CONQUERING BACK PAIN

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We’ve all felt it – whether in the form of a sudden pinch, a gradual stiffening, or simply waking up to it – yep, it’s back pain. Coming in many shapes and forms, and with even more potential causes, discomfort in the spine is a leading cause of missed workouts and failed programs. Here are three key tips for preventing back pain.

 

Strengthen Your Core

While training might be seen as a risk factor for back pain, the right exercises performed in the right way can actually be what protects you from it! Strong muscles in your abdomen, obliques, and spine provide the solid core that your back needs for support.

Healthy muscle is both strong and flexible, so don’t neglect the power of stretching before and after workouts. Yoga poses such as cobra (bhujangasana) and cat-cow (chakravakasana) are a great place to start! Try yoga flows that include the poses above, and for core strength, lean on the many variants of plank exercises rather than curls or crunches.

 

Perfect Your Form

Sacrificing technique for a PR is a surefire way to pick up an injury. Given the role of the spine in “big” lifts such as deadlifts, it’s often an easy victim. When placing your spine in a compromising or challenging position, keep your back as straight as possible and engage your core muscles to do the work. And whether you’re deadlifting or helping a friend move a couch, always remember to engage your legs and glutes to shift the brunt of the load away from your back.

The key word here is control. When training, stretching, or recovering and relaxing, never subject your spine to motions or actions that can’t be done with precision. For example, leaping into high-intensity programs without properly preparing can be much too harsh and sudden, and can easily lead to injury.

And while we’re discussing the importance of form and control, the notion of “(weight) training until failure” should be left in the past. While it can be satisfying in its simplicity, the concept of pushing your body to the point of collapse is inherently flawed. If you truly push your body to the brink, you will absolutely compromise on form and technique somewhere along that journey – and that’s where injury will strike. Muscles coming to the point of collapse means joints that are under an incredible amount of stress and when form inevitably slips… let’s not go there. It’s far more beneficial to work smarter, train with perfect form, and recover with a vengeance.

 

Address Imbalances

Frequently, a back injury doesn’t originate in the back at all, but is actually caused by weak or injured muscles elsewhere in the body. Your spine can act as a “compensator” – by virtue of being big, strong, and central in the body, it can pick up the slack of other muscles such as the glutes, upper legs, core, and chest.

For example, strong glute activation is crucial in exercises such as squats. If the glutes are undertrained and can’t handle the work, the spine will compensate and may be strained in the process. You may not even notice while exercising, because, well, you did the reps! But you didn’t do them using the muscles you thought, and your lower back might pay the price later. Recurring back pain can often be attributed to a muscle imbalance and subsequent overcompensation on a regular basis.

As with any injury, the answer is never to work through the pain. Don’t train on an injured spine – take a day off and get treated sooner rather than later. Make sure that you’re following good practices outside of the gym too; the office, couch, and bedroom can be just as dangerous.

 

Engage in a Well-Rounded Training Routine

Creating a training routine that will suit you best may seem daunting and this is where I literally “have your back” (pun intended). I’ll create a custom and adaptive training plan, taking into careful consideration your recovery activities and days as much as your activity.

THE NEED FOR SPEED

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The long winter days are behind us and by now you should hopefully have built up a strong aerobic system and fat-burning base. You’ve spent some time in the hills to develop better strength and now you want to maximize the top end of your engine to propel to peak speeds at the races. It’s time to go fast!!

There are many ways to increase speed and peak performance but what’s most important is that you do the correct type of speedwork for you as an athlete and for your chosen sport and distance. Every sport has different demands that need addressing depending on your goals. For example, all cyclists ride bikes but sprinters are (metabolically) built differently to the climbers and time triallists are different to mountain bikers. You can see the same in running where marathon runners are made up differently than milers. In Triathlon, speed for the IRONMAN looks different than speed for a draft legal Olympic distance specialist.

