After 6 years of year round tri training I decided to spend Dec and Jan this year with zero swim/bike/run. Day 43 of Insanity videos and while I am in better overall fitness I am curious as to what it will take time wise to get back the Tri specific speed. Insanity is all about high interval work so I am hoping three or four weeks of speed work should pop me back in the game. anyone have experience with this?
What will you lose? – Most likely specificity with regard to each discipline (S/B/R).
Also the possible addition of muscle mass and overuse/stress injuries may not be helpful.
After 6 years of year round tri training I decided to spend Dec and Jan this year with zero swim/bike/run. Day 43 of Insanity videos and while I am in better overall fitness I am curious as to what it will take time wise to get back the Tri specific speed. Insanity is all about high interval work so I am hoping three or four weeks of speed work should pop me back in the game. anyone have experience with this?
I took 30 days off from swim/bike/run and just did Insanity Asylum.
At the end of the 30 days I was in the best “athletic shape” of my life, I gained nearly 13lbs of muscle mass, and “shredded” body fat.
When it was time for swim/bike/run again. I felt heavy and awkward on the run but I felt strong. I didn’t fatigue as quick but when my legs started to thin out from training miles I started to see a difference in my times.
The bike, again I felt strong but heavy and out of practice.
After 6 years of year round tri training I decided to spend Dec and Jan this year with zero swim/bike/run. Day 43 of Insanity videos and while I am in better overall fitness I am curious as to what it will take time wise to get back the Tri specific speed. Insanity is all about high interval work so I am hoping three or four weeks of speed work should pop me back in the game. anyone have experience with this?
You’ll lose ST respect points.
Come to again this year and i will show you as I run down your gluten free butt ;0)
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HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is great for burning fat & increase muscle strength, but as a workout for a triathlete, there are some flaws. This style of training will result in enhanced speeds, but little endurance - which if you’re a short course athlete is fine, but longer “slow twitch” athletes will have trouble getting back into triathlon training because although it’s hard as sh*t, you’re not developing your ability to use fat as a fuel source, which is essential for long-course success (intervals are important because it improves your aerobic potential, but need the long, slow efforts to maximize this potential).
PROS:
- Increases mitochondrial density (improved aerobic potential- need long, slow efforts to realize this potential)
- Decreased body fat (hopefully lower body weight, which means higher power:weight ratio)
- Increased strength (hopefully without the addition of greater muscle mass, which increases weight, and decreases power-weight ratio)
CONS:
- Loss of base endurance (long, slow efforts required to improve fat usage as a fuel source)
- Not triathlon-specific
- If you’ve never done basic resistance training, insanity training can result in injuries if you don’t have proper preparation phase
I did it with my kids in PE Good stuff but as said above, not tri specific at a time when most people are starting to ramp their training way up. maybee Nov. and Dec. after race season but its a little late.
So after 6 yrs of endurance training, you are saying his body has forgotten to burn fat…Sure his endurance ha suffered, but you are over emphasing the " long slow to burn fat" thing
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So after 6 yrs of endurance training, you are saying his body has forgotten to burn fat…Sure his endurance ha suffered, but you are over emphasing the " long slow to burn fat" thing
Would you suggest training for a marathon by doing 100m repeats? Of course not. In simple terms, doing a training program like Insanity (or similar) results in increases in our mitochondrial density (parts of our cells that create energy), which is a good thing. However, this style of training also results in an increase in the diameter of muscle fibres (to enable greater force development), reduced capillary density (capillaries supply fibres with blood, enabling aerobic activity), and a shift in muscle fibre type (more fibres resembling fast twitch fibres) - these adaptations are detrimental to endurance performance.
It has nothing to do with your body “forgetting” to burn fat, your body usually gets ~75% fuel at rest from fat. But as intensity increases, we shift towards more glucose(sugar) being used to fuel activity. As we do an exercise program that simulates these changes in our muscles, it becomes more difficult for our body to continue using fat as a fuel source at a given activity, because these fibres fatigue more quickly, due to reduced blood supply(among other biochemical & structural changes). As a strength & conditioning coach, I admit an appropriately designed strength program is beneficial for endurance athletes, but it always needs to be supplemented with training that prevents these changes to progress unchecked. This is why even during periods when we do speedwork/ weight training (both stimulate increased force development / mitochondrial density), it is usually in combination with either a long run or a shorter run at race pace (both having similar intensities). You’re not forgetting how to burn fat, you’re just causing changes that make it more difficult for your body to use fat. The Insanity program is 60 days, which is a significant amount of time to cause a shift in our body’s metabolic profile.
