When should I incorporate technique work during long term weight loss?
I have about 65 pounds to lose (5’2") and I am working on it, and it is slowly coming along and I am slowly getting fit, but right now, I am 65 pounds overweight and not very fit. 
I know that what I need to do is to get out there and swim and bike and run and that will do wonders for me. I am doing that. And watching what I eat. As I said, I am working on it but it is slow and it is not going to happen over night (wish it would!!)
I am wondering about technique. I don’t have much in the way of technique for any of the swim, bike or run. I think I am okay, but I think there are a lot of things I could do to improve my technique and I think working with someone would help me figure out what I need to improve and how to improve it.
When is a good time to incorporate technique work into workouts. Does it make any sense at all to work on technique when I am so overweight (65 pounds on a 5’2" woman is a lot!!). Will my technique change as I lose the weight and get more fit? Will that make the work I do on my technique now obsolete down the road? Does it make more sense to get fit first and then work on improving form? Should I start breaking things down now and start from scratch and do things right? Is it even possible to swim or bike or run with good technique when you have 65 or so pounds of fat enveloping your body?
Anyone have experience either from a personal point of view? Any coaches who teach proper technique for swim bike or run?
What makes the most sense?
I would say start working on technique as soon as you start. Its only going to make it easier, and less chance of injury.
When I started getting in shape again at the end of 2007 I needed to lose about 30 lbs, and I made sure that I was learning all sorts of drills in the pool. I found this to be a great help.
Take it slow and easy getting back into it. I use to be a runner and when I jumped back into it about 40 lbs heavier then my track days in HS I was shocked how much speed I lost, and how much harder it was to run. I tried to ramp up the miles too quick and I got injured. Hope that helps.
Technique is CRITICAL for swimming. Can you get swim lessons, or check with your local Y to see if a masters’ coach can help you?
With bike and run I think it is called “form” instead. Make sure you’re not overstriding when you run (that’s all I can offer there).
Training is great but body composition is 80% diet and 20% exercise (or something), so make sure with the exercise that you are focusing on nutrition to lose the weight.
I’m no pro by any means but the sooner you work on your technique, the sooner you’ll get faster, have more power, run, swim and bike easier and have more fun doing it! Seriously, there are some people that can get by on just powering through just about anything…I highly doubt you or 90% of all people (including me) are those people. From the beginning (meaning now) learn proper technique. Proper technique swimming will win you races and prevent a whole host of use-related injuries which will delay your training and thus delay your weight-loss. Concentrating on technique will also get your mind off of how long you’ve gone or how far, how fast etc. Don’t worry about any of that until you feel your technique is decent. And by that I mean until someone ELSE tells you it’s decent. IT may Feel good but usually there’s something wrong and you could be just asking for a shoulder injury or muscle pinch or tear.
Keep thinking slow…slowly do everything right now…slow slow slow. Repeat that. Keep your heart rate low for all your workouts. Your first thought for all your workouts (at this point) should be technique first, keep heart rate low second…everything else isn’t that important. Well, add to that consistency and you’ll be good. Don’t worry about intensity at all.
65lbs is a lot of weight to lose and you’ll need to go very slow to lose it safely. You’ll also probably not notice it coming off that much as the fat will be turning to muscle in some parts and your weight won’t change.
Always work on your technique, every time. Seek out as much information as you can on proper technique in each discipline. That will narrow it down a bit. But, there are always new theories that are coming out, don’t worry about them. There are already many proven things that work…start simple and move on up once you get the easy bits. Just like training, work on your technique in small pieces that are easily digestible. Don’t try to get it all at once. It’s something that you’ll always be working on and perfecting and micromanaging so don’t think you’ll just have an epiphany on what’s right and wrong.
Ok, enough of my babbling. Hope it helps
With swimming (so I hear), the sooner you work on proper technique, the less time and effort UNlearning bad technique will be required.
There really ain’t much technique to biking. Assuming your bike fits reasonably well, you ride, ride, and ride some more.
Running done well, comes down to not overstriding, which is mostly a function of proper cadence. Get a Finis Tempo Trainer, set it so it beeps at 88-92 beats per minute (this is for one leg, so you would count only L foot strikes or R foot strikes, not both), and match your run cadence to that (this may take time), and you’ll be good to go. This will feel like ridiculous pitty-patty baby steps at first, but you’ll get used to it.
Then get out there and get after it. Good luck!
Thanks Justin,
It will definitely be slow!! I started reading Matt Fitzgerald’s book “Racing Weight”. In the first few pages he says that a 160 pound runner uses 6.5% more energy than that same runner at 150 pounds.
Okay here is where my possibly flawed math sets in. 160lbs / 150 lbs = 6.67% difference for 6.5% more energy.
So my 60 lbs (making it easier for the math) is roughly 50% more weight. Which would work out to approx 50% more energy than my lighter self…
It sure feels like a lot more work!!! 
I don’t think I have any other choice than to accept being slower for the next little while!!!
Thanks Tigerchik,
I am starting with a masters group next month so I hope I can start to get a little feedback there. I am not terrible at swimming, but like you said technique is critical, so the little things mean a lot and I think I am missing a lot of little things in my swimming that I have never fixed and most people I have had look at me don’t seem to see them either.
80% diet? Really? I need to focus a lot more on the diet. Since I want to “do” something to fix this, I want to actively do something. Diet seems more passive in a way. I guess I have to adjust how I think about it. I know I need to think about fuelling well to give me the best opportunity to benefit from the workouts.
Thanks. I will work at adjusting.
Yup, training burns some calories but there’s the whole rest of the day.
ok, first off, I’m not an expert by any means. but, I am a fellow tri-newbie (my first triathlon was yesterday) and have been losing weight since xmas of 2009 (45lbs so far)
- learn as much technique as you can.
- for swimming, you won’t be able to go fast without it. I learned alot from garyhallsr’s video.
- for biking, you will most likely injure yourself without it. I’ve found (I am pretty new to bicycles) that rides are a good place to practice good form, but spin class is an even better place because you can focus on pedaling efficiently and smoothly without running into things and falling down for aerobars, you may not be able to get into a full tuck if you have a tummy (I know I couldn’t when I first started) so just keep after it and don’t worry.
- for running… well, let’s just say the heavier you are, the more important good form is. this is a lesson I learned the hard way: I weighed about 75# less in college and ran quite a bit with horrible technique (heel striking) but got away with it because I was so light. when I started running again I tried to run the same way and found out REAL QUICK that I needed to pay more attention to form.
- nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. tigerchik is absolutely correct that eating is more important than working out when it comes to weight loss. count your calories, both what you eat and what you burn during excersize. it will take some trial and error to find out how many you need a day, there is a variety of software, coaches, nutritionists, etc that can help you with this. I have had extremely good results with LoseIt! on my iPhone. don’t ever lose more than 2 pounds a week (average) or you’ll feel horrible, slow and steady is the way to win this particular race. I have found that my weight tends to fluctuate up and down quite a bit depending on activity, sleep, etc. and to take a rolling 10 day average more seriously than individual weigh-ins.
- above all, don’t give up. sometimes you will seem to not make progress, sometimes you will seem to be backtracking, sometimes you will despair of ever reaching your goals. keep after it. there was an entire month where I couldn’t lose weight at all, I was really frustrated and losing optimism, but sometimes that just the way it is. keep after it. you’ll get there.