So, first off you need to know where the main focus of your speed development needs to lie. In general, the longer the race the more you want to focus on developing your “threshold” as this is going to be more related to your race pace. If you are a shorter distance athlete then developing your VO2 and lactate tolerance is going to drive more gains BUT …. that said, we must always remember that “complete athletes” develop ALL of their physiology to the best level possible and it’s more that their genetic strengths dictate the type of racing that they are most successful at.

So, often you will see a world class marathon runner PR at 5k before breaking a marathon record. Their focus is the marathon but the speed and biomechanical benefits they get from being able to run a fast 5k still help their larger goal. Same as the athletes who win at the IRONMAN. They have often come from faster paced Olympic distance backgrounds. Ok, so with that noted, how exactly do you develop speed and what can you take away from this article and apply to your own training to get RESULTS? Time to get technical…..

So I divide “speed work” in to 3 main categories :

  1. Threshold
  2. Aerobic Capacity (VO2)
  3. Peak Speed

Threshold

Threshold work is typically done through longer reps performed at your threshold (which as you know is best measured through lactate testing) off relatively short recoveries. The goal is to work hard and fast but at an effort that is sustainable for a longer time. Think of this as 12km pace for a runner, 40k pace on the bike and 1500m pace in the pool. Work at your cycling FTP fits right in here. This type of training is therefore directly related to good 10km, time trials and Olympic distance triathlon racing, not forgetting also that the better your threshold the faster you will be at the longer race distances too.

A good standard threshold set is something like 10 x (5 minutes at threshold off 1 minute of easy recovery). The recovery is just enough to be able to do the reps at the same quality over and over again.

Aerobic Capacity (VO2)

VO2 or “aerobic capacity” training is where you are working above your threshold at fast paces but in such a way to develop speed that is still sustainable. For runners, much of this work is done at “5km target pace”. Here the goal is to move faster than usual to work at speeds that are new to you to extend your top end ceiling and really drive your engine to its max. So, the pace and effort is high and the recoveries about half the length of the rep.

For example, 10 x (2 minutes @ VO2 effort off 1 minute of easy recovery) or you could double this for 10 x (4 minutes @ VO2 effort off 2 minute of easy recovery). The basic rule is to give yourself more recovery than you would for threshold work (so that you can work harder) but not “full recovery” which would allow you to do the reps at too high an effort which would produce higher lactate levels from too much anaerobic contribution. Remember that we want AEROBIC speed from this work.

As a coach I demand 2 things when doing this type of work:

  1. Precise recovery times matched to the length of the interval (2:1 ratio) – never a “jog a lap” recovery, ugh!
  2. “Even splits” (that is “the same pace”) for each of these reps.

This allows us to track sessions over time and know what is improving. For example, if in week one you can run 12 x 400m at 8 minute/mile pace off 1 minute recovery and in week 4 you can do the same set but at 7.40 min/ mile pace then we KNOW that you are improving.

Peak Speed

Peak speed work has its place for every athlete and. Here you do short, very fast work at near maximum efforts off literally as much recovery as you want!! Genius running coach Jack Daniels calls this “rep” work. The goal is to bring together your optimal technique and recruitment patterns at a fast pace. It forces your cardiovascular system to work at peak levels, enhances your ability to produce pure speed and to also flush out lactate effectively and quickly.

In the early phases of training we do “A-lactate” work which is typically less than 8-10 seconds in length and doesn’t stimulate high lactate production which is something we want to avoid when building an aerobic base. Here though, during a speed and peak phase, we want reps that are 30-60 seconds long and really challenging. Taking “total recovery” between reps maintains high speeds and quality of movement. Runners might do 4 x 200m off 3 minutes rest and cyclists 4 x 60 second all out efforts off 5-10 min easy spin.

So, there you have it. Some tricks and concepts to help you get faster BUT as always it’s smart to remind you that this type of training is highly demanding and “the icing on the cake”. It should therefore only be done only once you have a great aerobic base and solid biomechanics.

