Dear Athletes,
So here we are in the middle of winter and many of us are in the Midwest. For most triathletes in the region, this is the off-season. What should you be focusing on? My professional advice to you is that you should be significantly limiting your sport specific training volume (swim, bike, run) and be substituting cross-training. The human body responds to unique stimulus and if you want to maintain significant fitness, reduce the likelihood of injury and burnout (physical and mental); you need to be spending a significant portion of your time cross-training in the off-season.

Weight Training
A significant amount of this time should also be spent in the weight room performing proper weight training. All athletes, including endurance athletes, need to strength train on a periodized training schedule (the focus, i.e. strength or power, changes roughly every 3-4 weeks) just as they should endurance train on a periodized schedule. For the most part, the strength training should start relatively light with relatively high reps (10- 20 repetitions); however this is not always the case. Some of the athletes that I coach and are reading this are probably wondering at this moment why they are lifting max weights for less than 6 reps or are on some other type of weight training program. This is because I know their limiters and we are attacking the limiters right now. The bottom line is most triathletes will benefit from strength training and the strength training should be periodized to keep the stimulus fresh. Furthermore, the weights should be specific to the power, endurance, and strength of the individual athlete. There are some exceptions where strength training should be limited and/or the type of periodization should be modified. These cases should be evaluated on an individual basis just as endurance training should be unique to the individual athlete. As a quick side note; this is one of the many downfalls of generic "training plans."

The other training component you as endurance athletes need to be focusing on is technique training. The emphasis and investment in technique oriented training can vary from simply performing short workouts that include short intervals where you focus only on perfecting technique to investing in a run or swim stroke analysis. Focusing on perfecting your sport specific technique now will pay off next season. That is a guarantee. Keep in mind you can work on technique now and build endurance later. The opposite is not true.

The image below illustrates the difference in run gait of 2:07 marathoners (left) to 3:10 marathoners (right).

Upcoming Clinic
Coach Brett of Petersen Performance Lab and Coach MJ Slikas of Tri Smart Coaching are providing a joint swim stroke clinic on Sunday, February 15 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The clinic will include a fully coached workout and each athlete will be videotaped both above and under water for stroke analysis using Dartfish software. Participants will receive their own personalized CD with instruction for further improvement. The swim stroke clinic will take place at the University of Illinois at Chicago west campus pool located at 828 S. Wolcott in Chicago. This is located at the Chicago medical center campus just west of downtown Chicago. The fee for the clinic is $128 and the number of participants will be strictly limited to 15. Registration is available until January 30 or until we reach the 15 athlete limit. RSVPs can be sent to myself or Coach MJ at info@trismartcoaching.com

A Critical Review of Recovery Methods
This month, I have written an article that details what I recommend athletes should be doing to fully recover from their workouts. All too often, athletes ignore basic recovery principles and end up suffering from poor subsequent training sessions and never achieve their full potential due to the poor workouts. Furthermore, I also present scientific research related to the products of electrostimulation, compression gear, and recovery drinks. Finally, Dr. Maret Traber, professor of nutrition at Oregon State University, was kind enough to offer her own advice in terms of recovery and Vitamin E supplementation. You can find the article at http://www.mideastelite.com/Coaching_Training.html
The article is filed under December newsletter.
Please visit my home page for the most up to date information regarding coaching, performance testing, and current articles.

I wish everyone a safe and joyous holiday season!!!

Sincerely,

Brett Petersen, MS Exercise Physiology
Appointed USAT Mideast Team Elite Performance Coach
http://www.mideastelite.com/Coaching_Training.html
USA Triathlon Level II Coach
USA Cycling Level II Coach
www.petersenperformancelab.net
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