Unlike other sports like cycling, baseball, and track (at least the sprint events), triathlons, marathons, and swimming, for now, have escaped the taint of illicit, sports enhancing drugs. However, if we really look into these sports, illicit “drugs” run rampant. I doubt that any successful triathlete, distance runner, or swimmer has not taken some drug to boost their performance. Even Chrissie Wellington, who led the initiative to publish all drug tests, is guilty. I am of course not referring to the drugs that we see in the media such as EPO, steroids, über caffeine pills, beta blockers, and the like; I am talking about the much more potent, mind-altering “substances” that usually go unseen in sports.

Last year, I was looking for a boost in my training. My workouts had become flat; my body always seemed to be tired; I could not recover from workouts; and, my times had hit a plateau. With the race season approaching, I was desperate and needed change quickly, so I turned to drugs. Having come from a neuropsychology and chemistry background, I went into my basement, set up some stills, and began concocting some really powerful substances. I finally created the perfect cocktail of “pills:”

My first discovery, I called TripleZ, which is also known on the streets as 40 winks, the sandman, and shutter-I; chemically, it is called sleep, and would be classified as a depressant meaning that it lowers the heart rate. TripleZ is one of the best performance enhancing drugs out there. It allows the body to recover quickly from hard workouts, repairs muscles, keeps us motivated, alert, and focused. It does have some bad side effects though. Without it, we feel sluggish, irritable, inert, and clumsy.

Moreover, you have to be careful with this stuff since you can overdose, which can be almost as bad as taking too little. You have to try to limit yourself to 7.5-9 hours a night depending on your weight and activity level. Like other drugs though you have to make sure you get the highest quality. Many dealers will try to give you some cheap product that only lasts 20 minutes or 4 hours, which are quick fixes but will make you crash pretty quickly. Moreover, there are a lot of knockoffs like alcohol, power naps, Tylenol PM, Ambian, and Lunesta that swear it will take you to that same place. Unfortunately, they are not the same and will not give you the best “high.” To get the best, you really have to go into deep, dark underground of the “black” market where all lights, cell phones, email access, and cameras are banned. Many think that it is fairly expensive, but, in actuality, it is fairly cheap and definitely worth the investment.

Next, I experimented with hallucinogens and discovered a really potent mixture that I called PCP (chemically known as Pride, Competition, and Perception). Individually, these substances are pretty strong but when mixed together they get your body going! Pride gives you a feeling of success and “owning” your workouts, while competition motivates you to succeed. These two are pretty powerful stuff when taken alone, but can be really, really deadly if taken in excess. If you only take Pride and Competition then you will have illusions of grandeur and walk around with a swagger and your m-dot tattoo in full view. That is why I mixed it with a good healthy dose of perception to taper the effects of the other two. Without this last component, you truly go off on a “bad trip” also known as an “ego trip.” The purest form of perception helps keep you grounded, focused on the journey instead of just the result, mindful of both your strengths and weakness, but at the same time, realistic and eager for more. Since PCP is so dangerous when the proportions are off, I recommend my own patented formula with a 15:15:70 ratio of the three.

Lastly, I needed a stimulant—something that would really take my training and racing to the next level, so I began popping M&Ms (Memory and Motivation) like they were candy. Like PCP, these two must be taken together. Memory, if used alone, will leave you felling regretful or nostalgic so that you loose sight of the present. I discovered however, that when taken with Motivation, it could actually be used to your advantage. Chemically, Memories has a synergistic effect with Motivation. Memory provides the fuel that Motivation needs to make you aware of past successes and failures, while motivation makes you want to change them and improve—a very powerful combo.

These drugs are available all over, but choose your dealer carefully since there are a lot of sketchy suppliers out there. I find that the best and purest dealer is yourself. Fortunately, they do not come up on a urine test and are relatively cheap compared to steroids or blood doping.

These three maybe the gateway drug to your next PR.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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This past week, Chrissie Wellington, one of the greatest triathletes if not athletes of all time, announced
that she is taking a break from Ironman so that she can focus on other priorities in her life like her upcoming
book and her work with charities. While Wellington thankfully is by no means gone forever,
her “retirement” is a huge loss for the sport.

In my opinion, Wellington represented the true spirit of triathlons and a mindset that many athletes—both pro and age groupers alike—would be well to learn from.

For one, she always had a smile on her face. Whether she was being interviewed before a race, photographed during a race, or crossing the finish line (usually in first but regardless of place), she smiled. In one of my favorite ads for Brooks running shoes, she is shown training but always smiling; underneath these pictures, the ad reads “train happy.” This is an important message for athletes to receive and try to follow.

Even on the hardest of training days or the most draining of workouts, we should train happy and smile. Yes, the work is hard, but we are fortunate enough to be able to do it and thus, like Wellington, should smile. Even if we do not hit our splits or do not perform as well as we think we should have, there is much to be thankful for and to smile about like being injury free, having the time to be able to train, and living in an environment that allows us to train. So, when you feel like crud, be like Chrissie and just smile.

Wellington also embodied a selflessness that many ego centric, alpha personality, podium focused athletes lack. For one, she did not just focus on herself but rejoiced in the success of others. Two years ago, when she withdrew from the Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona because of illness, she nevertheless cheered on and rejoiced at the performances of Mirinda Carfrae and everyone else down to the last, just under 17-hour finisher. She acknowledged that Ironman is a tough event for everyone no matter what time you finish and therefore everyone should be commended.

A few years ago I “raced” against Wellington at the Columbia triathlon in Columbia, Maryland. When she finished in a respectable 5th place
overall, she did not go immediately to cool down or back to her trailer like some of the other elites but stuck around the finish line to present finishers with their medals including me (one of my best memories ever).

Moreover, she made sure that she thanked every single volunteer she met. Apparently, she did this at almost every race. This type of selflessness is important in sports and is often neglected. ALL athletes occasionally get too focused on themselves and on their own performances while neglecting the fact that this is a sport and should be enjoyed. Even if we do not perform well, others do and their victories should be celebrated even if it is just a high five or a pat on the ass. Furthermore, a lot of work goes into orchestrating a triathlon including
legions of volunteers, without whom racing would be impossible. Thanking them is the least we can and should do.

Underneath her smiling face and her thankful personality though was an unmatched grit, determination, and drive, qualities that truly set her apart from other athletes. In every single race, you could tell that she was giving all she had. This past year she competed at Kona having crashed on a bike ride just weeks before. Nevertheless, she stepped up to the starting line and raced—she also won. Many athletes would
have given up, gone back to their hotels, and sulked, but Wellington was able to put her accident behind her and race even though she knew she may not win. She challenged and raced against herself overcoming those mental demons.

While Wellington may have left the sport (hopefully not forever), I at least hope that her athletic and Ironman spirit lives on and triathletes continue to look to her as a model of the mentality that they should adopt during their own racing and training. I know I will.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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Compared to their running and cycling brethren, triathletes certainly tend to have slightly more muscular shoulders. But when you actually look at a triathlon junkie from the side view, you’ll see a rather unsightly phenomenon: a hunched back, slouched shoulders, and ugly curvature in the upper spine.

These slumping triathlon shoulders (which can turn into a permanent fixture on your body) come from a combination of spending long hours hunched over the saddle of a bike, working the internal shoulder rotators during swimming, while neglecting the external rotators in the weight room, and often a job spent sitting at a desk or computer.

So how can you get nice shoulders and still be fast at triathlon? Here’s what to do:

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #1: Stretch your chest muscles.

Tight chest muscles can come from sitting a desk for several hours with your hands on a keyboard, from riding a bike in the aero position, and from swimming. Once tight, and especially in the presence of weak external rotators, these muscles pull your forward into a slouch.

To stretch tight chest muscles, try a doorframe stretch, in which you reach for the top of a door frame, place your hands on it and lean forward as far as you can. If you can’t reach the top of a door frame, just place one hand over the other hand, and lean into a wall.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #2: Strengthen your external rotators.

Although the most popular exercise for “strengthening” the external rotators is to grab an elastic band and do dozens of repetitions of rotation for the shoulders, most of us don’t have time to stand around doing that. Bigger, multi-joint exercises like pull-ups and rows work far better, and have the added advantage of burning more calories and working your arm muscles.

I’ve personally installed a pull-up bar in the door of my office (it cost me about $25), and I try to do at least 25 pull-ups each day (usually one set of 5 whenever I walk under the bar). You can also include regular or assisted pull-ups as a weekly part of your gym routine. Also include lat pull-downs, seated rows, cable rows, and single arm dumbbell rows – focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades back and maintaining a tall, proud posture as you do each exercise.

How To Get Nice Shoulders Step #3: Work the core.

Blah, blah, blah, work the core. Sure, you’ve heard this before. But think about it this way: when you’re riding a bike, swimming, or sitting at your desk, there is one thing that has to happen before you begin to slouch: your core has to get tired first.
But if your core is strong, it takes a massive load off your shoulders, and allows you to maintain much better posture. I personally recommend planks as the best way to strengthen your core and shoulders at the same time.

Try this: get into a front plank position, hold for 3 deep breaths, then switch to a side plank position left side, hold for 3 more breaths, then side plank right side for 3 breaths, and finish by holding a full push-up position for 3 breaths. Do that entire sequence without your knees touching the ground. See how many rounds you can do before you core collapses. If you can get to 10 round (about 7-9 minutes of planking), you’ve got a solid core. Otherwise, do this routine once or twice per week until you can get to 10 rounds.

Now that you’ve learned the 3 easy steps to get nice shoulders, you can be one of those triathletes who swims fast, but also cuts an impressive figure, and doesn’t have that notorious slouch, especially when people look at you from the side.

If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to http://triswimcoach.com/ripped for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

References:

To get Tri-Ripped with the bonuses mentioned on this podcast, just visit http://triswimcoach.com/ripped

If you’re wanting to purchase after 1/11/12, make sure to email support@tri-ripped.com and include ‘triswimcoach’ in the subject line to get the bonuses.

The trailer video for Tri-Ripped:

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

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So if you read some of the earlier articles in this series, then you’ve learned some tips on how to get yourself in top shape, inside and out.

But can you keep that amazing body and still do endurance sports…like triathlon? After all, it’s pretty typical among the triathlon crowd to have tiny arms, a thin neck, a stick-like midsection, a weak body frame and even a “skinny-fat” look, with a little bit of weight in the belly and waist.

Let’s face it, folks – that ain’t sexy. Even though triathlon is the fastest growing sport on the planet, and races sell out thousands of slots in just a few minutes, it can still be a bit depressing when you realize that traditional triathlon training doesn’t really give you a nice body – and just makes you either really skinny or skinny-fat.

And the fear of having that emaciated, marathoner-like appearance is a legitimate concern if having a nice body is important to you. I know that it was a big concern for me when I got into the sport of triathlon – I didn’t want to watch in the mirror as my lean, hard muscle wasted away and I ended up looking like a skinny weakling.

But the truth is, when you train for triathlon, you don’t have to lose precious muscle, get extremely skinny, or become a scrawny endurance athlete. You can actually train for triathlon while still adding incredibly functional muscle and athleticism. You can swim, bike and run fast – and still have an amazing body.

Here’s how, in five easy steps:

1. Lift Right

There are two styles of weight lifting that most triathletes do: 1) high-repetition, low-resistance endurance style lifting, such as a circuit of 20 reps of several different exercises; 2) heavy, slow, football-style lifting, like deadlifts, squats or benchpress. In reality, there is a third style of lifting that is neglected among endurance athletes, but a long-kept tradition of the bodybuilding industry: “hypertrophy” style training: multiple sets of 8-12 repetitions.

With hypertrophy training, you can add and define lean muscle very quickly. But the problem is that it is very easy with this bodybuilder-style training to build non-functional muscle that actually slows you down when you’re competing in a sport such as triathlon.

The solution to this issue is to still do the hypertrophy-style training, but to avoid single-joint exercises like biceps curls, and instead to choose full body, functional exercises while scattering in just enough explosive and heavy weightlifting to keep your muscles extremely functional and fast.

2. Eat right

This may be a bit of a news flash for you, but fat doesn’t make you fat. Instead, fat – the healthy variety, like olives, almonds, walnuts, fish and avocados – is a hormonal precursor and gives your body the building blocks it needs to develop lean, hard muscle, as well as competitive drive, mental energy, libido, and every other advantage that comes from adequate hormones.

On the flip side, carbohydrates, especially the type that are really favored by endurance athletes, like bagels, sports drinks, and cereal, give you that soft, pudgy look in the mid-section, accompanied by a complete inability to build impressive, defined arms and legs.

So here’s what to do about this: if you’re trying to be fast at triathlon and also have an amazing body, you should eat a diet comprised of a high amount of healthy fats (40-50% fat), add in moderate helpings of natural protein to keep amino acids elevated for your muscles and brain, and top it off with strategically timed carbohydrate doses when they really matter, such as before or after your exercise sessions.

3. Train right

For years, sports scientists have know that short, hard and intense intervals give you just as much fitness and performance benefit as long, slow, aerobic exercise. But like a mouse on a wheel, it is tempting and even addictive for an endurance athlete to continue plugging away hours pounding the pavement, turning the pedals, or swimming back and forth.

Not only does this long, slow aerobic training completely nullify any attempts to add lean muscle or get a nice, defined body, but it also depletes hormones, causes overtraining syndrome, and takes away precious time from family, career and other hobbies.

Instead, for the triathlete who wants to avoid the skinny-fat look and get an amazing, muscular body, the training plan should incorporate strategically targeted high-intensity bursts of energy, a moderate amount of slightly longer “tempo” work, and finally, a low amount of long aerobic training – saving long rides, runs or swims for times when they are completely necessary and crucial to the program.

4. Supplement right

Inadequate hormones are a big issue for both men and women, and especially physically active men and women. “Andropause”, the decline or imbalance in male hormones and “Menopause”, the decline or imbalance in female hormones can begin to occur when you’re as young as 27 years old – and only gets worse as you age. Although hormonal deficits are the biggest problem among endurance athletes, there is also a prevalence of nutrition deficiencies, mineral loss, and very low fatty acid and amino acid levels – all of which keep you from both getting fast and having an amazing body.

These deficits and imbalances can occur because the body simply needs extra help if you’re lifting, swimming, cycling, running and cross-training on a regular basis. This level of activity is just more than the human body can naturally handle! The extra help comes in the form of completely legal sports nutrition supplementation like digestive enzymes, fish oil, vitamin D, greens supplements, magnesium and Chinese adaptogenic herbs. While there are countless supplement ads in magazines and on websites, you really only need a few of these key supplements to have your body ready to both go fast and maintain muscle.

And yes, if you are pushing your body beyond it’s natural tendencies, then even in a situation where your diet is perfect, supplementation is a must if you want to be fast and also have an amazing body.

5. Live right

There are little hacks or tweaks you can make to your lifestyle to simplify this whole process of performing fantastic and looking good.

For example, you can sleep more deeply by using magnesium, melatonin and keeping your bedroom completely dark. You can de-stress at the beginning of the day with a very simple 5-10 minute yoga routine. You can keep bouncing back from your workouts day-after-day by using a ice, compression and foam roller. You can detoxify your body by making sure you aren’t using body-damaging chemicals to clean your house or cook your food.

These are just a few of the little lifestyle tweaks that you can make, but they’re incredibly important if you want to add muscle and athleticism while getting the body of your dreams and still being fast for triathlon.

If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body that looks good, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to tri-ripped.com for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

The t-shirt became popularized by sailors and Marines, and eventually found it’s way into pop culture during the 1950’s.

But it originally evolved from 19th century underwear.

So if you’re going to be walking around wearing your underwear, then you’d better know how to look good in a t-shirt. Using the five steps in this article, you’re guaranteed to look good in a t-shirt, cut an impressive figure and wear your wardrobe with confidence.