KNOW YOUR ZONES

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Anyone training with science will be using a heartrate monitor and power/ pace to most accurately guide their training. However, “instinct” and a “sense of effort” are also key skills to bring to your training and race pacing. The more information you have to hand, the better the process.

 

There are also those times when your damn HRM won’t work for some unknown reason and it’s usually when you want it the most!!! In these cases, “RPE” (which is the Rate of Perceived Exertion) is a really useful fall back option. It also helps you better understand how each zone should “feel”.

 

The RPE scale is defined on a scale of 1-10.  Here is a quick guide on how to interpret your zones based on RPE.

 

Zone 1 : ACTIVE RECOVERY

RPE = 1 to 2

Little to no resistance/effort.  Typically walking or spinning without exertion.  Can be done all day.  Nothing above normal breathing.

Talk test: can hold a conversation.

 

Zone 2a:  AERO

RPE = 3 to 5

Light effort.  A long sustainable endurance effort that can be held for long periods of time.  Slight labored breathing above normal.

Talk test: able to talk and converse with slightly higher than normal breathing.

Race Pace : Ultra running

 

Zone 2b : LT

RPE = 5 to 6

A moderate amount of exertion that can be held for a long period of time.  Breathing is somewhat labored.

Talk test: able to talk and converse with slightly higher than normal breathing but would rather not.

Race Pace : Marathon and Ironman effort

 

Zone 3 : AC

RPE = 7

A strong exertion that can be held for a moderate period of time.  Breathing is more labored.

Talk test: Short sentences are ok but you are reluctant to hold a conversation.

Race Pace : Half marathon and 70.3

 

Zone 4 : SST

RPE = 8-8.5

A significant amount of effort that can be held for short intervals or a race like a 5 or 10km.  Heavy breathing.

Talk test: a few words at a time if you really had to.

Race Pace : Olympic Tri & 10km

 

Zone 5 : VO2 

RPE = 9+

A high level of effort that can only be sustained for very short periods of time such as high performance intervals.  Very heavy breathing.

Talk test: one to two words.

Race Pace : Sprint Tri & 5km

 

Zone 6 : POWER

RPE = 10

Max effort.  Small maximal bursts up to 30sec.

Talk test: forget it!!!

Race Pace : Sprints

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO HEARTRATE MONITORING

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Although Heart-rate monitors (HRM’s) are a common item in most athletes’ kit bags these days, very few people know how to get the best out of them. Many athletes have little idea what the numbers they see actually mean. Some wear their monitor yet completely ignore it, whereas others totally rely on their heart-rate data and forget other key information. Very simply, HRM’s are there to help guide the intensity of your workout. To train specifically and correctly, you’ll need to train in carefully defined “zones”. This article assumes that you already have your zones but need practical pointers on how to use your HRM out on the road. What follows is a brief discussion on some of the factors affecting heart-rate and the remedies you can apply.

After prolonged exercise at moderate intensities in a normal or warm environment, heart-rate will often rise despite no felt increase in intensity. This is called “Cardiac Drift” and can produce heart-rates up to 20 beats per minute higher than early session heart-rates. The cause is core temperature increase. Here heart-rate does not offer a true reflection of intensity so in this case heart-rate is best used in conjunction with power (on the bike) or pace (on the run) and/ or perceived exertion. The remedy is to start at the lower end of your training zone and over the course of the session allow the heart-rate ro rise up through and slightly above the upper limit of the target heart-rate zone whilst holding constant intensity.

In cold weather, there may be an increase in oxygen uptake with heart-rates staying similar to those of normal conditions. In this case, the body is working harder but this is not shown in the bpm’s on your monitor. Here heart-rate underestimates the intensity. The take home lesson is to train in the lower portion of the prescribed training zones. Hot weather gives much higher heart-rates than usual. This is due to the core temperature increase as discussed in cardiac drift plus the increase in environmental temperature. Increases of between 10 and 30 bpm have been reported in the heat, with no change in actual intensity (watts/ speed). Here again, Heart-rate is not reflecting the true intensity. In this case, the bpm’s shown over-estimate the workload. However, the higher heart-rate is indicative of a higher total body stress as the body works harder to cool and maintain homeostasis. Even though the intensity of a work bout in the heat is not a high as in normal weather, the stress the body is under is increased. Therefore, train at the normal prescribed heart-rates (which will mean an “easing off” in power and pace) and use the heart-rate as a guide of “total body stress”.

