What's our training philosophy here at Maven?
You all know from Mavenaction (mavenaction.com) that we believe health has to come first.
So, what is health?
Well, generally, we believe that there are 4 major components- physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Any strain or pull in one of these areas diminishes the effectiveness and overall state in the other areas.
For this blog's purpose, we'll be emphaszing the physical-
Fitness is, first and foremost, a major constituent to the foundation of general physical health and wellness, which allows one to take on any sport or athletic activity to a maximized level of performance. When we talk about fitness, we must also understand that "clean" nutrition gives fitness the necessary fuel to attain that level of performance. Sleep, rest, and recovery are also well infused components of being more healthy.
Put it this way, how can you even think of having your best race in your respective competitive sport (not exclusive to multisport) when you haven't sufficiently trained ALL of your body's energy systems, incorporated functional strength training as well as flexibility acquisition/maintenance and balance work (let alone managed a solid nutrition plan, recovery, and rest training) ?
Are you fit just because you can do an Ironman? Many people think so, but this is definitely not the case. You've seen them before- the skinny fat athletes, the overweight athletes who are very good at enduring, but have high, double-digit bodyfat.
From my own experiences competing in multisport endurance activities for the past 13 years, I can say for sure that aerobic conditioning (cardio) are merely one facet of fitness, but by no means do they complete the palette. I am faster (and fitter) at 37 than I was at 27. I have been PR'ing every race I've done this season since I really began to take fitness more seriously as part of my tri-training with Mavenaction and crossfit endurance, while my triathlon training volume has decreased....and continues to decrease. I have to admit, while the science supports this way of training, mentally/emotionally, it hasn't been easy...and, to be honest, tri-training is usually more fun than cross-training (don't we all tend to gravitate towards what we love to do?? I am not immune!). While I've been in the fitness industry for over 15 years, the last two years have been the most eye-opening even for me as far as my personal results and professional endeavors.
If you've ever done a Mavenaction workout, you'd know what I mean. There are triathletes, runners, and other endurance specialists who could do laps around me till kingdom come, but if I were to have them do...say...10 minutes of burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, squats, they'd be screaming for mercy (which used to be me, by the way)....if I had them attempt a few sets of pull ups and push-ups, they'd be a goner.
I think you get the drift.
In essence, to be the best triathlete you want to be next season, you MUST be fitter. How do you become fitter? Add cross-training (functional resistance training) as PART of your triathlon training, not as something separate; as a soon-to-be certified USAT level 1 coach, this is how I intend on program designing and mapping out your best tri performance next season.
What do I mean by adding in cross-training? Instead of 7 days a week of all cardio or multisport activities during the season, 3-4 days would be dedicated to your sport, and the other 2 days would involve functional, resistance training or a combo of activities; for example, drop and do 20 burpees or 20 push-ups every 100m of running around a track at your 5k pace for 2 laps x 4 sets...try it, I dare you, then come back and visit my blog for more). Of course, remember that you need to make rest a part of your training as well, and for longevity in the sport, 1-2 days/wk is necessary.
We'll get more into the specifics as we move along in this multi-part series.
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