Step 1: Remember Your Back

Back when I was a bodybuilder, it was tempting to simply pay attention the front of the body: the shoulders, the chest, the abs, and the front of the arms. But I quickly learned that to look good, you also need to pay attention to your backside.

When you’re wearing a t-shirt, the most important part of your back to target is the part that makes those sleeves look good: the back of your arms (your triceps). Three of my favorite exercises for the back of your arms, which you can include each week, are:

1) Narrow Grip Pushups: Do a pushup in the regular or knee push-up position, but keep your hands closer together and make sure your elbows brush your ribcage as you lower yourself down and push yourself back up.

2) Tricep Pushdowns: At most gyms, you’ll find a cable apparatus with a rope or bar attached to it. This is perfect for triceps pushdowns, in which you start with your arms bent at 90 degrees and then extend them until they’re completely straight.

3) Dips: Begin by holding onto two bars and suspending your body in the air. You then lower yourself as far as you can–or until your elbows are at about 90 degrees–then push yourself back up.

Step 2: Work On Your “V”

Even if your chest, shoulders and arms are t-shirt ready, you simply won’t look good in a t-shirt if you are sporting muffin tops or a beer belly, or aren’t working your full spectrum of stomach muscles.

If you really want a tighter tummy, you need to incorporate exercises that create a belt of muscle around your entire mid-section. This belt serves to draw in the waist, keep the stomach flat, and keep your abs looking good in a t-shirt.

To work on all the stomach muscles, you need to include the following four movements:

1) Abdominal flexion, which will tighten the “rectus abdomonis”, or sheet of muscle tissue that is directly on the front of your stomach.

2) Rotation, which will work the internal and external oblique muscles that are on the sides of your stomach

3) Waist extension, which will incorporate the low back muscles to improve posture and allow you to keep your stomach sucked in

4) A planking exercise, which will allow you to tone each of the muscles listed above in one all-encompassing exercise.

Try to put together exercises from each category as a circuit, which you repeat 3-4x through with minimal rest.

Step 3: Target Your Traps

It can be unflattering if you have a skinny neck that sticks up out of your t-shirt, even if the rest of your body looks good. If you have a skinny neck, the trick is not to work the neck muscles, but rather to target your trapezius, or “traps” – since working these muscles will naturally give you a more muscular and defined neck.

The traps are primarily responsible for “shrugging the shoulders”, so you’ll want to include exercises such as dumbbell shoulder shrugs, dumbbell or barbell deadlifts, farmer’s walks, or walking lunges.

When you perform these exercises, make sure that you are allowing your shoulders to drop, but instead imagine the tops of your shoulders touching the bottom of your ear lobes, which will help you to keep your traps contracted.

Step 4: Squeeze Your Shoulders

If your shoulders are slouched or slumped forward, you might look just fine from the front, but a side shot of you in your t-shirt may look more like a hunchback. If you sit at your computer for long periods of time, ride a bicycle in a hunched over position, swim frequently, or have a combination of tight chest muscles and weak shoulder muscles, then you probably do have at least a slight upper back hump.

To address this issue, you need to include exercises that make you squeeze your shoulders back, such as seated rows, standing rows, pull-ups, pull-downs, and super-slow pushups (drop down for a 1-2-3 count, then push-up for a 1-2-3 count).

When you perform these exercises focus on keeping the shoulder blades aligned and the shoulder blade muscles contracted, the abs tight and “sucked in”, and the back straight. You can also improve posture by breathing in as you do the weight lifting portion of the exercise and then breathing out as you return the weight to the starting position.

Step 5: Get The Right T-Shirt

The final key to looking good in a t-shirt is to choose a style of shirt that actually looks good on you. Most people wear t-shirts that are either too large, or made of material such as polyester, a cotton/polyester blend, or synthetic nylon, which usually doesn’t hug the body in a way that brings out the figure you’re working so hard to develop.

First, you need to look for the word “fitted” or “muscle-fit” when you get your t-shirt. This is the best indication that it will form-fit your body in a way that flatters you. Even if the shirt is made of a cotton-polyester blend, this will still ensure that it fits you well.

If you can’t find a fit like that, at least try to choose a shirt that is a high quality cotton, such as 100% combed ringspun cotton or knitted fine cotton. This type of material is less likely to have a “pleated” appearance and more likely to form-fit your body.

That’s it!

Remember your back, work on your V, target your traps, squeeze your shoulders and choose the right shirt, and you’re guaranteed to look good in a t-shirt!

If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body that looks good, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to www.tri-ripped.com for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

We are officially one week into 2012! Congratulations! Have you all been “good” and stuck to your
resolutions?

If you are like the people who showed up at my gym on January 1st to clog up all the exercise
machines, dally around the pool, and chit chat in the weight room and whom I have yet to see since, you might
be getting off to a slow start.

Fear not!

In today’s blog, I am going to give you my 20.12 tips to help you get back on track and/or stick to those goals that you so fervently wanted to keep for the past week.

1) If you have already fallen off get back on: There are 365 days in a year (366 days since it is a leap
year). So you have plenty of time to get back on track to achieve your goals for the year. Just because
you had one slice of cake (or half a cake) does not mean that your resolution is a complete failure.
Realize your error, realize why it happened, and then make the necessary changes to prevent it for
happening again.

2) Reevaluate: Now that you have experienced a whole week of trying to change and all the difficulties
that arise when you start the process of long lasting change, you may realize that your goal was a
bit too lofty. While a goal should come with a good amount of challenge, make sure that it is still
achievable. If your goal was to qualify for 200 IM at this summer’s 2012 in London (I fantasized about
it) , but have not swum in over 3 months, you may have to scale down your short term ambitions.
Olympics 2016 is a different matter…

3) Write it down or, if you have already done so, reread it: Keep your goals fresh in your mind and
reread them often. This will help you make your goal a priority and remind what you specifically need
to do.

4) Remind yourself why you are doing it! Whether is be for your kids, because your Doctor told you so,
or because you want a healthier, faster, stronger you, knowing why you made your goals will refresh
your motivation especially during those hard days and workout sets.

5) Start small- It is only the beginning of the year, so keep in mind that success usually does not happen
over night but requires time, patience, vigilance, and diligence.

6) Surround yourself with positives: To keep your goal fresh in your mind and thus lessen your
likelihood of slipping surround yourself with reminders and positive affirmations. Whether it be a
computer desktop background with a motivational quote or picture, sticky notes on the fridge, or a
daily email, refresh your motivation daily. I personally have a picture of Craig Alexander winning
Kona on my computer in addition to daily motivational quotes from our own TSC, Kevin’s twitter
feed.

7) Enlist support: We cannot do everything on our own, so surround yourself with people and
communities like family, online forums, clubs, teams, and coaches, whom you know will support you
in your efforts and hold you accountable, giving you positive yet honest feed back
8) Focus on yourself: Your neighbor and you may have the same goal but focus on the achievements
that you have made. If he loses 5 lbs while you have only lost one, your own accomplishment is just
as important as his. Rejoice in your own small victories and forget if others are progressing at a faster
pace.

9) Rejoice in victories: Each small gain is important so do not belittle them as they come.

10) Look to the past: Is this a goal that you have made and failed at before? If so, look to your past
attempts and learn from them. Your past holds an abundance of information that can be revealing as to
why you did not succeed. Once you have found those reasons, work to change them.

11) Figure out your limiters: What is preventing your from accomplishing your goal? Is it that last 5lbs
that are preventing you from hitting a personal best? Or maybe it is your flexibility? Pinpoint what is
preventing you from being your best and then…

12) Make a plan: Make a plan about how you are going to overcome it and then…

13) Work it, baby!: Once you know your weaknesses and have a plan. you can work to fix them; trust me,
they will not go away on their own. Spend some extra time working on them each day or workout and
eventually they will not be your weakness but your strength.

14) Set a baseline: To figure out where you want to go, you have to figure out where you are now. If you
want to lose weight for example, step on the scale, take a picture, or figure out your waist size. If you
are trying to get faster in the pool, do a time trial to figure out your current speed. However, make sure
that you accept your starting point. Rejecting your current status will only set yourself for failure.

15) Record it, track it, measure it!: “What cannot be measured, cannot be improved.” Whether
daily, weekly, or monthly, make sure you track yourself. Keeping a record of your gains (and, yes,
occasional failures) will help you see in what direction you are going and make the appropriate
changes. If your goal is to swim 1600m in under 20 minutes, log your workouts on an online workout
log like TrainingPeaks, which can also be used to track weight, calorie intake blood pressure—
pretty much whatever you want to track you can. If you want to lose weight, track your weight either
daily or weekly. Studies show that people who weigh themselves at least once a week (no need to be
completely obsessive) to keep themselves accountable.

16) Realize that there are going to be bumps in the road: Not all progress is smooth and there will
be set backs. You may gain back a pound or have a workout where you get slower, but do not beat
yourself up. Accept it and move on.

17) Invest in your goal: Studies show that if you spend a little money on your goal like a gym
membership, a master’s swim class, or a new scale, you are more likely to succeed in your goals
because you are now financially invested in it.

18) Make small changes everyday: Change does not happen unless you, yourself, change, so make an
effort to change at least one thing everyday. When you (re)read or remind yourself of your goal in the
morning, figure out what you are going to change that day. It might be as small as doing 2 extra laps in
the pool, not having that diet soda, or cutting out desserts.

19) Make it a habit: Once you have made that small change, you know you can repeat it, so make it a
habit. If you want to make your goal like not smoking, eating healthier, or getting faster in the pool
permanent, you have to ingrain those actions in your mind and repeat them over and over and (third
time is a charm) over again.

20) Think small plan big: Instead of focusing on the large, overall goal, which can be overwhelming
and discouraging, focus on those smaller, micro goals that will get you there like that next pound or
clothing size, 2 seconds faster per lap, or the next race in the lead up to the final, “A” race.
.21) Get in the pool and do a 200 :O] Now that you have set your goal, here is that extra .12 that will get
you through the year: hop in the pool or get on the track and sprint 200m (.12 of a mile). It will clear
your mind and make you feel that you can conquer whatever goal you set even qualifying for the 2016
Olympics.

Good luck with those goals!

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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My friend Ben Greenfield is working on a system to help triathletes gain muscle the right way, which will help them to get “ripped”, without being bulky, get rid of the “skinny-fat” syndrome that plagues many of us, and even to slim down with the right weight training and diet. Here is an article he wrote on getting a flat stomach. Towards the end, he mentions the diet aspects to this, and I say this can’t be emphasized enough. You could have the perfect workout, but if you are still eating the wrong foods, you will never see those muscles shine through!

How to Get A Flat Stomach
by Ben Greenfield

Whether it’s a sign of health, beauty, virility, or movie star status, a flat stomach is something that many people all over the world crave. This is because a flat stomach is so hard to get, it can indicate full-body power or virility, and it is essential to powerful performance. In this article, you’ll learn how to get a flat stomach safely, effectively, and with zero liposuction involved.

How To Get A Flat Stomach

Despite what many folks appear to believe, six-pack abs are not six soda-can shaped muscles that sit under the skin of your stomach, somehow magically filling and emptying as you become more or less fit.

Instead, your stomach muscles are made up of four basic groups that, like most muscles, appear to be named by ancient Latin monks:

1) The rectus abdominis: The rectus abdominis is one big sheet of muscle tissue that runs from your breastbone down to your pelvis.

2) The external obliques: The external obliques run from your ribs to your hips in a forward direction.

3) The internal obliques: Theinternal obliques run from your ribs to your hips in a backwards direction

4) The transverses abdominis: The transverses abdominis is located deep in your abs, underneath the obliques.

The key to better abs, which most people neglect when trying to get a flat stomach, is a training program that targets each of these muscles, and not just one of them. You simply can’t train just one single muscle group of the stomach in isolation and expect for your abs to look fit, trim, toned, ripped or flat. Instead, you need to train all the stomach muscles in a functional, multi-muscle manner.

This is same reason why people who want nice arms can’t just do bicep curls, but also need to do pull-ups and deadlifts, and why people who want a better butt can’t just do lying hamstring curls, but also need to exercises do squats and lunges. The body responds best when we train entire muscle groups that surround our “trouble spot,” and not just the isolated trouble spot. So people who want a flat stomach can’t only do crunches.

So if this type of multi-muscle training is a goal, what would a flat stomach workout look like?

Flat Stomach Exercises

You should work your stomach muscles every 2-3 days, including abdominal exercise as part of a scheduled cardio workout or weight training workout. For your flat stomach training, you should include one exercise for each of the abdominal muscle groups, and also one exercise for your lower back. Here is a guide to choosing the proper exercises:

-Rectus abdominis: For your rectus abdominis, exercise choices include flexing motions of the spine, such as crunches and crunch variations, V-ups, sit-ups and sit-up variations, hanging leg raises, or knee-ups. Front planks are also quite good for this muscle group.

-External and internal obliques: Twisting and rotating motions are good exercises because they work both the external and internal oblique muscles. That is because if you rotate to your left, your left external oblique and your right internal oblique are doing the work, and vice versa. Twisting motions include Russian Twists, Cable Torso Twists, and the WoodChopper.

-Transverses abdominis: The transverses abdominis is an interesting muscle group, because it doesn’t really move you through a range of motion as much as support the stomach and the gut. So when you suck in your stomach, that’s the transverses abdominis muscles working. Although you can work this muscle group anywhere, such as sucking in your stomach while you’re driving in your car, sitting on an airplane, or standing in line at the grocery store, you can also make it work pretty hard with an exercise like front planks.

-Low back muscles: Finally, the low back muscles can be worked with a simple contraption at the gym that allows you to do low back extensions or, if you’re not at a gym, you can do back extensions on a stability ball, or from the floor by lying on your stomach and lifting all four limbs off the ground.

So during a typical flat stomach workout, you would include several sets of a flexing exercise, a twisting exercise, a planking exercise and an extending exercise.

Get Rid of Stomach Fat

No matter how well you’ve developed your stomach muscles, you need to get rid of layers of stomach fat that can cover up your abs. Here are three tips to get rid of that last little bit of flab around your waistline:

1) Be sure you’re using a well-rounded workout routine, which includes what I call the “3 Pillars of Exercise”:

Pillar 1: Weight Training

Pillar 2: High-Intensity Cardio Intervals

Pillar 3: Aerobic Fat-Burning Sessions

Weight training alone or cardio alone is often not enough to erase that last bit of storage fat, so use of the modes above in your training routine.

2) Control stress and get adequate sleep. Often, bloating and inflammation are a primary cause of a puffy stomach, or a little extra padding on the waistline. Use stress-reduction techniques, and try to sleep 7 to 8 hours each night whenever possible.

3) Eliminate or significantly moderate the big three belly fat triggers: high-sugar, starchy foods (yes, that includes wheat); processed, packaged foods; and alcohol. I’ve witnessed these simple changes produce visible stomach fat reduction in just 2 to 4 weeks.

Using the tips in this article, you can get the perfect musculature for a flat stomach, develop a functional core that gives you powerful physical performance, and lose belly fat.

If you want to learn more about how to swim, bike and run lightning fast, but also have a nice body, (and get access to the other 6 articles in this series) then head over to www.tri-ripped.com for a brand new approach to training for the ultimate triathlon body.

“He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool. ~F.M. Knowles”

I am going to be honest, I hate New Years. It is one of the more annoying holidays, ranking between
Valentine’s day and national “Talk like a Pirate Day.” To me, New Years is extremely overrated and that is
partially why I do not celebrate it. My plans this year include doing a local, 4-mile road race (finish the year
with PR), make myself some dinner (I may have an extra, celebratory cocktail), snuggle up in bed with a good
book, and then fall asleep at my usual hour maybe a bit earlier because I have a morning workout. I know
what you are saying “How boring! Where is your holiday and New Year’s spirit?”