Nutrition and calorific intake is critical especially for the long distance athletes. During racing, a lowering of the heart-rate in conjunction with an increase in the perceived effort means that you need to take in calories. In this case, the heart-rate monitor serves as your blood sugar level monitor and saves you from the much dreaded “bonk”. If you find that your heart-rate won’t rise to normal levels early on during training sessions, it’s a good sign of underlying fatigue, especially if your legs feel heavy. In this scenario, cyclists typically find that they are pushing huge race pace gearing but the heart-rate says otherwise. Here you have two choices. Either back off the pace and do a shorter active recovery session or head home for passive recovery.

Dehydration is a common phenomena especially but not solely in the heat. Here the blood plasma volume drops and the heart-rate increases as cardiac output rises. The bpm rise may be between 2 and 7% (that’s up to 160 bpm from 150 bpm). The remedy here is obviously to drink, but also to use heart-rate as a guide of “total body stress”.

For Cyclists and Triathletes, as you strive to make your time-trial position more aerodynamic you may find that your heart-rate at a given intensity has risen. Many think that this means that the new lower position is counter-productive. This is not necessarily so. Research shows that both oxygen uptake and heart-rate are higher in the “aero” position than the standard road position. This is attributed to the increased contribution of the shoulder muscles & a less efficient hip angle. The costs in heart-rate are considered negligible compared to the time savings of improved aerodynamics. Although the heart-rate may be up by 2-5 bpm, it is not a true reflection on intensity so you can allow your heart-rate this “drift” when on the aero-bars, knowing that there has been no real increase in effort. The key here is to train in your aero position & be aware of how it affects you. As long as you can maintain an efficient pedal stroke and cadence and as long as your breathing mechanics are not compromised, the aero position is the way to go for faster times despite the small bpm increase.

On race day, you may find that your heart-rate is up at high levels even when you are warming up. Here the heart-rate is exaggerating the intensity and the adrenalin coursing through your veins is responsible. For Triathletes, they often find that the heart-rate is elevated early on during the bike ride after going from a horizontal position during the swim to upright running then transitioning to the bike. The key here is to train for this transition, but in both these cases the real answer is to wait until you are settled and some time (30mins+) in to your race to let your heart-rate settle down and give you more honest readings. Furthermore, it has been shown that athletes can achieve higher heart-rates during race situations than during training sessions even though the intensity, power or speed produced has remained the same. These race day heartrates again over-estimate the intensity. In all these cases, perceived exertion is a useful tool to use in conjunction with your heart-rate. For short races, I suggest forgetting your HRM completely unless you are recording the bpm to analyze later. For long races, the HRM has many benefits listed throughout this article. In racing conditions often it is your gut instinct that will tell you hard you should go with your HRM providing back-up information and real-time data on the current stresses and conditions you are facing.

The most important message for you to take away from here is that, HRM’s are a great tool but they are best used in conjunction with other information. Heat, dehydration, bike position, biomechanics and day to day biorhythms all affect the numbers you see and some of these affect the intensity you feel. Taking into account all the factors allows you to further maximize your training and take your performance to even higher levels.

MAXIMIZING BODY COMPOSITION

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Let’s talk about a tricky subject …. Body Fat

When it comes to out and out endurance performance, there is no doubt that lighter is faster, most of the time. It’s why all elite marathon runners, fast climbing pro’ cyclists or winning Triathletes are lean and light. It’s called “power to weight” ratio. For example, if two cyclists can both produce 300 watts then the lightest one will get to the top of the hill fastest. It’s why the size of an athlete’s engine, the VO2 max, is measured against bodyweight …. “Volume of oxygen, per minute, per kilogram of body weight”. Big engines carrying the lightest load usually win.

