Transitioning Fast and Flawlessly at Your Next Triathlon
Many athletes overlook transitioning and leave it out of their training program. You are not going to win the race on the transition but you can definitely lose it. If you are looking to improve your time by minutes with very little effort then transitioning is where you will get the most bang for your buck.
First off, you have got to have a plan. Too many triathletes wait for race day to start thinking about what they are going to do at each transition point and this shows through in the time it takes them to pass through. You have got to start thinking about this and practicing it weeks before the race. First things first, if you are wearing a wet suit then you will want to have your biking clothes on underneath. That way when you come out of the water all you have to do is peel of your suit and you are ready to go.
At the swim to bike transition it is best to have your shoes already clipped to your bike. You also want to make sure the pedals are in the proper position so that when you go to run with your bike to the mounting area the pedals are not going to get caught on the ground. In addition, most triathletes prefer not to wear socks on the bike, this will save you a lot of valuable time if you can just peel of your wetsuit, put on your shades and helmet and be on your way.
The bike to run transition is also very important. Make sure you get off your bike in the appropriate area. If you are doing a sprint or Olympic distance triathlon you may decide to wear racing flats and so perhaps you won’t wear socks for this leg either. Whatever the case may be, make sure to tie your shoes up tight and grab any accessories you may need like hydration belts, visors, etc. If you practice your transitioning at least once a week you will undoubtedly shave a substantial amount off your overall time. Plus, you won’t run the risk of forgetting something or getting injured while trying to make the switch.
Using a training supplement like EPO-BOOST can increase your endurance and performance.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=D_Carroll |
Improving Freestyle by Practicing Other Strokes
A lot of swimmers believe that the only way to improve in the freestyle is by practicing freestyle. What they’re forgetting is that swimming is very much a technique sport, and a matter of getting comfortable and relaxed in the water.
By practicing strokes other than the freestyle you’ll improve your confidence in the water as well as become more buoyant and efficient.
In this post I’ll discuss some of the best strokes to improve your times in the freestyle as well as point some things out you can be conscious of that will help you isolate and correct weak points.
First off, when performing any stroke, you want to be conscious of how the water’s hitting your body. It takes practice but if you bring it into your field of consciousness you can actually feel the different spots on your body the water is pressing against. Of course, in order to glide through the water as fast as possible you want to have as little pressure points as possible. So by practicing the freestyle and other strokes with this in mind you can begin to fine tune your stroke mechanics until you have little to no spots where you feel pressure being exerted from the water.
A great stroke that helps swimmers get really comfortable in the water, which is fairly low intensity, is the breaststroke. Here you’re not going for speed, going fast isn’t going to improve your freestyle. What you want to do is try and streamline and glide through the water with very little splash or movement.
Once you’ve gone through the stroke, and kicked and resubmerged your head, you want to work on lengthening your body and shooting through the water like a torpedo. Staying long in the water will cause you to float higher and thus create less resistance. The best swimmers in the world are able to stretch their body out as long as they possibly can, and this results in utilizing less energy to propel themselves further.
Another great stoke to work on buoyancy is the back stroke. What you want to be conscious of here is keeping your stomach and hips high up in the water. It takes practice but when you’re doing it properly you’ll literally feel your torso float upwards about an inch or two. This same principal can be utilized in the freestyle. It’s a lot harder with the freestyle though because your face is submerged most of the time, but if you practice it with the backstroke it’s a lot easier to duplicate in the opposite position.
Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Anaerobic Cycling Sessions to Improve Your Time Trial Times
I’ve found that a lot of cyclists have difficulties going anaerobic. Some of them can do it on an uphill gradient, others into a strong head wind, but on flat ground in decent conditions a lot of people just can’t seem to do it. Then they get into a race setting and there’s people going faster than them and they realize that it is possible to go anaerobic it just takes a hard sustained effort. In this post we’re going to discuss the importance and benefit of anaerobic sessions, as well as some ways to help you go anaerobic.
