Are there any training benefits to doing reverse brick workouts; ie run before a bike? Not talking every week but maybe a couple times per month like 1 hour run followed by 3 hour bike.
I could see two potential benefits:
- your heart rate and energy consumption would be similar to that of just finishing the swim leg, so it would be like race condition
- Any sort of training variety will allow your body to have more adapations
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you forgot swimming. There should definitely be an hour swim at the end of all that.
I’m going to assume first of all that you think there’s a benefit to a normal bike/run brick, and tell you that such is not the case. Running off the bike and running are the same activity (I stole that line from desert dude 
so you are better off to run when your legs aren’t all tired, you’ll get more of a training stimulus from it.
Because of that running before cycling is actually a smarter idea. My whole summer, running was always my first workout. When I went to training camp over Christmas break we always got up and ran first, and rode later.
Go for it!
Good training for a du (or one of the local sprint tris around here which is swim/run/bike…)
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Swimming at the end can help you stretch out your muscles and gives you a decent workout at the same time. I generally think that you can stretch out your legs on the bike, too, if you are willing to do a warm down. So I think that the reverse bricks help with fitness and recovery quite well. It’s not race conditions and I have a problem with that, too, but I find myself WANTING to do reverse bricks all the time just for the warmdown factor.
My thought is that reverse bricks would enhance fitness but be less stress on the legs by being able to run on fresh legs.
you forgot swimming. There should definitely be an hour swim at the end of all that.
I’m going to assume first of all that you think there’s a benefit to a normal bike/run brick, and tell you that such is not the case. Running off the bike and running are the same activity (I stole that line from desert dude so you are better off to run when your legs aren’t all tired, you’ll get more of a training stimulus from it.
Because of that running before cycling is actually a smarter idea. My whole summer, running was always my first workout. When I went to training camp over Christmas break we always got up and ran first, and rode later.
Go for it!
You honestly think there is absolutely no benefit to doing bricks in your training?
Explain to me what you think the benefits of bricking are.
Explain to me what you think the benefits of bricking are.
How about simply answering my question before asking one.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1838856;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;
Is it really that hard just to answer a question?
tigerchick I just read the link you gave and now really want you to actually answer my question because if your answer is what I think it is then you must think that thread says something it doesn’t say.
tigerchick I just read the link you gave and now really want you to actually answer my question because if your answer is what I think it is then you must think that thread says something it doesn’t say.
please sum up thread in 2 sentences or less. I can’t read that much!
tigerchick I just read the link you gave and now really want you to actually answer my question because if your answer is what I think it is then you must think that thread says something it doesn’t say.
please sum up thread in 2 sentences or less. I can’t read that much!
To cherry pick two sentences that sum up the gist of it:
Brian: “We are trying to tell you that doing a ton of bricks, and using those to get faster instead of properly designing a program where you do faster running when you are fresh and can achieve higher velocities is stupid.”
BarryP: “Do them if you simply want to get used to the feeling, work on transitions, practice a little form, work on pace, save time, etc.”
Thus the argument is that if you want to add speed bricks don’t do it, but that bricks do have benefits to your training.
I believe so, yes. Though not the durations you mention. Ride after run allows you stay aerobic for a longer period of time without all the pounding on your legs.
Almost all of my long runs (1:30 +) are followed by a ride ( 45 mins to 1 hour). Soon I’ll do bike sandwiches (R-B-R) for the same reason.
Both are a staple of the ultra plan I’m using on opentri.com
For duathlons I have difficulty transitioning from the run to bike, and the one year I focused on duathlons I noticed a marked improvement in my biking after incorporating run/bike bricks into my training plan.
Oh that’s interesting (and thanks for summing it up.) I saw a video of olympians training recently where they did speed bricks by time (8 min max on bike followed by mile run, repeat 6 times.) I thought those were okay but I definitely agree that training fast is what makes you faster.
Oh that’s interesting (and thanks for summing it up.) I saw a video of olympians training recently where they did speed bricks by time (8 min max on bike followed by mile run, repeat 6 times.) I thought those were okay but I definitely agree that training fast is what makes you faster.
I used to do a workout similar to that and felt it was very beneficial. But that is just me.
Both are a staple of the ultra plan I’m using on opentri.com
Is that an Ultramarathon plan, Ultraman plan or just and Ultradistance plan ie Ironman distance?
I agree with Tigerchik and desertdude. I try to do run as first workout of the day, bike as second, swim as last. Not neccessarily all joined up together, but in that order over the course of a day. When it is cold in the spring, I’ll often start at 6:30 am with a one hour run and then my body is all warmed up before I venture into the cold for a 3 hour bike…and it defers the start time for the bike so in general, the temp is a bit warmer, which makes a huge diff around here. That’s usually my big Sunday workout when I am training in the spring for St. Croix and Wildflower!