So you would be forgiven for thinking that you need to hone your body weight and composition to be as light and lean as possible and that would be mostly true, BUT how far you take it depends on many factors…..

1.     It depends on your performance goals. If you are in this to “finish’ then your needs are different than if you are in this to “win”. You don’t need to be quite so lean if you are not looking for that 1% gain.

2.     Health is the important thing and not everyone can carry super low bodyfat percentages and maintain a healthy immune system. (Fact: most winners only hold race weight for a relatively short period of time).

3.     Everyone is built differently and so what is possible for YOU might not be the same as someone else, so it’s about finding out what is optimal for YOU and you alone.

4.     You have to consider the mental side of body composition and body-fat levels and understand that it is important to have a healthy outlook on how you are built and to avoid the black holes that you can fall in to where eating disorders rule your life.

5.     Energy is critical and you have to fuel your performance engine. You need a wide variety of foods to supply all the macronutrients, vitamins and minerals you need to live a healthy and energetic life. When you reduce your calorific intake by too much your body will reduce its energy output, often leaving you feeling flat and tired.

6.     You might find that as you increase training volume and intensity that your body automatically leans out without any changes to your basic healthy eating habits. If not, there are many HEALTHY things you can do. No matter what, consider optimizing your body composition as a long-term process. Take the time to learn how your body responds to training and what it’s energy needs are.

So ….. where do you start when you want to get leaner, yet maintain strength and energy, enjoy your food and keep your sanity?

The #1 thing that I suggest you do it to look at your PORTION SIZES. This is often the key shift that creates healthy, sustainable change. By simply making sure that your portions of each ingredient are the right size and in balance with each other, you can optimize energy and blood sugar. Use the portion guide shown here in order to make this work for YOU. There’s no need to count calories!

Once you have been doing that for a few weeks and started to see changes you can move on to the next stage …… consider keeping a food journal for just a few days to see what your habits are truly like. Where are the junk calories that don’t serve you? Seeing the pattern can allow you to make some simple changes. Start with these two simple things and see how far they take you.  As always, if you need some pro’ help just reach out to me!

HYDRATION FOR ATHLETES

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Managing hydration is one of the most crucial elements of performance and training, and it’s something that seems to be commonly misunderstood. Staying properly hydrated is often grossly oversimplified; reduced to “just drink more water” by the minimalists among us. On the other hand, folks from the sport drink, energy fuel, and fitness industries are always trying to convince us that water can’t do the job – that lab-made products with page after page explaining physiological interactions are worth $20 a bottle.

The reality is somewhere in between! Water alone will not rehydrate your body to a healthy extent, but with a healthy, varied diet, consistent drinking habits, and the occasional electrolyte boost, you shouldn’t need any miracle hydration techniques. In fact, the ability to know when your body is hydrated or dehydrated is far more helpful! Here are some key hydration tips for the when, why, and how of replenishing your body’s fluids.

 

Drink Early and Often

We’ll touch on sports drinks and electrolytes later, but even if you decide to use performance beverages, you still need water too! The easiest way to maintain your hydration while training is to start early and practice good hydration 24/7. You’ll be able to maximize your performance by ensuring that you start off well-hydrated, rather than just worrying about re-hydrating after the fact.

Research suggests that 16-24 ounces of water should be consumed around two hours before the start of a training session or event. Think of this as your base coat! Once you’re underway, pay attention to your body (we’ll cover tips on how to do this towards the end of the article), as every athlete has unique hydration needs and responses during a performance. Keep your water intake balanced, and don’t chug down bottles of water just because you’re hot and sweaty!

