As you build up to your first few seasons of triathlon racing, you have the choice of training yourself, choosing an online program – either free or paid for – or signing up with a triathlon coach.
Many people run through that exact sequence (starting with self-trained, then using online programs, then choosing a coach) as they get more into the sport and are looking for results beyond those that the initial ‘got-off-my-ass-and-did-some-exercise-for-the-first-time-in-years’ training program tends to deliver.
Assuming you’re looking to get started with some combination of self-directed training and an online program, it makes sense to get familiar with some of the high-level concepts that make a well-balanced workout routine.
Total fitness has five fundamental components, consisting of cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition, and maintaining the balance between all five of these (and everything else going on in your life!) is a constant challenge.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is an essential component of successful triathlons, and is usually the fitness component that gets all the focus. It describes the capacity to keep up a reasonably high level of physical exertion over an extended period of time.
There are two common mistakes triathletes make when it comes to cardiovascular endurance.
The first is that we tend to focus too much on cardio when trying to build our fitness levels, skipping warms ups, stretching, strength, meals, sleep, and a social life as we look to squeeze in the bike session we missed two days ago because our kid had a doctor’s appointment.
The second mistake is that we assume the best way to improve our aerobic fitness level is to hammer out every cardio session at something resembling race pace, repeating ‘no pain, no gain’ to ourselves over and over again all the way to the physiotherapist’s office to treat whatever injury we just gave ourselves. Any of us who have entered a race and only started training 6 weeks out fall squarely into this category.
The first mistake is the point of this article; talking about all five components of fitness, in the hope that you appreciate the benefits of these different types of training in your workout routine.
As for the second issue, the great news is that a lot of the training you need to do to build cardiovascular endurance is meant to be done at a very low intensity – ideally at the level where you can hold up your end of a conversation while biking or running, without having to pause for breath every word or two.
How much of your training should be easy? Anything from 70% to 80% of the time you spend on your total training program should be easy. If you’re an older athlete and looking at longer races, the range goes up to 80% or more. If you’re younger and looking at sprints and super sprints, the range goes down to 70% or less.
We cover how to sustainably build up intensity and volume here.
Muscular Endurance
Developing muscular endurance allows your muscles to repeatedly exert force against resistance over a period of time – and it’s absolutely essential for success in this sport.
Don’t muddle up muscle endurance with muscle strength. Strength refers more specifically to how much weight your muscles can lift, while endurance refers more broadly to how long they can do it before getting tired. So if you want better performance in triathlons, focus on building up both.
We mentioned 70% to 80% being at low intensity earlier. Here is where you get to spend 15% – 20% of your total training time doing the harder stuff. Interval training – alternating between high-intensity bursts and lower-intensity recovery periods – is a very popular method to build muscular endurance.
Other popular workouts include hill repeats (both biking and running), and track sessions where you up the pace for much shorter distances.
Customizing these more intense sets to suit your individual fitness level and objectives is essential, as blindly following a generic program may not be beneficial.
You should also focus on gradually increasing the intensity and duration of each session over time as your fitness improves – pushing yourself too hard too soon could lead to injury or burnout if you don’t give yourself enough rest between sessions.
Muscular Strength
Muscular strength is a critical part of any triathlete’s training program, but unfortunately, it’s also often the first thing that gets cut when real life gets in the way of your training time.
Resistance training with progressive overload is a technique used by many athletes to increase their muscular strength. This involves gradually increasing the amount of weight lifted or the number of repetitions performed over time, in order to make gains in strength.
Rushing this process is not advisable; pushing too hard, especially if your technique isn’t absolutely perfect, is a totally avoidable cause of injury.
Neville before weight training
Neville after weight training
Many triathletes avoid lifting heavy weights as they’re worried about putting on bulk, but this isn’t necessarily an issue – there are easy strategies to follow to avoid adding too much muscle mass.
A combination of progressive overload with lighter weights and higher reps can help you build lean muscle mass without adding much bulk. Heavy resistance training with sets of only five or six reps will also build muscular strength without the bulk.
Strength training in this context also isn’t focused purely on building up major muscle groups by doing bench press and squats and puffing out your chest as you walk around the gym between sets. It also includes core work, and using bands and body weight to even out muscle imbalances and address any weaknesses you may have.
If you have a desk job, you probably have weak glutes, for example.
Beyond the training benefits, there is tons of research showing how good strength training is for bone health as we age, and reduces your risk of dying from many common causes including cancer and heart disease.
So don’t skip the strength sets!
Flexibility
You’re probably about to skim-read this section, and rightly so. But if you’ve ever done this stretch before a run or bike ride, you should definitely read on:
All we’ll highlight in this section is that many people do stretching all wrong, due to a misunderstanding of what flexibility training entails – specifically, a misunderstanding of the difference between static stretching and dynamic stretching.
Static stretching, as shown in the pictures above, involves holding a stretch for 10-30 seconds at a time with no movement involved. This type of stretching is good for you, but should only be done after activity or exercise as part of your cool-down routine, when your muscles are warm and pliable, and you’re working specifically on your range of motion.
Dynamic stretching on the other hand involves active movements that warm up your muscles before activity or exercise by mimicking the motions you will use during the workout, such as leg swings, arm circles, and high knees, as shown below. Dynamic stretching is way more beneficial as a warm-up than static stretching, particularly if you’ve been sitting for several hours beforehand.
Three separate sports and now five different components of fitness to concentrate on? See our tips on how to get it all done without sacrificing your family life here.
Body Composition
The last component of fitness is body composition, or your balance of muscle mass relative to body fat. The key takeaway here is that a change in body composition takes time, and is often a happy by-product of your training program than a primary goal.
If your goal is to get to the starting line of your next race with a fitness level high enough to reach your goals, then your focus should be on healthy fueling in and around each workout, rather than intentionally running a calorie deficit each day with the express aim of reducing body fat.
You can absolutely do both, but the deeper your calorie deficit, the lower your training performance, so the best approach is to be patient with any weight or body composition goals you may have, and rather focus on consistent, high-quality, enjoyable training.