In terms of “Long slow to burn fat” - you burn fat doing the insanity program as well- you actually burn a higher net amount of calories from fat during HIIT, but the ratio of FAT - CHO is significantly shifted to CHO. Why I emphasize long, slower distance is so that you maintain your body’s ability to use fat as a fuel source - not to burn fat, simply to maintain those metabolic functions.
If Jeff wants to do the Insanity program, he should make some tweaks to make it more tri-friendly (e.g., adding a bike / run every few days, adding some shoulder prehab exercises and a few core endurance movements (e.g., plank variations). If you want to try something a little different from swimming, biking and running, but want to stay tri ready, I’ve recently used a TRX during training which has provided a nice mental break from the SBR scene, while still targeting useful muscles and metabolic demands.
Wow…That is a well thought out answer. More difficult to burn fat…? You definetly are more educated than me. When Mark Allen went to Maffatone and focused on what you describe, he already was kicking ass in Niece long course and though losing to Scott at Kona was no slouch at Kona. All those guys were also racing short course quite a bit…
Do not know what you mean by “tri ready”…Even if he was to train for an IM, guessing, 14-18 week period, 60 days after 6 years will nnot hurt him. Oh, maybe you could argue if he was going for the win it might mean a few minutes but for the avg age grouper, I do not think so.
Thought out? Not particularly - I’m enjoying watching football. I have no idea what your background is, so I can’t comment on the relative differences in education, but thank you for the compliment. With no disrespect to Mark, I think we can both agree the sport has changed significantly since then - training has progressed significantly as our understanding of the body increased as well as short-course and long-course becoming almost different sports (hence why Macca didn’t dominate when he went back to short course, or Whitfield, Gomez or Findlay don’t lace up for an IM).
When you speak of the 14-18 weeks of IM training after 60 days of Insanity, there are so many variables to consider in terms of how detrimental it would be. Age, training history, genetics, course profile, etc. can all increase the time required to get back into race shape.
Tri ready was just meaning be ready to get back into triathlon training.
Your point about his distance / goals is valid (even though I brought up both distances, but went into detail regarding long course)- I usually make the assumption that people posting on here are looking to get better - a few minutes to some may be a significant improvement. I still think most people usually do IMs for PBs- not the beautiful scenery, so minutes may matter. From experience with my athletes, we’re talking 10’s of minutes benefit by improving the base (fat usage) fitness. Even if Jeff isn’t, someone may read this thread with similar question who is looking to qualify for Kona / Vegas. Enhanced fat usage enables our body to conserve carbohydrates for either explosive bursts (e.g., hills / windy sections / last kick) or to be available near the end of the race as our body starts to run on fumes.
He asked “what he could lose”, so I answered his question - you lose your enhanced ability to use fat as a fuel source.
Thanks…You mention “your athletes” are you a coach?.But I see your sig line is “ironman newbie”…So?
As far as minutes, I see your point in theory. As a completer of multiple Ironmans and a few other significant endurance events. I have found that being able to quantify what helped or did not in minutes(lets say 10 over the event) improvements is really hard to do. Just so many factors…Thank You for your response. Part of my post is I may not be able to follow your post as well as others. I am an old fart that has done stuff for awhile but barely got out of H.S.
Have a great day…See you at the races
Not a coach - do metabolic testing and conditioning for various endurance coaches for multiple sports (marathon, centurions, IMs)- based on feedback, the major change in their training (and improvements based on follow-up tests) has been an improved base fitness level (Z1 / Z2 if you’re familiar with the 5 HR zone system). Yes I am new to IMs - I don’t understand your point with that. If you’re looking to improve your understanding of scientific foundations of endurance activities (congrats on your completions), Joe Friel (author of “Training Bible”) is a pretty good place to start.
Cool. The point I was politely making about new to IM’s was simply when saying “your athletes” but being new…did not know the context. I would have found it interesting if new to long distance, why you were stating in a manner of expertise. However, your resopnse showed your context, so in a sense not “new” due to the athletes you are dealing with.
Oh, I am very aware of Friel, hr zones ect. ect… for years.
Thanks again. Have a great day…See ya at the races…Kenney
Being in my 50’s, I have come full circle. Know your body, percieved efforts, listen when it says rest, go hard. Though I still will watch hr for fun.