For endurance sessions, try a few small sips of water every 10 minutes or so. Shorter, more intense exertions might benefit from longer, but fewer water breaks – split your session and take a 15 minute halftime to drink 8-16 ounces of water and do some stretching before tackling the rest of your workout. Don’t stop drinking just because you’re done sweating! After a workout, continue to drink 8-16 ounces of water every hour for 2-3 hours. For a more precise understanding of your post-workout fluid needs, you can use your body weight. Measure your weight before and after a workout to gauge the amount of fluid lost during exercise. For each pound lost, aim to replenish your body with 24 ounces of water/sports drink. If you gained weight while working out, you are likely overhydrating – try to drink less during, and focus on replenishing after.

 

Embrace Electrolytes

Electrolytes are essential minerals that are vital to your body’s regular functions, and particularly for athletes in pursuit of peak performance. Electrolytes you’ll recognize include sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Electrolytes have a ton of responsibilities, but most importantly, they help to regulate the fluid levels and pH balance in your body by retaining or releasing the fluid you take in. So it makes sense that they’re so important to the hydration conversation! These minerals also contribute to the construction of new tissue and the ability for muscles to contract.

Carbs Matter!

Optimal hydration comes from the combination of electrolytes, water AND carbohydrates. You need all THREE to get the fluids in to your cells and for them to stay there keeping you hydrated.

For low-intensity or shorter workouts, you’ll be fine with drinking water and getting a normal amount of electrolytes and carbs from your diet. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally hydrating, while also being packed with vitamins and important minerals. The carbohydrates you consume in your diet when combine with the electrolytes in your foods and regular water intake, will keep you hydrated optimally for the most part.

For longer and higher intensity sessions you are going to want to add more water, electrolytes and carbohydrates to the mix and this is where a high-quality sports drink/ gel can be most useful. There are so many options on the market, some great and some terrible!!! Don’t trust the marketing. Instead look for well-studied, reviewed and scientifically sound products. Chat with your PKRS.AI nutritionist about what products might be best for you and how to mix them so that you can absorb them optimally.

 

Check In

As mentioned above, it’s arguably more important to be able to assess your hydration levels rather than having a magical silver bullet of hydration. You’re probably familiar with most of these, but you’d be surprised at how often they get ignored! It’s easy to forget about hydration until you begin to feel poorly, so checking in with some of these methods can help keep your fluid balance in a good place at all times.

The thirst mechanism in our bodies is not exactly perfect, but it’s a good bottom line; drink moderate amounts regularly BEFORE you feel mild thirst or a dry mouth.. Urine is an obvious indicator of hydration, with the optimal shade being a pale yellow.

You can also try the pinch test; use your thumb and pointer finger to gently pinch the skin on the back of your hand and hold it for a few seconds. If you’re properly hydrated, the skin should snap back to its normal shape almost instantly – a delay indicates dehydration. This is because the elasticity, or turgor, of your skin can drastically lessen during fluid loss.

And finally, just listen to your body! Muscle fatigue, dizziness, and lightheadedness are all indicators of dehydration. While we understand the temptation to push out one more set or knock out one more mile, know that it’s ok to stop, breathe, rehydrate, and get back after it in 15 minutes. Your body will thank you!

 

Test it!!!!

I do a hydration and sodium analysis during lactate testing. The learnings from these tests are making a huge difference to my athletes performance and health. We often uncover that athletes need far more water and/or far more sodium than they are currently taking in. Getting the balance of this right is the key to success.

Book a test with me now : cg@coachgareth.com

 

 

HOW TO DO INTERVAL TRAINING CORRECTLY

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Interval training is one of the best ways to increase performance across all endurance sports. It is therefore a regular staple in all of my training programs.

 

During interval training you typically work at higher intensities than you are normally used to sustaining in an effort to increase aerobic capacity and push your fitness to a new level. You do this by doing short “intervals” followed by a brief recovery. Over time as you get fitter you will be able to do longer intervals at the same pace and over time your sustainable pace will increase too. For example, early on in the program you might do:

 

10 x 2 minutes at a zone 4 (SST) effort with 1 minute recovery between each interval

 

As you get fitter this session might grow into something like

 

5 x 4 minutes at a zone 4 (SST) effort with 1 minute recovery between each interval

 

Here you can see that the length of time at the higher intensity is increased to keep pushing you to become fitter as you adapt to the training stimulus. There are many ways to work with intervals and with me you don’t have to worry about the science behind them so much as how to do them accurately!

