Controversial: technology x training

Triathlon Forum
1

This post is intended for competitive triathletes only!

Are you a victim of too much technology? Let me ask you this.

  1. Have you spent the winter working on your swim only to find out you did not improve?
  2. Have you spent $200 on a bike fit from a local bike shop and still feels awkward on it?
  3. Have you been past on the bike during a race by a $500 bike when yours is worth $5,000?
  4. Do still train with a heavy and bulky running shoe or wear an orthotics from a podiatrist?
  5. Have you been past on the run by a High School runner doing 5:15 mile on his first triathlon?
  6. Do you train with a heart rate monitor, Gps, or a power meter?
  7. Do you still have a training schedule with similar workouts every week on a 7 day cycle?

If you said yes to at least 3 you are a victim.

After 26 years of tris and over 400 races, people often ask me how I can still go just as fast as I did when I was 25 years old. My answer is the same: YOU RACE LIKE YOU TRAIN. TRAIN FAST, RACE FAST.
Stop with all the fancy toys and go back to basics.

Swim: train with swimmers and stay away from the social bugs that all they do is talk ,and rest on the side of the pool. Swimming is 70% efficiency and 30% fitness. Get efficient first and learn to catch the water with your forearms before trying to swim fast.

Bike: Get a bike fit from someone that knows what they are doing. Local bike shop are interested in your wallet, not your PR on the next race. Unless you are getting fitted by Bike Sports, Nytro, NTC Florida, or Biocorrect. You are wasting your time. Bike fits are advertised by bike shops with all bells and whistles, certified in this and that. Only to find out the guy fitting you is over weight, smokes, and ride a commuter bike to work .
Train with people faster than you, no watches, bike computers, GPS, or power meters. Learn to brake away, maxout your heart rate, and hold it as long as you can.
Learn to push a big gear and up your calories before the ride.

Run: The big one of the day. Get a gait eval by a running specialist, get a light training shoe, learn not to heel strike, increase your turn over, and forget about your heart rate monitor. Race the person in front of you ,not your maximum aerobic level, which changes every day. Run off road 50% of the total mileage. Take your shoe off 2xweek and run bare foot on the grass for 5 min.

Training schedule: Do not repeat the same work out for 14 days and progressively make it harder. Followed by 2 days off and 5 easy days. Hit it all over again.
Keep your long slow stuff for base training and off season. Very your intensities and interval lengths. Triathletes don’t benefit much from interval shorter then 2 min on 3 sports.

That’s my take on training to race fast. Don’t be soft and harden up you mind. Good luck to you all tri geeks.

Adriano Rosa Bs. Atc. Cped. CSCS. NASM
Exercise Physiologist
Biomechanics Specialist, Sports therapist
Race director
Triathlon Coach
Triathlete
MMA fighter

2

I agree with most of what you said: here is what I would edit out

Orthotics:
This should be left up to the doc who is evaluating the patient/athlete- making a blanket statement to get rid of them all is very short sighted. many individuals have asymmetries that require an orthotic device to prevent other problems from occuring

Heart rate monitor, Gps, and power meters:
These tools, if used correctly, can drastically change an individuals performance. Recording and reviewing this data with a coach will help the athlete to better listen to their body and train smarter. This data allows the coach to teach the client when to push and when not to. This is what coaching is all about, teaching. Without these tools that actually are recordable and down loadable many type A triathletes can become stagnant in their growth in the sport and fitness because they fail to listen to their body and rest when they need to and don’t push hard enough when they are fresh.

Training:
In order to see progress you have to force the body systems beyond where they are accustomed to being. one session of a given workout really isnot sufficient to see a training progression. Many of my athletes have continued to show progress with very simple workouts 2-3x per week per sport provided they are adequately recovered. Myself I have gone 10weeks before I fail to see gains and need to make changes to the sessions.

Seth Wilkie
BS Exercise Physiology and Nutrition Science
Master Personal Trainer (ACSM, NASM)
Student Physical Therapist
All-American Triathlete '08
Running and Cycling biomechanics Specialist
Cycling and Triathlon Coach

3

Enlightening.

(edit: add “roll eyes” )

4

Hi Adriano,

interesting stuff and some of it is correct.

also, i think you may want to get some way better fit advice yourself. because your p3c has some very visible fit issues.

5

full of contradictions!!