First off, anaerobic just means going into oxygen debt. When you go anaerobic you begin to produce lactic acid and your breathing greatly accelerates. This is easy to achieve in running, all you have to do is sprint for a few hundred meters and you’ll undoubtedly go anaerobic. In cycling it’s a little tougher, it’s based on the same principal but for some reason people have difficulties exerting themselves to this point on two wheels. But if you want to reach your maximum potential you’re going to have to learn how to do it.
The first method, which most people prefer, is to push a larger gear than normal. This will take some practice because a lot of cyclists have trouble generating enough power to turn the pedals at an adequate cadence while still maintaining proper form. Once you get it though it’s almost identical to riding uphill or into a strong headwind. Remember though, you don’t want to use too big of a gear, you still want to be in the 60-70 RPM range. Another point to keep in mind is to be conscious of the balls of your feet, and try to envision yourself pushing through the pedal and into the ground, this will ensure you’re using the proper muscle.
The other common method is pushing a small gear at a high cadence. This is sort of like what you see in the spin classes. This method is okay if done properly. What you have to keep in mind is that one of the greatest cyclists of all time, Lance Armstrong, was known for holding high cadences of 110-120 RPMs, whereas in a spin session you’ll see people getting up to 150 RPMs. You don’t want to go that high, if you’re going much over 120 RPMs you’re in too small of a gear. For most people a high cadence on the road will be in the 100-110 range. The key here is going lactic, you want to get to a point where you’re out of breath and feeling a burning sensation in your legs.
Whichever workout you choose, one of the most important points to keep in mind here is that it takes a lot of effort. In cycling I find people tend to think of it more as a low intensity exercise and rarely exert themselves to a point where they’re significantly out of breath. For these kinds of workouts your goal should be to get your heart rate up, get out of breath, and go lactic. You can do it, you just have to want it. I can assure you that if you do this sort of workout session twice a week, within a matter of weeks you’ll significantly improve your TT times, due to an increased lactic threshold.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based endurance supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Periodization: What is it and how to use it
A term used often in cycling is periodization. Surprisingly though many people don’t have a concrete understanding of what it means. In this post we’ll attempt to eliminate any ambiguity surrounding the term and demonstrate how you can utilize periodization in your weekly training.
Periodization means just as it sounds, it’s the structuring of your training season into periods or zones. Each period is designed to specifically benefit a certain part of your overall fitness, and usually later periods depend upon success in earlier periods in order to be of value. A general periodization of a season often looks something like this:
| Weeks | Period |
| 4-6 | Preparation |
| 8-12 | Base |
| 6-8 | Build |
| 1-2 | Peak |
| 1-3 | Race |
In the first four to six weeks you’re getting prepared for the battering your body is going to take over the next four to six months. This often consists of weight room training and possibly cross training with swimming or running. The next eight to twelve weeks is called the base period and is spent increasing your endurance. By the end of the base period you’ll want your longest ride of the week to be at least the same duration as what you plan on doing your most important race in. Next is the build period. This is where you’ll want to begin increasing the intensity of your workouts in conjunction with decreasing the length. In addition you’ll want to spend quite a bit of time improving any weaknesses that might come up in a race situation. The peak period is used to get rested for the upcoming races. Here you still want to incorporate high intensity workouts so that your body doesn’t lose any fitness, but you want to greatly reduce the volume. After tapering you should be ready for up to three or four weeks of racing.
That’s really all there is to periodization. There are a few different forms of periodization that aren’t linear like the one listed above, but very few athletes prefer to use them. The linear periodization described above is used by many of the world’s top runners, cyclists, and swimmers, and when used correctly and with a goal in mind it will greatly improve your season.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based endurance supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visithttp://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Improving your Leg Strength with One-Legged Pedaling
During the winter months most cyclists are confined to the indoors and forced to ride on a trainer. It can be difficult to stay motivated and even more difficult to find new workouts that spice up your training. One drill many people often overlook or fail to attach much importance to is one legged pedaling. As you’ll see, not only is this drill great for adding spice to dreary winter months, but it also improves form and efficiency so you’re killing two birds with one stone.
