Some triathletes are wildly successful with a minimal amount of training.

A majority of triathletes integrate a gym workout into their training without any real understanding of how to workout for triathlete shape.

Most triathletes believe that if they want better results, they need to put more hours into the pool/track/spin class with the instructor that wears the tight bike shorts.

Here is the normal training program 90% of triathletes seem to love:

Swim.

Bike.

Run.

Repeat in a variety of order and progression until you have forgotten where you live and the names of your children.

If you are about to start training for a triathlon, have been training for one or have a friend that does triathlons, know this.

As in most things in life, at a certain point your repetitive training cycle will reach a ‘point of diminishing returns’.

By doing the same three movements repetitively you pull your body into a series of tightnesses and muscle imbalances you

A list of common injuries sustained by triathletes:

Chondromalacia Patella (runners knee)

Achilles tendonitis

Thoracic tightness

Swimmers shoulder

What can be done? Here are the top three things you can do:

check your gear

Having the correct gear that is correctly alighned to you is very important.  If you can afford it get your bike tuned and your shoes checked (most upper end shoe stores nowadays will check video as you run on a treadmill – it isnt an exact science, but its better than guesswork).

recover hard

Just as you work hard, make sure you recover hard as well.  Massage, hot baths, footrubs, all those things that tough athletes aren’t supposed to do but things that your body needs to stay performing at a high level – you are in this for the long run, right?  Or would you rather be an elite triathlete for 2 years and have a career ending injury then?  Your call.

get specialized advice

Personal trainers are many and varied in their training – find a few that are able to speak ‘tri’ and see what you come up with.  If you have someone that knows what they are doing, a few sessions later you will understand your body much better than you could ever imagine.

So mix up your training – go see a personal trainer to get ideas on how to ‘open’ your body up.  Get a massage, for goodness sake!  Triathletes in general spend ludicrous amounts of money on their equipment and leave their body to fend for itself.  Just as you wouldnt pay thousands for a nice car and put a beat up engine in it, you hurt your performance by buying a great bike and gear only to neglect the actual driving force that puts up the real effort, your body.

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

The post Triathlon Related Injury and Overtraining Can Be Avoided: Triathlete Advice appeared first on JamieAtlas.com.

The latest nike free outfits for runners - super light and high breathability. Not much support though, if you know what I mean

The action of running involved acceleration, power, strength and control in multiple dimensions at multiple times – to fail to train for this is the fail to train for running.

The 3-D movements we live in can be categorized roughly in the following:

FRONT-BACK (think pushing a door open)

SIDE-SIDE (leaning to the side to see around the big guy in front of you at the concert)

ROTATION (turning to check yourself out in the mirror to see how your butt looks – you know you do it)

If you were to guess what plane is dominated by the running action, you might say the rotational – and you would be right. We also require the side-side plane to work well for us (think about your weight shift in your body as you stride – without that control you would find yourself off the path very quickly) and lastly, the front-back plane to work to make sure we dont fall forward or backward as we run.

If we all agree on the above statement, then the following planes (in order of importance) are most relevant:

1. rotation
2. side-side
3. front-back

If we stop to think about the machines in the gym and the classic exercises we do, something becomes apparent. Here is that same list of exercises again this time with a plane analysis.

1. bicep curl (front-back)
2. tricep pressdown (front-back)
3. squat (front-back)
4. bench press (front-back)
5. inside grip lat pulldown (front-back)
6. ab crunch (front-back)
7. front shoulder raise (front-back)

Hulk MAD! Hulk Pull Down!

Ask yourself the following question:

Do ANY of these machines/exercises require me to move in a rotational plane?

Do ANY of these machines/exercises require me to move in a side-side plane?

Do we all agree that the least important plane for running is the front-back plane? Why is it that the majority of machines and exercises are designed to move us in the front-back plane? It is for a simple reason:

Your average gym machine exercise gives you the same workout exercises that bodybuilders have been doing for the past 30 years!

Do you see many bodybuilders on the running track? Me neither. Their bodies have been taught to look good,but not necessarily to move well.

So, if you want to be the big guy in the gym and the slow guy on the track… then by all means continue to pound away at the reps. But if you have ever stood next to a 14 year old boy or girl and watched then run smoothly and with perfect form as they cruise past you, know this:

It is as important to HAVE the strength as much as it is to have the strength IN THE RIGHT PLACES.

So what can you do?

There are many important resources out there that you can reach for. I might advise one of three approaches:

1. Get a personal trainer to offer to show you some side-side or rotation exercises
2. Integrate one leg and one arm exercises into your workout (you land on one leg at a time, right?)
3. Focus on reps that are powerful, not slow and controlled – running is not a slow and controlled movement and (once you have correct technique), neither should you be.

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

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The post Your Off-Road Fitness Training is Ruining your Running: Here’s Why appeared first on JamieAtlas.com.