Iconoclasses: Multi-Sport Coaching

Fear of Starting

Beating the Fears that Cause Procrastination At its root, procrastination is almost always based on some kind of fear. And figuring out how to beat that fear is the key to unprocrastination, in the long run. Quick fixes are fine, but if the fears remain unabated, they will continue to act on you, causing you…

Specificity (s’s of fitness)

The Specificity Principle for Sports Training The Specificity Principle is key to developing effective fitness training programs for sports. Specificity also underlies how athletes learn sport skills. However, the principle is sometimes misinterpreted. Specificity and Sports Fitness Specificity refers to the type of changes the body makes in response to sports training. Very simply, what…

101-Offseason

The offseason is a great time to learn about the sport. For most their sole focus is always on how fit they can get themselves, scrutinising the Strava files of their competitors to learn the secrets to training. One of the first things I learnt when I started coaching is that there really isn’t any…

5 Simple Ways to Increase Bike Power

Power is the Holy Grail of cycling. The more bike power you have, the faster you can ride over a given distance. Developing your cycling power requires a lot of hard work, but here are five simple ways to do it: 1. RIDE IN BIGGER GEARS. Riding in bigger gears at the same cadence in a…

There’s nothing like a warm chai

How-to make your own Chai Spice Mix It’s so easy to make your own chai spice mix at home. After you’ve tried it, you’ll never look back! Masala chai – also known as ‘chai’, or ‘chai tea’ – is a traditional tea from India containing a mixture of warming aromatic herbs and spices mixed with…

Got Milk

Confused by all the different types of milk at the supermarket? It’s no longer simply a matter of reaching for full cream, light or skim milk; nowadays you have to navigate labels claiming everything from high calcium to low saturated fat, and from added omega-3 to A2 proteins – not to mention the growing organic…

Rope is my Dope

A Good Skipping Rope: is the cheapest and most effective piece of cardio equipment you can own. Contrary to popular belief, it’s the perfect full body workout. At home a weighted rope like this one or a Cross Rope ( always more practical, when travelling) Or *My Suggestion: Try skipping 10-15 minutes prior to…

The 10 Commandments of Cycle Training

When you get to the point where you want to take your cycling to the next level—going faster and/or farther—you need to train. As you go forth in your training, remember these rules. To get results, follow these cycling training commandments. 1. Have a Plan. Winging it is fine sometimes, but it doesn’t quite cut it…

You can train harder if you recover faster

Training + Recovery = Improved Performance How much time, effort, thought and planning goes into your training each week? How much time, effort, thought and planning goes into your active recovery each week? If you want to improve your performance (race faster) then you need to treat your recovery with the same degree of importance…

101-Cycle Safety

Cycling safety is a high priority for any club. We want to see members stay safe and also make sure that the Club is viewed positively when it comes to the way they use the roads. Last week I highlighted “Group Riding and Drivers” things to focus on when riding, this week I want to…

Reverse vs. Traditional Periodization for Triathlon Training

Periodizing your triathlon training plan means that you alter the frequency, intensity and volume of your training sessions across a period of time, to help you arrive at your goal race in peak fitness. This will involve developing different aspects of your fitness at different times of the year.

Are fatter tyres faster

Even if you haven’t got Disc Brakes and Disc Specific Wheels, below is an explanation why it may be benificial to go up is Tire size, to 25mm or 28mm on standard Road Rims.

How Triathletes Should Read Lab Results

I was 61 years old and in for a routine check-up that included some labs. At this point in life, training six days a week (averaging 14hr/week) for Half and Full Ironman events. I assumed everything would look flawless. I was wrong. I got a call back from the Doctor (GP) saying I needed to come back in and discuss some elevated lab values.

Blood Simple

Let’s suppose that next time something is different. Looking at your blood work, the doctor gravely tells you that you have high cholesterol and your AST is slightly elevated. Do you panic?

Liver Let Die

The liver is one of the major fat burning organs in the body, and is often referred to as a “fat pumping” organ. What this means is that the liver can carry fat into the small intestine through bile, where it gets taken out of the body by bowel action.

Glycogen Replenishment After Exhaustive Exercise

The principle of glycogen resynthesis and supercompensation has great practical implications, not only in athletics, but also within industry for workers who consistently undergo depletion of glycogen stores due to prolonged bouts of exertion.

Is Coca-Cola an effective sports drink?

Top athletes seem to love Coke, not just as a dinner drink to wash down a cup of yoghurt, a cinnamon-raisin bagel, and a bowl of broccoli, but as a sports drink to provide a little fire during the last stages of a prolonged endurance competition. Coke as a sports drink? It does seem strange,…

Fructose and Its Impact on Our Bodies

Fructose is a valuable and needed nutrient. It is not the fructose that is the problem but the overly generous supply found in our manufactured foods. Fructose found in fruits and vegetables is slowly absorbed into the blood stream, its absorption blunted by the soluble fibre naturally found in these foods.

Recommendations for carb intake during exercise

Now we have come to the blog that puts it all together and talks about the recommendations for carbohydrate intake during exercise. First it is essential to know what the goal is of an exercise session or workout before we can recommend carbohydrate amounts and types. If the goal is an optimal performance, the following recommendations are appropriate.

Carb mixes and benefits

Carb mixes can be recommended at all durations of exercise but are most effective when the exercise is 2.5 hours or longer. In those conditions, carbohydrate intakes of up to 90g/h (in a ratio of 2:1 glucose:fructose and an intake of 90 g/h) are recommended from multiple transportable carbohydrate sources. Glucose or maltodextrin will have to provide around 60 g/h and Fructose at 30 g/h.

Planning Nutrition for a 70.3 Triathlon

For an Ironman 70.3 or other 4 to 7 hour event, nutrition can be an incredibly important factor. In shorter distance triathlons you can get away with making some nutrition mistakes, but during a 70.3 triathlon, it is more likely that you will be punished for nutrition errors.

Finding Your Perfect Run Cadence

Most running injuries result from three aspects of your form: heel striking, over-striding and/or cadence. The good news for runners is that cadence is probably the most important of these three and, when improved, will also improve your chances of having zero knee issues.

Reverse Periodization For Triathletes

For triathletes in the Southern Hemisphere, the season is almost over. Days are getting shorter, the weather is getting worse, and so for a lot of people training time is becoming limited and requiring that extra bit of motivation. At this time of year you should be planning for next season and starting to think…