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Power Meter for Dummies

January 4, 2018

By Shem Leong, Coach in Singapore, ironguides.net

Do you have a power meter but isn’t quite sure on the best way to use it? Are you considering buying a power meter? Are you getting burn out from all the data oriented training your training have became since you started using the power meter? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this article is for you.

INTRODUCTION

This article is addressed to 2 groups of people; 1) Triathletes toying with the idea of getting a power meter and 2) Triathletes with access to power data either from a bike mounted system or on a turbo  trainer/ spin bike but have no idea how to interpret it.

You’ve read about how power data is more accurate than speed and heart rate and that using power data to pace yourself is like ‘cheating’ on race day. You’ve no doubt heard the Fast Guys shooting off about their FTP and So-and-So’s power to weight ratio, their scary ‘Ironman Watts’ sessions that have been built according to Training Stress Scores and so on. Current power meter manuals will also instruct you how to use power data in many ways, including:

  • Simple ‘zoning’ of effort levels as a percentage of Functional Threshold Power (FTP – more on this below)
  • Pacing over the various distances of triathlon
  • Gauging fatigue levels and predicting the arrival of your physiological peak.
  • Determining what type of cyclist you are and your strengths and weaknesses
  • Aerodynamic testing

While all this is good and to true, most everyday triathletes will struggle to use this information meaningfully. All you know is that the harder you pedal, the higher the power readings climb.

If, however, you’re an advanced athlete that has already mastered the finer points of using power data, I urge you to move swiftly on from this very rudimentary approach to utilizing what is, at its full potential, a very sophisticated and refined training platform.

Instead, this is article aims to give the reader a simple way to start using power data so that it is relevant to your daily training and that does not require the plotting and analysis of any graphs by you or a power meter expert. The methods underlined below are basic, not technical and obvious. In fact, this article simply reflects how I, a strictly ‘Perceived Effort’ kind of guy, have started using power data in my own training and with some of the athletes that I coach.

GETTING STARTED

Spend a few weeks rolling around with the power meter to get used to the relative magnitude of ‘a bunch of watts’. Note your typical range while riding at different perceived effort levels (Easy/Moderate/Moderate Hard/ Hard/ All Out) through various riding situations; Climbing, Descending, Sprinting, Time Trailing, Sitting in a draft, Riding into a headwind, Taking a pull, etc.  Don’t rush into it; give yourself time to get familiar with a brand new currency.

The scope of this article will only require you to broadly grasp 2 technical aspects of training with power.

  • Functional Threshold Power (FTP) – is defined as the highest sustained power a rider can hold for 40 – 60 mins.

Essentially, a rider’s FTP is a point of reference for their current level of bike fitness. For the beginner, raising your FTP is a good starting point – a tangible and quantitative goal to work towards. Knowing your FTP will also allow you to ‘zone’ different effort levels according to the ‘percentage of FTP’ that you are working at.  Current literature has defined 7 separate training zones but to keep this article simple, I only refer to the Lactate Threshold zone, which is most beneficial for increasing FTP.

*Down the road, as you become familiar with training with Power, FTP can also be used to benchmark a particular point in your bike fitness. For example, if your FTP was 240 watts at your fittest just before an A race, and you are coming off an off season break with a current FTP of 200 watts, then you know how much room you have to improve before approaching race fitness.

While there are several widely accepted procedures of obtaining FTP, the one outlined below is my preferred method. It is a relatively simple, albeit strenuous, procedure. Mount your bike on a trainer and complete this session as follows:

Warm up:

20 mins full warm up done as:

3 mins easy – mod build /3 x 1 min very hard, 1 min easy/ 4 mins easy

Main Test:

30 mins best effort Time trial

  • Perform at the cadence that allows you to put out and hold your best effort.
  • For most triathletes, this will be in the 75 – 85 rpm range.
  • Lap the Power Meter at the start of this section.
  • Start slightly conservatively and build through the whole 30 mins
  • Beak it up mentally as follows
    • 0 – 10 mins @ 7/ 10 perceived effort
    • 11 – 20 mins @ 8 / 10 perceived effort
    • 21 – 25 mins @ 9/ 10 perceived effort
    • 26 – 30 mins @ All Out, empty the tank.
    • Finish with a very easy spin cool down

Your FTP is the wattage from this Time Trail. Armed with this knowledge, you will now be able to perform a variety of training sessions at the right intensity to elicit certain physiological adaptations.

  • Normalised Power (NP) is the second concept that you need to understand. In simple terms, a rider’s NP is the average power, but adjusted for the range of variability (starts, stops, climbs, descents) over the course of a ride. Basically, it’s a more accurate reflection of average power when collecting data from longer rides out on the road. We can also use NP for tracking efforts on the trainer.

 

 

TURBO TIME

Power meters will be most useful for athletes that have already incorporated interval training into their weekly schedule. While it matter less where you do them (on the road or on the trainer), than that you do them, I believe that the quality of training you get from bashing out a set on the Turbo exceeds what you can get from doing a similar set on the open road.

For the purpose of this article, I will highlight the 2 most important types of sessions for triathletes and how to use power data to get the most of out of them.

  1. Bike Tolerance

Lactate Threshold sessions, done regularly, are designed to increase your FTP by developing both your cardiovascular tolerance (the ability to hold your effort at ‘redline’ for an extended period of time) and your neuromuscular skill (the ability to pedal at ‘race cadence’ in smooth efficient circles by training your muscles to fire in a coordinated fashion).  With a power meter, the intervals can be done at the prescribed intensity of 91 – 101% FTP. This will give you real time feedback within the session, if you’re pushing too hard or not hard enough or just the right amount.

For Example:

4 x 12 mins at 91 – 101% FTP / 4 mins easy spin off recovery between efforts

Your power data can help you ‘fine tune’ the execution of these types of session. The goal for a rider with an FTP of 240W is to perform each of these intervals is between 218 and 242 watts. Say the 1st 3 intervals go according to plan at 220, 228, 234W but he fades on the last one and despite his best efforts is only able to put out 196W. We can deduce that if he had held back a touch on the 2nd and 3rd efforts, this would have improved his chances of getting that 4th interval within the prescribed 91 – 101% FTP.

Without power data, the same session would be written as follows:

4 x 12 mins hard / 4 mins easy spin off recovery between efforts

While the results would have been very similar, the athlete without power data would need to reply on ‘perceived effort’ to adjust the intensity of the intervals in the following week in order to put out a ‘perfect’ session. But because he still reaps the physio-mental training stimulus of performing the session, his time on the turbo has not gone to waste. The addition of power data simply helps him to learn how to execute this session better. Of course, we assume that the athlete is teachable and thoughtful and indeed adjusts his efforts the following week(s) to finish the set ‘perfectly’.

A stubborn athlete on the other hand, no matter what the power data tells them, will charge headlong into the session and execute it in exactly the manner, producing exactly the same result.

The second way to use this data, is for the athlete to track their progression by comparing the average Normalised Power across all 4 efforts from week to week. An athlete without power data would need to rely on their own sense and feel as to whether they were getting better at this set of intervals or not.

  1. Bike Strength

Excluding non- swimmers, the biggest gap for new and intermediate athletes is often their strength on the bike.  This issue requires immediate attention and the best remedy is to introduce a healthy dose of big gear work on the trainer. This involves working your legs against a much heavier resistance than you would normally encounter while riding steady on a flat road.   Think of this as doing cycling specific weight training. I start beginner athletes on 1 minute intervals done at 50 – 60 cadence.