 

Tip #1 : Always press the “lap button” on your smartwatch at the start and end of each interval

 

How you should approach these sessions so that you get the most out of them largely depends on the technology you own. That’s because when moving at a set pace/ speed, heart-rate takes about 3 minutes to rise then stabilize. If you are only doing short 1 to 3 minute intervals you can see that heart-rate will not be the correct judge of effort for the interval. Therefore, you need to also use your instinct along with power on the bike or pace on the run to accomplish the repetitions accurately.

 

Tip #2 : Set up a dedicated screen on your smartwatch so you can see all relevant data with ease

When you start the first interval, simply work at the correct power, pace or effort that is associated with the target training zone. (You will get to know this exactly through the lactate testing that we do ). Over the first few intervals you will see the HR gradually start to come in to zone and stabilize earlier in each interval.

 

As your session continues, watch to be sure that the heartrate does not go over the upper target for the desired zone. If the heartrate goes too high then lactate production will increase and this will shift your fuel usage and undermine the goal of the training session. Therefore as the session goes on, you might have to ease off the pace/ power to keep the heartrate “in zone”. As you get fitter you will find that you won’t need to ease off the pace and that you are able to complete more intervals at that same effort.

 

Tip #3 : it’s always better to start a little too easy that to go out too hard!

MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME LIKE A PRO

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One of my main goals is to slash your learning curve and get you training with maximum efficiency right from the start.

Training correctly for an endurance sport requires attention in many different areas. In addition to the cardio training that you do there’s recovery techniques, strength work, injury prevention, gear prep plus nutrition and fueling to consider. Use these tips to optimize all that you do and watch your performance soar.

 

FOCUS ON TIME

Instead of thinking about training each discipline (like, swim, bike or run), shift your focus to maximizing the amount of time that you have available. Traditionally you might think about, say, swimming in the morning and running after work but that mindset doesn’t really help you get everything done. Instead focus on BLOCKS OF TIME.

Ask yourself, “how much time can I commit to my workouts on different days of the week”? Ask, “is my life better if I do one block of training per day or do I feel better with more rest between sessions”? This will help you structure your days and training far better

 

BACK TO BACK

You can really optimize the time that you have if you do more back to back training. One of the key factors that help you improve as an athlete is TRAINING FREQUENCY, so for example, even short run after every bike session can help you not only improve your transitions but also increase the number of run sessions you get in each week. This is particularly useful for swimming, where “feel on the water” can be maintained much better with a higher frequency of training. The extra swim doesn’t need to be long, even 5 minutes will help!

 

GET THE ORDER RIGHT

The main focus of endurance training is to build aerobic speed and this requires you to train at low lactate levels and access fats for energy. Therefore, do the easy training BEFORE the more intense training especially when doing back to back sessions and training just once per day. This has several benefits in that you control the intensity of the easier training more accurately and by the time you get to the higher intensity you are nicely warmed up and ready to go for it. So, bike or run before you swim (most of the time) and do weights AFTER everything else.

 

BE ORGANIZED

Endurance sports require lots of gear so make it easy on yourself by creating ONE location where you store everything related to your training (if you can). Having everything in one place means no more running around trying to find the charger for your heartrate monitor when you should already be out of the door! Keep all your bottles, drink mixes and gels nearby and even consider a small fridge stocked with water so that mixing a carbo drink or recovery formula is that much easier.

 

STACK

It may seem simple but you can get more from a single discipline than you think. For example, a 60 minute Zone 2 run could just be an “easy run” for 60 minutes or it could be….

·       Foam roll

·       Jog 5 minutes to warm-up

·       5 x (30 seconds of a technique drill/ jog 30 seconds)

·       Run 40 minutes at the correct target heartrate and during that time focus on your leg speed/ strides per minute. At the same time, internally affirm “I am getting stronger every day” and picture yourself crossing the finish line of your next race in a PR time.