<< Do not repeat the same work out for 14 days and progressively make it harder. Followed by 2 days off and 5 easy days. Hit it all over again.

so your training schedule would like something like:

Monday: hard workout
Tuesday: off
Wednesday off
Thursday: easy
Friday: easy
Saturday: easy
Sunday: easy
Monday: easy
then repeat

but then you say “YOU RACE LIKE YOU TRAIN. TRAIN FAST, RACE FAST.”
one hard workout every 8 days and the rest either off or easy doesn’t qualify as “training fast”.

<< Very your intensities and interval lengths…maxout your heart rate,

but at the same time we’re not supposed to use any tools to qualify/quantify intensities/distances or know how we are sustaining our heart rate compared to max?

6

Unless you are getting fitted by Bike Sports, Nytro, NTC Florida, or Biocorrect.

david greenfield and john cobb are wasting our time? thats news to me.

maxout your heart rate, and hold it as long as you can.

burn out much?

learn not to heel strike

then what, learn to change my gait and get injuries?

forget about your heart rate monitor

i agree, but how are you going to max out your heart rate without knowing it (see above)

Run off road 50% of the total mileage.

that doesnt lead to less injuries, could possible have more.

** Race the person in front of you ,not your maximum aerobic level**

once again, burn out.

7

First rule of coaching;

Everyone is an individual. You cannot apply blanket prescriptions across the board. You need to find out what works best for the individual.

Second rule of coaching:

It’s all about the athlete. It’s not what’s easiest for the coach. It’s what’s best for the athlete.

8

You had me until you listed Nytro.

JT at Moment in Point Loma knows way more than the ass clowns in Encinitas.

9

“Do not repeat the same work out for 14 days and progressively make it harder. Followed by 2 days off and 5 easy days. Hit it all over again.”

I read it to mean something like this:

Day 1 - hard workout (system stimulus)
Day 2 thru 14 - progressively harder workouts, each different than previous workouts (muscle confusion)
Day 15 & 16 - Rest days (passive recovery)
Day 17 thru 21 - Easy days (active recovery)
Repeat entire cycle (consistency)

Not that I agree with everything he said…

10

you are just jealous you haven’t learnt to brake away yet
.

11

wait
why does using technology preclude training again?

12

First rule of coaching;

Everyone is an individual. You cannot apply blanket prescriptions across the board. You need to find out what works best for the individual.

Hehe…

hehe…

he…

13

Hi Adriano,
also, i think you may want to get some way better fit advice yourself. because your p3c has some very visible fit issues.

No shit!!! Only on Slowtwitch!

14

I don’t say this often, but…

When I see something like this, I miss Paulo.

-Jot

15

Wow! Proof anyone can send in their $50 and be a coach.

James Smith, BSE, MS, Ph.D., Mr.
Engineer
Structures Specialist
Race participator
Giver of free advice
Roadie
I’m a lover not a MMA fighter

16

Try Draino,

OK, so let’s say I wanna do it your way. Let’s start w/ the swim.
How exactly do I “Get efficient first and learn to catch the water with your forearms before trying to swim fast.”

Oh yeah, and I love this one:

5. Have you been past (sic) on the run by a High School runner doing 5:15 mile on his first triathlon?

Assuming said HS runner can swim and bike at all, they are going to be passing almost everybody at every tri, if they are running 5:15’s.

17

So, after all those years of racing and training your only AS FAST as you used to be? My coach must be a genius then, because he has actually made me way faster than I was 20 years and even 1 year ago!

18

Yes I agree as well. Never said any thing about getting rid of orthotics. Just the ones made by podiatrists, they are docs or biomechanic specialist. Seek a PT with running knowledge and get the right ones.
About the gadgets… Great tools for pre and post tests of performance, but a distraction for training and racning. I know, I sound a bit radical. I train and racer better now that I got away from all that.
cheers,
AD

19

Do I know you? Usually I riding my P3c too fast for anyone to notice my fit. Sorry If I passed you at 28mph instead of 30mph( kidding). I am still recovering from a car accident not up to my usual pace yet. Stuart Frasier did my first fit, followed by 2x with John Cobb. Good enough for Lance good enough for me.
What do you see I can improve with my fit??
Cheers,
AD

20

You must of missunderstood me. I wrote 14 days of not repeating the same work out twice, with a week of recovery.
Weekly: 4 Swims, 5 bikes, 5 runs. At least 2 hard bikes, 2 hard runs, 2 hard swims, and on the second week make it hard than the 1st.
The purpose is to shock your system to teach your mind and body to read line. This is for pre-season or leading up to key races.
To be done only once or twice per season.
I hope that clear up for you.
I am just trying to give it a different point of view on training.
Cheers,
AD