Every triathlete needs LSD

Yes you need LSD (long slow distance) training. If you were thinking of the drug get your head out of the gutter ; )

Long slow distance training is one of keys to becoming stronger and faster and the world of endurance sports. The swims, rides or runs are all what build a solid base of endurance. The main training adaption that occur in the body are

1) Increase in capillary density in the muscles. Capillaries are small areas ware the exchange of oxygen rich blood and oxygen depleted blood takes place. When you develop more of these you become more efficient in getting muscles fuel and shuttling out the waste. That basically means you get faster and more endurance.

2) Increased mitochondria density in your cells. Mitochondria are with in your cells and are responsible for the break down of sugars which intern gives you energy to do a given exercise. More of these again helps you go faster and have more endurance.

3) Gain efficiency in burning fat. Often in doing these long rides, runs and swims you are in a aerobic state which means you primarily are burning fat for energy. Over time doing these work outs one get more efficient at the aerobic energy break down process.

Fat burning has been an area of confusion for many as they think what I have just said means they will burn the fat from there belly or other fat laden areas. However, the fat you are burning for the most part will be form what you have ingested. To burn actual body fat you need to create a caloric deficit in the body meaning that you have to burn more calories than you have taken in. Then you can start to burn body fat.

4) Increased artery and vein diameter. Yes arteries and veins can increase in diameter through exercise. This allows one to pump more blood to and from the muscles faster thus muscles get more energy and are able to dump out byproducts faster, leading you to be faster or a least be more efficient.

It is important to note these are what are know as chronic adaptions meaning that you have to be consistent in your training. It is also important to note that in doing LSD training one must do it in the correct heart rate zones, pacing and or if on the bike power zones. Often these LSD sessions are done in lower intensities but for longer times. LSD training has been shown to be beneficial in many studies in all the areas as discussed.

OK folks it been real but I got to bounce. Much Peace & Love

Constancy in training is every thing.

It is said that are habits create who we are. I can't stress enough the power of being consistent. Half ass training = half ass results.

If you want to be faster constancy is every thing skipping 1 or 2 works a month might not make a huge difference but 1 or 2 a week will.

Not pushing all the way through work outs ads up too. Lets say you cut all your work outs in one week by 5 minutes and you have 10 total work outs during the week that is 50 minutes. Over a month that is 200 minutes. 5 minutes here in there can add up to a whole other work out real fast. Every thing counts no matter how small you may think it is.

I can tell you that the top reason I have seen people improve the most is due to being constant and getting workouts done no matter what.

One thing I see often is athletes saying, "I'm in my off season" and then do nothing at all for 2 or 3 months. In my opinion this is not a good call. No doubt an "off season" is important but I think many miss interpret what this truly means. I was talking to one of the guys I swim with at master swimming who has been to the Olympics, world championships and has been inducted into the world swimming hall of fame. He told me he can't remember the last time he took off more than 3 days in the past 15 years.

Still do activity in the "off season" . You can do other types of cardio such as roller blading or hiking. Ideally I still have my athletes do at least one swim, bike and run keeping it light and short in order to keep the feel. I find this to especially true for swimming as loosing the feel for the water happens fast and sucks to get back.

Off season is a great time to work technique in all three sports and thus gain some great benefit down the road. Technique work outs don't have to be intense or hours long either.

Taking months at a time totally off is a big hole to dig out of. The best athletes I know are consistent year round. Do you think Tiger Woods takes 2 or 3 months off?

Are habits create who we are. Constant action in line with are goals thus get us closer to what we desire. That all I got for today. Happy training, Much Peace & Love

RECOVERY! Its what makes all the differance : )

BIG WORD UP!!!!!!!!! to all my endurance athlete folks ; )

Today I will chat a bout recovery and just some general actions that tend to help people. In addition these are all things that I have found useful employing in my own training.

Recovery is quite important as we spend most of they day doing other activities other than training.

1) Static stretching.

What is static stretching? This is when one holds a stretch for a few seconds. Ideally you want to hold it for 20 seconds to a minute at a time. It is important to do this at the end of a work out to maintain flexibility as often muscles tend to tighten up after workouts. Keeping flexible may help you go faster in the long run as you are able to have more range of motion. Stretching may even prevent some soreness.

It is also important to note that static stretching should be done at the end and not the beginning of a workout as it relaxes the muscle and lengthens it to the point ware doing exercise on it may create an injury. (I will talk more about this tomorrow when I chat about warming up)

2) Message.

Oh yes they feel good and help to keep your muscles to be nice and relaxed. They are a great way to keep the blood flow going in your legs which will in turn may help you recover quicker. Top professional athletes in many types of sports get messages daily. To quote Napoleon Dynamite "LUCKY!"

