Why Amateur Triathletes Shouldn’t Train Like the Pros
I often discuss with athletes the concept of their potential within the context of the life they lead. Many triathletes never reach their potential; it’s difficult to manage all of the training hours, it’s not possible to be present and focused enough to train effectively, or the emphasis on training leads to feeling distracted and overwhelmed in other areas of life. Even as athletes try to cram the training into daily and weekly schedules filled with other important commitments, the results become more elusive. Amateur triathletes as well as many coaches have traditionally turned to top-level pros for inspiration, studied their approach, and mimicked how they train. Although there are certainly many things to learn about training and racing from the professionals, it’s a mistake to attempt to emulate a professional approach at the amateur level, especially within the context of a busy life.
Professional triathletes train many more hours every week than you can, and they can put more time, effort, and resources toward training and recovery because triathlon is essentially their full-time job. Many coaches suggest that amateur triathletes try to execute a similar training regimen summarily diluted to accommodate far fewer hours of training every week. For a busy amateur limited both by athletic ability and by other commitments, a training plan that imitates a pro athlete’s preparation develops bad habits rather than performance. If an athlete is never able to effectively execute the requirements of the training plan, it creates a platform for failure, opens the door for many other follow-up mistakes, and ultimately invites overload and exhaustion. In many ways, professional athletes are the barometer for performance.
They are our lab subjects for learning how different training stimuli affect the body. I’ve coached athletes through the transition from amateur to pro. It entails a massive shift in mindset that illustrates why the pro approach isn’t a good fit for amateur athletes.
It’s my recommendation that you begin immediately learning how to use a heart rate monitor and train according HEART RATE TRAINING ZONES using the chart below, also known as the Metabolic Training System. Let’s take a quick minute go over the training zones used in this training program. Zone 1 training is very low intensity ‘easy does it’. It’s used primarily for ‘active recovery’ days, after hard blocks of training in which the goal is to stay loose, keep the metabolism primed and to burn a few calories. Much of the training done in this program and in other novice level training programs will be at Zone 2 intensity to help you ‘build your base’.
More advanced level training programs, you’ll be doing even MORE work in that Zone 3 range. Lifetimeendurance.com – Page 1 – Introduction and Overview of the Life Time Tri Sprint Training Program HOW TO ESTABLISH YOUR TRAINING ZONES an approximate lactate threshold heart rate from which you can then derive target zones using the chart seen below. You’ll train once or twice per day, and participate in each sport 2-3 times each week. It’s important to ‘listen to your body’, and watch for signs of over reaching or over training! If you feel like you’re not recovering from workouts, take an extra rest day!
When it comes to running, it’s especially important to monitor your gauges. Lifetimeendurance.com – Page 2 – Introduction and Overview of the Life Time Tri Sprint Training Program NUTRITION Another important area of consideration when training for any event, especially endurance training for a triathlon, is your nutrition. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly! We’d love to hear about your training experience as well as your results so please be sure to stay in touch. Each / Z2 RACE DAY!
Good Luck! – Page 5 – SWIM WORKOUT TRAINING GUIDE Instructions: Match the workout noted in the training grid with the workouts found in following training key reference guide.
Boca Raton Triathletes
Nicole Boger is an Ironman triathlete, nutritionist, personal trainer and expert fitness Coach. Sport Management from the University of Connecticut and holds numerous ceritifications in triathlon, personal training & strength and conditioning. Nicole has over 15 years of professional experience in coaching, personal training, & strength and conditioning. She held a Tenured Faculty position at the United States Coast Guard Academy where she was responsible for the physical fitness testing, training, and grading of all Cadets and Officer Candidates. She has also Coached every age and every skill level of athlete from child, to collegiate athlete, to adult.
If you are interested in coaching or have any questions please contact: https://www. Coach Debbie Meitz’s mission as a personal fitness coach is to help you BELIEVE that you can be the person you want to be. I am an ISSA certified personal fitness trainer/strength coach, RRCA certified running coach, and USAT level 1 Triathlon coach. I work with athletes one on one for strength training; design training plans for all distances of triathlon(sprint- Ironamn) and running specific training as well as nutritional coaching for training and racing specifically. The goal of SBT is to provide coaches with a sound platform in which to develop individualized training plans that will achieve intended physiological objectives.
SBT provides an advantageous approach to optimizing training by integrating BOTH applied physiology and applied biochemistry in order to provide precise individualization of each training program. She has worked directly with Shannon, The founder, for over 10 years and performs physiological testing and data application primarily with our South Florida clients but also manages System Based Training implementation for all regions.
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