For example:

20 x 1 min All Out / 1 min very easy spin off recovery

  • Maximum Cadence of 45 while @ maximum effort
  • Resistance on the recovery is as easy as you need it to be.
  • The more experienced athletes can go down to 30 cadence on longer intervals once the supporting structures in their legs and back have adapted to the higher load.

When doing big gear work on the trainer, pushing very hard against a very high resistance will yield lower than expected power figures, relative to the level of exertion, because the resultant cadence of these types of sessions is so low. Therefore, in terms of matching perceived effort to power output, it is NOT useful to plug in a %FTP training zone, when doing Big Gear strength work, because the power figures, will not feel as though they match the effort you are putting out.

Furthermore, pacing your efforts throughout the duration of Strength sets is not important at all (compared to Tolerance sets where the goal is usually to churn out paced power across all intervals). Strength sets is usually done pushing each effort as hard as possible (All Out) without regard for the next interval. As a result, the power figures from each subsequent interval should decrease as you progress through the set as your legs fatigue. In fact, I would be concerned that you were not pushing hard enough if you were able to hold the same watts over a whole series of strength intervals. After all, the main goal of this kind of session is to end with rubber legs!

Instead, the average Normalised Power across all the efforts, ignoring the data from rest intervals, can be tracked each week for significant increases in strength over the course of a 6 – 12 week block.

LONG RIDES

As an athlete approaches Race Day, their long rides should start to closely resemble their race day efforts, in terms of Nutrition and Pacing and Power. With the lack of long continuous unbroken bike routes in Singapore, using multiple laps of a ‘low traffic, low stoppage’ loop will go a long way towards dialling in an athlete’s race day effort. The same looped effect can be achieved on a straight forward single out and back route by lapping the unit at predetermined points in the ride (every 15/ 30 / 45 km) depending on how you structure the ride.

For power data collection on a race simulation, I like to break the ride into laps because:

  • It allows me to negate the first and final 20 – 30 mins of warm up and cool down riding to and from the start of the looped route.
  • It allows me to mentally break a long ride into shorter sections for better focus and pacing.

With the exception of some of the hilliest half and full Ironman distance races, the best strategy is to ride at your best even paced power across the whole distance. This is where athletes with a better ability to gauge perceived effort will have an advantage over those that don’t. At the start of the bike, on fresh legs, your perceived effort will be lower than for the same power output in the middle of the ride as fatigue starts to build. Perceived effort will be higher again that tail end of the bike ride as the rider’s legs are already shot. Therefore, in order to ride an even paced bike leg, the athlete will need to control their effort continually and carefully, starting at a lower perceived effort and building naturally to a higher perceived effort to account for the accumulated fatigue as you progress through the ride.

For athletes that are poor at intuitive pacing, a power meter can be a useful tool to help rewire the ‘Brain-Body Connection’ that controls pacing. Much like how data was used to perfect the set of Tolerance intervals mentioned above, so too can the power data on a lapped long ride help to accurately match perceived effort and power output across the duration on the long ride.

For example:

Using 12km loop done 6 x continuously (effectively a 72KM time trial) for 6 – 8 weeks leading up to a Half Ironman, is a nice way to replicate the race day scenario. Lapping your power meter after each lap will allow you to view your Normalised Power for each lap.  Here is an abbreviated set of data pulled from a longer 8 week progression of race simulation rides.

Lap / Week L1  L2  L3  L4  L5  L6 Notes Ave NP
Wk 1  124 132 127 129 133 – 5 laps / group effort/  some drafting/ whole ride fasted / Full ride done big gear easy  129W
Wk 3  120 132 133 153 153 160 6 laps /group effort / some drafting/ 1st half fasted / Full ride done big gear easy  – mod  142W
Wk 6  162 168 206 174 176 143 6 laps /solo effort / Poorly paced/ 1st half fasted/ Full ride at race cadence  172W
Wk 8  164 176 182 176 180 186 6 laps / solo effort / Well Paced/ race day nutrition/ Full ride at race Cadence  177W

 

Charting the data this way allows an athlete to cross-reference how hard they feltthey pushed against a set of data telling them how hard they actually pushed.

For example on Lap 3 on Week 6, the rider went for a ‘hot lap’ to test the consequence of a 20 min surge in preparation for such an occurrence on race day. While he was able to recover at race pace through Laps 4 and 5, his legs were too fatigued to hold this effort on the last lap, where his NP dropped significantly.

After numerous weeks of ‘race-simulation’, and making the necessary tweaks to efforts and nutrition over the distance, taking the average Normalised Power across all laps, on a well-paced and well – fuelled ride (Week 4) gave this rider an NP of 177W that he can aim for in his coming race.

The attentive reader will infer that the power data collected over this period has only played a partial role in his arrival at this level of race preparation. It was vastly more important that the rider was;

  • consistent with this weekly Race Simulation long ride
  • continually fine tuning his nutrition plan
  • controlling the training conditions to replicate race day conditions (i.e. drafting and cadence)
  • aware of the changes in his perceived effort as he progressed through each ride.

All these elements that go into perfecting a Race Simulation are achieved without, and can sometimes be disrupted by the addition of power data. This athlete’s arrival at his NP target of 177W on race day is simply the ‘cherry on the pie’; a cherry that he could easily do without on Race Day, if the Race Simulation Progression was indeed completed in a satisfactory manner.

IN CONCLUSION:

A Power Meter is not essential or even necessary to improve on the bike. In fact, the majority of beginner to intermediate triathletes out there would benefit more from simply committing to:

  • Repeating, at least, 1 set of bike intervals a week –Spin Class does not count!
  • Executing their Long Rides, especially in the 8 weeks prior to an A race, in a structured, thoughtful and focused manner with an emphasis on race specificity.
  • Adjusting and fine tuning their effort levels purely according to feel

Personally, I believe that Perceived Effort is a more intuitive way to train and develops a superior Brain-Body Connection; that understanding of what your body is capable of at its current fitness level. This is a critical and elementary skill that should be nurtured in all athletes at the earliest stage of their development because it gives them confidence in making training and race day decisions.

For newer athletes, that have not yet learnt how to listen to their body, a Power Meter could in fact sabotage this learning process and cause confusion and frustration along the way. Consider these 2 scenarios:

  • While pure road cyclists can boast that they accurately track their level of fatigue and the onset of an approaching physical peak with power data derived Training Stress Scores, the Triathlete’s fatigue is a comprised of the sum of their swim, bike and run training loads. Currently, there is no simple way to quantitatively and accurately track the Stress Scores of swim and run training. So for triathletes, it is much better to be aware of your personal fatigue levels at any point in time, than to rely on a ‘bike only’ stress score.

Rodolfo Oliari

For example, a Power Meter will tell you that you are not meeting the prescribed wattage for a particular set of intervals but it is only the Brain-Body Connection can attribute this decreased performance to the tough long run that the athlete battled through on the day before, or a poor nights rest or a dehydrated state or whatever combination of the above.  Without the Brain-Body Connection, the athlete would start questioning their ability and get frustrated at their apparent lack of improvement. On the other hand, the enlightened athlete would be content and assured to simply tick off that session and get on with taking the remedial steps to ensure that the next day does not become another ‘off day’.