Yes, it is exciting and inspiring at New Years to feel like we are getting a clean slate. We like the
feeling that we can start over. At the stroke of midnight, our old selves with all our failures, vain attempts,
and tries, magically become buried in the past, and our new—the sexier, faster, leaner, and healthier—selves
suddenly become achievable.

I hate to break it to you though: there is nothing special or magical about New
Years; it is just like every other day with all the trials and tribulations. The obstacles that prevented you from
quitting smoking or losing weight are still going to be there in 2012 just like they were in 2011. All is not lost
however! Moreover, this is really good news. Although New Years may be just an ordinary day, this means
that the magical power to bury the past and start anew is present everyday of the year. We do not have to set
resolutions only on New Years but we can make them everyday.

Many people who fail in their resolutions to “stop smoking,” “lose weight,” or “eat better” do not realize this crucial fact. Ironically, they also fail because they make these resolutions.

Resolutions, as we know them, are inherently flawed: they are vague, unplanned, immeasurable, and
things that we do not truly want to do. That is why I do not make them this time of year either. Instead I set
goals, which are fundamentally different since they are 1) a challenge 2) has a set date 3) is measurable 4)
come with a plan 5) and most importantly is something that you want. Let me give you an example:

1. My resolution goal for 2012 is not only to qualify for Kona but to place in the top 10 in my age
group. Yes, that is a lofty goal but a good goal needs to be somewhat of a challenge. Without a
challenge, you would already be doing it. Make sure though that it your goal is not completely
out of reach. How can you tell difference? Look at your past, what others recommend, and
what others have done. For my goal, my past results and times are pretty competitive, so yes I
feel that I have the potential and the ability. My coach also recommended that this would be a
pretty good goal to have and one that she thinks would be healthy, achievable and one that we
can work towards. Moreover, others have achieved similar goals, so I believe that I can too. So
far, my goal seems like a good one.

2. Does it this have a set completion date? You bet: October 13th, 2012, a date that I have
ingrained in my mind, written down on my bulletin board and have a countdown clock going
on my iPod. With a date, you know how much time you have to get there and feel “pressured”
to remain in pursuit.

3. Is it measurable? Overall, no, but each individual component that I need to get me
there is measurable. Thus, when your goal is something semi-vague like mine or like “I want
to lose weight,” you need to break it down into measurable parts. In my example, To qualify,
I have set smaller goals that will help get me to Kona: swim an average pace of 1:20 100/yard,
bike an average pace of 23-22mph, and still have enough energy to hold a 6:45 marathon pace.
Each of those micro goals are measurable, which leads me to the next part of goal setting,
planning.

4. Unlike resolutions, which you just come out and say that you want to do something, when you
set goals, you make plans to follow up on them. For my goal, I am working with my coach on
a detailed (when it comes to goals, the more detailed the better) workout, nutrition, and race
schedule to get me there. Now that I have a plan I know exactly how to get to Kona and the
benchmarks I have to hit along the way.

5. My goal is looking pretty good but is it something that I want and can get excited about?
Hell Yeah! I say that this point is the most important part of goal setting because if you are
not motivated to achieve it, then you are setting your set up for failure. Most resolutions fail
because people do not want to attain them; they do not want change. The point of goals is
feeling the want and need for change and acting upon those urges.

So what are your goals? Spend some time now to think about what you would like to change, then start
making a plan. Once you have everything all set, written down, planned, and you are excited, go out and tell
the world! By telling others, you feel like you will have some accountability. People are going to want to
know how your goal is going. Remember though, if you fall off your plan to get that goal, all is not lost, every
day is a “New Years;” you only fail when you give up hope and resolve that change will never occur. Have a
good New Year!

Note from Kevin: Try chunking down goals. Instead of 1 year goals, think of adopting a new habit for 30 days. After that, it will likely become a lifetime habit! Over the course of a year, you could develop 12 new habits and really change your life. Happy swimming!
Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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To reach more people and teach them about swimming & internet business.
To travel to South East Asia in the spring.
To climb Mt Whitney in the early summer.
To get back into what I consider “swimming shape”- and do a couple of open water races.
To continue to learn & grow.
To move past hurdles that have held me back in the past.
To continue to increase my level of happiness.

What are some of your plans and ideas for the coming year?

What I see as missing are two things:
1. Structured workouts
2. Dryland training

Let’s focus on the first one today, structured workouts. What are you missing?

If you are training on your own, you are most likely just swimming laps, or maybe adding a few sprints or some basic interval training. But, do you know for sure that any of that is helping your swim? It could all just be spinning wheels, so to speak.

First, make sure you are doing drills. I have a ton of drills in my products, and throughout triswimcoachonline.com. Start with the basics and get your balance in order. Don’t worry about overdoing drills, most people don’t do enough, so spending a little extra time improving your stroke will usually pay off.

Second, be sure to do some interval training. This will improve your endurance and get you going a little faster when you have to make intervals. But don’t overdo it here. This is just part of your swim workout, and it’s not everything. Some days, it may be better to give yourself rest intervals (i.e. 10×100′s with :30 rest in between) and do some lengths at 90 or 100% (i.e. last 25 at 90%).

Third, don’t forget to have fun! Do what you can to make your swim workouts enjoyable, rather than just grinding out yards. Doing a lot of distance swimming won’t help you if you are doing it mindlessly and because you think you “should” be doing it. Ideas for fun: do strokes besides freestyle. Kick with a board and chat with your friends. Put on some fins and do some underwater kicking. Do some “deck ups”. Drink a beer after every 500 yards you complete. (Joking! Although, that would make things interesting. ;) ).

Next time, we’ll get into some dryland workouts that can not only make things fun, but can take your swim to the next level- and allow you to cut down on endless laps.

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According to the news this morning, 91 million Americans are going to be traveling fifty miles or more this holiday season.

While the holidays can be a time when our work schedules settle down leaving more time for training and family, travel can not only eliminate this extra time but complicates our training and fitness schedules. In addition to taking us out of our normal routines, it puts us in “toxic” environments void of pools, bikes, tracks, and healthy food, and instead (since nature abhors a vacuum) filled with extra stress, calories, and (sometimes) laziness. We could throw in the towel and resign ourselves to taking two to three weeks off until life gets back to normal after New Years or we could rise above it all and maintain not only our fitness but our waist
lines, health, and happiness.

Here are a few tips that hopefully can get you through the holidays:

Use what you have: Theodore Roosevelt famously said: “Do what you can with what you have, where you are.” Chances are you most likely are not going to be able to get to a pool, use your bike trainer or run on a track while going to visit the in-laws or taking that week with your parents. However, look around you and use the resources available to you. You may be lucky enough to be near an aquatic center or gym where you can buy a day or week pass.

Some hotels even have partnerships with local gyms so that you can use the gym’s facilities during your stay. Hotel gyms are usually poorly equipped but make a point of calling ahead of time to find out what they have so that you can plan accordingly.
I myself have been away at a conference in Texas this past week, which was nice but threw a serious wrench into my training plans. Not only did I not have access to my normal training gizmos like my bike trainer, but I was also without a lap pool. Instead, I had to get by with a recumbent bike and a “lazy river” (one of those winding streams that normally people float down in an inner tube while working on their tans or drinking large margaritas.

This set up was far from perfect but I was able to turn it to my advantage. Since no one was in the lazy river early in the morning, I got in and got some quality “open water swim practice” by swimming against the current and working on drills like corkscrew and catch up in addition to a few kicking drills. Moreover, there was a wade in rive entrance similar to a beach, meaning I could practice my open water exits and mass beach starts (Yes, I looked dorky splashing in and out but oh well).

Be proactive instead of retroactive: Make sure you plan ahead if you know that you are going to be deprived of your normal resources. Pack bands if you there is no pool so that you can at least go through the motions of swimming and get a bit of high quality strength training in. You can also move your workouts around for the week so that you do the harder swims and/or rides before and after your trip, leaving the easier recovery miles and laps for your time away when you are supposed to be relaxing.

Planning ahead and being proactive is especially important when it comes to food and nutrition. Airports, like malls, are diet minefields. Instead of blowing large amount of cash on overpriced, nutritionally void, and prepackaged food at the airport, make sure you pack your own high quality foods like trail mixes, fresh fruit, and hard boiled eggs (they keep fairly well without refrigeration at least for a day). Also, pack a water bottle which you can fill up after you get through security.

To avoid the over priced, over sugared, and over caffeinated beverages at Starbucks, try packing your own tea bags or instant coffee then asking for a cup of hot water.

Eating can be even more of a concern, when you get to your destination. Staying with family, who may push the holiday treats upon you, can be problematic. You may feel bad or guilty by turning them down. (Who could pass on one of Grandma’s homemade, secret recipe cookies that she slaved over for hours? It would break her heart!) However, just explain to them that you are trying to lose or maintain your weight and/or fitness; if they really love you, then they should understand and let you be. If it becomes too big of
an issue, try changing the subject or even the environment by suggesting going for a walk to see the holiday lights or doing some other healthy activity away from the kitchen. (I will talk more about how to deal with the family next week).

Use the juice, the creative juice that is! There are unlimited possibilities to training on the road; you just have to be creative. Whether it is using gallon jugs for dumbbells, the emergency stair well at your hotel to do stair sprints, the kid’s pool and a really stiff resistance band (that got me some really weird looks) for intervals, you just have to shelve your pride, realize that training is important to you, and do it. Most of the time, what you come up with is a lot of fun.

Lastly, when all else fails, remember something is better than nothing. If you are in an absolute training wasteland, you can still get in some good abs circuits, body weight exercise (push ups, squats, lunges, etc), stretches, yoga, and visualization time. Try not to stress about it though. Training is supposed to be fun and not a stresser especially on vacation. The last thing you need this holiday season is to be called a Grinch.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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Rivers- The center of the river moves the fastest. Watch for eddies near the shore. Back eddies will flow the opposite direction of the river, and the water is moving backwards.

Lakes- Can also have a current flow. Wind will affect movement. Keep in mind that the fresh water will feel slightly colder than ocean salt water at the same temperature. A 60 degree lake may feel more like 55 feels in the ocean.

Oceans- Tides, currents, and winds all affect an ocean swim. Learn to read tide charts and practice swims in the waves. Marine life is also out there. Even though everybody’s biggest fear is sharks, rarely is there an attack on a swimmer. In fact, to my knowledge there has never been a shark attack on a swimmer during any major open water competition or triathlon. Swimming in groups scares the sharks away. Jellyfish can be near the surface on sunny days. They are purple and white in color and their stings will leave a welt. In the 70′s, jellyfish were commonplace, but their population has declined more recently. The best way to deal with them is to adjust your stroke and avoid if you spot one.

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Getting me gifts is very easy but at the same time extremely challenging. Whenever someone asks me, “What
would you like me to get you?” I usually, if not always, reply anything triathlon related. However, since my
family are not triathletes nor are they familiar with the latest triathlon buzz, my reply leaves them even more
perplexed as to what to get me than they were before. If your spouse or family are usually left in the same fix,
I have made it easy for them and complied a list of ideas for them to really stuff your stalking.

Top Gear Pick:

There are numerous options when it comes to triathlon gear. However, I recommend the Garmin 310XT as
the most valuable training tool out there. This is a triathlete’s dream device with more functions than a Swiss
army knife. It goes well beyond the basic functions of overall time, mile splits, pace, and heart rate that most
fitness watches have. This Garmin can wirelessly link up with your bike’s powermeter and cadence monitor
and to a foot pod through ANT+ to give you valuable feed back as you train. You can easily switch from
running, to biking, and now, unlike earlier models, your swim since the watch is waterproof. While the GPS
will not work well in indoor pools or lap swimming, it accurately tracks your open water swims; nevertheless,
I still use it in the pool to track lap times. Outside, the GPS is very accurate and I have had only a few times
where the GPS did not receive reception within a few minutes. One of my favorite features is the ability to
create a workout in Garmin’s Training Center (available free and works for PC and Mac) and then download it
onto the watch. Compared to other GPS watches like Timex and Suunto, I find the Garmin more user friendly,
more reliable, and more compatible for triathletes’ training.

Top Online stores:

While a gift certificate may not be the most glamorous of gifts, it does allow the receiver the flexibility to
chose his/her gift when they want. I personally like the prices and customer service at swimoutlet.com. They
have a vast catalogue of swim specific options at bargain prices. Nashbar.com, although primarily a cycling
store, still has great deals on triathlon bike gear. Roadrunnersports.com while this is a great store for just
runners with a good variety of clothing, shoes, and running gear, they have a section on their website that
focuses just on triathlon with good prices and a decent variety. To do all your triathlon shopping in one place,
I also like nytro.com, who have great deals on not only swimming gear but also your bike, run, and the fourth
leg of triathlon, nutrition.

Top Charities:

It is the season of giving so why not give to these triathlon related charities:
1) The Challenged Athlete Foundation- The CAF helps physically challenged athletes achieve their
athletic goals.
2) Team in Training- Raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma foundation while providing
coaching for athletes training for centuries, triathlons and marathons. Bonus gift idea: Find someone
whom you know is doing a race for TNT and donate to his/her endeavors as a gift.
3) Tri and Give a Dam- James Laurence started this charity back in 2010 to originally help the Kenyan
government build over 1000 water retention systems for the Kenyan people all the while hoping
to break the World record by racing 22 70.3 races in 30 weeks. Now he is aiming at doing 30 full
Ironman events and has expanded his aims to also provide famine relief too. A little crazy? Yes. A
great charity? For sure.

I hope this simplifies your shopping a bit so that you can spend less time at the mall and more time in the
pool!

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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I hope you all have awakened from the Thanksgiving food coma, survived the Black Friday stampedes, and are now ready to start getting serious about training again.

Over the past week, you may have understandably eaten a bit too much (I definitely did this one), skipped a few workouts, and become “lazy” in your training, but that does not mean you should give up completely and leave your speedo on the hook.

The most important thing now is to get back in the water, hop on the bike, and re-lace those running shoes.
However, before you dive back in the go straight into heavy training by cranking out intense sets of 100s,
for now, I actually want you to slow down. Yes, you read correctly, I want you to slow down so that you
can focus on the last part of your “core,” core training. When I refer to core training, I am talking about the
foundation of your training as we build your strength and endurance leading up to your “A” race(s) in the
late spring and summer.

When it comes to swimming, this core is comprised of two equally important and dependent parts: drills and comfort in the water. Regardless of whether you have been swimming for one season or several, returning to these two components at the beginning of the season is essential. Without doing so and rushing straight into speed work, you will lose this valuable opportunity to become more efficient with your stroke and thus become faster later on when it really matters during your racing season. Unfortunately building your swimming core requires a lot of time, patience, and humility. Doing drills in the water does make you slow down, look slightly silly, and may not be as glamorous as cranking out 100’s on 1:20, but doing them and doing them correctly will make you a better swimmer so that you can those 100’s at a 1:10 base (eventually)! The important thing to remember is to perform them with complete concentration and focus on form.

Practice does not make perfect doing drills; rather, perfect practice makes perfect. Consistency is also key. I do drills every time I hop in the pool and do at least 500-1000 yards of them. On recovery days, I sometimes even dedicate whole practices to them. Even if you have only 10, 15, or 30 minutes free to workout, getting in the water to do drills is well worth it. Here are my top five favorite drills that I do almost every workout:

1. Finger tip drag
2. Fist
3. Side to side
4. Swim Golf
5. Tarzan

The second component of core training, comfort in the water, requires just as much patience, time, and commitment as doing drills, but it is much simpler to practice. All you have to do is dive in. Just by spending more time in the water, doing laps and drills, you will automatically become more comfortable with the feel of the water; your muscles will remember proper positioning as your brain “programs” itself with what to do and how to swim. However, this makes drills even more essential because if you program your stroke incorrectly, then you will have to go back, break the improper form and habits that you have practiced, and then reprogram it again.

