Iconoclasses: Multi-Sport Coaching

Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials

John L. Parker’s Once a Runner follows a fictional elite collegerunner, Quenton Cassidy. Cassidy is a sub-4 minute miler, and Olympic Gold Medal contender who professes a “secret.” The secret is that there is no secret. There is simply a trial of miles and miles of trials. Every day we make choices and one of the…

Benefits of Being Sick

No one likes to get that annual nasty flu or cold that lasts a week or more and comes roaring back just as you think you are getting better. Not a single person I coach or train with likes to miss training, not even a single day. But the reality is, sometimes you get that…

Breathing – Exhalation Technique

you know your problem? you keep it all in! important? Very few novice swimmers exhale properly into the water. Nearly all intermediate swimmers think they are exhaling correctly – at least, that’s what they say when we ask them. Do they? Very few do. Even amongst advanced swimmers, quite a few like to hold onto…

101-Bike

Coaching 101, Last week, we presented thoughts on the progressions we need to consider to improve our triathlon swimming. This week we explore the bike. Number one on the list for cycling is bike handling skills, bike set up, cycling posture and confidence. I helping a beginner cyclist take them out for some one on one…

101-Swim

So we have spent a bit of time thinking about what is required to put together a training program. Now we can dig a little deeper into the specific swim, bike and run elements to see where you should be investing your time. When it comes to swimming the one comment I continually hear is that…

Individuality

One of the biggest challenges a triathlete faces is wading through the plethora of information available to them. Magazines, the internet, athletes, coaches, pro athlete websites and blogs, all shout out the so called secrets to being a super star. The reality is everyone. In fact anyone spruiking it has to be dealt with a…

The Stroke Rate Ramp Test: Find Your Efficiency Sweet Spot(s)

Here’s a neat way to use your Tempo Trainer Pro to learn more about your individual stroke efficiency and find the right stroke rate for you. We call it ‘The Stroke Rate Ramp Test’ or just ‘Ramp Test’ for short. The Ramp Test gives you a full profile of your freestyle stroke and helps you…

Plan “B”

Are you “Competing or Completing” are you a “Professional or and Age Grouper” these are the questions you need to ask yourself, when you enter in a race. On race day one of the organizes assignments is athlete pick up on the bike or run course. This means responsiblity for taking the athletes back to…

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.