 

  • Using a power meter to pace over long rides is one of its key selling points; just find your NP over a certain distance and plug in and play, right? In theory this is how it is supposed to work, but the ‘on-road’ reality plays out differently.

 

On even a slightly rolling route, it is difficult to generate enough power while descending to match the rider’s target NP so we’re told to push over target NP on the climbs preceding them to compensate for this. While there are guidelines on how to handle various gradients and lengths of climb, I would go so far as to say that it would come as second nature, and be handled better by an athlete with a sound ‘Body – Brain Connection’.

Don’t get me wrong, for all the power meter bashing that you may think I am doing, I do believe that a it can be a worthy investment if you are already fulfilling the training criteria above and are looking for a means to track your training quantitatively and to motivate you to producing and then subsequently building on that ‘perfect’ set of intervals / Race Simulation long ride, week after week.

In the end, all I am saying is if you buy a power meter, or already have one; learn how to use it simply before getting bogged down with the advanced jargon and tricky functions. K.I.S.S!

***

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

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Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

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Shem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

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From Runner to Triathlete

December 29, 2017

ironguides Coach Shem Leong has some great advice on how to get your feet wet in the sport of triathlon. 

Getting Started

Let’s face it, running all the time, especially with the limited choice of routes in Singapore, where I live, can get a little boring. Hands up who knows every crack in the pavement along East Coast Park and every tree root in MacRitchie reservoir?

As a runner armed with a decent level of fitness, you may be feeling curious (and confident) to see what these crazy triathletes are up to. After all, how hard can it be to dive into the sea for a little dip (750m), hop on a bike for a cruisey ride (20km) and finish up with little jog (5km)—just to say you’ve done a triathlon.

The largest barrier to entering a triathlon is swimming ability and fear of open water: these can be overcome by attending a weekly beginners’ swimming class to get your technique right. In Singapore, for example, there are also various open water swimming familiarization courses across the island.

Training

To start, aim for 1 session per week that approximates the race distance in each discipline (assuming your first triathlon is a Sprint or Olympic-distance event).

If you are a beginner swimmer, try to do 2 swims per week because swimming is the most technical (hardest to master) of the three disciplines and getting a firm foundation in good technique early on is time well spent.

Once you get settled into a routine, you can start adding a second session of each discipline into the week, starting with your weakest one first. The most important thing to know at this point is that you should mix it up!

Don’t repeat the same session twice in the week: don’t go for the same 6km run/1km swim/20 km bike twice in a week. I repeat, mix it up!

For example, one of your weekly runs can be longer and done at an easy pace (this builds endurance—the ability to last the distance) while the second run in the week can be shorter but run at a higher intensity or, even better, a short, sharp set of hill sprints or intervals to build raw power and speed. That way you are working both ends of the fitness spectrum, endurance and power, needed for endurance sports.

As another basic rule, don’t repeat the same discipline 2 days in a row. Follow up a bike/run session with a swim. That way you give your legs a rest while you work the upper body. Run the day after you bike as this will start to get your legs used to the demands of triathlon.

Balance

This is often the biggest challenge of our addictive sport. How do you manage training for the three disciplines (often up to 2 times per week per discipline) while juggling family, work and other life commitments?

1. Train smart – follow a generic beginners’ training program that has you on a simple task most days. Triathlon is a sport of consistency and doing a little bit every day is much better than squeezing in all your training over the weekend. By following a program, you will know what each session is supposed to achieve and do not waste time on “junk miles”.

2. Bike at home – using a bike trainer (a device that transforms your everyday bike into a stationary spin bike) is a fantastic way to get stronger on the bike. It is much more convenient and takes less time than suiting up for a ride on the road, and you can do this at home while working up a killer sweat. Again, learning how to maximize the time on the trainer by doing intervals is the way to go.

3. Do short sessions frequently – by increasing the intensity of your sessions, in a controlled fashion, you can get a solid workout in any discipline done in 30 minutes.

4. Squeeze training into your daily routine – I have athletes that do their run training during lunch hour so their evenings are free for the family. Likewise, other athletes get their swim in while their kids are at the pool too for their swim class.

5. Brick sessions – combining two disciplines into one training session is a great stimulus. Run to the pool, get your swim set done, run back (you just completed a mini duathlon), or hop off your bike and head out for a short 15-minute run.

6. Most importantly, communicate with your partner and family – let them understand your motivation for doing triathlon and see the benefits of you leading a healthy and active lifestyle. Be flexible: learn to give back to them as much as your training takes you away from them.

Gear

All you need to get into the sport are a pair of goggles, a working bike in good condition, bike helmet and running shoes. Everything else is extra.

Triathlon can end up being an expensive hobby so, before you splash out on all the latest gear, just borrow a bike or buy one second-hand to begin training for your first race. As your confidence in bike handling grows and you understand more about bike fit you’ll eventually to start looking around for your first “proper” bike. Before that, even a mountain bike is good enough to complete your first race.

If you are new to cycling, a road bike is preferable to a triathlon-specific bike because triathlon bikes are trickier to balance and manoeuvre and they generally require a more precise fit.

The next big step in cycling would be to learn how to use cycling shoes with cleats that clip into your bike pedals. These make your pedal stroke much more efficient as they enable you to apply power throughout the 360 degrees of a pedal stroke instead of just “mashing down” if you were on normal trainers. A few sessions in a car park or on a grassy patch will teach you how to get used to riding clipped in.

06102011-_WAG7305

Your first race

Deciding when you are ready to embark on your first race really depends on your current level of fitness. For example,are you a new runner looking to explore the wider multisport playing field, or are you a seasoned marathoner looking for the next big challenge?

It also depends on your swimming ability. You are at a big advantage if you are already able to swim reasonably well. Biking can be picked up quite quickly.

There is no need to jump right into a triathlon in order to experience the multisport lifestyle. If you can already swim and run but don’t own a bike yet, sign up for a biathlon (swim/run) for a taste. If you need half a year to learn how to swim, jump into a duathlon (run/bike/run) in the meantime to pick up valuable race experience.

The Golden Rule for everyone’s first triathlon at any distance (be it a sprint or an Ironman) is to complete it with a smile on your face. As a newcomer to the sport, you will not know what to expect on race day so just relax and enjoy every second. After all, it’s been scientifically proven that you excel the most at what you enjoy doing!

Enjoy your training.

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching:  Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

image-2132.jpgShem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

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Building New Technique

December 22, 2017

Building New Technique

-By Alun “Woody” Woodward – ironguides Coach, Austria.

Offseason is the ideal time to think about building new technique elements into your training plan. We can all improve on our existing swim/ bike/ run technique and even just the way we move in general but the actual process of change is not so easy and very hard to make any change a permanent change.

Why is it hard to change?

Any movement we make is controlled by our brain sending a series of messages to our muscles telling them to contract in a certain pattern in order to bring about movement – this is called a motor pattern. We as humans are made to learn and adapt – once we learn something it is remembered and very hard to unlearn or change, a great example of this is riding a bike, the simple process of learning to ride a bike we tend to learn as children, we can go a number of years without riding then and come back to it and have no problem riding again, our brain remembers the process and while maybe shaky at first the balance and process soon comes back. If we think as triathletes we are maybe performing swim / bike / run sessions several times per week then we are building a very deep muscle memory into our brains that is going to be very hard to rewire.