Getting in once or twice a week may be enough to sustain and maintain gains but is not enough to develop a true feel. For beginners, I advise at least four times a week even for just 15 minutes or 500 yards but getting in as much as you can even if its just for a short time will optimize your chances of becoming a better swimmer. Just like when you were first learning to ride a bike, you may have felt wobbly, ungainly, and uncomfortable, but the more time you rode the better you got and the more enjoyable it was. The same goes
for swimming. Moreover, more time in the water will also help you overcome your fear of and sometimes dislike for the water. Many triathletes focus and spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy on running and/or biking because they are good at it and feel comfortable doing them while neglecting swimming because they are not. By improving your comfort in the water, you begin to see that swimming is not that bad and that there is nothing to fear. If you feel like a “fish out of water” when you first get in the pool, then
simply “get back in.”

You may get frustrated during this build phase or that you are not getting in a real workout, but realize that even the pros were once where you are. Everyone has to start somewhere, and there is no point in denying where you are or your current abilities. Swimming takes time and consistency but by creating a stronger core through drills and a better level of comfort you will inevitably become a better and stronger swimmer and triathlete later on.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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With Thanksgiving this Thursday, I figured it would be an appropriate time to address the next part of
my “core” series, core nutrition.

Now, I am not a nutritionist, nor do I play one on TV, however, I do know lot about it having experimented on myself, seen what has worked for the elite athletes, read numerous books, articles, research studies, as well as a fare share of fad diet books, and worked with several professional nutritionists. Most of these sources narrowly focus on a different, specific food or nutrient while demonizing another whether it be low-carb/high fat, low fat/high carb, all protein, Hollywood cookie, Zone, South Beach,
North Beach, or Long Beach. The problem is every diet seems to go against the other! Everyone seems to know what is best and what is worst and has “scientific” evidence to back it up too. Moreover his/her way is the only way to perfect health, longevity, elite performance, and abundant energy. So whom should we trust?

With all these opinions we may just want to throw our hands up and head to Dunkin’ Donuts, so I have come up with a list of what I like to call the “Core Diet”—a few general rules that the majority of elite nutritionists, athletes, and health practitioners can agree upon.

1. Eat your veggies: Regardless of what diet you follow (even in programs such as Nutrisystem), vegetables are usually the fundamental corner stone and they should be. Vegetables provide you with the essential vitamin and nutrients that you need to keep you healthy and functioning properly throughout the in and off season. Moreover they fill you up with fiber to keep you satisfied without adding inches to your waste line. Which vegetables you choose is your choice but go for variety and color as much as possible. “Paint a rainbow on your plate,” as my nutritionist used to say Moreover try to incorporate them into each meal—even breakfast (think pumpkin in oatmeal, mushrooms and spinach in eggs, etc.). While juices like V8 and Naked are easy to grab, eating the real thing is always better. My personal favorites are kale,red pepper, spinach, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and cauliflower. One caveat to this rule is
starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn. Try to limit these to hard training days and before
hard workouts.

2. Go pure: With the exception of diets like the Hollywood cookie diet, the majority of diets espouse going pure when it comes to food. The shorter the ingredients list the better. Moreover, keep the list to stuff that you know and can pronounce. Even if you prefer a higher carb diet, try to stick to breads, cereals, and grains that are home prepared or “fresh” such as sprouted bread, plain steel cut oats, sweet potatoes, quinoa, and millet. Unlike Lucky Charms and Wheaties, these do not have the long list of coloring agents and preservatives that can reek havoc on your gut, diet, and training. All of these ingredients can increase inflammation,
preventing recovery, and making you feel and perform just like the food that they are in: junk.

3. Go Long: A diet should not be a one week or two week endeavor after which you can go back to your old ways of eating. Regardless of which diet you chose, a core value of any good diet is that it should be a maintainable, overall life style change. If your diet is only designed to last you two weeks during which you are in a permanent state of discomfort, hunger, or lethargy,
it may not be your best choice and needs to be modified slightly to ensure that you reach your weight loss and/or health goals for the long term.

Keep in mind that when it comes to diet and nutrition, everyone has his/her own individual needs; you are a case study of one. What works for Andy Potts or Michael Phelps may not work for you, so keep experimenting until you find the winning formula of calories, food, and nutrients. Incorporating these core principles into your diet will help you shed or keep off those few extra pounds and reveal your core.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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Beyond the physical core, which I covered last week in part 1, a strong mental core is also essential to achieving your goals and having a successful season. Like the physical core, our mental core is not an individual muscle that can be pinpointed and trained with one exercise. Rather, it is a complex and integrated network made up of the beliefs, ideas, and principles that make us include swimming and triathlon into our lifestyle.

It is what drives us to make our morning practices, spend money and time away from our family and friends, go that extra 50 yards, and push ourselves beyond the limits of what we can or think we can do; moreover, it gives pleasure and meaning to all of this effort.

As we go into the winter season, which usually means short days, little sunlight, colder weather, increased holiday commitments, and no races till the spring, a strong mental core is essentially what we build our training, season, and success upon. If this mental core is weak than we will loose motivation, skip sets, falter in future races, and not be able to accomplish our goals. You can start to see why it is so important.

While it maybe easy to identify a weak physical core by an athlete’s build, it is harder to identify, at least superficially, a weak mental core, but in my opinion, it all comes down to one word: fear. Fear in its various forms—excuses, procrastination, half-hearted efforts, apathy, and giving up—hide a weak mental core very much like how layers of fat cover up your muscular core.

As a coach, I hear loads of excuses from clients and athletes about how they simply did not have time to do this key workout or fit in that weight lifting session. A few of my collegiate runners will look at the hard workout days on the calendar and conveniently have meetings with professors or get sick during them. While some of their reasons maybe actually be true, if their training and goals were important to them, then they would have found some time to fit it in. Overall though, if they dug deep into their conscious they will find fear. Thus the key to a stronger mental core is embracing, accepting, and dealing with this fear.

Where does this fear pop up? I experience it usually right before a hard workout or before I dive into the pool. I get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I will not be able to hit my splits, that the water will be cold, that the old man in the lane next to me will pass me, that people will think I am not a triathlete because I swim so slowly, that I will not have improved from the last workout. All these thoughts buzz around my head and suck all the motivation out of me. I could just skip the workout and go home to my nice warm bed. I could put on my cycling shorts or running shoes and head out for a ride or run, where I know no one would criticize me. It is all very tempting, but then I remember that all of these fears are just that: fears—paper dragons that do not exist except in my own head.

If people pass me, so be it—that is out of my control. If I do not hit my splits but I give it my all, then the workout was a success. If people look at me and think that I am slow, then let them think that. Yes, this workout may hurt but if training was easy then everyone would be a pro. Looking at these fears and analyzing them, diminishes their power, and in turn strengthens the mental core.

The key to a strong mental core therefore is introspection and reflection. Next time when you are debating whether you should or can do a workout, see if you can spot the fears. Once you have spotted them you can then deal with them. Shoving them away will not help because they will come back with vengeance. Instead try to own them. Here is one helpful tip that I find is very effective in my mental core work: spot the fear, write it down on a piece of paper, then tear up the paper in throw it in the trash, where it belongs.

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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Now that many of you are in the “offseason”—I use that term loosely because is there really an offseason from triathlon?

Many of you do not want to look at another lane line, pull buoy, wetsuit, or speedo again for another good two to three months. After an intensive racing season that can last from April through November, it is important to get a mental break from organized training during which we do not have to worry about splits, morning practice, or cold water.

However, that does not mean we should abandon all training and sit around the couch eating doughnuts (even Gluten free ones). In fact, these weeks are the perfect time to reconnect with our “core.” In this series of blog posts I am going to focus on some of my “core values” of trainingstarting off with our actual physiological/muscular core.

What trainers and body builders refer to as our core is actually a bunch of muscles that span from under out pectoral muscles down to our knee. This network, therefore, includes more than just our “six pack” but also has the oblique muscles, lower back and lumbar muscles, hip flexors, IT band, hips, glutes (i.e. your butt), and upper hamstrings to name a few. Strengthening all of these muscles is extremely important for proper form in all disciplines of triathlon especially swimming. Without a strong core, our whole form falls apart adding to drag, fatigue, and potential injury.

First off, the core muscles ensure that we keep parallel and stream line in the water by keeping our legs from sinking. Secondly, they allow for a stronger and proper kick that is driven not from the knees but from the hips. Thirdly a strong core gives us a stronger and more controlled hip rotation that will not tire us as we swim. Lastly, with six pack abs, we will not fear putting on that speedo or walking down the pool deck. Need any more motivation to hit the floor and pound out some crunches?

Many old school proponents espouse that you should do 1000 crunches a day to really get a strong core and six pack abs, but the core muscles are just like every other muscle and need their rest and recovery to get stronger. Therefore, working them two or ideally three times a week should generate the wanted results.
Here is one of my favorite routines. Perform as a continuous circuit. Do each exercise for 30 seconds then smoothly transition to the next exercise without rest. Do the circuit twice and then build up to three:

1.Crunches**
2.Leg lifts
3.Plank
4.Supermans
5.Bicycle crunches**
6.Bridge
7.Scissor Kicks/flutter kicks
8.Alternating supermans
9.Side plank
10.Pushup plank
11.Side Plank
12.Reverse pushup plank

When this routine becomes too easy change it up: go for longer, add in another circuit, add in a medicine ball or extra weight, etc. It is important though to be consistent. Doing a core routine 5 times one week and then taking a week off will not help you. Usually, when we get into the thick of the season and hard and long swim/bike/run sessions add up, core and strength work are usually forgotten or pushed to the side, so the off season is a perfect time to get into the habit.

If you have any questions or your own routine, let me know. I am always looking for a way to strengthen my own core values.

**some argue that crunches put unnecessary strain on the back so if you have lower back problems nix the crunches and replace them with planks or leg extensions

Chris Hague is the assistant coach for triswimcoach.com and competitive triathlete in both the half and full Ironman distances. For more, check out http://triswimcoachonline.com/tri/about/

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“We should not have a time schedule to attain the goal, for our attainment depends on how we progress in our practice based on our understanding and development of our [swimming and training] faculties. We must work diligently and mindfully toward the goal without setting any particular time schedule to reach it. When we are ready, we get there. All we have to do is to prepare ourselves for that attainment.”
Henepola Gunaratana, “Sitting Still” (I of course modified this quote by substituting swimming and training in for sitting)

I ran across this quote on a Buddhist website that I follow and at first I was taken aback and completely disagreed. What do you mean no time schedule? How am I going to be motivated to wake up for morning practice, hop in cold water, and push myself to the point of puking if I do not set a goal pace by my main race? Where is the pressure?

That is the point though. By not setting an unchangeable and rigid deadline to our goals, we are free to enjoy the journey rather than getting bogged down in the pressure involved in times and expectations. Saying I have to swim 1:20/100 yard pace by my main race and if I do not I am a failure will only lead to failure.

This easing of schedules and times cannot be more true than in swimming where perfecting form is the only way to reduce your splits efficiently. If we get distracted by our goal pace and consequently take our focus off our form and effort, our form falls to pieces and we end up going slower and being disappointed in our performance and ourselves. However if we focus on how we are in the present moment—how are form is, how we feel in the water, the timing of each breath—then the speed will come.

Now, I am not saying that we should not set goals. Goals are extremely important and essential to have (for more on goals read Matt Fitzgerald’s chapter on goals in “The Triathlete’s Training Bible”). These goals though are not set in stone. Yes, they should be quantifiable and measurable with a goal date to attain them, but we should realize that these goals are changeable.

If you find that your goal of swimming a 21 minute split in an Olympic triathlon is out of reach, change your goal to one that is more realistic like 25 minutes or 26 or to one that is not time based like swimming without having to switch to backstroke. As you think about this upcoming off season and start making race plans for next year, set a goal, write it down, and file it away, then return to focusing on the process and the journey of how you are going there—the drills, the hard sets, the core work, the bands, and actually getting to practice.

With this mindset, your goals are already in reach.

In the world of triathlon it is almost a given that serious triathletes have a plan and/or strategy for the season. It’s natural for a triathlete to have the whole year written out in detail so that they can prepare, train and execute – making adjustments along the way if necessary.

However, what about a mental strategy? Is that part of your plan? Sure, training your swim, bike and run is a given – but are you training your mind as well? Often triathletes prioritize their training based off of the distances in the race. Usually the bike will be the focus with run and swimming behind it. If you have a noticeable limiter, your focus may be improving that aspect of your training. Before you work on the bike or any other discipline, shouldn’t you being training your mind?

Some would argue that training your mind to cope with the mental and physical strain that your body demands is the single most important aspect of training for triathlon. So many newbies start right out of the gate in what I like to call the “honeymoon phase” and then a month later they are back on the couch. Nobody prepared them for how hard it can be and also (important) how fun it can be! For those of us that grew up doing endurance sports – whether it is on a team, a club or maybe just with your family; we’ve been conditioned on what to expect both mentally and physically. We know how to cope with pain, fatigue, injuries and the adversity that follows. With that in mind, even the experienced athletes are missing out on key elements in their mental game and strategy that could help elevate their performances for the next triathlon season. Here are a few tips in elevating your mental strategy:

• Make visualization a part of your daily routine. If you have a swim scheduled early in the morning, start visualizing yourself getting up, getting to the pool and doing the work. The more you visualize and convince your mind of something, the more likely it’s going to happen. Visualization is even more important in racing. Cut 15-20 minutes out of your day or before you go to bed, lie down and start putting your mind in a relaxed state. Once you are completely relaxed from head to toe – start playing in your mind the race. Imagine waking up, eating, driving to the course, seeing the big crowds, setting up transition, warming up…etc. Imagine every little detail of the race including executing your game plan and come time to race, you’ll feel like you’ve already done it.

• It’s important to welcome the pain once it sets in. Most likely at one point during the race you are going to start feeling fatigue and maybe even pain. A good way to handle it is to welcome the pain. Even talk to it. “Hey pain, I was wondering where you were, you’re finally here eh? Well you’re welcome to stay for a bit, but I’m going to overcome and beat you today!” Treat it as an unwelcomed visitor. Talk to it for a bit, work through it, but let it be known that it’s not welcome and that you’re going to have your way with it.

• Personal mantras. Come up with three different mantras that you can repeat to yourself throughout the race (or workout). I often use: Smooth, Strong & Confident. It reminds me to focus on a smooth form, generating power and being confident in my training and my ability. I suggest that you come up with three words that offer encouragement or a reminder and TRUST me, this builds mental toughness.

• Use the energy of the crowd and the energy of your competitors. This may sound a little too hippy for some of you but it can be extremely effective if you know how to use it. When you are racing imagine the energy of the crowd, volunteers and even your competitors being transferred over to your body. I often imagine a wave of energy flowing right into mine. Maybe even use high fives (like Ryan Hall does) to initiate the energy transfer.

Use your mind as a weapon in your training. Often times triathletes can be consumed with the latest gear and gizmos that they often forget that one of the most powerful weapons they have is their mind! When mapping out your training week, make an effort to devote some time in strengthening your mind!

There are so many more mental techniques and strategies you can use, including how to combat “race demons” or one of my favorites, the “Anchor & Trigger Technique”.

Have you tried any mental strategies for your workouts? If so, please comment below with your favorites!

