. Some days should be easy days. If you go for a ride in the spinning class on one of these days, please remember your goal with the training.
Spinning is extremely popular and it’s a great way to train your endurance in the winter season. Here are some simple tips that will increase your gains from spinning:
1. Warm up before spinning
Spinning lessons have a normal length of around 50 minutes. For trained cyclists this is a very short amount of time, when this time includes both warm up, intervals and cool down.
Remember that most spinning lessons are made for people who are not very familiar with cycling training. Therefore, I suggest you do a warm up before you enter the spinning room in order to get more training time.
2. Drink water with electrolytes and carbohydrates
Spinning rooms have a very high temperature and high humidity. Therefore, it is quite normal to sweat much more than you are used to.
Some people believe that they sweat more at spinning lessons because they work harder. That is not true.
They sweat more because of the climate, not because they work harder than normally. I will recommend you to drink water with electrolytes and carbohydrates to maintain a high level of performance during the whole session.
3. Choose intervals carefully
Spinning instructors plan their lesson to be interesting and challenging for a wide range of riders. Most of them train spinning only 2 to 3 times week, so they can use all their effort in this short period.
If you do not like the program made of the instructor, consider to use your own program or one of the indoor cycling programs here on Training4cyclists.com It is possible to ride one of these programs without telling the instructor. Just remember to stand up and sit down when the instructor tells you to (and ignore his commands about pacing strategy).
4. Remember rest days
You can’t do intervals every single day. Some days should be easy days. If you go for a ride in the spinning class on one of these days, please remember your goal with the training.
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