MAXIMISING OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON PERFORMANCE ...

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Maximising Olympic Distance Triathlon PerformanceA Sports Physiologist's Perspective.Darren Smith, Ph.DManager, Queensland Academy of Sport Triathlon Program____________________This presentation will provide anoverview of the following importantphysiological issues for maximisingOlympic distance triathlon performancefor the elite competitor:1. Know the demands of the sport.The sport has changed considerably inthe past few years. Some believe thatthe swim leg is akin to a pool based1500 m while others believe asuccessful triathlon swimmer hasexcellent starting speed, then a goodthreshold pace and strong endurance.The bike, while now a draft-legal eventmay still be similar to a time-trial eventfor some athletes, while very much astochastic, skill based event for others.The run at the elite level is quite fast.Those athletes skilled enough to run atthe fast baseline speed required to be incontention now have to be able tomaintain contact during surges and alsoprovide a fast (or sprint) finish.2. Identify the physiological statusof the athleteAfter identifying the likely physiologicaldemands placed on the athlete duringcompetition, identifying thestrengths/weaknesses and areas thatneed improvement is a key issue. Beingable to identify these attributes canrange from the high tech laboratorybased physiological assessments suchas gas analysis, blood biochemistry andthe like, to field based testing of “testsets” or time-trials. Nevertheless, beingable to monitor training adaptations bysome reliable, and hopefully, validmeasures are an importantconsideration to athlete development.3. Plan training and racingschedulesThe value of a business or operationalplan to big and small businesses hasalways been crucial to their success.Equally, a plan for the development ofelite athletes would also appearwarranted. But despite this, many elitetriathletes in the past have not had asystematic training or racing plan. It isacknowledged that triathlon training,which includes a number of disciplines,can be difficult to plan for in great detailfor long periods of time. However, somegeneral plan that clearly identifies shortand long term goals, strategies forimproving weaknesses etc. shouldclearly be a helpful addition to the“business” of being an elite triathlete.4. Plan the sequence of sessionswithin the micro and macro cycleto optimise gainsBased on the fact that adaptation isenhanced by the appropriate balancebetween sport-specific training load andrecovery, it is crucial in triathlon to getphysical training, recovery, overallworkload, sports-specific skillacquisition and other aspects of life intothe right blend. Programming of discretetraining blocks is often not a science, butperhaps should be. Identifying the lengthof recovery necessary from various keysessions and working out whatcombinations of sessions can betolerated can provide great gains in16
triathlon performance. Increasing theintensity of some sessions can impactsignificantly on the trainingaccomplished on the subsequent day,which in the overall scheme of trainingmay not be ideal. Other sessions can beused for recovery, while still achieving anobjective (e.g. skill based sessions).5. Monitoring trainingWhen to train harder and when to take arest is a tough question for the coachand athlete to answer objectively. Someathletes rely heavily on being “in tunewith their body” while others use moreobjective tools such as performance in akey session or psychological ratingscale. Nevertheless, having an athletespecificwarning system is a crucialaspect of training and racing.Investigating the method(s) or signal(s)that work for each athlete makes the jobof a coach much easier, reducing muchof the guess work, and allowing for amore structured and efficient trainingprogram.6. Tapering for competitionThis is an extremely important aspect tooverall elite athlete development sincethe race arena is the place whereperformance is examined, wherenational squads are selected and wheresponsors notice athletes. However, thetopic of tapering for competition is anextremely difficult concept for manycoaches and athletes to get right. Thebalance between training volume andintensity, maintaining the “feel” for theskills of the discipline and getting yourmind ready for a good performance isan individual thing, and must bepracticed. The taper process can oftenbe interrupted by travel, unfamiliartraining environments and unexpectedinterruptions to the previous trainingblock.7. Coping with heat and coldMuch has been written about theadaptation to heat. It is well documentedthat athletes from colder climates canrace well in hot conditions if appropriateheat acclimation routines (and hydrationpractices) have been observed in thefew weeks leading up to competition.Less is known about cold adaptation,but as illustrated in a number of racesduring recent years, it may be just asimportant to our