About the Author

For more information or questions about mental strategies – feel free to contact: James Adams at ilovethehurt@gmail.com and visit his blog at http://lovethehurt.blogspot.com/

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References:

To get the full interview including part 2, sign up for the Tri Swim Secrets 6-month Course at: http://www.triswimsecrets.com

To find out more about Chris Janzen and his coaching services and products, including the 8 1/2 steps ebook he mentioned, go to http://triathletemind.com

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Secrets 6-month Course at: http://www.triswimsecrets.com

Click here to order copy of Ingrid’s new book, Fearless Swimming For Triathletes

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

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So what are Tabatas and how can they be used in swim workouts?

Tabata is an exercise program with extremely focused short burts using intervals.
Basically, it’s a set of 8 (or 16 or 32) 20 second all out sprints followed by 10 seconds of active recovery. The active recovery could consist of easy swimming or treading water.

These types of workouts can not only help you get faster in the water, but also allow you to burn more fat than in a typical long aerobic session.
You will burn more calories in a long aerobic training session, however, Tabatas will allow you to burn more fat. A recent study showed that subcutaneous fat loss was ninefold greater in the test group doing Tabata workouts vs. those doing longer aerobic workouts.

Keep in mind that if you have poor technique, there is no point in doing Tabatas for swimming. However, if you have worked on your technique but feel like you’ve hit a plateau in swimming, this could be a nice substitute for boring laps in the pool, giving you the ability to burn more fat and get faster in the water.

Have you tried doing Tabatas in any way? What is your experience?

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Secrets 6-month Course at: http://www.triswimsecrets.com

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Secrets 6-month Course Giveaway Contest at: http://www.triswimsecrets.com/giveaway.html

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Thanks and have a great weekend!

References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Secrets 6-month Course Giveaway Contest at: http://www.triswimsecrets.com/giveaway.html

Brian MacKenzie’s website: http://crossfitendurance.com
Brian MacKenzie featured in Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIVmsIJyj3A

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

Order the DVD, Waterproof cards, and book at http://triswimcoach.com

Join the 6 month Tri Swim Secrets course at http://triswimsecrets.com

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Here’s some highlights, interesting items, and things I learned:

1. I’ve only been swimming about 1000 meters twice a week for a while now. I thought I’d be way out of shape for this swim. But, I’ve been doing a yoga session 1-2x per week, and strength training 2x per week. I felt pretty good in the race (even though I got a late start since it wasn’t clear the race was actually starting!), and finished 5th out of the water (out of 150 people?), only a few seconds behind the leader (who was a guy on my Trans Tahoe team from 2 years ago!).

2. I also talked to one of the local tri coaches after the race. He mentioned that he is no longer doing masters swimming at all, and is doing less yards in the water, and going FASTER. After my performance I wasn’t surprised. The yoga and strength training can actually replace time spent in the water.

3. For the most part, even though I was just doing the swim and didn’t need to save anything for the rest of the race, my long strokes helped me to stay in the race the entire time. Once I got past the waves, I just focused on economy of strokes, and this seemed to work well. It’s easy to panic or try to compete with random other people in the race who you have no idea what level they are, but better to stick with your own race, and your own stroke.

4. There is an element of luck to ocean water swimming, but it can be minimized if you know what you’re doing. When coming back to shore, if you hit the waves just right you may be able to body surf your way to a faster time and higher in the standings. On the other hand, hitting it wrong you may be swimming in place and having the undertow pull you back out! But if you can get the timing of this down, you will know when to use energy to swim faster, and when to let the tide take you. Yesterday I was even. I got pulled under the first time but surfed the next wave in.

Next up, I’ll have to start running and do the entire aquathlon in 1 month. Anyone know of any running hacks or shortcuts? ;)

Excellent introduction on how to do a proper open water race entry. This video is provided by The Race Club. theraceclub.com

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References:

by Sage Rountree The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery: Rest, Relax, and Restore for Peak Performance(text only) [Paperback]2011

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

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References:

Jesse’s blog: http://kropelnicki.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

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The underwater pull is a compromise between power and drag. In this week’s Secret Tip we find out why it is more important to reduce drag than it is to increase power during the underwater pull in Freestyle. The video is provided by the Race Club. theraceclub.com

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1. Sighting. It seems obvious, but most people don’t practice navigation and sighting before they jump into an open water swim race or triathlon. The thing to keep in mind is, navigation is a big part of the challenge. Even fast swimmers who don’t practice sighting are really hurting themselves by just “winging it” in this area, and will often get frustrated as they get lost on the course. There is nothing worse than to not know where you are going. When you practice swimming in the OW, start picking out objects in the distance (on shore) that can help guide you to where you are going. Eventually, you’ll get the hang of it and come race day, bright colored buoys will just be a bonus.

2. Treading water. This doesn’t get mentioned much in triathlon circles, but being able to tread water is going to make your life a lot easier in this sport! Sometimes the start of the race is from the water, but even more importantly, there are many instances during the race when you may need to pop up and tread water for a second- such as if you get lost, or if you get cut off around a buoy.

3. Breastroke. For some of the same reasons as treading water, breastroke can come in handy during an open water race. It is nice to be able to pop your head up and take a long look at where you are headed, without completely losing momentum. Learning this stroke can pay off and help your race.

4. Follow your friends. Get a group of training buddies together and practice following each other. In a race you will have to follow others, and it’s super important to know how to do it- getting the right angle for drafting, avoiding touching feet, and spotting the backs of heads. (It’s not always the best strategy to follow others in a race, but generally, it will help, especially if you find someone that’s about your same speed.

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We’re putting on another underwater/swim clinic! Here is your opportunity to see yourself swim from underwater- and discover how to make stroke corrections and what specific drills to focus on to optimize your open water swim. Great timing if you are looking to work on your swim stroke as the summer triathlon season approaches.

On Sunday, May 8th, Paton McClung, head coach of Wind N Sea Swim Team ( http://www.windnseaswimteam.com/patonlessons.html), and Kevin Koskella of Triswimcoachonline.com will be holding an underwater video swim clinic. We will tape each swimmer individually, review the tape and critique your stroke immediately after, and then, get back in the water for a personal 5 minute one-on-one session working on drills and stroke optimization with one of the coaches! Here’s what you can expect:

* Discover flaws in your stroke and what you can do to correct them

* Move past your swimming obstacles by seeing in your stroke what’s really going on

* Get over swimming plateaus for a faster freestyle and a smoother, more efficient stroke for the Open Water

* See your stroke on a 40-inch TV screen, and get your video emailed to you after the clinic

* Receive expert advice from 2 coaches with over 50 years combined competitive swimming and coaching experience- this time through video critique and personal coaching so you know exactly what to work on

The Details

Sunday, May 8th – 9:05 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. (approximately)

Location: Coggan Family Aquatic Center, La Jolla.

Cost: $87 per athlete – TCSD members & Tri Swim Coach subscribers get 10% off!

Limit: 12 athletes

Sign Up: Active.com
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1955385

What to bring: Suit, towel, goggles, dry, warm clothes. Personal video clips will be available on triswimcoach.com within a few days of the completion of the clinic.

This is a popular clinic, so please RSVP through the Active link soon, as we are limiting this clinic to only 12 people!

Shoot me an email if you have any questions!
kevin at triswimcoach dot com

References:

Patrick’s website: http://endurancenation.us

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

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References:

Mark’s website: http://swimcyclerunonline.com

Cure injuries at http://curemyinjuries.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

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Just like the run or bike, you don’t want to burn yourself out that you can’t get to transition. You have either gone to fast or you used up too much energy in the swim. Solution? Pace yourself, well almost….

Swimming doesn’t really affect your legs as much, but it does affect your aerobic system. You can take bigger risks in the swim by going a tad faster and surging compared to running or biking. Remember, don’t go too hard where you dig yourself in a hole. Stay with someone who is slightly faster and you will guarantee a PR in your next race.

Warm-up and Get Ready

Warming up is great, but not all races allow it, or if they do you can’t go in the water because the lifeguards aren’t on duty yet. For an early season race with cold water you want to get your body acclimated to the temperature. As with all triathlons, warming up your arms and lungs will get you ready, have less fear of being in the water, and help you go full gas from the start of the race.

Get a coach

You can always hire me, but getting a local coach is a must to excel in swimming. Having someone help you with your stroke can be an invaluable asset to your arsenal of triathlon tools for race day. The better your technique is, the faster you are and the more efficient you become. Easier said then done right?…

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practicing skills, technique, and speed is still at the core of everything. If don’t put the time in at the pool, how can you expect a great result at a race? Practice not only in the water, but with a wetsuit, and sprinting out of the water to simulate T1. The more time in the water now, will help establish fitness that you can’t erase in the future.

Race

My last tip for you is to race. Getting faster in the water, getting comfortable and everything I said above is great advice, but the more you race the better you become. There is no way an Olympic triathlete only races a few times in their career to get where they are. They consistently practiced, prepared, and raced. They had failures and just as much success. Building on things you learn when you race can get you to that next level you might be seeking. Beginners should look for indoor pool swims to start out, then migrate to a lake or river, and then to the ocean. Find a race you like, train with your friends and race to have fun.

Don’t let your training partners or anyone else make you second guess your training. If you follow these rules, you’ll see benefits not only for this year, but will build fitness and strength for the future. Just remember, having a coach will help you through all of these steps and more.

Alan has been coaching triathletes since 2009, and has been coaching swimming since the age of 18. He primarily focuses on Sprint, Olympic and Half-Ironman athletes and coaches all running & cycling distances. Alan uses his expertise in swimming, running and physical fitness to create speed and motivation for his athletes. His website is http://triguycoaching.com

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References:

Hazen’s website: http://trinewbies.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimlessons.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

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Music:

Thievery Corporation- “Resolution”
Nickelback- “Breathe”

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Sitting down to think about some great race day tips for new triathletes seems easy, but thinking about pre-race rituals and strategies I use made me realize so many things on race day that has become automatic. Below I have outline some race day secrets in hope that it helps you transition to the open water much easier.

1. Get Rid Of Your Fear And Just Do It

What nobody knows about me is I am afraid of open water because I can’t see the bottom. That fear doesn’t happen when racing or swimming in the ocean with other people. I have been stung by jellyfish, nipped at by crustaceans(SP?), and had a school of fish swim by. What is my advice to triathletes afraid of the water? Just don’t be when it comes time to race. Practicing in the open water helps, but triathletes have a fear of the unknown which can be mentally draining. If you aren’t sure what your fear is in swimming then why have fear at all? I am terrified sometimes by swimming in the ocean by myself so I try to avoid that when possible, but when it comes time to racing my mind goes blank and I focus on racing and nothing else. When you race, there are kayaks, lifeguards, and boats that will help you, but if the unknown strikes fear in you, focus on something positive and/or something funny to make light of your situation. Changing your thought patterns externally and internally could be performance you were looking for.

2. Start Away From The Group

Being color blind makes it very difficult for me to sight in the water, but I drift right. When racing, I will start all the way on the left and in the front because drifting right will let me head straight towards a buoy while passing everyone. Figure out how you drift and start on the opposite side. If you’re a weak swimmer, start in the back. It will be easier for you to draft and have a better idea which way the current is pushing you.

3. Have 2 Pairs Of Goggles – 1 Black & 1 Clear

Early morning races mean that you might have the sun in your face when starting or finishing your swim. Having a dark colored type of goggle will give you a chance to protect your eyes and allow you to see. However, with a clear goggle, you can wear them on a cloudy day and still see. Along with having two pairs of goggles, they are the one thing you don’t want to find out race day morning they were stepped or have the strap broken. Along with goggles I want to add my next point

4. No Need For Full Face Goggles

You see, a lot of triathletes use the Navy Seal type full face goggle which almost looks like a scuba mask. The argument for them is that you can see more around you, but why would you want to. If you are only concentrating on the people around you, your stroke starts to suffer and your hips will drop.

My second reason; since the mask is connected throughout, if it starts to leak the whole goggle leaks and can affect both eyes where as having a pair that separates the eyes will only affect one eye it’s a lot easier to clear the water out and go. If you can’t stop then you still have 1 eye to see out of.

Wear a full sleeve wetsuit when possible

There is always a huge debate that wearing a sleeveless wetsuit can be better for swimming since it doesn’t restrict your arms. Newer wetsuit “Technology” has begun to emerge allowing a bigger range of use for your arms. The only thing that might stop this from happening is you not putting your wetsuit on correctly. Get a full wetsuit, which will make you a bit more buoyant and faster in the water, learn how to correctly put it on and take it off. My recommended wetsuit brands are 2XU and Xterra.

Alan has been coaching triathletes since 2009, and has been coaching swimming since the age of 18. He primarily focuses on Sprint, Olympic and Half-Ironman athletes and coaches all running & cycling distances. Alan uses his expertise in swimming, running and physical fitness to create speed and motivation for his athletes. His website is http://triguycoaching.com

cont’d on Part 2

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2. Six kicks per stroke – take one stroke, extend your arm out, and then kick six times on your side. The take one stroke with the other arm and kick six times on the opposite side. This makes you stay on your side, and gets you used to doing so.

3. Three quarters catchup – start your hip rotation as soon as your hand slices into the water. Touch your ear with your thumb if you need to, on the way by in recovery. This will help you to signal a switch from one side to the other. This drill is similar to the catchup drill where you touch your hands in front of you with each stroke.

For more tips and workouts on training for a triathlon swim, and for 4 free triathlon swimming workouts, sign up for the newsletter at www.triswimcoach.com/newsletters.php

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Answer: Yes!

Question: Is it a good idea?

Answer: Yes!

Most people (other than the leader) draft during the swim portion, whether they are aware of it or not. The trick is to get better at it. Here’s how:

1. Get directly behind another swimmer. If that person is just a little bit faster than you, you’ll get a nice ride for the duration.
2. Sometimes it’s easier to get a draft from the other person’s hip than from his or her feet. This way, you avoid touching his or her feet as well as the splashing.
3. If you’re drafting and start falling behind, continue your pace and find someone else you can swim behind, rather than trying to swim faster and potentially tiring yourself.

An article published in the Men’s Health Magazine regarding drafting: “After a series of lab tests, Portuguese scientists concluded that a swimmer who stays 2 feet behind another athlete’s foot kicks experiences 44 percent less drag through the water. What’s more, you can draft off another triathlete from as far back as 19 feet and still reduce your drag by 16 percent. ‘You’ll maintain an overall higher race pace, since you’ll be sparing energy,’ says Antonio Silva, Ph.D., the study’s lead author.”

Drafting can give you a huge advantage. Don’t think you have to be swimming with a large group, either – all it takes is one other person to swim in front. If you try drafting, you’ll be amazed at how much effort it will save you!

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References:

Simon’s website: http://simongowen.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimcoach.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

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Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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Most triathletes want to know the secret of how natural swimmers can just, well, swim! Ask any Masters or Olympic swimmer what their swimming “secret” is and 99% of the time you will get the same answer: [FOLD OR BREAK HERE] They had joined a swim club or team at a young age and/or belong to a swim program currently. Below are the top five reasons why you should join a swim club.

Getting Faster

The best reason you should join a club is to swim faster. This outcome results from coached sessions, other athletes pushing you to your limit and a quality swim workout that isn’t the same as swimming by yourself. Getting up early for a swim practice can be daunting at times, but putting in the time and effort with a swimming club will pay huge dividends come race season, as well as helping out with reason #5.

Meet New Athletes

Triathletes, tend to train alone, which often means swim workout torture. When you don’t have anyone to talk to at the pool, you swimming starts to feel like a chore. Joining a Master’s practice will surely guarantee that you meet new athletes. Top college swimmers, All-Americans, and Olympic swimmers might just be in the next lane, but if you aren’t training together, how would you know? Going to practices will help you learn more about other athletes and might just score you training advice from a high-caliber swimmer for free.

