55-minute workout: core work bike intervals by Jené Shaw

Try this workout when you need a quick but intense session at the gym or at home on your indoor trainer. This core/bike combo comes from Sandy Overly, a Spin and Pilates instructor and USAT-coach in Texas, who says it’s a favorite of her time-crunched triathletes. “The workout is intense and fun,” Overly says. “My athletes have gained strength, flexibility and better stabilization through these workouts allowing them to improve overall in their triathlon training and performance.”
What you’ll need:

1) Bike with trainer or spin bike if at the gym

2) Stability ball

3) 5- to 10-lb dumbbells

4) Medicine ball

The workout:

Start with a 10-minute bike warmup

Do 5 minutes core/10 minutes bike intervals

Do 5 minutes core/10 minutes bike intervals

Do 5 minutes core

End with a 10-minute bike cool down

Total time: 55 minutes

The core exercises: 1 minute each

• alternating single-leg squats with light weight shoulder press

• bicycle crunches

• plank

• seated medicine ball oblique twists

• stability ball hamstring curl on back

The bike intervals: 2 minutes each

• seated spin @ 80-85 RPM (light gear)

• alternating 15 sec standing/seated climbs @ 65-70 RPM (med gear)

• seated spin @ 80-85 RPM

• alternating 15 sec standing/seated climbs @ 65-70 RPM

• seated spin @ 80-85 RPM

Want To Recover Faster From Running? Start Swimming

A recent study suggests that swimming enhances recovery faster than lying still.

Written by: Matt Fitzgerald

Triathletes do all kinds of things to accelerate muscle recovery after hard runs. They stretch, take ice baths, wear compression socks, get massages, strap on Normatec boots, drink recovery shakes, and so forth. But a recent study suggests that something many triathletes do already for purposes other than recovery may do more than any of these measures to accelerate their recovery: swim.

The study, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine and conducted by researchers at the University of Western Australia, involved nine well-trained triathletes. The subjects performed an interval run consisting of 8 x 3 minutes @ 85-90 percent VO2 peak velocity on two separate occasions. Ten hours after the run, the triathletes either swam 2,000 meters or lay down for an equal amount of time. Fourteen hours after that, the subjects performed a high-intensity run to fatigue to assess how well their running performance had recovered from the previous day’s interval sessions.

Interestingly, the subjects were able to run for 13 minutes, 50 seconds after swimming for recovery compared to only 12 minutes, 8 seconds after lying still for recovery. That’s a 14 percent difference. The researchers also found that swimming for recovery was associated with much lower levels of c-reactive protein, a biomarker of inflammation, 24 hours after the interval run. This finding suggested that swimming for recovery enhanced performance in a subsequent run by attenuating muscle tissue inflammation resulting from the first run.

Many triathletes routinely schedule swims as their next workout following runs because it feels good to the legs. Now we know that it not only feels good but does good. If you’re not engaging in this practice already, start!

Theme for Ironman Texas aid station

All,

Your help is needed as we are trying to come up with a theme for the Lonestar Multisport aid station for Ironman Texas! Please submit your ideas to lonestarmultisport@att.net by April 15^th. Need an incentive to help us out? If your idea is chosen, then you will receive a “thank you” gift!

Top 9 Triathlon Training Secrets From Top Coaches

Written by: Marty Munson

TRAIN YOUR MIND RIGHT

1. Let the water clear. The biggest mistake triathletes make, says Scott Berlinger, founder of Full Throttle Endurance, is “training too hard all the time. We call it muddying the water. And if you keep the water muddy, you won’t perform well.” Respect your rest weeks and, he says, “stay within the confines of your workout.” Yes, even when your archrival passes you in the park. Remember, he may be doing speedwork, you may be doing distance.

2. Focus on the process, not the outcome. “Micro goals help you achieve success,” says Paul Weiss, PhD, founder of Asphalt Green Triathlon Club. So instead of fixating on winning, turn your attention to the process – staying aero, keeping your cadence up, getting your nutrition right and all the other little pieces you need to put together to have a top race. That keeps you in the zone. “Achieving process goals cumulatively results in macro goal achievement.” In other words, do what you need to do and the successes will add up.

RUN BETTER

3. Train what’s behind you. “A strong butt is the key to a happy life when it comes to running.” That’s straight from Jordan D. Metzl, MD, sports medicine physician at NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery and Triathlete contributor. How so? Strength in the glutes keeps the pelvis from tilting from side to side (among other things) and has the potential to eliminate some classic running injuries including IT band friction syndrome. Work with a coach or physical therapist to determine which strengthening exercises are exactly right for you.

4. Keep your feet under you. Should you run on the forefoot? Midfoot? Barefoot? Among the spectrum of sometimes heated opinions on the issue, nobody’s debating one point: “What’s important is where your foot falls underneath you,” says Rob Maschi, PT, DPT, of NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery. It should fall directly under your center of mass, not in front of it, or you’re basically braking with every step.

SWIM SMARTER

5. Drop some drills. “You don’t need to do 1,642 swimming drills to become a better swimmer. You can do a few drills that have a very specific purpose and become a better swimmer,” says Earl Walton, head coach for TriLife Coaching, NYC. The one drill everybody needs? Side lying kick drill. “If you’re a bad swimmer, you’re killing your momentum,” he says. “You need to get comfortable in the water and get your body position correct.” This drill is an essential way to do that. It’s not the only drill you need to do, but if it’s not in your repertoire, it’s worth putting there, he says.

DO THE RIGHT THING IN THE GYM

Strength train to become a better triathlete, not a better weight lifter. Photo: John Segesta

6. Don’t strength train to become strong. “When you’re an Olympic weightlifter, the point is to move weight from point A to point B to demonstrate your strength.” To do that, you might need to hold your breath, arch your back, or use momentum. “For any other athlete, your reason for strength training isn’t to demonstrate strength. It’s to gain strength,” says Jonathan Cane, exercise physiologist and head coach at City Coach Multisport. That means doing your weight work with excellent form and letting your muscles, not your ego, get stronger.

7. Keep it simple. Sometimes when you do crazy complicated exercises, “your brain gets better at doing them, not necessarily your muscles,” Cane says. So you’ll be better at doing one-legged tractor tire balances, rather than at swimming, biking, and running. Keep your workout simple and focus on the big muscles as well as the muscles that stabilize you. And don’t stress about whether you should be using free weights, resistance bands, kettlebells or something else. “Your muscles aren’t that smart. They only know if they’re working or not. And if you get the muscle to fire, you’ll get stronger,” he says.

DON’T SKIP THE STRETCH

8. Stretch for speed. Stretching helps you maintain your range of motion, and poor range of motion means poorer power, says Marisa D’Adamo, PT, former physical therapy coordinator for the ING NYC marathon. “Stretching helps you get faster without speedwork. You can’t work on your power or strength when your joint doesn’t have the range of motion it needs.”

AND IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE, DO THIS

9. Determine what’s made of glass. Douglas Schwartz, coach at Multi-Sport Partners, asks his athletes to imagine balls made of three materials: marble, rubber, and glass. They have to label the balls according to what they’re juggling – for instance, friends, family, work – and say why each is labeled that way. You see where this is going: The most precious one is the glass ball. Each athlete needs to figure out what in their life is made of glass and how not to drop it. Glass equals family for you? Schwartz suggests a way to make your training more efficient so you can spend more time with family: On your next road trip, have your significant other drop you off 30 minutes away from home and run the rest of the way.