Making a change

If we want to make a change to technique then we want to at least make the motor patterns rusty by taking a little time away from a certain activity – if it’s run technique we want to change then a period of 3-4 weeks away from running would be wise before starting to think about change and then making sure several weeks are available with no fitness goals other than learning and in training the new technique.

So lets say a break has been taken and we want to get to it, now I like to break the technique down to smaller movements – so if we are looking at running we may want to run with a shorter stride landing under centre of gravity rather than the long loping stride many athletes have – this is very economical for a triathlete and what we should ideally be looking at. To make this change I would look at breaking the desired movement down into 3 sections and then going through these movements in isolation to start building the new movements into the brain without actually performing the full running action – this process only needs to be done for a few days before going into the activity again. I find using a mirror very important when performing drills to ensure we are actually doing what we want – what we think we are doing and what is actually happening can be very different at times. As an example with running we can look at what we want the foot to do after impact with the ground until it starts to move forward for the next stride

* so stand in a running stance
* lift one leg directly from the floor and pull under body
* ankle should stay inline with supporting leg all the way up
* allow gravity to bring leg back down to starting position
* hamstrings should be responsible for this movement
* repeat 30 times and then change legs

This process of building patterns can be done 2-3 times per day and will only take a few minutes – never do for prolonged periods as if fatigue sets in we will resort back to old patterns of movement. Performing these drills first thing in the morning and last thing at night will accelerate the learning process!

Putting the movements into full practice

Once we have gone several days of learning our new movements we can think about putting them into full activity – it is vital you start out slow with short periods of activity in order to maintain good technique and further build the movement into your brain and replace old patterns. Using running as an example this may be a series of 1 minute runs with 1min walks between – having someone watch you to make sure technique is as desired helps a lot at this time. As with the drills we want to stop before fatigue sets in or we risk reverting back to old technique. Slowly build up from this point and before long you will be back to full volume training with your new technique solidly set and ready for improved performance.

By Alun “Woody” Woodward – ironguides Coach, Austria

 

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

–

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

 

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Rest Days: Learn How to Read Your Body Before Taking One

December 18, 2017

Time for the next session—but you’re tired and unmotivated to head out of the door. You’re not sure if the fatigue comes from having had a stressful week at work, or if you went a bit too hard at those weekend sessions. You are a dedicated athlete who feels very guilty whenever you miss a session. At the same time, you know that training through fatigue or illness is bad for your health. So what to do?

For this scenario, The Method athletes are given a few simple guidelines to “test drive” their bodies to help decide if they ought to skip a training session on any given day.

The key? WHEN IN DOUBT …  try it out!

This does NOT mean that you train when you’re sick.

But on those days when you’re unsure whether your should train, or not, The Method encourage athletes to simply try out your body to see what it tells you. Start the session with a very, very easy 20 to 30 minutes before making that call.

If you feel better, continue your session as planned. If needed, back off and take it easy later in the set if you find that you’re deteriorating.

If after that initial 20-30mins you feel the same, i.e. neither much better nor much worse, modify the session so that it places less strain on your body. For example, if you’re to do a long endurance effort, cut the duration. See how you feel later in the session before deciding if you’ll carry on. If you’re to do a lactate-tolerance session, greatly moderate both the duration and the intensity of the efforts and give yourself a lot more rest between each effort. You still engage your high-end aerobic system and fast-twitch muscle fibres, helping to maintain your accumulated fitness gains until you feel strong again.

If you feel worse after testing your body for that very easy 20-30mins, pack it in and head home. Your body’s telling you that it’s not prepared to train today; you might be fighting an impending illness or simply need to recover. Heed the warning and take the day OFF.

A stitch in time saves nine—if you’re ill or fighting illness, having a few days of rest from training will prevent a prolonged forced break from training and racing.

Use these simple guidelines to judge the most appropriate response on days when you feel sluggish or off. Often, you’ll have a great training session on a day you might otherwise have written off.

And on days you feel great?! Go for it! Just remember, the goal is not to deliver hammer blows to the body, but to generate a long-term, consistent training stimulus.

Illness
Try as we might, there is simply no way to avoid getting sick once in awhile. For these times, The Method stipulates you take time off and recover. Remember: With The Method everything is relative. When you’re sick, the body is weakened and needs to recover from training. The goal is to achieve maximum, effective consistency.

Rest
With all that said, The Method doesn’t set in stone when you’re to take rest from training. Unfortunately, this heretical notion of The Method has led to more misinterpretation than any other of its principles.

Life has a funny way of throwing curve balls at us: work, family and community commitments often cause us to miss out on training. Rather than worrying about missed training when this happens, take comfort from the fact that you’ve been training consistently and diligently until then.  Your days off due to commitments elsewhere become your rest days from training, and are automatically suited to your life schedule since they come when you truly need the time elsewhere, rather than when a schedule hammers them out.

You can also look at it this way: No schedule can accurately predict what you’ll be doing each day for months down the road. Quite simply, what The Method tells an athlete is rest when you need it.
Many amateur athletes spend the better part of their day physically recovering from their training at a desk or otherwise in their daily work. The Method accepts that most amateur athletes do not have the luxury of a daily routine dedicated to sport alone.

For this reason, The Method distinguishes between mental rest and physical rest. For example, a stressful work-travel day on which you can’t train may cause you much mental fatigue while your physical training systems have been resting. Consequently, that stressful day counts as a rest day, even though you might be tired from it.

Keep in mind that everything is relative in The Method training. The hormonal context in which The Method places you determines how you ought to train subsequently. If the stressful travel day
comes on top of a lot of other stress in your life, it can create a significant catabolic experience for your body. In this situation, The Method’s approach advises you to avoid endurance work or excessive lactate-tolerance training immediately following or during this (or other) high-stress period.

After taking a day off, be smart when getting back into the training. If circumstances required you to rest, use these simple rules to get back on the plan:

* Add some volume to the start of the workout in order to kick start your body again before trying any intensity. You don’t want to go too hard while being too rested. Rather, add volume to tire yourself a little bit without pushing the intensity. Then do your intervals. For example, add 30 minutes of easy running before the main set.

* If you are a performance-oriented athlete, then take an easy day in each of the sports after your day off. The reason is that you probably needed the day off due to deep fatigue levels, and the extra bit of easy training will help you recover back to normal fatigue levels. Then you’re most likely good to go again!

Learn how to read your body and stay consistent to your plan!

Enjoy your training,
the ironguides team

 

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

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Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

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Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

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Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

 

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Trail Running 101

December 15, 2017

By Shem Leong, Coach in Singapore, ironguides.net

Running on trails is different from any other type of running. In Singapore (home of Coach Shem Leong), the call of the wild offers us a much needed escape from the din of the grey urban landscape. If the promise of getting a little muddy and filling your lungs with freshly oxygenated rain forest air strikes your sense of adventure then read on, this one’s for you…

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The Basics

No matter what level of runner you are, as long as you don’t suffer from chronic ankle, knee or back injuries, there is a trail out there with your name on it just waiting to be discovered.