Learn To Swim With Better Technique

Swimming programs will begin to increase the number of swim sessions you have during the week. With an increase in distance and speed, one thing that will start to improve drastically is your technique. With coached sessions and other athletes watching you, you’ll begin to identify areas of your swim technique that need improving. Paying for video analysis can be quite expensive, but receiving personal attention from a coach or a handful of athletes looking at you might just fix that terrible head position you have in the water.

Coaching And Accountability

5am swim practices are never fun. I never liked them and they only got harder when I joined the Navy. The one thing that always kept me coming back, though was my coach and accountability I felt to the my fellow rescue swimmers and team. After you meet a new coach and athletes, they tend to notice when you miss a practice or cut a warm-up or cool-down short. Do you want to let your new teammates or coach down? Do you want to make everyone wait on you in the morning before the practice starts? Having that accountability to your coach can help you become a better swimmer by forcing you to break out of old or bad habits.

Competing

When swimming with an adult program, there are actually meets in which you can compete. Running and road cycling races are easy to find with a quick online search, but how often do you hear about a mile or 500m swimming competition? This type of competition can give your season a new focus and provide you the confidence you need to crush your next race.

You Should Go And Join Now!!

In addition to these top five reasons above, there are plenty of other benefits from swimming with a group such as new friends, increase in stamina, and more. Don’t be left behind while your competition surges ahead of you during the swim. Take the extra time to find a program that suits you and just have fun! You never know what you may learn or discover.

Alan has been coaching triathletes since 2009, and has been coaching swimming since the age of 18. He primarily focuses on Sprint, Olympic and Half-Ironman athletes and coaches all running & cycling distances. Alan uses his expertise in swimming, running and physical fitness to create speed and motivation for his athletes. His website is http://triguycoaching.com

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But since swimming is more about technique than anything, the best way to improve speed in the water is to play “Free Golf” in the water. If you’ve never played, here’s how:

Do a set of six or so 50s.
Count your stroke for each 50 and track your time.
Add these two numbers together to figure out your “score.”
Aim to lower your score on each round – decrease your time or stroke count, or both.
Make it a challenge for every 50 to beat your lowest score, until you can’t get it any lower.
Tip: make sure you focus on technique – hand extension, glide, and hip rotation – don’t just kick harder to try to lower your stroke count.

Depending on what level you swim at, there are many variations for this game. For beginner swimmers, and even intermediate, I might get them to do a set with Zoomer fins on, and a set with their hands in fists, followed by an unaided/regular straight swimming set.

What’s your lowest time?

For more tips and workouts on training for a triathlon swim, and for 4 free triathlon swimming workouts, sign up for the newsletter at www.triswimlessons.com

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References:

Alan’s website: http://triguycoaching.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimcoach.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Music:

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Unfortunately, many pools in the U.S. are only 25 meters in length. Some (Olympic size) are 50 meters, but usually they are set up so swimmers swim across the width instead of using the full 50 meter length. This makes them only 25 meters. So you’re back to square one.

If you are lucky enough to have access to a 50 meter pool, that is your best option. The reasons why are:

1. You can do a lot more continuous swimming, with fewer wall turns. This simulates open-water swimming more so than a smaller pool.
2. With fewer interruptions (wall turns), you have more time to focus on technique and stroke.
3. Each length is twice as long, which offers slightly more challenge to your training. This results in more preparation for races or open-water swimming.

I used to really dislike 50 meter swim training, but I’ve found that it’s easy to get used to, and now I actually prefer long course training.

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimcoach.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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Having said that, the amount of calories you burn during a swim (race or practice) all depend on several factors: stroke technique, type of workout, and even water temperature. The most important thing to remember is that efficiency is the ultimate goal. Train in your target heart rate. Keep your heart rate low during exercise will actually allow you to burn more fat than in a scenario where you do sprints and get your heart rate up high (into the cardio zone).

If you would like an idea of how many calories it takes to do certain workouts, take a look at this chart and input the duration of your workout to get an approximate calorie requirement:

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

For the Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming and the bonus book Burn More Fat, see:

www.triswimcoach.com/complete_guide.php

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimsecrets.com/access

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Check out Sheila’s book Call the Suit at http://sheilat.com

Please comment on this podcast!

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Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimsecrets.com/access

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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1. If there is an empty lane, use it. It’s annoying to swimmers if they have to share a lane when there is an open one available.

2. If you have to share a lane, pick one with swimmers closest to your own speed.

3. If you’re planning on jumping into a lane with someone, ask them first if you may share. Wait for him or her to stop on a wall and ask – 99% of the time they won’t have a problem with you joining in. Once you’re in, swim in a counter-clockwise rotation (or clockwise if you’re in Australia) and leave a minimum of 5-10 meters of space between yourself and any other swimmers.

4. Always pay attention to where you push off the wall, since you don’t want to collide with other circle swimmers in your lane, especially during flip turns.

5. Yield to the faster swimmer – let him or her pass. Stop on the wall to allow him or her to get ahead of you.

6. If it’s a very crowded lane, do not use a board or a long kicking set where people have to always be passing you. It’s annoying to the other swimmers.

7. Don’t touch the feet of swimmers in front of you. If you need to get around and you attempt to pass, they should follow these same etiquette rules and stop on a wall to let you pass.

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach 5-day Mini Course at: http://triswimsecrets.com/access

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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Many swimmers and coaches talk about “a three-beat kick” or beak kicks of some kind. This might work well for some swimmers, but not everyone. Here’s why:

1. Your priority when developing your freestyle swim is NOT how many kicks per stroke you are doing. You have many more important aspects on which to focus. Not to say that kicking isn’t important, but it’s nowhere near being the most important thing to worry about. Prioritize.
2. It’s much more important to find a comfortable kick than to conform to an expectation of a coach or yourself. It’s much more important that your kick helps with balance and hip rotation – it’s less about propulsion than some might think. Kicking powerfully is more important in a sprint than it is in triathlon or distance swims.
3. To determine how many kicks per stroke is most comfortable for you, start out with a six-kicks per stroke drill. Do a 50m of kicking six times each stroke. Repeat and decrease it to five strokes per kick, and every 40, reduce the kicks by one. You’ll find out which one feels most comfortable.

Don’t get obsessed with your kick count. This really isn’t a priority in your swimming technique – balance and efficiency is much more important, and you should delay worrying about your kick until after you have those technical aspects figured out.

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I hope your new year is off to a healthy and productive start!

I can tell you first hand that injuries really suck! I had this hamstring strain for over a year, and it was one of those things that wasn’t so painful that it stopped me from running or training, but it was enough to be annoying and definitely slow me down.

I tried so many things to cure it, and nothing worked! I started with the foam roller, then did ART (Active Release Technique), then deep tissue massages. I was starting to spend a lot of money, and not getting any lasting results.

Then one day a couple of months ago, I saw this trainer in the gym using these self-massage type tools with her client. Sort of like the foam roller but more intense and specific. I asked her about it, and she told me all about it. It’s called Trigger Point Therapy. She diagnosed my hammy issue and I signed up for 4
sessions with her.

The sessions were filled with intensity- rolling over mostly quadriceps muscles, but also hitting up the piriformis and calves- with these 2 little dumbell-looking things and a ball that is soft on the outside and hard on the inside.

After just 2 sessions, my hamstring was loosening up! First time in over a year I felt this free! After 4 sessions, I had about a 75% improvement. So, I ordered a “Trigger Point Therapy Kit”, and now “work on myself” about every other day. I’m able to loosen up tight muscles, increase my flexibility, and prevent future injuries. This for me has gone far beyond the foam roller and even ART therapy!

Anyway I love these tools so much that I am endorsing the products.

If you have nagging injuries or tight muscles that just won’t go away or loosen up, I highly recommend one of the TP Therapy kits (which one will depend on what you are targeting and what your major activity is).

Check out what they have to offer here:

Heal Your Injuries

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

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This two-minute long video was made from edited clips of underwater footage of Grant Hackett doing the front crawl. The Australian is a great distance swimmer.

Check out his pull technique: he bends his elbow but his arm goes back to the outside each time, instead of to his chest. Many beginner swimmers try to pull to their chests, and that makes it much more work and means their hip rotation isn’t sufficient.

Even though there is a lot to learn from watching Olympic swimmers on video, remember that they swim in a pool and aren’t competing in a three-event race. Some of them even have added a sense of individuality to their strokes that you shouldn’t copy – these men and women have their techniques perfected so they can afford to have these little quirks.

All in all, it’s fun to watch these videos, but don’t feel like you have to study Hackett or Phelps or Thorpe in order to be successful in your triathlon swim.

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What I found out was that the sleeveless (or farmer john) suit has some disadvantages. So I must recommend a wetsuit with sleeves if you’re going to buy one. These are my reasons:

1. Sleeveless wetsuits will not keep you warm, especially in water cooler than 65 degrees F. This is especially important, because you don’t want to have to use energy to keep your body warm A lot of heat escapes through the armpits.

2. Sleeves on your wetsuit will help you swim faster, because you’ll get more buoyancy and will swim more on top of the water. Since most of your competitors will have sleeves on their wetsuits, you need to have very advantage possible.

My concern over arm flexibility was unfounded. Once you get used to the wetsuit you will not want to go back to a sleeveless one.

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Should you breathe bilateral breathe?

Yes! It balances out your stroke, provides for easier navigation in open water, and helps you avoid shoulder injuries. In these ways alone, bilateral breathing is preferable. But if you are a beginner, it might not be easy for you to breathe on both sides right away. If you are like most people, you have one side where you feel it easier to breathe on. To start with, you might feel more comfortable breathing on just one side. That’s totally normal – save the bilateral breathing practice until you have learned all the other parts of the stroke you need to learn.
Bilateral breathing is the most difficult thing to learn in freestyle swimming – so as mentioned, save it to the last if you’re just learning how to swim.

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So – is this the solution to your problems? Probably not. Unfortunately, that saying, “if it seems too good to be true, it likely is,” applies in this scenario. Instead of helping you with your weakness, the pull buoy acts as a band-aid solution…it covers up your lack of balance in the water, which is your underlying problem, and doesn’t really solve anything. It’s like taking medicine to cover up your symptoms instead of looking for a cure.

To improve your freestyle swim, work on your balance in the water. Basic drills like side kicking and shark fin drills will help. Use fins if you need them (I like the Zoomers Z2′s the best).

To get more information and other drills great for improving balance, sign up for our Tri Swim Coach newsletter

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Depending on what your skill level is, or where you are at in your training, you might consider a workout like this:

1. Warm Up
5 minutes
Focus on your technique and mix in bilateral breathing

2. Drills
8 minutes
Work on hip rotation practice and add some balance drills

3. Main Set
10 minutes
Do a set of 100′s or 200′s

4. Stroke Counting
5 minutes
Play some “Free Golf” or count your strokes on a straight swim

5. Warm Down
3 minutes
Work on stroke technique again and practice more bilateral breathing

You will find that you can get a lot done in half an hour! Remember this for when you are in the middle of a busy week and don’t think you have time to practice – it’s better to do a half-hour swim than not at all!

To get four free online swim lessons, sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter:click HERE.

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References:

Natural Movement: http://movnat.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Email me with your comments: kevin at triswimcoach.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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Here are some ideas on how to ease into the taper portion of your training.

1) Add more warm-up and cool-down time to your workouts
Do the same amount of training, but do a longer warm-up and cool-down at the beginning and end. This “active rest” portion will help.

2) Avoid sugar and large meals
Sugar has an unfortunate impact on your immune system. After training intensely, your immune system might not be as strong as you’d like and any sugar will take advantage of that fact. Avoid large meals and over-consumption of sugar to avoid becoming more susceptible to colds and flu. As for meal size, you don’t need large meals if you’re not working out as intensely as before.

3) Reduce strength training
Unless you’re the type of person who needs to do strength training every day, take at least two weeks off before your race. If you can’t go cold turkey, go lighter on the weights in that two-week time frame, to give your body a break.

4) Avoid Caffeine
It’s always a good idea to ease off of the caffeine, but if you’re a coffee addict, it’s not a good idea to go without starting on the day of your race; it’s best to start cutting back a few weeks before-hand. If you do decide to stop on the day of your race, you could suffer from headache, irritability, and distraction – three things you don’t want to have to worry about on race day.

5) Practice Yoga or Meditation
This two-week resting period doesn’t just apply to your body; you should be resting your mind, as well. Yoga and meditation help you rest as well as prepare for your competition. Mediation can help you visualize the upcoming swim. Yoga helps clear your mind so you can rest your body and mind. If you do these things you will find you have more energy on the day of your swim.

6) Sleep as much as you can
If you can, go to bed before 10:30, because the more sleep you get before midnight, the better. You will feel more rested and have more energy. Do this as much as you can each night in your tapering period.

If you follow the above six tips for tapering, you will find you have a great race. Good luck, and make sure you taper!

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I’m so excited to make this announcement! On Saturday, January 8th, 2011, we are going to be offering a swim clinic along with 4-time Olympian and gold medalist Sheila Taormina!

I met Sheila over the summer and was so impressed with the techniques that she is presenting, her teaching style, and her personality that I just had to find a way to partner with her to bring the concept of swimming FASTER to the triathlete world!

In the last 15 or so years, certain discoveries regarding stroke technique have moved the ball forward for triathletes who are looking to have an overall relaxed swim with energy left over to power through the rest of the race and improve their times.

But the next level of swimming is here- and it involves this concept of not only having that energy left over, but actually getting FASTER in the water and improving swim times by leaps and bounds!

We are kicking off the new year with an exciting 1-day clinic in Southern California at a fantastic price. To find out more, click on:

http://learntoswimfaster.com

The catch and the pull have been areas that are often overlooked when it comes to traditional triathlon swimming. Not anymore! Not only will we be covering some of the basics in this clinic, as well as doing video critiques of each swimmer’s stroke, we will be teaching the methodology that allowed 5’2 Sheila Taormina to compete at the Olympic level in freestyle against women an entire foot taller than her!

If you are doing lots of drills and even perfecting balance and swimming on your side, but not gaining speed in the water, this clinic is for you!

Find out how to leapfrog over the competition in 2011 by going to

http://learntoswimfaster.com

We are limiting participants to just 25, so if you are interested you will need to act on this quickly.

It will be a chance to start your year off right in the swim…and get to the next level with Olympic-caliber instruction!

I hope your season or off-season is going well, and I look forward to seeing you soon in California!

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The Novice Swimmer
This person barely swims. He or she either hasn’t done a race yet or floundered during their first race. He might sink while swimming, or she might not even be able to swim at all.

The Advanced Beginner/Intermediate Swimmer
This person, although he has done a few races, feels like he doesn’t “get” the swim portion, or she feels like she lacks endurance.

Both groups would do well to spend time on some basic drills. Two which will help to improve your balance in the water are: shark fin drill and kicking on your side. All swimmers, of all ability levels, can always work on balance in the water!

Novices should spend more time on those basic swimming drills. Practice until you feel balanced in the water. If you’d like, use Zoomers fins to help. Before moving on to more advanced drills and swimming sets, take a whole month to practice these drills in order to master them.

Advanced beginner/intermediate swimmers should work on the basics for about a week and then move on to more advanced drills like Fist drill and Fingertip Drag to improve your stroke technique. You can also mix in some swimming at this point.

Here is a sample training program for each level of swimmer:

Novice – 14-week training plan for next race

Weeks 1-2: Shark fin drills and side kicking drills – no swimming!

Weeks 3-4: Practice more advanced drills with some swimming (75% drills, 25% swimming).

Weeks 5-6: Swimming combined with drills (50% swimming, 50% drills) while slowly increasing yardage.

