Use the force… but what if you can’t?
*This is an old blog posted several years ago, but we’ve updated and re-posted as this topic has arisen recently with coached athletes. The key to using sports science testing to assess and to monitor progress, is to keep it simple, avoid the smoke and mirrors bullshit and pick out the important bits. The critical…
There’s more to training than MAX
As we head into spring training, most athletes are planning their schedules and hoping to reach summer in a strong position. This will be your year!! This will be the season it all comes together!! It’s common at this time of year for people to test themselves and establish a benchmark. About now, triathletes and…
Understanding Intensity & Output
Monitoring your training intensity and workload is an art form and we have lots of toys which can help us to achieve it successfully. A lot of runners have GPS devices and heart rate monitors, the cyclists amongst you may have a ‘power meter’ to measure your output in ‘watts’. So, what’s the best toy…
Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR)
The Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR) has been used for many years in sports science and endurance coaching, specifically for running. As usual, it tends to be over-complicated and over-scientific, but the basic principle is one of the most important things that you need to understand as an endurance athlete. ASR in simple terms is the…
If you can’t do the simple, how do you expect to do the complex?
A few thoughts this week, based on recent discussions and experiences related to social running. We’ve posted multiple times about the benefits of running easy (below aerobic threshold) rather than running too hard on longer sessions. There’s enough evidence now (thanks to mass data collection via online platforms) to demonstrate that those who complete the bulk…
There’s a perfect plan, then there’s a person who needs to do it…
Writing training plans and coaching are 2 separate things. Writing a plan is putting together a series of workouts, to best achieve a goal and coaching is working with people to enable them to do the plan, to the best of their abilities. In simple terms, you write plans and you coach people. If you…
It was just a training race, it wasn’t important…
‘It was just a training race, it wasn’t really important…’ How many times have I heard that phrase thrown about? Using races as ‘training’ or to ‘monitor progress’ can be really useful. Let’s face it, plenty of people are training because they want to be better in races, even if it’s just beating their previous…
Focus on the process, not the outcome…
If you’ve entered a major event this summer, I’m sure you’ve already started to think about what ‘time’ or ‘result’ is achievable. Maybe you’re running a marathon, an ultra event or taking part in an Ironman triathlon, but at some point, you’ve probably considered a finish time you would like to achieve, should everything go…
I’m having issues getting energy, what’s the solution?
Your stomach and gut works a little like a sieve. If you pour water into it, the water passes straight through without any problems. If you pour a milkshake into the same sieve, it will pass through, but will take a little more time and will slowly drip. If you throw solid food into a…
Aerobic training, it either works or it doesn’t…
There are many theories of how to best train for endurance sports. Some people prefer low intensity and greater volume, others prefer high intensity intervals and each has their own merits and arguments. What’s interesting about triathlon is the fact that we have 3 different endurance sports and people can take a completely different approach…