When you pedal with two legs one leg is always pushing down, and for the vast majority of cyclists the opposite leg is doing next to nothing. Once you reach the top of the circle the other leg takes over and its opposite gets a break. This is very inefficient as it causes you to sway side to side and utilizes unnecessary energy. Perhaps over a short race you can get away with this kind of poor technique but for any of the longer you’ll be forced to correct this error if you want to seriously compete. The best way to improve this element is through one legged pedaling.
Basically what you want to do is leave both feet on the pedals but then choose one leg to do the pushing, just let the opposite leg travel along for the ride. A common way to do this drill is by riding for one minute with your left leg, one minute with your right leg, and then one minute with both legs trying to keep the same motion going as you were using in the one legged reps. If you continue to repeat this over time you’ll notice that your legs spin in a more circular motion, which is much more efficient, and both legs begin to apply an equal amount of pressure the whole way around.
Don’t be alarmed if in the beginning you have difficulties, it’s likely that you’ve been pedaling improperly for a long time and your muscles are probably well adapted to it. In short time though you’ll get the hang of it and I guarantee that pedaling in a higher gear and or at higher RPMs will take much less effort and will feel a heck of a lot better.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
Increasing Arm Efficiency in Swimming in a Triathlon
Swimming is said to be a technique sport, much like golf or tennis. Often times the biggest and strongest swimmer is not the one to win the race, it’s the person who has the best technique. With any stroke, but especially front crawl, if you can combine strength with proper form you will surely be a force to be reckoned with.
It may come as a surprise to hear that there are a few common errors that many athletes new to the sport, and even some who have been swimming for a long time, fall victim to. In this post we will discuss some errors people commonly make with their arms, and what you can do to correct them.
Overreaching
1. The most common error is overreaching. You see swimmers young and old bring their hands way out directly in front of their head, basically the 12 position on a clock. This is extremely inefficient and causes you to bob up and down in the water as well as puts you in an incorrect position to start the next as aspect of the stroke. The proper hand placement is at 1 and 11, or if you were to draw a line straight out from each of your shoulders your arms should enter somewhere on that.
Overextending
Very similar to overreaching, but no less common, is overextending. For some reason swimmers think that if they reach out as far as they can it will make them a faster swimmer. This is somewhat true but what people often forget is that you do not want to do all of the reaching in the air.
A proper entry position is about midway between your shoulder and your fully extended arm. From there your hand enters the water and then you extend the rest of the way about 5 inches under the surface. The reason you do not want to do all of the reaching above the water is because it causes your front half to drop and creates a lot of up and down motion, which is extremely inefficient.
These two techniques are a great place to start fine tuning your swim. If you consciously work on these each time you swim you will find your times getting faster but with less effort. Work on these for a few weeks and then check back here again for another set of pointers that will knock off even more time.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
Heart Rate vs. Perceived Exertion in Cyclists
In cycling there are several ways to gauge how hard you are working. The first and most common method is heart rate monitoring. The second, less common but just as effective, is perceived exertion. There is also a third called power monitoring but most cyclists do not have access to this kind of sophisticated equipment.
What many cyclists don’t know is that heart rate isn’t as accurate a gauge as many people would like to think. In this post we will discuss why this is so as well as why perceived exertion, in many instances, can actually prove to be a more accurate gauge.
Heart rate monitoring tells you just that, how fast your heart is pumping. If you take a sedentary person off of the couch, put them on a bike and tell them to go at a decent clip for five minutes, by the end their heart rate will have raised drastically, even though they may not be working that hard. On the other hand you can take a very fit athlete and have him pedal at 120 RPMs for five minutes at a decent resistance and his heart rate only increase slightly, even though he is putting forth a great effort. To overcome this discrepancy many elite cyclists prefer to use perceived exertion in conjunction with heart rate.
Level Effort
1 Very Light
2 Light
3 Moderate
4 Hard
5 Very Hard
6 Maximal
A common way to judge perceived exertion is by creating a chart using the numbers of perceived exertion. Each time you workout you want to give the session a number coinciding with an exertion level from the chart. It takes a few weeks of various exercises to get the feel of each level, but once you get a general idea the chart will become an invaluable training tool.
