JUST 10 HOURS

Finding enough hours in the week to effectively train for a long distance triathlon is one of our sport’s most widespread challenges.  With the increased popularity of various HIIT-based training methods, can we adequately prepare for an IRONMAN on just 10 hours per week?

Yes… former pro and now coach Andrejs Byr believes that you can.

In this in-depth article he discusses his 3 principles for minimalist IRONMAN training.  First he shares his proven tactics that ensure consistency, efficiency and the greatest return on training possible.  Then he outlines his recommended weekly training schedule and describes how he adapts it over 30 weeks.

Whether you follow this to the letter or pluck out the most useful nuggets for your personal situation, you’ll surely find this to be a valuable guide for squeezing the most from your limited training time.

SMARTER TRAINER WORKOUTS

Like many of us, pro triathlete Tom Davis spent hours on his smart trainer in 2020, keeping his fitness sharp.  While rationing the amount of time spent participating in fun – but less productive – Zwift races, he prioritized deliberate and structured interval sessions.

In this article Davis shares 3 of his favorite indoor cycling workouts that he encourages all triathletes to include in their programs.

Designed to help you ride more efficiently over all kinds of terrain, they include cadence intervals, spinning drills and overgearing work.

More and more triathletes are discovering the value of indoor bike sessions, and these 3 workouts will help you wring more value from your smart trainer.

GAINS ARE MADE DURING RECOVERY

We’ve just discovered a new post-workout recovery shake that’s been quietly building momentum within our elite athlete community. It’s called Total Recovery and is produced by the sports nutrition experts at Swiss RX who are obsessed with meeting the nutrient demands of athletes.

You’ve never tried anything like it.

What makes Total Recovery different is that it’s like a laser beam that targets post-workout inflammation, and actually helps you recover faster.

Thanks to our friends at TheFeed.com, TriathlonWire readers receive a whopping 40% discountoff your purchase of Total Recovery (that’s a massive $31.99 savings) when you use the coupon code TriWire.

Lock in this deal now to ensure you’re maximizing the gains from every workout!

EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE

The way we breathe affects our technique.  Almost all of us favor a side when swimming freestyle, so it’s easy to breathe to just one side whenever we enter the water.  Single-side breathing is fine when racing (when we need more oxygen), but breathing to only one side can lead to an imbalanced stroke, an inability to respond to race conditions, or even injury.

Bilateral breathing can help.  It balances your stroke (especially hip rotation), helps you swim straighter and builds breathing comfort to your weak side.  Expanding your breathing optionscan also reduce anxiety during a race and is useful when the sun is in your eyes or you need to avoid a flailing competitor.

Triathlon icon Dan Empfield takes breath management to the next level with his creative technique of consecutive breathing.  It’s easier to understand by watching someone do it, so check out this article and video.

Generally speaking, more oxygen means more speed.  Experiment with these breath management techniques and see if it gets you closer to mastering the sport’s most intimidating discipline.

QUICK HIITS:

• Get In There
  As the 2021 triathlon race calendar begins to gel, it’s worth taking another look at the status of postponed and cancelled events.  For races that are being held, entry slots are going fast (if not already sold out)… so register today.
• Reading List
  Coach Matt Dixon has helped hundreds of triathletes qualify for championship events using his 4 pillars of performance.  In his book Fast-Track Triathlete Dixon lays out a roadmap for planning and implementing successful IRONMAN training in just 10 hours per week.  With over 140 5-star reviews, it deserves a place in your multisport library.
• Just Super
  Supersapiens, already a partner of IRONMAN Europe and the INEOS Grenadiers, was just named the new title sponsor of the Hawaii IRONMAN World Championships.  Using Abbott’s Libre Sense biosensor and a mobile app, it promises more effective energy management for athletes through continuous blood glucose monitoring.  Supersapiens claims to help avoid the blood sugar spikes that can derail your performance.  Not yet available in the USA, it’ll be interesting to see if Supersapiens can make race-day fueling more predictable and effective.