Beginners should start with ‘easier’ trails of simple packed dirt or grass tracks to get a feel for the softer and less stable ground underfoot. The Green Corridor is a good place to start conditioning your knees and ankles for a bumpier ride. You would also be wise to aim for a conservative distance that you can complete with confidence. To the uninitiated, trail running is tough and a shorter distance can feel like the equivalent of a longer run on the road.

After a couple of goes, don’t be surprised if you’re seeking out the more challenging undulating trails in the rock and root covered terrain of Macritchie Reservoir.

The beauty of running trails is that you’re surrounded by nature so please stick with the programme and let the route dictate the run. Don’t worry about your pace or heart rate or stride rate or beating your previous best time, just let go and enjoy the crunch of gravel underfoot, the glorious sunbeams bursting through the canopy, the splash off a puddle on your calves, the sound of birdsong.

Checking your ‘data’ every 5 seconds takes away from the whole experience of navigating the twists and turns and fallen tree trunks in the road. Without the distractions of ‘keeping to your heart rate training zone’ or ‘sticking to race pace’ you will quickly learn how to dial in your own perceived effort levels as you become acutely more aware of your rate of breathing and how your legs feel moving over the humps and bumps in the road. This is by far the most valuable and underrated (and for some, the most difficult) lesson to grasp for all runners.

Just because you’re running without gadgets, it doesn’t mean you can switch off. Trail running requires more concentration and attention to your stride because you need to decide where every single foot-strike is going to land in order to avoid a twisted ankle or worse. Make it a habit to stay alert every single step of the way – literally. Scan the ground ahead of you by casting your gaze about 15 – 20 meters ahead and track your eyes backwards ( towards your feet) left to right continuously across your line of vision and look out for exactly where you are going to plant your next step.

Training for the trials.

You don’t need to be a super runner to enjoy the trails but the fitter and stronger you are, the more you will be able to enjoy the challenges of going off piste. Any form of structured training that makes you a better runner, will carry over to making you a better off roader too. For example, a 20 min programme of lunge and squat variations to build strength in yours quads and glutes performed twice a week will reap benefits across the board. However, there are some subtle differences between trail and road running that are worth mentioning and some specific tips to help you along:

1) Dodging roots and potholes, rocks and muddy puddles requires quick and reflexive lateral (side to side) micro adjustments to your standard pavement / treadmill running style. Multi-directional single leg hops are a great drill that will develop your ability to change directions quickly. They also strengthen the smaller supporting stabilizing muscles and connective tissue around the ankle and knee joint which can take a beating when running on the rougher stuff. Start by hopping on one leg backwards and forwards for 20 – 30 seconds at a time, Then progress to hopping in a “T” shape and finally hop on one leg in a square around a cone. Reverse directions and alternate legs.

2) Overcoming the little climbs on our local Singapore trails become easier if you’re able to put in some form of uphill running in the week. These are some of my favourite ways to throw some hills into the mix;

a. Short hard hill sprint repeats can be done after an easy 30 – 60 min run. Simply charge up a steep slope as hard as you can for 30 – 40 seconds and repeat 4 – 8 times.

b. Longer sustained uphill runs at moderate intensity can be done at Mt Faber/ Kent Ridge Park/ Rifle Range Road loops. Just plug into a steady moderate pace on the flat ground and work to maintain that pace all the way up the slope. Recover at an easier pace while descending.

3) Endurance junkies training for off- road ultra-marathons should do their long runs over 2 days back to back on consecutive days. This allows you an overnight recovery while still retaining the required mileage high. It reduces the risk of injury and leaves you fresher after the long run so that you are able to train more consistently.

4) Finally, there’s no better way to improve your trail running skills than to actually run on them. Experiment with using the trails creatively to mix the intensity of the runs. For example:

a. Measure out a 1 or 2km strip of trail and use this as an interval loop. For example 4 x 2km with 4 min recovery after each one. This translates to a solid 8km run. Using the same stretch, you could also finish a long easy 10km run with a hard 2 x 2 km at the end. This teaches your body how to start conservative in order to finish strong.

b. Instead of simply cruising your usual weekend long trail run you could run the second half as 1 min hard, 1 min easy to build strength.

5) Running in the trials in the rain is tremendous fun but if it is absolutely pouring and lightning is flashing across the sky (and landing close by) then it’s safer to head to the gym and get your running fix instead. Here how you can train specifically for the trails while indoors;

a. Do a random hills running set on the treadmill by using the ‘incline’ function instead of the ‘speed’ button. After a 20 min warm up try to complete the following sequence at the fastest pace that you can hold without changing the speed for the entire run. Advanced runnerS can aim for 2 rounds!

5 mins @ 0% gradient
1 min @ 8% gradient
5 mins @ 0% gradient
2 mins @ 6% gradient
5 mins @ 0% gradient
3 mins @ 4% gradient

b. Work on your core and functional strength with the help of Swiss Balls, TRX and Bosu Balls. Here are some exercises that you can try:
i. Single Leg lunges with a TRX
ii. Single/ double leg bridges on the Swiss Ball
iii. TRX planks with jackknifes
iv. Plyometric box jumps
v. Squats on the bosu balls

As more and more runners discover the joys of taking to the trails, the aim of this is article is to give them tips on how to enjoy the trails more fully and also to encourage the ‘roadies’ out there to head for the woods.

Trail Etiquette for Runners

It is such an awesome feeling to be charging down a trail that you barely notice the trees zipping by. You feel completely in control and utterly invincible. You feel like you own the trail… but hang on… you don’t!
Trails are public recreational spaces to be shared by everyone. Sure, they maybe your secret training spot for that half marathon PB that you are going to smash but remember that it’s also a family day out for the many young families and it’s also a romantic date spot for the teenagers and it’s also a treasure trove of wildlife pictures of for the amateur photographer.

1) Just because you’re going faster than the walkers and hikers doesn’t mean you have the right of way. Don’t charge down other members of the public that are enjoying nature at a slower pace and in a different manner than yourself. If you are overtaking slower moving traffic, slow down and call out “Trail’ or ‘On your right’ in a friendly non threatening manner – no barking out orders.

2) To reciprocate, slower runners/ hikers shouldn’t block the trail by running 2 or 3 abreast especially along the narrow points.

3) Runners be responsible for your bodily fluids. Watch where and how you clear your throat and send your snot rockets. When passing, leave a wide berth so you don’t spray others with your sweat.

4) Don’t spoil the peace and serenity by blasting music from your phones/ other audio devices. If you enjoy music on your runs, earphones are the best option.

5) Don’t litter. This is so obvious that it shouldn’t even be of this list but unfortunately not everyone seems to think so. Take your food wrappers, drink bottles and gel packs with you.

6) Don’t feed the animals because this will draw them out of their natural habitat and upset the food chain and the rainforest ecosystem. They will eventually get reliant on humans for food and lose the ability to fend for themselves.

In conclusion, be patient and share the trail with everyone else enjoying it and take responsibility to leave it as you found it.

Enjoy your running everyone!

– 

Train with ironguides!

 

Personalized Online Coaching:  Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

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Shem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

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Changing things up

December 11, 2017

We are heading to the end of the season now with only a few big races remaining for most athletes. This is a hard time of year to maintain hard training as both the body and brain are fatigued not only from training but the extra demands that come with racing. Another factor we don’t really link with the decreased motivation is the changing of seasons, we all go through a boost in motivation in spring as the days get longer and warmer but tend to blame other factors when the reverse happens in Autumn.