3) Recovery rides and or swims.

recovery rides and swims are a great way to aid recovery. In order to keep joints flexible we must move. Why is this? Are joints are not lubricated via the blood stream rather they are lubricated through are lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is not pumped through are body by the heart but by human inertia or movement. This now why more and more Dr.s are telling people to move as mush as possible when then have a sore back or other areas of pain.

Recovery rides and swims also raise your heart rate. (It is important to keep you heart rate way down in these work outs. Zone 1 is what you want.) This slight elevation in heart rate will help get a little more blood in out of your muscles thus the theory is you speed recovery. I have found this seems to be true for me. A least I feel better on next normal work out VS sitting on my dumper and doing nothing.

4) Sleep.

Sleep rocks. It is when you mind and body have time to rest and recover, probably the most. This is also when your body releases quite allot of human growth hormone. In order to maximize this stay away from eating carbohydrates 2 hour before sleep as this will inhibit the body from releasing human growth hormone. Human Growth hormone has been indicated in many studies to play a large role in helping one recover and build muscle.

How many hours of sleep you need varies from person to person. Michale Jordan all through his playing days only slept for 3 hours a night. Most people need 7-9. I believe that consistency is key in sleeping too. Going to bed and getting up at the same time I find to be useful in feeling the most energy when arising.

4) Meditation.

YEAH BABY! I Love meditating. I do this almost every day. After doing one of these sessions I feel fresh alert and ready to go. It teaches you to let go and relax your mind. I find it to better than a nap as I feel sharper.

5) elevate your legs.

I read from one of Joe Friel's books that elevating ones legs after a work can help too. I have employed this tactic and find it works for me. The idea is to drain your legs. For every hour I train I keep them elevated for 5 minutes. Thus 3 hours= 15 minutes of elevation.

I lie flat on my back and keep them up above the rest of my body usually propped on a wall or stability ball.

6) Compression socks.

This is a new one but I believe it has some merit. Often after a hard day of training I find that my ankles and lower shin can look swollen and feel stiffer. Compression socks have helped with this for me. I ware them after I train.

I'm also going to employ the socks while traveling as I notice this big time after flying. I Know some pros are doing this and I'm sure some of you triathletes out there have seen some people out there sporting these knee high socks in races. I have yet to break them out for that as I believe it will take me to long to put them on in transition and I want my legs to breath.

That's all folks, Much peace & love to you all

Traithletes, you need to train with a heart rate monitor

WHATS UP! I am now going to be writing on here a few times a week. Stay tuned for sure. Today I'm writing about heart rate monitors : )

Often I run in to triathletes or other endurance athletes seeking my guidance. One of the first questions I ask is, "are you training with a heart rate monitor?" 95% of the time the response is no.

Why do you want to train with a heart rate meter as a triathlete or endurance athlete?

1) First it can tell you how hard you are working. Why is this important? Often I hear people going off perceived exertion levels which are useful no doubt. However you need to train your self to know what you perceived exertion levels truly are and feel like.

Here is a little background info on heart rate training. I use a 7 zone heart rate system in monitoring my self and athletes. 1 being to easiest 7 being the hardest (I didn't invent the 7 heart rate zone system its been around). These zones are calculated based ones % of lactate threshold. Often I find when I begin to train an athlete with a heart rate monitor they don't realize how hard they are truly pushing it.

A zone 2 and 3 heart might feel similar in terms of exertion but on a biological level there is a difference to the extent of how much of a given energy system you are using. Each energy system in the body needs to be trained in a specific way so endurance athletes can get maximum benefit in the given phase they are training in order to peak there performance for a given time or event.

2) With a heart rate monitor you can tell when you are over trained or when to take time off. Often your hear rate will respond in ways which are out of the ordinary when over trained or may be coming down with a cold or various other diseases such as Ebola (JOKE).

All joking aside you can often discover when you need a rest. As over training is just as harmful as under training.

3) Avoid the dreaded plateau.

Often I run into athletes who have not seen any speed gains or even got slower over time. Most of the time this is due to doing the same type of training and intensity over and over again. This often causes a plateau or over training. Variation is key and at different times through out the year one needs to initiate different types of training and intensity. The heart rate monitor will enable one to do this.

I'm not saying that a heart rate monitor is the end all be all as it has some down sides as it can vary due to other factors such as sleep, heat, cold and what you ate to name a few. In all it is a solid training tool that has assisted my self and the athletes I train in getting faster.

Thats all I got for now. Happy training and Racing

Much Peace & Love

Kerry