Functional Fitness Strength Training for Triathletes
Historically most people, including triathletes, think of strength training as bodybuilding. Unfortunately this thinking keeps many triathletes from participating in a properly designed strength and conditioning program. For most endurance athletes the benefits of strength training are outweighed by the fear of gaining too much bulk, loss of flexibility and diminished "feel" of their sport. In recent years much has been learned about the specific strength and conditioning exercises that best suit triathletes.
Current thinking shows that functional strength training leads to better muscular balance and joint stability, which will lead to fewer injuries and increased performance. Strength training that is "functional" mimics the movement patterns that are used in swimming, cycling and running. By incorporating various exercises utilizing minimal equipment you will assure yourself of that extra edge next season. Now is the time of year to get organized with your off-season training. Use the tips below to get started today
10 Tips of a Functional Strength Training Program for Triathletes:
1. Specific to the sport - Your routine must help develop and maintain sport specific strength. Don't just do a basic circuit of weight machines, as there are many new training devices that allow you to make your training more sport specific. Cable machines, physioballs, medicine balls, balance disks, etc- all allow for more functional training.
2. Prevent Injury - Obviously strength training helps build strength, which helps minimize the chance of injury, improves resistance to fatigue and improves endurance. The ability to resist fatigue can allow you to hold a set pace for longer or too increase speed over a given distance. Muscular imbalances are also improved with a properly designed functional program.
3. Increase Core Stability - Working on an increased ability to maintain an athletic posture over long periods of time is very important. Trunk stabilization leads to more efficient movements. The more stable the core the more efficient power is transferred from the lower to upper body.
4. Multiplaner - A properly designed program will have a fair amount of training from all planes of movement. Most triathletes spend too much time in the front to back saggital plane. A properly designed program will include exercises from all three planes of motion, frontal, saggital and transverse. Good examples are multiplaner lunges and step-ups.
5. Include exercises from all four pillars of movement.
The four pillars of movement are:
I. Standing or Locomotion
II. Changes in Level
III. Pushing or Pulling
IV. Rotation
This point is very important and often neglected. The body moves in a complex interaction of all four the pillars. Don't neglect any of the pillars in your program. The most often neglected is rotation.
6. Progressive - In order to get stronger one needs to progressively overload their strength. If you don't progress with your program you're wasting your time. Progression also means varying your speeds of movement to make them more sport specific.
7. Time Efficient - The program must not take up too much time. 30-45 minute 2-3 times per week. Endurance athletes would rather be training outside then spending time at the gym, but the time spent is well worth it. Incorporating various forms of circuit training allows you to get more done in less time.
8. Periodized - Just like your annual training plan for your racing you need to vary the program to get optimal results. Don't just lift in the off-season. If you don't left year round you risk losing most of the strength that you worked so hard to get. A simplified plan would include the various phases:
Stabilization Phase - 4-6 weeks, 2-3 times per week
Total body circuit training to work on muscular imbalances and stability.
Stabilization work requires much higher reps /time range per set, but with fewer sets. One to two sets are all that is needed since the reps can be as few as 15 or as many as 30 reps per set.
Sport Specific Strength Phase - 4-6 weeks, 2 times per week
Total body circuit training to work on sport specific strength. If you are training for maximal strength, which is advisable during the foundation or base phase of training, aim for a range of 2 to 3 sets of 8-15 repetitions per set.
Power Phase 2-4 weeks, 2 times per week
Power training will require less weight than strength. This is to allow for maximal-speed of movement, and high nervous system involvement to avoid nervous system fatigue, 5-6 reps per set, for 2-4 sets is recommended.
Strength Maintenance Phase - during race season, 2 times per week
Total body circuit training to maintain sport specific strength during the race season. Aim for a range of 2 to 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions per set.
9. Integrated - By incorporating exercises that work on flexibility, core, balance, strength and power in every workout you are integrating your training efforts. Performance is an integration of all those aspects.
10. Individualized - Your program should be suited to your individual needs not some cookie cutter program. Consult with someone that knows the specific needs of a triathlete.
Get with the program!