For example, when you write up your weekly training schedule instead of putting just 1 hour Tuesday, 5 hours Wednesday etc. you can put 1 hours Tuesday at level 4, 5 hours Wednesday at level 3. This method is a lot easier than monitoring heart rate but just as effective in training.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based endurance supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
Structuring Your Training Season for Runners
How to Structure a Training Season for Runners
Runners often have difficulty structuring a season because they do not really know where to start. It can be a foreboding task when you are six months out from a target race and looking to structure your season in order to meet your goals but as you will see it gets a whole lot easier when you divide the season into periods.
Many runners fail to reach their full potential because they waste much of their training time doing so called “junk miles.” Basically junk miles are runs where you are not really improving anything in your running repertoire. Running is dynamic; this means that if you are not improving then you must be declining in some aspect because your fitness is never static.
A successful training plan will insure that that you are improving ever day ever so slightly all the way up to the day of your target race. The best place to start structuring your season in this way is to use a concept called periodization. In the chart below you will find an example periodization for a four month training season with four weeks of racing.
Base Period 4-6 weeks
Build Period 4-6 weeks
Peak Period 4-6 weeks
Race Period 4 weeks
The base period is spent building your endurance and strength for your target race. So if you are training for a 10K then this will be spent progressively increasing your mileage each week until you feel very comfortable covering the distance or even double the distance. You may also want to add some running supplements to your training routine.
In the build period you want to progressively replace your endurance mileage with progressively shorter but faster running. For the example listed above you might in the first week run 90% of your workouts at an easy pace and then 10% at or above race pace. Every week you will want to increase the fast running and decreasing the slow running.
In the peak period you will want to work on aspects of your running that are holding you back from achieving your goal. So you can run your target pace for the first 6 kilometers of a 10K but then with about 4 kilometers left you start to burn out. In the peak period you would want to concentrate on improving this aspect so perhaps you would structure a few workouts each week so that you fatigue yourself up to the point where you normally burn out and then from there begin repetition and interval training.
Finally, during the race period you are not going to improve too much and should concentrate more on resting and tapering for the target race. The key here is to keep your legs moving at a fast pace but not to stress them to the point where they are greatly fatigued. You are not going to lose much fitness over the course of three weeks to a month as long as you continue to do short bouts at or near race pace. It is better to rest up so that on race day you can run the fastest you have ever ran before.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based running supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
5 Ways to Prepare For Athletic Training Programs
Preparation for any athletic endeavor should include a good conditioning program. Stretching, strength training, elasticity exercises, endurance training, and nutrition are all components of good conditioning.
All athletes need to prepare themselves physically and mentally. The body needs proper nutrition, the right amount of hydration, and most importantly conditioning. Eating the right foods and creating the right diet consists of eating a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals, even fats. A balance nutritious diet is key for any athlete and has tremendous affects on performance. Some athletes think they can eat anything they want because of the high calories they expend during exercise. This is a misnomer, proper nutrition is very important. Just as with training supplements, it is important to choose supplements that have been shown scientifically to improve performance or assist with recovery post-exercise.
Athletes also need the proper of hydration to perform at their best. Not too much and not to little. There is a perfect balance.
In order to stimulate an aerobic conditioning effect, research has indicated that yo u must keep your heart rate at approximately 70 to 85% of the MHR for ten to thirty minutes. Maximum Heart Rate = 220 – Your Age. If you train at a higher level you may experience lactic acid buildup which will cause you to stop and rest. Aerobic conditioning is defined as one’s ability to take in, deliver and use oxygen. Improvement in aerobic conditioning occurs when your body is exposed to a prolonged increase in oxygen uptake and metabolism. One must work at a certain level of effort in order to stimulate the body.