athletes performance atinternational competitions. Coldadaptation, which includesimprovements in manual dexterity, themaintenance of core body temperatureand the like, is also achievable if donein a systematic way leading up tocompetition.8. Race day strategiesHow many athletes do you know begintheir swim warm-up for a race in the last5 minutes before the start? If you askedthese same athletes at what time (ordistance) during a normal swim sessiondid they start feeling good or started toget into the “groove”, I can guess theanswer wouldn’t be 5 minutes or less,but instead perhaps 20-30 minutes or 1-1.5 km. Since the swim start of a race isnot a leisurely activity these days, andmaintaining contact with the swim packis crucial to elite racing, I would regardan optimised swim warm-up to be anecessary part of the elite triathletes’weaponry.The start of the run leg is a flurry ofactivity. Athletes are generally excitedabout the run leg, to the extent that manyappear to run out of transition with scantregard for the distance. It is well shownthat running economy is depressed bybetween 7-10 % following a tough bikeride. Similarly, it is also demonstratedthat athletes run the first kilometres of17
Page 1 and 2: Proceedings from the Gatorade Inter
Page 3 and 4: Schedule of eventsDay 1: Monday Nov
Page 6 and 7: Maximising Athletic Performance….
Page 8 and 9: Ever since 1980, every world record
Page 10 and 11: Maximising Olympic Distance Triathl
Page 12 and 13: Common cycling - related injuries,e
Page 14 and 15: If heat illness is not treated prop
Page 18: the triathlon run at an unsustainab
Page 21 and 22: system in a group of triathletes.Re
Page 23 and 24: to different race situations.Nevert
Page 25 and 26: carbohydrate diets for improvingend
Page 27 and 28: can identify problems that lead tos
Page 29 and 30: unch riding and the dynamics ofdraf
Page 32 and 33: Maximising Olympic Distance Perform
Page 34 and 35: athletes and highlights the infancy
Page 36 and 37: weight training under a coach for e
Page 38 and 39: year I was ranked sixth in ITU Worl
Page 40: Guidance from high performancetriat
Page 44 and 45: Using hypobaric oxygen techniques a
Page 46 and 47: 1996) suggest treatment with hyperb
Page 48 and 49: elease, which will produce the desi
Page 51 and 52: 1994 season. Vancouver Canucksrepor
Page 54 and 55: 14 Days of Intermittent Hypoxia Doe
Page 56 and 57: and the six females all trained ins
Page 58 and 59: 95HR (bpm)857565Tre-hypoxicTre-norm
Page 60 and 61: ReferencesAudran M, Gareau R, Matec
Page 62 and 63: Intermittent Hypoxic Training: A Re
Page 64 and 65: Intermittent Hypoxic Training, A Pi
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3. IHR is often accompanied bya gen
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Reliability and validity of portabl
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2Difference between repeated measur
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Stat LM3 lactate analyser3) It is a
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differences of male and female elit
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greater percentage of adipose tissu
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Table 3 Girths: descriptive data &
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greater than chest girth (t= -5.20,
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that the upper body or trunk hasdev
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study was 19.0 years, which is grea
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Training adaptation and biologicalc
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the steady state time trial (Smith
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the maximum heart rate reached byea
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Table 1. Subject characteristicsTes
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Mid Run VO 2ValuesOxygen Values (L.
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performance is expected following a
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The Lactate Index: Classification o
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Fluid losses and Voluntary Fluid In
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Table 1. Age groups in which New Ze
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study will be used to present apred
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ResultsTable 1. Mean environmental
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Figure 1 shows that path analysis o
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leg with greater total body waterwh
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2 Jeukendrup, A. E., W. H. M. Saris
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Notes:120
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MAXIMISING OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON PERFORMANCE ...

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