 

FUEL SMART

There are many ways to train depending on your home life, work and race goals but a key trick is to pre-plan  your nutrition in to the day. You want to time it so that your workouts and recovery are optimized by what you eat and when. Here are a couple of detailed plans to help you ….

2 workout blocks in a day

·       Snack / Session #1 with fuel/ Breakfast/ Work/ Lunch/ Snack 1 hour before… / Workout #2 with fuel/ Dinner

·       Breakfast/ Session #1 with fuel/ Lunch/ Snack/ Session #2 with fuel/ Recovery drink/ Dinner

1 workout block in a day

·       Larger snack / Session #1 with fuel/ Recovery drink/ Session #2/ Brunch/ Snack/ Dinner

·       Breakfast/ Session #1 with fuel/ Recovery drink/ Session #2/ Lunch/ Snack/ Dinner

·       Breakfast/ Lunch/ Snack/ Session #1 with fuel/ Recovery drink/ Dinner

And finally, here are some real-life examples to make APPROXIMATELY ONE HOUR work better for you ….

1.     Drive to the pool. 5 minutes mobility, Run 30 minutes, Swim 30 mins, 5 minutes stretch, Shower, dress, work

2.     Foam roll for 5 minutes, Indoor Ride 40 mins, Run straight off the bike for 20 minutes, 5 minutes of leg weights, 5 minutes stretch

Both of these examples show just how much you can achieve in a short space of time.

The 6 key factors that every athlete needs to know

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Coach Gareth’s athletes regularly top the podium, set personal records and smash their goals. Gareth believes that everyone is an athlete and the techniques used to train the finest athletes in the world are equally applicable to the newcomer. Here is an overview of his key principles for athlete development:

 

ACCURATE TRAINING & OPTIMAL RECOVERY = PEAK PERFORMANCE
Athletes get stronger by recovering and repairing after a new training stimulus. Therefore, most programs are built on a the basis of a 2 week build + 1 week of active recovery structure. Furthermore, active recovery is a part of every week’s training program with athletes getting at least one “off” day per week.

 

PERIODIZATION
Each athlete has a personal season plan, which lays out all the chosen events and builds fitness systematically to peak on the correct day. Athletes are encouraged to think long-term, meaning that it is best to focus on building fitness and performance over many seasons so that the body can adapt injury free, getting stronger every year.

HEALTHY ATHLETES OUTPERFORM THOSE WHO OVERTRAIN AND ARE REGULARLY ILL
We never sacrifice health for fitness and never train when sick. Athletes are encouraged to listen to their body, back off and communicate with Coach Gareth immediately if they sense any illness/signs of injury or heavy fatigue.

 

SPORTS SCIENCE IS VITAL
Lactate testing (which is compulsory for Coach Gareth athletes) teaches us what stimulus the body requires to gain fitness and how the body has reacted to a certain training program. From here accurate training using heart rate, power/ pace and rate of perceived exertion can be created to maximize available time.

 

EVERYONE NEEDS AND INDIVIDUALIZED, CUSTOM PROGRAM BUILT TO SUITE THEIR PHYSIOLOGY, TIME AVAILABLE, LIFESTYLE AND GOALS
There is no cookie cutter with personal coaching programs from Coach Gareth. The initial program is often changed and fine-tuned throughout the training cycle as dictated by the athlete’s changing needs.

 

COMPLETE ATHLETES
All programs are designed to create “complete” athletes who are maximally developed in all areas of their physiology. As such, programs include the relevant aerobic training specific to the athlete’s chosen sport plus strength, flexibility, core training, recovery techniques and nutrition advice.

 

“Gareth has been my triathlon coach for over seven years now. His deep understanding of periodized endurance training & race preparation combined with his state-of-the-art fitness testing make for a potent combination”

Warren Selko (Triathlete)