UTAH GOLD

Following a 2-year hiatus, the IRONMAN 70.3 returned to St. George, Utah with great fanfare last Saturday.  The Land of Endurance lived up to its billing, with exciting races contested across a stunning landscape.

Gustav Iden (NOR) defended his 2019 title by finishing 4 minutes ahead of Sam Long (USA).  On the women’s side Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) executed a nearly perfect race, leading from the swim and never looking back.

Most in attendance commented on how much they’d missed racing.  Let’s hope that championship events are back for good.

RULES OF RESISTANCE

Constant swimming, cycling and running can lead to muscle weaknesses and imbalances.  Fortunately these can be corrected by lifting weights.

Properly executed, strength training will improve your sport-specific mechanics, race day performance, and resistance to injury.

In this article, Better Triathlete presents 7 specific guidelines for implementing a safe and productive strength training program.

They also recommend 3 weight training exercises that are particularly effective for triathletes and will jumpstart your progress in the coming off-season.

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FREESTYLE CONTRAST DRILLS

Karlyn Pipes has set over 220 FINA Masters world records and is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.  Watch her as she demonstrates 5 different freestyle contrast drills in this fantastic video from GoSwim.tv.

These drills are effective for fixing the most common problems with your freestyle stroke: head too high, crossing over, and kicking from the knees.

When doing contrast drills, you first exaggerate the specific error, and then immediately follow with proper form.  This provides positive sensory feedback to improve your stroke.

BETTER TEMPO TRAINING

A major problem of many triathlon swimmers is overthinking their freestyle stroke.  By trying to focus on too many cues for improving technique, their stroke rate drops and they develop deadspots that kill their speed.

One way to avoid this is to increase your stroke rate by training with the FINIS Tempo Trainer Pro.  With this unobtrusive underwater metronome, you can aim to raise your turnover to 35 strokes per minute (or higher). Doing so will smooth out your power curve and increase your efficiency.

Additionally a higher turnover is more conducive for success in the open water where other swimmers, waves and chop frequently disrupt your forward momentum.

Best of all, TriathlonWire readers get a 20% discount by using the coupon code TRIWIRE at checkout. Get on it!

UP TO SPEED

To race faster, speedwork is required.  Sounds obvious, but are you doing it on a regular basis?

At its most basic, regular speedwork trains you to run faster and more efficiently over a given distance.  Coach Andrew Simmons explains the 4 types of speedwork and why they’re critical for top performances.

Tempo runs, intervals, Fartleks and hill sessions work together to stimulate the multiple energy systems required for a faster race day effort.  Learn how to put them all together for maximum benefit.

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT

As the old adage goes, “you can’t out-train a bad diet.”

We often obsess over our sports nutrition, but haven’t cleaned up our day-to-day diets.

If that sounds like you, then a good place to start is with this list of 17 processed foods to avoid (and some items on this list might surprise you). Remove or replace a couple culprits each week, and you’ll soon see improvements in your performance and overall health.

QUICK HIITS:

  • Badass Betty
    In episode 13 of the Find Your Finish Line podcast, Mike Reilly connects with the founder and creative visionary behind Betty Designs, Kristin Mayer.  Learn how Mayer changed the face of women’s endurance sports in this fascinating conversation.
  • Power Player
    Dr. Chris Myers and Hunter Allen reveal the latest science-backed techniques in their new book, Triathlon Training With Power.  With 30 years of combined coaching experience, they provide insights and advice on training protocols, gear and principles of power-based training.  Get your copy today.
  • Bay Watch
    A stacked field of newly minted Olympic and World Champions will toe the line on Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA this Saturday, in Super League Triathlon’s championship event.  The elite competition will feature the exciting Eliminator format.  Learn how to watch it live here…