Weeks 7-10: Work on increasing yardage, and do some interval training (75% swimming, 25% drills).

Weeks 11-12: Work on increasing yardage, and do some interval training (80% swimming, 20% drills).

Weeks 13-14: Taper. Back off both intensity and yardage (80% swimming, 20% drills).

Advanced Beginner/Intermediate – 12-week training plan for next race

Weeks 1-2: Start with basic drills then move to more advanced drills, and slowly add in some swimming (80% drills, 20% swimming).

Weeks 3-6: Increase yardage (75% swimming, 25% drills).

Weeks 7-10: Peak training – increase yardage, and decrease interval training (90% swimming, 10% drills).

Weeks 11-12: Back off both intensity and yardage, and focus on your technique (90% swimming, 10% drills).

Never sacrifice technique for speed. If you feel like your stroke is slipping, or you don’t feel ready to move to the next level, keep practising the drills. There is no rush!

The above-mentioned are very general training plans. Adjust the schedule according to your goals and ability.

Use “The Complete Guide to Triathlon Swimming,” which is available on triswimcoach.com.

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Here are 6 tips to swimming straight:

1. Using alternate (or bi-lateral) breathing will help you to swim straight. If you can, breathe every three strokes and you will swim a lot straighter.

2. If you find that breathing bilaterally leaves you oxygen-deprived, then you need to find what works for you while helping you keep in a straight line. Try swimming and breathing in different patterns: two strokes on the left and two on the right; then switch to three breaths left and three right. Try two on the left, one on the right, three-one, etc. Experiment to find what works out best for keeping you in a straight line and use that during your race.

3. Try to increase the amount of strokes between sighting, because sighting too often will disrupt your balance and stroke rhythm. See if you can slowly reduce down to 12 strokes with your head down and then peek up once. It’s best to try this into open water so you can practice for your race.

4. Keep your strokes long. Extend that arm out and drive it forward on each stroke.

5. Practice the One Arm Drill (you can find it in the Complete Guide) and make sure you’re not crossing in with your hand. Pay attention to your arm pull.

6. Make sure you practice swimming in open water. If you’re used to the environment you will have an advantage, since you will be more comfortable, and you will have more time to practice swimming straight.

Practice is the most important thing when working on swimming straight. Good luck!

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References:

Nell’s blog & Website: http://nellstephenson.com
The Paleo Diet Cookbook

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Music:

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“I love doing triathlons, but I hate the swimming part!”

or

“My training is going well- except for my swimming- I’m just not getting any better!”

or

“I could to a triathlon, if it weren’t for the swim!”

If you feel the same as any of the above sentiments, the very first thing you must do is change your attitude!

Swimming is the hardest and most technical part of a triathlon. There is a steep learning curve, and it takes a lot of drill work and practice to become a competent open-water swimmer.

Many triathletes want to simply put in hard workouts, some effort, and distance and then see results. Unfortunately, swimming takes more than that.

To succeed at swimming – and to enjoy the entire sport of triathlon (including swimming) – you have to release those negative thoughts! If you keep saying that you “hate” swimming, you’ll never succeed.

Inversely, if you learn to actually enjoy swimming, you will be successful, because when you enjoy something, you will be confident, and you will lose that dread of going to the pool.

Try these suggestions to become more positive and get more out of your race:

1. Don’t say the word “hate” – words are very powerful things, and this is one of the worst! This word has the power to create more negative feelings, so the more you use it, the more your subconscious will hamper your success. In addition to that, it’s pretty impossible to ever enjoy something you say you hate.
2. Realize that the sport – and improving your swim – is not about the destination, but about the journey. Sure, that’s a cheesy line, but it’s true. While you’re improving your stroke, you’re growing as a person and an athlete.
3. Set attainable goals and rewards for yourself. Don’t think that you need to be able to swim one kilometer all at once in the beginning. Set reasonable goals for each of your swims (or each week) and slowly add distance to your swims. Reward yourself for any accomplishments, no matter how small!
4. There is no such thing as a “bad swimmer” or someone who “sucks” at swimming – just swimmers who have yet to discover their potential! You will see great improvements if you practice doing the right things.

The actual physical part of swimming is easy; the mental part of any sport, especially swimming, is the hard part. This is why many athletes get stuck at the swim – it takes more than physical fitness.

If you become a more positive person, you will be thrilled at the improvements you make – and the FUN you’ll have doing it!

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1. Head Position
In swimming, you have to look straight down at the bottom of the pool and keep your head still to get the most out of your stroke. In golf, you have to keep your head still and look straight at the ball while you swing, in order to hit it.

2. Concentration
You must focus on what you’re doing, because the second you start thinking about something other than hitting the ball is when you’re going to miss. The same goes for swimming. If I give a swimmer more than one thing to think about, invariably, nothing will go right. For both sports, you must concentrate on one aspect to practice it, master it, and then move on to the next aspect.

3. Fewer Strokes
In both golf and swimming, the fewer strokes you take, the better. When you want to improve your score in golf, you need to take fewer strokes to get the ball into the hole. To improve your swim time, especially in open water races, you need to take fewer strokes per length so that you can save your energy for the entire swim or triathlon.

4. Follow Through
In golf, you must follow through all the way with your club after you hit the ball. To get the most out of your stoke in freestyle swimming, you have to extend your arm and glide.

5. Your Core has the Power
Arm and leg strength is not as important in either sport as having core strength. In both golf and swimming, your power comes from your core (abdominal muscles, hips, and low back). In both sports, your legs are used more for stabilization rather than forward propulsion in the water or more powerful strokes of the club.

Both sports can be incredibly frustrating at times, but with the three Ps (practice, patience, and persistence), golf and swimming can be meditative , fulfilling, and fun!

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The method of swimming from side to side as you swim has been around for many years. Mark Spitz was criticized for this movement in the 70s! His critics didn’t realize that science would soon back up this style of swimming and would prove that it was a more efficient way of swimming. Since then, great coaches like Howard Furby and Ernie Maglischo have popularized this method of side-swimming with many successful students over the years.

To swim well is to use your core – chest, lower back, stomach, and hips. The top swimmers know to rotate their cores from one side to the other while keeping their heads fixed. When they rotate in this way, they move through the water like fishes, or boats, and reach maximum efficiency on each stroke.

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1. Don’t overdo it. If you try to do too much too soon, you’ll end with an injury or burn out. Start out with long, slow swims (or short, slow swims) and build up your endurance little by little. Don’t try to race right away.

2. Don’t go straight into the “fast lane” – if you’re doing masters swimming, don’t try to pick up where you left off. Pick a lane or two slower than the one you last used. Don’t let your pride make you try to do too much at once.

3. Don’t use fins to “keep up.” Fins are fine for drills and technique work, but don’t use fins for speed.

4. Try to swim as often as you can. Even 20-30 minutes a day is beneficial, and it’s better to swim 4 days a week for 30 minutes at a time than to swim 2 days a week for an hour each time.

5. Count your strokes. Counting strokes keeps you focused on extension and your technique. Try to lower your average stroke count.

6. Set goals for yourself, and increase those goals at a reasonable rate. Don’t expect yourself to be capable of finishing 1000 meters without stopping if your current ability is only 200 meters. Increase your goals in increments: 300 m, 400 m, 600 m, etc.

Practise these six tips and don’t forget that in swimming, practice + patience = performing at your best!

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What: Free Golf Contest

Why: Making a habit of always keeping track of your stroke count. Consistently incorporating stroke counting into your workouts will, over time, help you to swim with more stroke length in the water, and use less energy to go the same speed or even faster. And for those that do not consider swimming to be their strength in a triathlon, this saved energy is sure to translate into a better bike and run!

When: the week of October 3rd (4 consecutive weeks)

Description:
1. Start sometime in the week of October 3rd. Do 1 set of 6 x 50′s freestyle.
2. Count your strokes and get your time on each one. Rest about 20 seconds in between each.
3. Add these two numbers together to get your “score” for each 50.
4. Take your lowest score for the 50′s. Usually that will be on #5 or #6.
5. Report that score by leaving a reply below. We will keep a report card for this for each participants.
6. Repeat this set for 4 consecutive weeks, and each week report your score here below.

The winner will be the person who shows the most improvement from Week 1 – Week 4.

This is completely on an honor system, but the idea is that this will help improve your technique tremendously. Cheating will only cheat yourself. Honestly try your best all the way through, and see how it goes. It will be fun to see how fellow Tri Swim members are doing and how people are making improvements!

1st place will have their choice of Finis products (fins, paddles, goggles).
2nd place will get an assortment of Tri-Swim products including shampoo, conditioner, and Foggle

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your updates next week!

Kevin

Your most obvious course of action should be to hit the pool. When the weather isn’t that cold outside (mid 50s), and you’re going to be wet anyway, so why not? Have some fun, be productive, and get in some practice. It sure beats moping around inside – and has the added benefit of making you look like a hero to be swimming in the rain!

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Please comment on this podcast!

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Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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The answer might surprise you. Instead of a long list of exercises that must be done, and a long list of muscles that you need to bulk up, I recommend that people simply spend more time in the water doing drills. These drills are covered extensively in my newsletter as well as in the Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD.

Strength training CAN play a large part in improving your swim, after you’ve mastered the basic swimming drills and have a formidable stroke. Core muscle exercises, particularly for abs and back, are what you want to focus on to see the greatest improvement. Use a stability ball, do pilates and/or yoga, and work on body weight exercises to start.

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If you are a true beginner, you need a couple of months to get up to par to complete a sprint or short-distance triathlon. Your goals should be: maximizing your time in the water, finding a good swim coach or instructor, and practicing drills as often as possible. Make swimming your priority, above all other training. And have patience!

If you want to do a triathlon, but don’t know how to swim, here a a few steps to get started:

1. Find a qualified instructor. There are several listed on my find a coach page. You can also check with your local master swim team, which often has a coach who will give lessons.

2. Find a place to practice. A facility that has a monthly lap swimming plan would work perfectly. Search for 25 yard, 25 meter, or 50 meter pools.

3. Watch swimming videos (Essential Triathlon Swimming DVD is an example) to figure out what you should be doing, and to see what proper swimming looks like.

4. Practice drills as often as you can. Once you’ve gotten your stroke down pretty well, you can add more yardage to your sessions.

5. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself for your first race. Look on it as a learning experience, and see where you need improvement. If you put too much pressure on your first race, you’re less likely to have fun and enter more races.

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I want to state upfront that I am a big believer in using quality training devices to assist in learning proper stroke technique and building better muscular and cardiovascular conditioning.  I love my Zoomers swim fins, my centermount snorkel, and my Forearm Fulcrums, among a number of other items.  However, they must be utilized appropriately.  This means that they should be used to help the body learn the proper technique or create resistance to force the body to get stronger, but the bulk of your work in water should be done without these tools, so you learn how to be successful without these devices becoming crutches.

To provide a wonderful illustration: I am currently training a good friend, Dana, who has qualified for the 2010 Ironman World Championships in Kona.  He is a stellar cyclist and runner.  His swim is not bad, but far from on par with the other two disciplines.  When I first started to work with him, he explained to me that his kick was useless and without fins he never went anywhere.  In other words, to quote him, he was “Fin-dependant”.  While the term was cute, the situation was not.  This is a man who is going to put himself up against the very best in the world in one of the most grueling events in sport, and he felt reliant on two pieces of triangle shaped rubber being on his feet to be effective in the water.  Cut to two months later, present day, and Dana now prefers sets when I don’t put fins on his feet.  This is for two reasons.  First, and most importantly, because he now knows he can swim successfully without them (because he has, repeatedly), and secondly, because I no longer allow them to be a comfort.  When they go on, he knows I am about to give him a set that will make him hurt (I’m a bit evil that way).

By now, I’m sure you can see that ‘fetish’ is really not the right word for the topic.  I think ‘dependency’ is a much better one.  Hopefully though, the point is clear to you, and I think the title is more fun using ‘fetish’.  Regardless, when you practice your swimming for a triathlon, go ahead and use the tools available to help in your training.  Just stay aware of the difference between using them as training tools and becoming dependant on them.  Then, use them effectively and intelligently.  When race day comes, you will be faster, more efficient, and more confident because of it.

David Wendkos lives in Annapolis, MD and has over 30 years of competitive swimming experience, coaching swimmers for the pool, open water, and triathlons. He can be found on twitter at http://twitter.com/SwimMD or on the web at http://www.AquaticRhino.com.  Email David directly at David@TriSwimCoach.com

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Me & 5'2 Sheila

My friends Greg & Melissa were doing a video shoot for a swimming product they are developing, and Sheila is their first swimming model. The day was a great time and it looks like I’m going to be working with Sheila on some ventures in the swimming/triathlon world, seeing as we can help each other out quite a bit. The next day I saw her talk at the Austin Triathlon, and this morning we had a nice strategy chat over coffee.

Sheila won the gold medal on the 4×200 meter free relay in the 1996 Olymics, then competed again for the USA in triathlon in 2000 and 2004. In 2008, she took up Modern Pentathlon (pistol shooting, fencing, 200 m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3 km cross-country run), and once again, made the Olympic team!

She recently wrote a book called “Call the Suit”, with the goal of taking triathlon and open water swimming to the next level- showing athletes how to not just survive the swim, but to actually get faster. Hint: It all comes down to the pull. These techniques are a perfect addition for Tri Swim Coach, and should help our athletes move up further in the pack! I highly recommend checking out her book, available on her website: http://sheilat.com Besides Sheila’s obvious success in swimming, the proof that what she is saying actually works is that at 5’2, she had no business beating 6’0 women in freestyle- so she had to perfect her technique to get to that level.

We are planning a couple of swim clinics, possibly as early as December this year. Sheila also has a camp going on in Cabo San Lucas in November, details out soon! Sign up for our newsletter below to be kept up date on all the latest in swim clinics and triathlon swimming.

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Hand Entry
Slice your hand into the water at your goggle line, and drive it forward, Many swimmers try to get more air time by reaching out with their hand before putting it into the water, but that is less efficient than going through the water with your hand as you rotate sides.

Head Position
Look straight down when swimming freestyle – only keep a small part of the back of your head out of the water. In addition, try not to move your head with the rest of your body as you move through the water.

Pull
Your hands should pull all the way past your hips when swimming freestyle. The last part of the stroke before recovery should be an acceleration behind you, not up out of the water.

Kick
Attempt to minimize your kick when you train. Instead of kicking extra hard to make up for lack of balance, minimize your kick and conserve energy. This will allow you to improve your balance, as well.

Training Intensity
The best way to measure training intensity is to gauge your heart rate immediately after each swim. Count your pulse rate for six seconds, add a zero to this number, and that will tell your approximate exercise heart rate per minute.

Master’s Swimming
If you need to work on your stroke, move to a slower lane. If you belong to a master’s team, don’t feel pressured to keep up with lanemates at every practice, as these teams usually have many people at different skill levels and goals. Do your own thing and remember that technique is more important than speed. Once you have perfected your technique, speed will come and you will be much faster in the long run.

Habit
Often, when a swimmer breathes on the left side, his/her right arm will cross over. When he/she breathes on the right side, the left arm will cross over. Sometimes arm cross-over occurs from over-rotation. This is one of the most common bad habits I see. Try to keep your head from moving with the rest of your body, and, try to pull in a straight line, keeping your elbow bent. End the pull on the same side on which you started.

Keep the Feel
It’s important to practice swimming, especially if swimming is your hardest sport. Sometimes you don’t want to work on it, but it’s important to keep your body’s kinesthetic awareness of being balanced in the water. And no, showers and baths don’t count! Make sure you get in the water at least ever other day.

Work Those Lungs
Your lungs will thank you if you mix in some hypoxic training sets into your workouts. An example of hypoxic training set would be to do one set of 4×100 breathing every 3-5-7-9 strokes by 25 (with 15 seconds rest in between each 100). You will really feel the difference at the end of the swim part of your race.

