That Triathlon Show

Q&A #35 - Lactate and VO2max testing, thresholds and zones, and dealing with illness  Lactate and VO2max testing: good and bad testing protocols What do the results from lactate or VO2max tests really mean and how do you use them? How do you set training zones based on your threshold found in testing?  How do you change your training when illness strikes?     LINKS AND RESOURCES:   That Triath...

Menachem Brodie is one of the leading strength training coaches for cyclists and triathletes. Among other achievements, he has been heavily involved in USA Cycling and educating USAC coaches since 2011, and is the creator of the Training Peaks course "Strength Training for Triathlon Success".  In this two-part episode, we dive deep into a number of important aspects triathletes and endurance athle...

Q&A #34 - Strength training on the bike, training changes during forced time off from swimming, and Sprint Interval Training How to use "strength training on the bike" (high power sprints and strength endurance/low cadence training) How to change your training when injury forces you to stay away from the pool Sprint interval training on the bike - should you do them in the TT positio...

Professor John Hawley is one of the leading researchers in the world on sports nutrition, the interaction between exercise and diet on fat and carbohydrate regulation, and the cellular and molecular basis of endurance sports adaptations. He gives us a complete update on what we actually know as of today about endurance sports nutrition, and where evidence is still lacking.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL...

Q&A #33 - Incorporating bike or run commutes to work in training, and distinguishing between good and bad lower heart rate How should you effectively incorporate bike or run commutes into your training to get training benefits without compromising quality in other key workouts?  How does this change if you do both a regular workout and the morning bike/run commute? How should you think about n...

Sebastian Weber is a sports scientist and highly successful coach, in both professional sports (having worked with athletes like Peter Sagan, Tony Martin, and André Greipel) and with age-group endurance athletes. He is also the co-founder of the physiological performance software INSCYD. In this episode we discuss cycling technique, quality of movement, and holding a good (aerodynamic) position, a...

Q&A #32 - Training on 3-5 hours per week, and how to get started with adding high-intensity training to your program   How should you train on just 3-5 hours of available training time per week?  Should you still periodise your training, and if so, how?  How do you introduce more high-intensity training to your program without doing too much?  How can you evaluate and review this change in tra...

The Nike Vaporfly 4% running shoes are supposed to improve running economy by 4%. Wouter Hoogkamer, PhD, is one of the researchers who found out that this improvement is actually legit. What's more, he has researched how much faster that improvement in running economy could make you. In today's episode we discuss the Vaporfly 4% shoes, running shoes in general, running economy, breaking two hours...

Q&A #31 - Cycling cadence in training and racing - the scientific and anecdotal evidence   What does science say about the pros and cons of cycling at different cadences?  What cadence ranges are most effective in racing?  What are the potential performance benefits of training at high and low cadences? A 2018 cycling cadence research round-up   LINKS AND RESOURCES:   That Triathlon Show websi...

An in-depth discussion and Q&A session on the ins and outs and dos and don'ts of polarised training for triathletes and endurance athletes in general. This episode is a follow-up to the extremely popular interview with the godfather of polarised training, Dr. Stephen Seiler in EP#177.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Personal case examples from Mikael Eriksson's and Stephen Seiler's training...

Q&A #30 - Training reviews for the self-coached athlete and critical power / metabolic profiling tests   How should the self coached athlete review their training? What to look at, and how regularly? Metrics and things to track - and what you don't need to track and care about. What critical power / metabolic profiling test options exist, and what are the preferred ones?   LINKS AND RESOURCES:...

Stephen Seiler, PhD, is known for his research on how elite endurance athletes actually train. In this research, he discovered that most endurance athletes spend the majority of their training time (~90%) at very low intensities (below the first lactate/ventilatory threshold) with most of the remainder of the training time spent at high intensities (above the second lactate/ventilatory threshold),...