Lastly an athlete needs to be mentally prepared. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Though physical training and conditioning are obviously important to performance, mental-skills training can often help athletes improve their performance. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Athletes often use visualization, goal setting, and refocusing to help them mentally prepare for important events.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO BOOST is a training supplement with ingredients have been shown scientifically to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
5 Wacky Ways to Spice Up Your Training For Your Next Marathon
Perhaps you are tired of waking up in the morning popping down your running supplements and going for just a boring old run. Maybe you are looking to spice up your training or get an edge on the competition. Well you are in luck because in this post we will be discussing some fun and exciting ways to spice up your training that likely are not found in a conventional training plan.
Sand Running
First off is sand running. There are a million different workouts you can do in the sand, one simple one is to mark of a short distance of about 200 meters and do a set number of repeats with a short break in between each. It is also wise to time yourself so that the next time you do the workout you can try and better your time.
Running Downhill
Another great workout to improve leg turnover is running on slight down hills. For this one it is best to have a distance of at least 100 meters. What your you want to do is gradually increase your pace until you are running at or even faster than your 100 meter race pace. This workout is great for getting you used to higher rotation speeds so that when someone starts to push in a race you will be able to answer back.
Ankle Weights and Bike Pulls
If you are looking to build strength two great workouts are running with ankle weights or pulling a bike. The ankle weights are pretty self explanatory. If you would like to try the bike pulling workout then you will need to find a friend who is willing to assist you with your training. What you do is tie a rope of about 6 feet to a bike and then tie it to a belt. Next you just put on the belt and run. In order for the workout to be of benefit though you want to make sure to never allow any slack in the rope. You can instruct your friend at the beginning to gently hit the brakes whenever there is too much slack in the line.
Tire Pulls
Lastly, another great workout is to attach a harness and run pulling a tire to simulate running in hilly areas. Typically, this is a great training for runners in flat areas. Start with a small tire and build up.
These are just a few examples of unconventional workouts that as a runner you can use to spice up your training and make you an all around better runner. Keep your eyes open and use your imagination because you never know when you are going to come across a new technique to incorporate into your training.
Most importantly, have fun.
Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based running supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
EPO BOOST Blog- Top 3 Things to Know about Running SupplementsOne of the most widely recommended, and most effective, tools for running better are EPO Boost. Beyond a doubt, you want to select running supplements specifically designed to enhance EPO and to increase VO2 max. By doing this, you will see results in your numbers and your endurance. […]
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- Transitioning Fast and Flawlessly at Your Next TriathlonMany athletes overlook transitioning and leave it out of their training program. You are not going to win the race on the transition but you can definitely lose it. If you are looking to improve your time by minutes with very little effort then transitioning is where you will get the most bang for your buck. […]
- Improving Freestyle by Practicing Other Strokesfreestyle swimming strokes, swimming, epoboost […]
- Anaerobic Cycling Sessions to Improve Your Time Trial TimesAnaerobic Cycling Sessions to Improve Your Time Trial Times […]
- Periodization: What is it and how to use itA term used often in cycling is periodization. Surprisingly though many people don’t have a concrete understanding of what it means. In this post we’ll attempt to eliminate any ambiguity surrounding the term and demonstrate how you can utilize periodization in your weekly training. Periodization means just as it sounds, it’s the structuring of your […]
- Improving your Leg Strength with One-Legged PedalingOne-legged training for cyclists to improve leg strength and endurance. […]
- Increasing Arm Efficiency in Swimming in a TriathlonThis article focuses on developing proper strokes to improve arm efficiency in swimming. Triathlon […]
- Heart Rate vs. Perceived Exertion in CyclistsIn cycling there are several ways to gauge how hard you are working. The first and most common method is heart rate monitoring. The second, less common but just as effective, is perceived exertion. There is also a third called power monitoring but most cyclists do not have access to this kind of sophisticated equipment. […]
- Structuring Your Training Season for RunnersHow to Structure a Training Season for Runners Runners often have difficulty structuring a season because they do not really know where to start. It can be a foreboding task when you are six months out from a target race and looking to structure your season in order to meet your goals but as you […]
- Top 3 Things to Know about Running Supplements
