Bored of the same old triathlon workouts? Are you ready for some routines that are going to absolutely blow your mind and put some fresh intensity into your training program. In no particular order of importance, here are 15 of the best triathlon workouts that you aren't doing.
1. Treadmill Hiking Sprints
You'll never think of a treadmill the same way after this massive leg strength building triathlon workout. Hop onto the belt, and after a brief warm-up, immediately crank yourself up to a brisk walking pace. Here's the kicker: now bring the incline up to somewhere between 9.0 and 12.0 percent. Try to stay on that belt for 5 minutes. Your recovery from this hike is going to be a run. Bring the incline down to 1.0, and pick up a light jogging base, about 55-65% intensity. After 5 minutes, crank yourself back up to your uphill hike. Go back and forth for the time length of your workout, preferably 30-60 minutes.
2. Movie Endurance
Find a movie playing on TV. then set up your trainer in front of your TV. This is an endurance triathlon workout. Ride at your regular aerobic pace while the movie is playing, but for every commercial that pops up, turn up the tension to about 90% max effort and hold that for the commercial. When the movie comes back on, go back into your aerobic pace. You'll squeeze in your favorite flick, and a great workout.
3. Open Water Pool Power Workout
This crazy pool based workout will instantly make you more powerful and mentally tougher in the open water. Get out your notepad, preferably the waterproof one. You ready? 500m warm-up. Progress to 1x Death Sprint, in which you go as hard as possible for as long as possible. No rules, but you should be able to last 200-300 yards. Recover 2 minutes, then complete 15 pool-side pushups to a 50m all-out sprint. Recover 45 seconds after each repeat, and do 5 of these. Recover 1 minute. Then do a 50m all-out sprint that you take directly into a 250m "cruise" at about 70% intensity. Do two of these "sprints-to-cruises", and recover 1 minute between each. Then progress to 3x100 "no-stop" intervals, in which you swim a 100m all-out pace, but your recovery is a 50m very easy swim, rather than resting poolside. Next, swim 3x75m with NO turning at the walls - instead, turn at the "T" and use the power of your legs to reverse direction. Recovery on these is a very easy breaststroke or backstroke back to your starting wall. Finally, finish with 10x25 "hypoxic" sets...no breathing or as little
breathing as possible. 20 second rest after each 25. Whew! That's it!
4. Swim/Spin Brick
Another great pool and indoor-based session. This works very well for a time trial swim in which you're going to swim at maximum sustainable pace for 20-30 minutes. Schedule your swim to end just 5 minutes before the spin class at a gym. Hop in the water and go. After a quick 5 minute transition, race to the spin class and take whatever the instructor happens to throw at you. This is a great "fun" early or winter season triathlon workout for you cold birds.
5. Cartlek Run
That's right, I didn't mis-spell Fartlek, that term that refers to random speed training. Cartlek is your trafficked road version. Here's how it works: Settle into an aerobic pace, at about 55-65% intensity. Every time a car passes you *from behind*, you must pick up the pace to a comfortable but fast run at about 85% for 100 steps. If a "string" of cars passes, then you begin your 85% stride after the last car goes by. If a car passes you during those 100 steps, you pick up the pace to maximum 100% for however many steps you have left. Once you're done with the 100 step stride, you can settle in until the next car approaches. This triathlon workout is basically Fartlek training with an unpredictable twist, and is good when you don't have a group to run with to do the pace-changing. Have fun (it works best on roads
that aren't *too* heavily trafficked).
6. Standing Flats
Here's a fun and simple triathlon workout that builds hip flexor strength and low back endurance. Go on a bike ride, but at one point during that bike ride (that's right, it only takes once), stand for as long as possible on the longest stretch of flat road you can find. If you can make it 2 minutes, you're pretty good. 5 minutes is tough. 10 minutes would qualify you as a rock star triathlete!
7. Indoor TV-Watching Fartleks
Back to another fartlek workout, this time on the treadmill and indoors. Hop onto the belt and turn on your favorite sports game or TV show. Folks, this is a pretty simple one: easy aerobic run while your program is playing, following by an all-out sprint during the commercials. During the average Super Bowl style football game, you'll find yourself completely exhausted if you can make it 30 minutes in this triathlon workout.