We see the same things happen to all athletes at this time of year and we can plan to change training protocols or add in elements to the training to make sure motivation is maintained and form continues to rise for important races.

Changing location of sessions is one big thing we can do to refresh the mind and make training more exciting again.

Moving a swim session from the pool to open water is a very easy way to do this, this time of year the open water should be at its warmest as the sun has been warming lakes and oceans all summer so the water should be inviting and will certanly provide a different and more specific session to pool swimming. Head to the open water and you can do the same session style as in the pool by simply converting 50m into say 30 strokes and using this to convert all distances into strokes.

On the bike think about changing your long ride from a TT bike session to a mountain bike session, this will give you access to new routes as you can vary both riding on road and trails, i’m sure many of you have been out riding and come across trails going off the road, now you can turn off and go explore. Not only does this give you an opportunity to explore it also offers a great way to develop riding technique. Riding on loose ground with a mountain bike requires a good smooth pedal action applying equal power all through the pedal stroke, if we only tend to push down and pull up what you will find is the wheels just spin and you stop moving. A few weeks of this work and you will notice a big difference in your riding on the road!!

An added benefit of mountain bike riding over road is that slower speeds for the same effort mean you do not suffer so much in the cooler weather. Riding can be unpleasant in the cold and wet on a road bike but quite enjoyable and most certainly warmer on the mountain bike.

Running can become very monotonous especially with lots of intervals in your program but try taking the intervals to a new environment to freshen your mind – head to a forested are or country park and try to find a loop that approximates your interval length – now take a number of weeks where you perform intervals on the new loop with no watch – you know distance is right so just get out and run to perceived effort and enjoy the new environment. You will be surprised what a month of this style of running will do to your performance level and motivation.

Not only can we change elements of training to get a boost to our performance we can also make a change to the way we race. Going into a race with a different goal and mindset can lead to a very different outcome and breakthrough performances.

RACE CHALLENGE

Change up your race plan and see what happens, for example instead of keeping things steady and consistent all day try looking at one of the sports and really pushing the effort above your normal levels and just seen at happens. For example if you see yourself as a strong runner and have always ridden conservatively to save energy for the run you could look to really push the bike to the point you think no way you will be able to run and just see what happens when you get off the bike, in my experience many runners really underestimate how hard they can push the bike and still be able to run.

Another classic change would be if your a good swimmer who normally leads from the front try holding back in the pack and getting out of the water fresh for the bike, you may find you swim 30s or so slower only despite the effort being much less than normal and as a result are able to access much more power on the bike and also run better off the bike. A great expanse of this tactic leading to a breakthrough was when Pete Jakob’s won Kona in 2012, Pete is arguably the best swimmer in the sport and had led the swim out at Kona with Andy Potts for several years holding a 30s plus advantage on the rest of the field. Pete has always then lost time on the bike and had a great run to run back into contention but not quite win the race. In 2012 Pete held back on the swim and then had a much stronger ride not only staying with the lead group but actually showing as one of the strongest riders towards the end of the bike and this put himself in a winning position heading into the run which he went on to dominate. So a small change in tactic led to a very big breakthrough!

If your feeling motivation slipping and your not performing as you want then take note of the changes above and see how they can fit into your training program, small changes especially just changing scenery can have a huge impact on your mental and physical well being. This could be all you need to take on your competition and head into winter with a big performance in your final race! A strong finish to the year can bode well for a successful winter raining program and an even better season to follow.

Enjoy your training.

 

Changing things up

By Alun “Woody” Woodward
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Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

 

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Focus: Thinking about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it

December 8, 2017
This article is written for the obsessive competitive streak in all triathletes and runners- that little voice that tells us that, surely, we can go a little bit faster next time.

Every athlete putting in dedicated training to a well thought out plan will eventually approach their physical limits for that season of their athletic career. Getting this far along is very commendable, but having invested so much time into their pursuit of peak physical potential, many athletes begin to dream big about breaking through to their next level. It could be a sub 5 hr half ironman, 4’30 marathon, 2’30 Olympic Distance Triathlon- deep down, everyone has THAT time that they would love to beat.

In looking for that last 8- 10%, many make the mistake of hammering away at harder and higher training loads.  This would probably work if you have the luxury of ample training and recovery time, coupled with sound guidance from a good coach. For the majority of us, time-crunched athletes, the extra time required is simply not available and the “cherry on the cake” towards a truly satisfying race performance may feel so close yet so far away.
Think back to the last race that you raced a PB’d. You’ll need to run that race again- and then some! Where could you have pulled back precious minutes and seconds? Chances are that you could have made significant gains from handling the “low – energy” patches of the race better. The moment when you decided to ease up 3/4s the way through the run and it became a whole lot less painful, or when we couldn’t find it in our legs to keep up with the bunch that you had been riding with. Regardless of how fit you are, there comes a point in every race when we have to decide whether to bite down, suffer more or whether to ease up and “cruise for a bit”.
Between 2 identically trained and fit athletes or 2 versions of yourself, the one that is able to stay focused and push through the body’s signals of suffering is the one that will cross the line 1st. That sounds obvious because it is. Yet I often get this question from my athletes, “How do I tap into the mental edge.”

“Focus” is the uninterrupted connection between the athlete and their task; that trance like state of deep concentration, when you are aware only of the things relating to your performance; that sense of effortless control and a total absence of self consciousness, when the boundaries of self and task have melted away into one seamless activity. Some athletes refer to this as “flow” or being “in the zone”.

“Focus” should be practiced by tuning into your body and body movements while training and competing. This will result in an awareness of key feelings when things are going well. Think back to the last time that you were able to push hard, perform well and really enjoyed yourself. You may have experienced this for a few seconds or a few repetitions or if you have been practicing, for the whole training session. Yes- Focus can and definitely should be practiced whenever we are out there.

Practice controlling irrelevant and distracting thoughts (dissociative thinking) during training and competition. Replace them with task oriented and positive thoughts. Consider your form, breathing pattern, stride rate, hydration/ nutritional state, race strategy and redefine your perceived effort to perform more effortlessly. This is known as associative thinking and the tougher the going, the more it’s required to stay competitive.

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Here are a few tips to help you stay focused:

·         Relax. For the 10 – 15 mins before training, as you’re making your way to the track/ pool/ setting up your bike on the trainer, clear your mind of the daily distractions , You only have this slot in the day to get it done so make it count and put aside those first/ last few items your to do list. Meditate, on the coming task. How did you perform it last week? How could it have been improved? Remind yourself of what it feels like to swim/ bike/ run with good form. How your arms feel in the water catching a good pull, how you ride better turning perfect circles, what it’s like to run “tall” and “light”. Don’t simply rush through the warm up (or worse still, skip it) and charge headlong into the set thinking, “I’m going to smash myself/ this set.” Ask yourself what it the purpose of this set. Is the focus on strength building / Leg turn over/ spending time in threshold or just getting some volume distance in. Taking a step out of the “training tunnel” and studying the big picture for a while will help you align your training efforts with the intended purpose of the task at hand.
·         Have a mantra. Repeating choice words will direct your mind away from negative/ distractive thoughts towards a positive experience. An effective mantra addresses what you want to feel and not the adversity you want to overcome. Use short, positive and instructive words to transcend the suffering that you’re feeling. Choose one word from each column to create your own verse. Have a few favourites to get you through different sections of you race. I would love to hear what mantras you use ! : )
A
B
C
D
Run
Strong
Think
Power
Go
Smooth
Feel
Speed
Stride
Quick
Pull
Brave
Pedal
Light
Be
Steady
Be
Fierce
Hold
Courage
________
________
________
_______
·         Performance checklist. It is important that you are able to access how you’re doing in that moment, while on the go. Practice going through this list to make little adjustments to improve efficiency. While running- starting from the top down:

