Isn't Bangkok that super polluted city, with terrible traffic jams, no place to ride a bike and where everyone just think about partying? How can I train in a place like that? It can be done!All you need is to think outside the box and adjust training to your "Bangkoker" lifestyle
Category: bangkok
I’m just about to get on the plane on my way back to Brazil. I will go back home for 1 month, and then return to the Land of Smiles (aka Thailand!), where I lived for the past year. The country (and the city, BKK) can offer a BALANCED lifestyle. You can train, race, travel, work and enjoy a night out on the weekends, but as a coach and athlete, my main tips for the local athletes, who mostly have a pretty similar profile, that is a busy agenda, is to use the local perks to give training a boost.
Diet:
There are just no excuses why an athlete couldn’t have the perfect diet living in Bangkok, Thailand or most of the South East Asia Countries! It’s a perfect place for those who enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh orange juice and you can eat out at your local restaurant for a fairly cheap price.
My absolutely favorite Thai thing are the “fruit stands“ (as photo below), push cars where local thais sells portions of fruits for 10baht each (~33cents USD) – they are everywhere and all you need now is to buy some yogurt at the local 7-eleven and you are set to have a great breakfast, good carbohydrate/protein ration, tons of vitamins and nutrients.
I would only recommend “think outside the box” when it comes to rice and noodles! Thais are crazy with their rice/noodles and even though they are not unhealthy, starch are very low in nutrients in vitamins, calories densed food (which is no good for the average athlete), so its OK to have them in one meal here and there, but don’t buy the idea of “starch at every meal” like the local thais eat. Bon Appétit.
Indoor training:
I know professional triathletes that even with a perfect weather outside, they did ALL their riding and running indoors! Running on a treadmill and riding on a trainer is much more efficient and good for your fitness than you might think, you can focus on the session better, avoid injuries, train in the A/C (cold or heated to simulate racing conditions), and you save up commuting time to a decent run park or riding roads, just to name a few.
And in Bangkok you also avoid the heavy polluted air and you can just wake up, do your training and get ready to carry on with other things in your life. So with one hour available for training every morning and some longer outdoor sessions or racing on the weekend, which would be around 10h of training in a week, you can get killer fit if you do the proper indoor sessions.
Traveling/Racing:
Another advantage of being an athlete in Bangkok is the opportunity to explore Asia in a completely different and sporty way. Instead of just taking the average tour to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and sit in a Taxi visiting the temples, why not race the Angkor Wat marathon in December and RUN around the temples? There are countless opportunities in Asia when an athlete could just do some training/racing in paradisiacal places and amazing experiences, just to name a few: Laguna Phuket Triathlon, Bali Triathlon, Great Wall Marathon in China, Lombok Triathlon, Koh PhanGan Triathlon, Pranburi Triathlon, Bintain Triathlon – not to mention the adventure races and the training you can do by yourself in all those countless breathtaking sceneries that are around Thailand or SEA, I was wondering for example how far are the Island of Phi Phi Don to Koh Phi Phi – not, THAT would be a good open water swim!
So if you are in Bangkok, train hard, every day, in the morning if possible so you can have the rest of the day to work and socialize, eat healthy, and no problems if most of the work need to be done indoors, and from time to time, just head somewhere else for a lifetime experience! Welcome to Amazing Thailand!