Functional strength train to reduce your risk of injury, increase your level of performance, and set yourself up for a great season next year. Don't just perform bodybuilding exercises, which most all athletes carry out. Utilize the latest forms of training to get the most out of your valuable training time. Through the use functional training, you can expect to continuously increase your power, strength and stability for years to come.
Beginner Triathlete Training: Preparing for a Great Race
A triathlon is a unique sport in that it is divided into three components: swimming, cycling and running – each requiring your body to perform in a different way. This can be daunting to the beginner triathlete. Beginner triathlete training should focus on learning how these three separate events influence one another, you will be prepared to tackle them on race day.
When choosing a beginner triathlete training program, look for one that sets goals for you to meet each calendar week. Try to recruit a friend or join a team in training. Your calendar and your training partner will help keep your chosen beginner triathlete training program on track.
Beginner Triathlete Training for the Swim
The swimming leg of triathlons is often the most intimidating for beginners because it is the event with which they are the most unfamiliar. Tailor your chosen beginner triathlete training program to making your swimming more efficient. By improving your technique, you will also improve your speed.
* As much as possible, perform your beginner triathlete training in open water to mimic the conditions you will encounter at the race. Practice ducking below oncoming waves to avoid being pushed backwards. Use the time between waves to stroke.
* You may notice that you tire quickly in the water. This is most likely due to your technique. Incorporate more arm work and less kick into your swim strokes. Not only will you glide twice the distance at half the effort, but you will save your legs for the cycle and the running portions.
Beginner Triathlete Training for the Cycle
The cycle leg of a triathlon is the longest distance portion of the race. It is also the perfect time to replenish your calories and store up your energy for the final run.
* While the wind may cool you down during the cycle, don’t think this means your body is in appropriate condition to finish the race. Once you stop biking and begin the run, you will feel dehydration creep in as you begin to overheat. Eat and drink as much as you can while you cycle, and make sure you are consuming the same types of foods during your beginner triathlete training that you plan to on race day. To improve your speed on the bike, you may want to incorporate spinning classes into your beginner triathlete training. Not only will you develop camaraderie with the rest of the spinners, but spinning classes are filled with anaerobic exercises that will help maximize your ability and performance.
* Prepare yourself for race day – learn how to change a punctured bike tire during your beginner triathlete training, and learn the rules of triathlons (such as those against drafting and all helmet requirements).
Beginner Triathlete Training for the Run
The best way to prepare for the running leg of a triathlon is to train the same way you do for the swimming leg: in conditions that mimic what you will be experiencing at the race. This means learning to run on already tired legs.
* Incorporate “Brick” workouts into your beginner triathlete training. Bricks are back-to-back bike-run workouts that not only help your endurance, but help your muscles adjust to the unique transition from biking to running. Your legs will indeed feel like bricks during the first few minutes on your feet after a bike workout. Ease into running with smaller strides to warm up your muscles before moving on to longer, faster strides.
Beginner Triathlete Training for Transitions
Transitions are the often forgotten “fourth leg” of triathlons. There are two transitions in triathlons: T1 is the transition from water to bike, and T2 from bike to run. You can save valuable time on race day by learning how to transition efficiently and with foresight.
* Prepare for transitions by practicing them. During your beginner triathlete training, don all your swim gear, then time how long it takes you to strip it off, change into your bike gear, mount your cycle and go. Find ways to cut this time by wearing a fuel belt underneath your wetsuit, taping foods and energy bars to your handlebars, investing in a tri-suit, or mounting your bike with your cleats already strapped into the pedals. The more you practice your transitions to find which tricks work best, the more time you will save yourself on race day.
The most important part of training is mimicking the conditions of race day. By preparing yourself mentally and physically for the reality of the triathlon, you can enjoy peak performance come race day.
The Triathlon Run by Wu Kong
The final leg
There in nothing more exhilarating than feeling strong during a triathlon run leg. You are passing people and there is nothing they can do about it. Passing competitors on the run is usually final. There is not another leg where they can pass you. On the other hand there is no worse feeling in this sport than having a bad run. It hurts more than any of the other legs and we begin to question why we do triathlons. In this article I am going to give you some tips that you can use in training and in racing to become a better triathlon runner.
