Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 27, 2009
By Mike Beaman
You spend a lot of time managing your career and family to allow for precious triathlon training time. So, why waste those efforts by wearing and using gear that needlessly slows you down? Every year companies spend millions of dollars researching and developing aerodynamic gear to make you faster. Take advantage of it! In order of importance, here's the gear you should buy to be as aerodynamic as possible:
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 25, 2009
This pizza and salad combo is a great post-workout meal, because it is not only low in fat, but also a great source of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. Quick and simple, this meal can be made in a hurry and feed a family for less than $20.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 25, 2009
By Cid Cardoso, Jr.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 25, 2009
By Sonni Dyer
It could take weeks, even years, to shave a few minutes off your run, bike or swim split in a triathlon. But, don't worry, while you're working on the physical improvements to garner a faster time, there are a couple of things you can do right now to make you a faster triathlete. In a race where the difference between first and second can be a matter of seconds, smooth transitions are key to a successful race. Depending on your current skill set, my tips for faster transitions could save you up to a minute or even more during your next race!
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 25, 2009
By Thys Wind
Depending on your athletic background, taking up the sport of triathlon is essentially like taking up three new sports at the same time. This can be overwhelming, particularly with respect to learning the sports' best practices, getting the right gear, and making sure you don't break the bank.
When it comes to basic etiquette and safety precautions during your training, there are a few very simple things that you may want to know. Let's break it down by discipline.
Swimming
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 24, 2009
By Brett Cornwright
For the typical time-stretched endurance athlete, strength training usually occurs in the off-season, if at all. Workouts often involve a heavy dose of machines and isolated movements with free weights. During the racing season, and if the athlete is really motivated, he or she may get to the gym once or twice per week in an attempt to maintain what strength they managed to build over the winter.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 24, 2009
By Michael Sharp, MS, LAT, ATC To be able to compete in the sport of triathlon, a person must commit themselves (and often times their family) to the necessary rigors of training for three events. With such a vigorous training regimen, we typically see a few common injuries among triathletes. While certain injuries are common, injuries themselves are not inevitable. With the proper preventative stretches and exercises, triathletes can compete without the fear of injury limiting their performance.
Swimming
The constant overhead motion of the swim stroke can put a lot of stress on the shoulders and puts swimmers at risk of rotator cuff tendonitis, which happens when the swimmer repeatedly reaches up overhead through the stroke and pinches the rotator cuff due to the shoulder boney anatomy. This tendonitis also occurs when the swimmer uses his or her shoulders to overcompensate for weak core muscles. As the swimmer rotates the torso with each stroke, if the core muscles are weak and the technique breaks down, additional strain is put on the shoulders to compensate, resulting in an overuse injury of the shoulders. To prevent this impingement, proper strengthening of the rotator cuff and posterior shoulder muscles is needed. This strengthening helps keep the shoulder in proper alignment and limits the potential impingement with each stroke.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on May 24, 2009
By Marty Gaal, CSCS
If you haven't yet tried your hand at swimming, you'll soon find out that it's technique intensive and your best bet is to join a coached group or find a good technique coach. For the uninitiated, the world of swimming can be intimidating. If you join a master's group or are planning to download workouts from the internet you're going to need to know the definitions of a few key terms and formats that are specific to swim workouts:
- Pull - Means swim with a pull buoy and hand paddles. Some coaches may want you to use just a buoy, or just paddles, so hopefully the workout will specify that.
- Build - Means start the swim easy and build your effort into fast by the end. For example: 10 x 100 build on :15 (or "15) means swim ten times 100 yards starting each 100 easy and finishing each 100 fast, on a total of 15 seconds rest in between each 100.
- Descend - This usually means you'll do consecutive swims at a harder effort. For example: 9 x 100 descend 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 on :15 (or "15) means the first 100 is easy, rest 15 seconds, next 100 is moderate, rest 15 seconds, third 100 is fast...then rest 15 seconds and repeat that series two more times.
- Negative split - The second half of the swim is faster than the first. Example: 3 x 400 negative split on :30 (or "30) means swim 400 yards with the first 200 yards moderate effort and the next 200 yards at a harder effort, then rest thirty seconds before starting again.
Let's look at a sample workout. The highlighted lines are what would be written.