 

  •  Is my face relaxed? Try it. You will automatically feel a lot more relaxed.
  • Is my head bobbing around? Fix your eyes on the next point you are running too and hold a stedy gaze.
  • Are my shoulders relaxed? Drop your shoulders to save energy and release tension.
  • Are my arms swinging smoothly back and forwards? Try to minimise side to side rotation form the shoulders.
  • Breathing- Is it regular? Can I exhale a little deeper while still keeping a lid on it? Am I gasping for breath? Is it getting ragged? Am I breathing deep from my diaphragm?
  •  Form- Am I running tall and relaxed? Is my trunk engaged, pelvis stable, glutes firing nicely
  •   Stride Rate- If you don’t have a foot-pod device, take a count. Is it up there at 90 strides per minute
  • Foot strike- Am I striking under the hip? Are my strikes light and powerful, so that I am spending minimal time in contact with the ground?
  •  Pacing- How far am into my race?  How do I feel? How should I pace myself of the rest of the run? Does my perceived effort match my race strategy? How much futher before I can confidently “let the hammer drop” and I can push ALL OUT for the finish.
  • Nutrition and hydration- How long ago did I last take in some fluids? Do I need electrolytes or gel? How does the stomach feel?

 

What about swimming or biking? Maybe you could share with me what thoughts keep you focused while out there on the road and in the pool?
When the all the physical training is done, it’s the psychological factors that most affect our performance. Think about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

Enjoy your training.

Shem Leong

Shem Leong

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching:  Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

image-2132.jpgShem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

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5 Off-Season Tips for a Stronger 2018

December 5, 2017

Follow these 5 Off-season rules to recover from your 2017 season and be a better athlete in 2018.

  1. Take a break from it all.

Forget structured training.  Forget looking at any training program.   Once you have done necessary transition from your last race of the season, consider taking 10-14 days off from any planned training workouts.   Take this opportunity to catch up with some tasks or maybe a social gathering with a friend or relative that you have passed up all year due to the demands of balancing work and training.

That does not mean that you would completely shy away from any form or exercise.   Feeling sluggish?  Do a short easy swim, bike, or run.   If you live near a trail, go off-road!   Or you might wanna visit your local gym for some needed functional strength training.   The point is, you relieve your mental state too of having to follow a structured plan.

Two weeks of break from any structured triathlon training routine is just the right amount of time that you will not lose too much fitness, but will rejuvenate your mental and physical well-being you endured during your race season.

When you are approaching the final stretch of this break, you may want to contemplate now and review what was your shortcoming and weakness in triathlon.  Which leads you to…

  1. Work on your weakest discipline.

If any of the swim, bike and run was your weakness, this is a perfect time to work on that discipline and focus on improving it.   Whatever it is, your off-season will be geared towards improving the techniques and efficiency of movement of that discipline.   Be careful not to confuse focusing on the discipline by just adding mileage.   Fix the weakness by focusing on drills that will improve your movement efficiency.

This means that drills and technique workouts should be relatively short and will not burden your off-season time.  For example, if running was your weakest discipline, allocate a twice a week drill and technique session which includes high steps, lunges and walking lunges, fast feet cadence drills, etc.   You may find this video helpful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAiAvupFT6g).   Incorporate a short 5k time-trial if you wish and consider it the longest run of the week.   Or as a bonus, join a 5k park run or any 5k category from your local fun runs.

You improve your form, and at the same time, improve your speed in so little time.

  1. Go off-road.

If you live near trails, it is also a perfect time to go off-road and consider trail running, hiking or even mountain /cross country biking.  While it does not veer to much away from the usual triathlon disciplines, for most of us, we have not experienced what the off-road trails has to offer.   Aside from the spectacular view, depending on your location, trail running will improve and recruit muscle fibers that are not usually used when doing running on flat roads.

If you are inexperienced, go with a guide or a friend who can show you how to safely tackle off-roading activities.

  1. Get stronger.

The goal here is not to do body building, but to improve your functional strength in preparation for your next season.   Doing the work in the gym means you are building a stronger body that can withhold the triathlon training that you will do all season long.

This is the opportunity to increase the raw power from your large muscle groups.   When you are deep into your racing season, strength training usually takes a back seat, and  a program or your coach can only allot minimal time.

You might gain a few pounds, but mostly this will be muscle.  Don’t worry when you start your typical swim, bike, and run routine, you might feel heavy and sluggish.   But as the season goes along and you shed the weight, the power will remain, resulting to a better power-to-weight ratio.   This will be especially useful in your bike performance.

  1. Don’t always go Long and Easy. Think Short and intense.

One misconception in the off-season is the necessary rule to do easy and long sessions or long aerobic workouts. Instead of doing a marathon in January of February, why not focus on improving your 5k or 10k personal record?

Doing short but intense run or bike sessions will boost your lactate threshold and power output.

The drill and technique you mastered early in the off-season will be particularly useful when doing these short and fast workouts.  It is easy to hold on the form and technique when the sessions are short, instead of long workouts that when fatigue gets in the way, technique suffers the most.

Another bonus is that the time spent on this short workouts means more time to do something else in the off-season.

Enjoy your off-season!

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Ironman Performance – Treadmill Running

December 4, 2017

Performance in ironman almost always comes down to the run, a good or bad bike may mean a difference of 5 minutes but a good or bad run could see a difference of up to an hour or more. The run always brings up the most questions with athletes and coaches alike on how to train and perform come race day.

The run in ironman is not anything like a stand alone marathon and training for it the same way you would a marathon will not bring the desired results. The ironman marathon is starting for most athletes 6-7 hours into the race, so legs and body are anything but fresh at this point of the run.

To run well in ironman you need an efficient running style and good running economy. These 2 factors can both be addressed using a treadmill in your training to enhance performance.

Lets start with looking at an efficient running style, if you watch the top athletes run you will see the best runners make the run look easy, they run with a very high turnover and very little body movement.

When i say high turnover i am talking 180+ steps per minute – our body has an elastic response mechanism in our hamstrings that is designed to pull our foot up off the floor on impact. This response enables us to run and protects out muscles and joints from increased forces and injury. In order for this elastic response to work our foot needs to leave the ground 0.2 seconds maximum after impact – if the foot is on the ground too long then this response cannot be used and instead we have to switch to using muscle force to bring about the movement and absorb impact.

There are technique and equipment problems that we need to address to ensure we utilise this elastic response.

With technique we need to focus on a shorter stride and ensure our foot lands under our centre of gravity and not in front of the body – if we land in front of the body there is no way we are going to be able to pull the foot off the ground quickly as .2 seconds after impact the foot may well still be in front of the body.

Looking at footwear is also very important, for the the elastic response to occur our brain needs to be able to feel when we hit the ground immediately, if you are wearing thick soled shoes or soft shoes with too much cushioning then the brain have a delayed response to hitting the ground and the elastic response will not occur again leading to muscles and joints taking over.