Work Your Weakness
Most triathlon coaches agree that you should spend the most time practicing your weakest of the three sports. For many people, their weakest sport is swimming. This same concept applies when swimming: work the most on the weakest part of your stroke. If you move your head, focus the most on keeping proper head position. If balancing on your side is a problem, then spend a lot of time doing kick drills on your side. Whichever your weakness, you will benefit by spending time in the water working on that issue.

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6. If someone touches your feet while you’re swimming, stay to the right of your lane and let him or her pass. If you’re near a wall, stop and move to the right side of the lane. Don’t be offended; this happens all the time.

7. Before beginning your workout, introduce yourself to any other swimmers in your lane. Knowing who is swimming with you will make your workout more enjoyable. Even more, remember that a great part of masters swimming is the social aspect!

8. Ask questions if you have any. Learn the order of the lanes and how to read the clock your first week.

9. Make sure you rest enough. If you can’t make the interval in your lane, move to a slower one.

10. Be positive and have a sense of humor at every workout.

Keep these suggestions in mind, join a masters swim team, and be prepared to add some fun to your workout routine!

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In reality, 80 percent of swimmers on masters teams are not there for competitive training, but for fitness. The other 20 percent consists of competitive masters, triathletes, and open water swimmers.

If you are a beginner triathlete who is new to the concept of masters team swimming, or an experienced triathlete who has shunned masters and always trained on your own, here are the top 10 things you should know about masters swimming:

According to the US Masters website, the stated goal of masters swim programs is: “All USMS programs are designed to help swimmers improve fitness and/or train for specific goals, and offer active support for a healthy lifestyle through friendship, and camaraderie.”

Accept that, if you are a beginner, most of the other swimmers will realize it. But this is not a problem; in fact, most masters swimmers love having new swimmers and should be happy to help.

Not all masters teams are created equally. Talk to the coach about your ability level and your goals, and see if it will work. Most coaches will work with you no matter your level, but if not, there may be an alternative option in your city.

Don’t be late. It makes the coach’s job easier, and makes your fellow lane-mates lives easier.

Learn to swim “circle pattern”, which means you stay to the right of the line in the middle of the lane (it is marked on the bottom of most pools in the middle of each lane). Circle pattern allows for more than two swimmers per lane.

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Sandy Shepard: http://beabondgirl.com

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Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Brenton Ford, Effortless Swimming- http://effortless-swimming.com

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Let me explain what I mean by body roll.  When you take a stroke in freestyle, as your hand recovers (the portion of your arm cycle conducted above the water, that returns the hand to the front of the stroke), the related shoulder should drop down, allowing a greater reach.  Meanwhile, the opposing shoulder should raise up as that arm completes the stroke and begins its recovery.  This will rotate, or roll, your body to face out toward the side, rather than straight down toward the bottom. Please note that while this only ‘forces’ the upper torso area to rotate, proper technique calls for you to maintain a generally straight body, so you should rotate through your hips and legs as well.

Many of us were taught freestyle or the front crawl as being performed with our body facing toward the bottom.  Today, a more apt perspective is the stroke being performed rotated toward your side, alternating back and forth to each side, in time with the arm cycle.  Notice that I haven’t brought up breathing.  In this specific area of the stroke technique, breathing is not material.  Your body should rotate to each side equally, regardless of breathing.  The correct amount of rotation is fairly common to our breathing side, as we utilize the rotation to make it easier to rotate our face out of the water for that breath.  The non-breathing side, however, does not provide such an incentive for proper rotation. Over the past several weeks, I have seen a very large number of people making the same error; a dramatic under-rotation to the non-breathing side.

Under-rotation in your freestyle will cause or contribute to a number of problems in the effectiveness in your stroke.  First, it will significantly limit the forward reach of your stroke, thereby shortening by an equal amount the length of each arm pull.  Second, it makes a full extension and completion of your stroke on the other side of your body far more difficult.  Third, it prevents a high arm recovery, as our shoulders simply don’t (generally) move that far behind the plane of our body.  In open water, an excessively low arm recovery sets you up for catching your arm on an errant wave, which can disrupt a stroke pattern and cause rapid muscle fatigue.

Alternatively, if you do focus on getting a good rotation in your torso, particularly to your non-breathing side, you will find that it is far easier to avoid these errors.  A note about the third issue I mentioned above – by rotating your torso, you do not need to attempt to elevate your arm behind the plane of your back in order to clear the water on recovery, as the natural angle of your trunk will provide plenty of incline for your recovering arm.  This takes a substantial amount of pressure off of your shoulder, and will save you a significant amount of energy.  And with a bike and a run coming up, I suggest you use no more energy than required for your swim.

So, now that you’re really Rolling, go Rock that triathlon swim!  (Sorry, but… well, I just had to.)

David Wendkos lives in Annapolis, MD and has over 30 years of competitive swimming experience, coaching swimmers for the pool, open water, and triathlons. He can be followed on twitter at http://twitter.com/SwimMD or on the web at http://www.AquaticRhino.com.  Email him at David@TriSwimCoach.com

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References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

BodyZen Triathlon Training- http://bodyzen.com

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Music:

Nickelback- “Breathe”

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To tell you how striking the results can be, I only need to go as far as myself. I was recorded about 6 months ago. It was the first time I had seen my stroke in about 15 years. Well, after I got over the shock, I started to address the fact that my head was too high, my hands were crossing the centerline on my pull-through, and I was dropping my elbow on my left arm. This coming after I’ve coached swimmer after swimmer to not do those specific things. However, it resulted in a much more knowledgeable workout for me. I have learned what I should feel like when I am performing each of those actions correctly, and I have seen an improvement in my own efficiency and speed.

Ideally, you would then have it analyzed by a qualified coach with the appropriate knowledge to work through it with you and discuss specific ways to improve your stroke for open water/triathlon swimming. Even if you don’t have someone locally available, there are a number of excellent options for uploading it to a website and having a coach provide feedback via email or marking up your video and replying with the new copy. If you are interested in a service like this, just drop me a line, and I can give you some guidance.

By the way, there are a number of excellent waterproof video cameras out there for very reasonable costs. The high def camera I use on a near daily basis cost less than $300, and it was not the cheapest option. So if you don’t have a friend with one, consider getting your own. I can assure you it is a fun gadget to have even when not being used to improve your triathlon swim.

David Wendkos lives in Annapolis, MD and has over 30 years of competitive swimming, coaching swimmers for the pool, open water, and triathlons. He can be followed on twitter at http://twitter.com/SwimMD or on the web at http://www.AquaticRhino.com

It’s the Full Pipeline by Nineteen wetsuits.

I have to say, so far I am VERY impressed! Here is why:

1. It is the easiest wetsuit to put on. I ordered it and just took a guess on my size based on their chart. Well it fits perfectly, and unlike suits I have used in the past, it slips on and off with great ease! I can’t even believe I put up with the sticky suits that took forever to take off, even all greased up, in the past.

2. It is very flexible. I’m actually not a huge fan of having to wear a wetsuit in the water. But, other than July-September, it’s usually too cold here for me to get in the water without one. And this is I think as good as it gets in terms of flexibility. I don’t feel restrained nearly as much as I have in the past with other suits.

3. It keeps me warm. Right now, the temperature out there is 63. I can last about 20 minutes without a suit before I start turning blue! But with the Nineteen wetsuit, I’m actually perfectly comfortable being out there as long as I want!

There are a lot of good wetsuits on the market, and I have tried a few. But this so far is the best suit I have tried. To find out more, check out the deals on Nineteen wetsuits at Swim Outlet.

References:

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Robb Wolf’s “Norcal Margarita” recipe: http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com/2009/07/recipe-for-good-times/

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Music:

Andy Hunter- “Go”

Open Water Swimming

, which I have learned a lot from over the years.

Sadly, she has acquired both Fibormyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and now in her 50′s is moving around pretty slowly.

Nonetheless, the talk about her swimming career and the details about the English Channel swim were fascinating, and there’s a lot that can be learned from Penny.

She emphasized the mental training that it took to do what she did in setting the world record in the English channel. One of her mantras leading up to the race was, “The colder the water, the more comfortable I become.” Another was “Each time I move my arms, it relaxes them.”

She said she had 4 goals in swimming the Channel:

1) Finish
2) Break the MENS world record
3) Break 8 hours
4) Break 7 hours

She accomplished 1-3 and finished at 7:45.

There were so many challenges she had to overcome. This was 1978, and no one had any idea about how to do the nutrition for the swim. The current near the end of the race was pushing her back, so she was swimming in place for 20 minutes at one point!

One thing her crew did right was to count her strokes per minute. Her LOWEST stroke count was 89 strokes per minute!

After taking several questions from the audience, she demonstrated the freestyle pull (which was good, although, in my opinion people obsess too much about how to pull before they even learn how to rotate their hips, which is far more important!).

Overall it was a very interesting talk, and I wish her well with her battle to get back to a normal life and be able to swim again.

References:

Tri Swim Secrets training program to sign up OR get on the list for the next time we open: http://triswimsecrets.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Please comment on this podcast!

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Music:

Urge Overkill- “Positive Bleeding”

So what do you do? Always use long, gliding strokes, and forget about having a fast turnover?

Since the open water, and especially the ocean, presents many new challenges to your stroke, I would not recommend going with a policy of “always” using long strokes in freestyle. Sometimes waves or competition can put you in a position where shortening your stroke will give you an advantage.

The point is to, for the most part, practice lengthening your strokes- do sets of free golf, work with the Freestyler hand paddles, and occasionally count your strokes per length. But do not be married to the idea that you must use long strokes at all times!

I recommend copying what the middle of the pack (MOP) swimmers are doing in general, rather than the leaders. This sounds like odd advice from a coach who is paid to get people to swim faster! But the problem is that many of the triathletes who are in the lead pack in the swim came from a swimming background- and this often means they did short, sprint or middle distance races in the pool, and can get away with a very fast turnover in the open water.

For the beginners, or intermediates, the goal should not be to win the swim, but to finish strong for the rest of the race. Therefore, practice long, and adjust where needed in the race.

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For someone like Michael Phelps who is swimming a lot of 200 meter sprint races, some of these small details can mean as much as a whole second or more in a 200, which, for those who watched the last Olympics, could mean the difference between the gold medal and no medal at all!

In competitive pool swimming, the devil is in the details. Especially at the Olympic level. Everyone at that level as more or less perfected their stroke, and nobody can afford to make mistakes or leave anything on the table.

As someone who is training for a triathlon, and did not come from a swimming background, things are a little different.

Is it going to be super important to shave off .5 seconds on your swim by turning your hand 1/4 inch on your pull? Or, should your focus be on basic stroke technique to allow you to expend less energy and get the same (or likely faster) result out of the water?

The other day I heard a pretty top level former Olympic swimmer say to forget about long strokes, short and fast is what everyone needs to do! Surprisingly, he does not understand triathlon swimming, and what non-swimmer triathletes need to focus on to maximize their efficiency and lower their times!

Continued in Part 2

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On Sunday, April 25th in Irvine, CA at 9:00 a.m., we will be holding an underwater video clinic.

We will tape each swimmer individually, review the tape and critique your stroke immediately after. Here’s what you can expect:

* Discover flaws in your stroke and what you can do to correct them
* Move past your swimming obstacles by seeing in your stroke what’s really going on
* Get over swimming plateaus for a faster freestyle and a smoother, more efficient stroke for the Open Water

Receive expert advice from a coach with over 29 years of swimming and coaching experience- through video critique and personal coaching so you know exactly what to work on.

If you are interested, check out the Active link for details
http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1853122

Tri Swim Secrets members can participate for free (email me for details). I’m restricting it to 9 this time so it will probably fill up fast.

The week was so action-packed that I didn’t have time to work out, or even sit down and read. Swimming did not happen. When I was at the beach, the weather was a hot 95 degrees (or 33C) with humidity, and the ocean temp must have been close to 90! It wasn’t even refreshing to get in the water. I’m used to the water being much colder in my part of the Pacific. The cool thing was that I felt like with all the moving around that I didn’t really fall out of shape. I got a lot of exercise and felt good and strong most of the trip (until the 95 degree humidity days towards the end!)

Today, I did my first swim workout since my return. Surprisingly, my stroke felt pretty good, although the water felt weird. I lost a little bit of my “feel” for the water, but not really any strength that I could tell. I’m so happy that I took the break that I did from workouts & life. I think it’s so important to get away every once in a while and do something completely different than what you’re used to. Your body and mind will thank you when you return!

References:

Tri Swim Secrets training program: http://triswimsecrets.com

Sign up for the Tri Swim Coach newsletter at: www.triswimlessons.com
or http://triswimcoachonline.com

Please comment on this podcast!

Tri Swim Coach podcast comments: Click here to open up itunes and add a rating/comment!

Ben Greenfield’s websites:

Rockstar Triathlon Academy: http://getrockstartri.com
http://pacificfit.net
http://bengreenfieldfitness.com

Music:

Tesla- “Look @ Me”

By joining, you will get

-8 months of focused content to keep you progressing on your triathlon swimming
-Videos with explicit details of how to completely transform your stroke
-Workout plans to get ready for various triathlon distances
-”Change your bad habits” video sessions
-Get your stroke evaluated by Coach Kevin
-Special training sessions for specific issues such as: breathing, strength, and stretching
-Monthly chat sessions
-A 15 minute call with the Tri Swim Coach, Kevin
-Additional fitness & nutrition information

To read all about the new program and to join, check out http://triswimsecrets.com!

Swim Smooth: What is an efficient freestyle stroke?

I think he made some good points, that not everyone HAS to swim with a long stroke in order to be efficient in the water. Now, what is not emphasized is that these fast turnover swimmers all come from a competitive swimming background. They have strokes that they spent many years and yards in the pool perfecting in order to swim fast in the pool. Sometimes these competitive swimmers with short choppy strokes become triathletes, and will no doubt finish in the top pack of the swim leg.

The main point here, however, is that these are people that have a long history of swim practice to get really good at the stroke they have developed.

Compare that to a beginning or intermediate level triathlete who did not come from a swimming background. Is your goal to finish up in the front of the swim, or to get through it without having lost too much energy or too much time? Does it make sense to copy these elite swimmers or to stick with a long stroke where you are at the very least going to conserve what you need to excel in the bike and run?

So this debate comes down to what will be the most efficient stroke that one can learn and master in the least possible time. While I agree that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to general swimming, in triathlon swimming, where most people do NOT have hundreds of thousands of yards under their belt with a fast stroke, sticking to the concepts that will help lengthen out your stroke will be much more effective in accomplishing your triathlon goals, even if that means just finishing the race.

The show with my interview will be posted soon, to subscribe to Simon’s podcast click here.

Here is the workout that I went through. It will also be posted on the latalkradio.com site.

WARM UP: 300 Distance Per Stroke (DPS)/Swim by 25

DRILL: 1×300 (4×25 Fist/50 DPS) 6×50’s Kick on side, descend 1-3
Rest= :15
8×25’s 1 Easy, 2 Build, 1 Fast.
Rest= :10

MAIN: 3x(2×100 + 1×300)
100’s #1) @ Cruise + :05 #2) @ Cruise #3) @ Cruise -:05
300’s: Maintain moderate pace, Rest= :45 “Hide” your breaths

FREE GOLF: 6×50′s. Count your strokes on each one, and get your time. Add these 2 numbers together for your “score”. Attempt to lower your score for each round (50). Take 15-20 seconds rest in between each.

WARM DOWN: 6×25’s
#1-3) Moderate, breathe every 3
#4-6) Easy, Back or Free

TOTAL: 3050