8. Aqua Bursts
This run sprint workout will allow you to truly achieve maximum running speed form with a low risk of injury. Find one of those flotation belts at the pool. If you don't have one, go to Swim Outlet or some other online source. Once you're wearing the flotation belt, hop into the pool start aqua jogging as soon as the water is too deep to touch. Lean forward and drive from the hips. For a 25m pool, about halfway down, stop. This is going to be your starting point for this run workout. Giving yourself a highly motivated "Ready, Set, Go!" and burst sprint as hard as possible to the wall 12.5 meters away (running, not swimming), then jog back to your starting point for recovery. The idea behind sprinting is that quick bursts can improve endurance just as much as the long slogs.
9. Drained Sprints
Here's a good way to ensure that you last strong to the finish, especially in the triathlon races with long or difficult bike legs. Go on your normal long bike triathlon workout, which will be 1 hours up to 6 hours, depending on who you are! After you finish your ride, find a long flat section of road, then stand and sprint for 20 seconds as hard as possible. Recover for 40-60 seconds, then repeat. This is called a "drained sprint" because you're completely devoid of energy by the time you start the series of sprints, and it builds some serious mental and physical toughness. Shoot for 10 sprints total.
10. Beach Bricks
You'll need a nice long section of beach for this triathlon workout. With your goggles hung around your neck, run 1 mile at a fairly quick pace, about 80-90% intensity. Then, without any recovery, make a detour and run into the water. Swim for 2-5 minutes at your cruise pace, then get out of the water and start running again. Your goal is 3-5 repeats. The water will feel nice as it cools your core between your harder mile repeats.
11. Open Water Running
If you've worn a wetsuit, you know that the buoyancy helps you float quite nicely in the open water. But have you tried water running in the open water in your wetsuit? Next time you're doing an open water swim triathlon workout, finish with 5-10 minutes of vigorously pumping the arms and running in the water in your wetsuit, where you can't touch the bottom! It's a great alternative to teaching your body how to get blood from the upper sections to the lower sections, especially if you don't have time to get on a bike after your swim.
12. Hypoxic Sets
Not allowing yourself to breath, or breathing minimally, can teach your body how to be incredibly efficient during a swim set. Here's how this triathlon workout goes: do your normal swim workout, but in between each main set, whether it be a 100, 200, 500, or 800, swim 25-50 meters without breathing or breathing as little as possible. Another option is to finish your workout with 10x25 of "hypoxic" sets, again, breathing as little as possible.
13. Urban Running (can't run 5 blocks without running 1 on a curb, must jump 3x onto every bench, stoplights isometric squat, stair must repeat 1x
This is a fantastic triathlon workout when you're stuck downtown, live in the city, or must run in an urban environment. Simply strap on the running shoes and head out on our run, but follow these simple rules: 1) you can't run for more than 5 blocks without either sprinting 1 block or running 1 block balanced "on the curb"; 2) anytime you pass a bench, you must stop and jump onto it three times; 3) anytime you have to stop at a stoplight or stop sign, go into a deep squat and hold it until it's time to run again; 4) anytime you go up a flight of stairs, you have to go back down to the bottom and climb the stairs one more time.
14. Mile Marker Madness
This workout requires you to be riding your bike in an area with clearly identifiable mile markers. It works best for a shorter triathlon workout. Anytime you get to a mile marker, you get to stand and sprint for 15 seconds, then get down into your race position and time trial to the end of that mile. The next mile is an easy recovery spin.
15. Office Triathlon (elastic band pulls --> lunge jumps --> jumping jacks)
So let's say you're stuck in your office, you have no time to get to the gym, on your bike, or even into a pair of running shoes, but you still want to do a triathlon workout. Here's a quick workout that will trigger your triathlon muscles without requiring you to change or leave your office. You'll need an elastic band, which you can find at just about any sporting goods store. Attach it to a stationary object in your office, and perform alternating arm pulls while kneeling or standing. Keep the elbows high, just like swimming and do as many as you can in one minute. Then switch to lunge jumps or lunges for another minute, in which you bend the front knee to at least 90 degrees, so that you work the cycling muscles. Finish with jumping jacks for 1 minute. If you have time, repeat the workout anywhere from 2-5x
through.
Ready for a bit of a change-up from your normal triathlon workouts? Put this article into your workout folder or gym bag and pull it out when you need a quick and creative triathlon workout idea.
Found this on XTRI.com. Some interesting ideas, and some I know I will try!
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