So how can a treadmill help with this, a treadmill provides a great controlled environment in which to train, we can provide constant gradient and speed so our sole focus can turn to technique. Also running on a moving belt forces a faster cadence, you will find if your technique is not efficient that running on a treadmill is hard work, by this i mean your regular speeds from the road will feel much harder on a treadmill – if this is you then more time on the treadmill is going to have a big impact on your performance.

If we watch good runners in ironman you will see they seem to run flat – there is no bounce, by this i mean if you watch their heads they are always in the same position not moving up and down. On a treadmill position a mirror in front and you will be to see if you are moving up and down or staying flat. You will see some runners at the gym get on the treadmill and seem to be all over the treadmill and the treadmill is almost bouncing with them and creating a lot of noise, this is exactly what we don’t want – we should almost be seeking silence!

Developing an efficient run style takes time and should be a gradual process, make your treadmill runs interval workouts starting with small intervals with focus on technique and then as technique becomes solid start to increase interval length.

Once you have developed an efficient running style we can start to use the treadmill for developing run economy. Run economy is basically using as little energy as possible for the pace we are running. Ironman is at a performance level a challenge of fuel so by becoming more efficient at speed we are going to increase performance level.

If we look at pro athletes in ironman there is a prevalence of older athletes seeming to get faster and faster at an age we would expect decline. We know from numerous studies that as we age we see a decrease in maximal VO2 which has long been seen as one of the keys in endurance performance but what we are seeing is athletes running economy increases with age and this increase outweighs the loss of VO2 max. A good example of this is Cameron Brown winning events into his early 40’s.

To improve running economy we need to spend a lot of time running at our desired paces, treadmills are the perfect tool for this as we can set pace and we simply have to run. Trying to do this outside is not the same as we are faced with many more challenges such as weather, gradients, temperature, obstacles such as roads, traffic and if running with other athletes competitive nature really can mess with developing economy.

Running intervals at set paces on the treadmill is one of the most efficient ways to develop run economy and boost your ironman run performance.

Aside from running style and economy the treadmill has other benefits that can be utilised by an ironman athlete. It is widely held belief that you need to run at 1% gradient on the treadmill to simulate running outside – so running at 0% is like running on a slight decline. If we run at 0% on a treadmill we can run at a faster pace than on the road for the same cardiovascular stress and reduced impact stress – for an ironman athlete training on tired legs this is going to have a bog impact of run development and recovery that will enhance the consistency of your training!

One more benefit of the treadmill is in developing specificity, we can be extremely limited to terrain we run on due to location and this can lead to problems if we are racing on terrain significantly different to that which we train on, the treadmill with varying gradients gives us the ability to simulate the stresses we are going to face in any race. A lot of athletes will see this as the ability to run up hill but much more important is the ability to run downhill without smashing your legs – downhill running is extremely damaging to the legs due to increased range of motion and impact – modern treadmills do provide negative gradients so athletes can get used to running downhill if they happen to live in a flat geographical environment.

If you want to improve your run off the bike then its time to stop thinking like a runner and start thinking like an ironman athlete – get on the treadmill, improve your running style, improve your movement economy at set paces and you will see substantial performance increases in your next ironman.

Enjoy your training!

 

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ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

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Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching:  Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

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The Secret Training Plan

November 28, 2017

Recently we had a new sign up for our monthly subscription training plan and on the same day, we received an email requesting a refund. The athlete said the reason was that he saw nothing special compared to previous training plans he had used before, the workouts were simple and therefore he was not satisfied.

It reminded me of another situation in which two of my athletes, who were friends, started training together but were having different results in terms of performance. The athlete who was not improving as much asked me if I had sent a special training plan to his buddy.

I often also get questioned about the type of training my high performance athletes are on. What’s so special about their training that makes them perform so well, win their age groups, qualify to the Ironman World Championships and so on.

What’s the secret training plan that these athletes are on?

This type of question or the attitude towards feeling that you are missing some secret recipe also means you are admitting that there are some special training sessions, a kind of secret training plan. Some athletes have the privilege to have access to that, making them faster.

But it is important to understand that if we want to improve our swimming, get stronger on the bike or have a more solid run, we need to pursue these improvements by increasing our training load, building a good consistency and getting the “right mix” of training. These are the best starting points and a balance of these things will guarantee your improvements. The truth is, there is no secret training plan, as they simply do not exist!

In 10 years of triathlon, I had the opportunity to meet many successful coaches and when I joined ironguides I came across a methodology somewhat controversial in our sport. Part of our training approach can be similar to some other coaches around the world, but certainly the most controversial is Australian Brett Sutton, coach of Olympic Champion Nicola Spirig, 4-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington among others. Brett is arguably the most successful trainer of triathlon in the history of this sport.

One of my colleagues and co-coach Vinnie Santana, was coached by Brett and says most of his strength is in the way he motivates his athletes. He makes them believe that what they are doing is the right thing and that there was no limit to what they could achieve. Brett has the skill to change how his athletes think. The training itself was certainly hard work, but it was very unsophisticated and repetitive based on some of the training plans Vinnie shared with me that included some of his own sub 9 hour Ironman performance and Team TBB Kona build (Chrissie’s first win). What I learned from this is that the belief in what you are doing is more important than what you are actually doing.

wagner-araujo25

Behind a victory in a race there are no secrets, but YEARS of consistent practice-Photo Leo Moreira 2011 Ironman Brazil champion in 9h05min, Leo has been an athlete for almost three decades.

Before Ironman 2014 I had many conversations with some top coaches to gather information on how I could improve my own marathon since it was my main limiting factor in races. In one of those conversations, I was told that increasing run volume while pulling back on intensity could be an option since I was recovering from a foot injury. I also had the opportunity to quickly talk to Ironman World champion Chris McCormack and asked him about this, he told me to decrease the intensity and avoid running on very hard surfaces. With these two ideas in mind I designed my new ten week program for the race. During this period, I saw some athletes doing and talking about different things, but I never questioned what I was doing or was annoyed. I had chosen a path and moved on. Pick and stick as they say. The result was that I was able to do my best Ironman marathon, fifteen minutes faster than my previous best time and this led me to my personal best time.

Despite comparing different realities of an age grouper triathlete and professionals, the message remains the same, the secret is having the knowledge and the understanding of why you are doing what you are doing. That’s the secret! Belief is essential in triathlon. Workouts or sets are only the second piece of the puzzle. When you find these key sessions, place them in your training program, work with a coach to do this, and most of all, try to understand why these sessions are important to you. When I think of all the sessions that I or any athlete of mine is doing, none is more important than the other, but I understand why we do each. All sessions that I, my athletes or professional athletes do, can be adopted by each of you, but when, where and how, is what is really important. Get the “right mix” is the key to better results over time. But we must be patient and understand that these results do not appear from night to day, instead, are built over months or years with a lot of consistency, discipline and hard work.

We never knowfor sure when we are getting enough when it comes to triathlon training. Be open to change and be prepared to try new things in your journey to become a better athlete. In this sport, it is not as difficult to improve as it seems. Often the biggest problems is not worrying about the process, but the result.

Enjoy your training!

Rodrigo Tosta

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching:  Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

 

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