Personal Best Performance Articles:
Goals
Off Season Training
Winter Training
My First Triathlon
Book Exerpts:
Destiny
The Road to Personal Victory
Write Your Training Journal In Advance
Article:
Off-Season Training
When I started doing triathlons some three years ago logic told me that the more I swam, biked, and ran yearlong the faster I would get. Unfortunately it’s not quite that easy.
Off-season training is the foundation that speed and endurance are built on. Regardless of the time spent during race season to better your speed, if you did not put adequate effort into your off-season training you will not be able to reach your full potential.
For many new endurance athletes it goes against our nature to drastically reduce the time we spend swimming, biking and running and increase the time we spend lifting weights, but this is exactly what we need to do in the off-season to promote faster times for next race season. Some of the most important triathlon-specific lifts that can be done in the off-season are: Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Squats, Shoulder Press, Bicep Curls, Seated Row, Lat Pull-downs, Calf Raises, Hyperextensions, and lots and lots of core strength training. During off season training it is important to remember your race limiters and make a special focus to do exercises to strengthen the muscles used in that event.
The off-season is also the best time to work on proper technique. Often we need to take a step back to take three forward in order to correct a technique flaw and the off-season is the best time to do it. If you pronate when you run, take time to fix it; if you need to smooth out you pedal stroke, do individual leg spinning to smooth it out; or if you are a poor swimmer there are many drills that will make you more efficient during next season. Now is the time to perfect your form so that during race season you won’t have to focus so much on technique but your time can be spent on speed and endurance training.
Here are some of my favorite off-season technique drills. First I work on my running cadence, trying to keep it above 85 foot-strikes per minuet. I also work on smoothing out my peddle stroke by spinning one leg at a time, focusing on even pressure throughout the stroke. Finally, swimming with my hands in fists forces me to focus on body rotation, correct hydrodynamics, and a smooth even kick.
So, during this off-season give your running and cycling shoes a break and spend more time building muscle and improving technique (especially in the pool). If you implement these exercises in your off season workouts, when race season comes you will be faster, stronger, healthier and less prone to injury than if you just continued to swim, bike and run. Remember to train smart and as Michael has often told me” Plan your work and work your plan.”
Good luck and good training.
Brian Howell (TriBri)