Incorporate some running races.
I often advise our athletes to participate in running races during the off-season and sometimes during the training season to gain experience in running. Races of up to a half marathon are a great way to test your fitness. These performances can then be used as a measuring stick to which we can compare triathlon run performances later in the racing season.
Running after the bike
Now that you have a strong run and you recently set a personal best at the local 10-kilomeer fun run, how can you turn that into the great triathlon run that I described above? I have four recommendations.
1. Work on your general endurance in training. Running a running race is generally a short effort. Most running races take less than one hour. You start fresh and your tank is topped. Running in a triathlon is totally different. Your endurance will determine how much you have in the tank before the run starts. It is critical that you have endurance to race for multiple hours. Your long swims, your long bikes, your long runs and finally your bike-run(bricks) workouts will give you multiple hour training that will develop the endurance needed. I often tell athletes that the long bike training is not to make you fast on the bike. It is to make sure the bike does not fatigue you so you can still run fast.
2. Incorporate bike-run workouts (bricks) into your training. As I mentioned above, bike-run workouts can help you gain endurance but as you can imagine they also help you familiarize with this very unique aspect of our sport. Running off the bike is a very unique feeling. Your body was just pumping blood and oxygen to your bike muscles and now it needs to adjust and start pumping it to your running muscles. Apparently, the reason these workouts are called bricks is because that is exactly how your legs feel. They feel like bricks. Remember that the brick feeling is just that. I find that if your endurance is good and you took care of yourself during the bike and run you will soon find your running legs and feel the same way as in any other run.
The brick workout is a very demanding and taxing workout. At markallenonline.com we recommend you do a brick every other week. The best time to incorporate the brick into training is after the long bike. Do your long bike and transition into your running shoes for a short run of at least 20 minutes but not more that 50 minutes for Ironman training. The faster the transition the better. Definitely not more than 20 minutes in transition for good training value.
What about longer bricks? Workouts have to have a purpose. If the purpose is to practice your running off the bike then a 30-minute run after a long bike will do just that. Lengthening the run will turn the workout into a very long endurance workout that will trash your legs. If the purpose is to gain more endurance make the bike longer and keep the run shorter. You will recover faster and still be able to get in your long run that same week. I would prefer to have fresher legs during the week for other workouts and better training overall.
3. Stay within your limits during the swim and bike ride on race day. A typical email I receive is from an athlete with a good running background that just has a horrible time running during a race. He wants our training program to include many bricks as he/she thinks this will be the way to run better in a triathlon. Some bricks will definitely help this athlete. However, there is no training that will make you run better if you leave it all on the swim and bike. We recommend you wear a heart rate monitor and pace the first two legs. Finally towards the end of the race you can push the pace as hard as you can. Experiment with your pace. Generally the longer the race the more you need to hold back to insure your best performance. The swim and bike of sprint races can generally be anaerobic efforts. For half and Ironman races I often recommend aerobic to very slightly anaerobic efforts.
4. Maintain fluids and calories during the race. I briefly touched on this subject earlier. It is very important. Fluids and calorie intake are needed to maintain any athletic effort. Usually it is not until the run that we find ourselves totally dehydrated. The wind during the bike ride can give cool you off and give you a good feeling. However, once you stop and start running you will feel the dehydration as you overheat and pay the price. All your run fitness is out the window. You are dehydrated and there is nothing you can do but slow down and walk. The same thing goes with calories except you will just bonk and have no energy to race. This is very important in races over two hours. I recommend you take 300 to500 calories per hour in long races to maintain glycogen stores. Caloric requirements are directly related to your effort and your weight. The more anaerobic the effort the more glycogen you use and thus the more you need to worry about replenishing stores.
Be a confident runner
Having confidence on your run is a great motivator during a race. If you get passed on the bike your first thought should be, “I’ll see you on the run.” However, this thought will not be there unless you are confident. Confidence will not come unless you have success. So practice your run and take care of yourself on the swim and bike to run fast. The initial success will start the ball rolling and soon enough you will start looking forward to getting off the bike at every race. Finishing strong is what endurance races are all about.
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