Q&A #29 - Long slow distance and training zones, and LCHF for triathlon - yay or nay?   Is it "bad" to stay in a higher heart rate zone (e.g. zone 4) for your long runs and long slow distance training in general?  What can you do to get your heart rate down in these workouts?  Mikael's perspective on LCHF (low-carb high-fat) diets in endurance sports A sneak peak of the Supernova 2.0...

Bo Falck Hansen, PhD, is a researcher and cycling coach with a special interest in training and performance for the aging athlete. He describes the top-5 challenges that masters athletes in triathlon and other endurance sports face, and how to tackle them.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -Reducing the rate of decline in aerobic capacity (VO2max) with the right kind of endurance training -Red...

Q&A #28 - Time management, training on limited time, mastering workout logistics and transitions, training frequency vs. workout duration and training to distance or to time?   How should you structure training for a sprint triathlon when you can only train 4 days per week? Is it more important to have a higher training frequency (more workouts) or longer individual workouts if the total time/...

Dan Lorang is the coach of triathletes like Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug, as well as a high performance coach and Head of Innovation of the Bora Hansgrohe professional cycling team. In this Training Talk we dive deep into a variety of topics on training and performance, in particular as it pertains to long-distance triathlon.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -The training bull's eye: maximising...

Q&A #27 - Cramping (with expert guest Andy Blow), what CTL is required to get to Kona and a little rant...   How do you solve cramping issues when you've tried everything, with expert guest Andy Blow Is there any particular Chronic Training Load (CTL) number you should shoot for if you want to qualify for Kona?  A rant about over-reliance on arbitrary metrics like TSS and how it causes athlete...

Training camps are great (and fun!) ways to increase fitness and build up towards a strong triathlon racing season. But there are several important do's and don'ts you must pay attention to if you want to make the camp a successful one from which you come out the other side stronger. The main reason many age-groupers do not benefit from training camps is that they are unaware of, or do not adhere...

Q&A #26 - Swim training on two swims per week, what to do when heart rates spikes as soon as you start jogging, the danger of potluck training and the myth of base and build   How should you structure your swim training on two swims per week? What should you do when you cannot run at a low-intensity heart rate, since it spikes as soon as you start jogging? Why you need to avoid potluck trainin...

Dr. Philip Skiba, one of the most sought-after coaches and consultants in the triathlon and endurance sports industry joins us to discuss the fundamentals of designing a training program. He also gives his viewpoint on a number of topics and busts some hard lived myths. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -The physiological fundamentals behind effective training -The volume vs. intensity debate -H...

Q&A #25 - RPE or power/pace in workout prescriptions, best cross-training for running, and Big Days and 70.3 races in preparation for an Ironman   Is it better to use subjective Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or objective outputs like power or pace when prescribing workouts? What is the best cross-training method for running when carrying an injury?  Where in your Ironman training program...

Joel Filliol is one of the most successful elite triathlon coaches in the history of the sport. In his multi-national squad he coaches athletes like Mario Mola (three-time World Champion), Katie Zaferes, Vincent Luis, and Jake Birthwhistle, and his on his CV is also coached Simon Whitfield to an Olympic silver medal and working as the Head Coach of British Triathlon. In this in-depth interview we...

Q&A #24 - Improving and testing aerobic capacity, dealing with 45-minute workout limits, back-to-back long rides, and training the respiratory system   What are the best ways to train to improve aerobic capacity (VO2max) and what's the best way to assess it? How should you structure your training when you're limited to 45-minute workout windows? Is there a benefit of doing back-to-back long ri...

Fran Bungay is head coach of Goalspecific and a coaching tutor at the British Triathlon coach development programme, as well as a top-ranked age-group athlete with two European titles to her name. She discusses the use of process goals in triathlon, and why you might want to move towards a more process-driven approach rather than focusing hard on outcome goals.   IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT...

Q&A #23 - Maintaining race fitness for an entire race season and the mental battle of FTP-tests   How do you keep a high race fitness for an entire season with multiple sprint and Olympic distance triathlons spread out over a period of time?  Should you train differently for the sprint races compared to the Olympic distance races?  What's the right mindset to have in FTP-tests (or other benchm...