Swim Bike Run

As technical as the swimming sport can be, it can generally be tough to narrow down solutions to a question that is asked often: What should I concentrate on in order to improve my triathlon swim capabilities? Here are five steps that you can take to improve your swim for an upcoming triathlon. These do not necessarily fit into any specific order, and they will go a very long way when it comes to helping you achieve your personal swimming goals regardless of whether you are just beginning or are attempting to go professional.

1 – Improve your hand entry in order to improve your triathlon swimming ability. Slice your hand down into the water right around the line of your goggles, driving it forward. Many swimmers will attempt to get as much air time as they possibly can simply by reaching their hand out before they enter into the water. It is actually much more efficient for you to go through the water with your hand as you are rotating from one side toward the other side.

2 – Improve your head position in order to improve your triathlon swimming ability. You should keep looking straight down when you are swimming in the freestyle form. It is vitally important that you keep your head completely down with a small part of the back of your head poking out of the water. As you rotate throughout the water, try not to move your head when the rest of your body is rotating.

3 – Improve your pull in order to improve your triathlon swimming ability. When you are swimming in freestyle, your hands need to pull all the way past your hips. The last portion of the stroke before your recovery, which is when hands come out of the water, should include an acceleration behind you rather than up and out of the water.

4 – Improve your kick in order to improve your triathlon swimming ability. You should try to minimize your kick as you work on your training for swimming. Most people are going to try to kick extra hard in order to make up for a lack of balance while in the water. You should be minimizing your kick in order to improve your balance as well as to conserve energy.

5 – Improve your training intensity in order to improve your triathlon swimming ability. The best way that you can measure the intensity of your training is to count your heart rate following every swim. Estimate your heart rates by counting your pulse for six seconds, then add a zero to the count and you will have the approximate heart rate per minute for your training.

These five tips are simple and straight forward but they really go along way when it comes to increasing your capabilities as a swimmer in a triathlon event.

Photo Credits: heyerin

Originally posted 2009-07-24 05:38:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Charity is alive and well in the modern culture. This is seen in the donation drives as well as the charitable events which are held every day. For those who are into running, there are many ways you can do your part by running for charity. While some people will compete in the events just to help with a good cause, this is also a great opportunity for you to test your fitness level. This is a great way to turn something you do for fun into something you can do to help out others.

Finding a Charitable Event

There are several running for charity events held every year in cities around the nation. Finding them is quite often as easy as looking in the newspaper. Another very good source for these types of events is through the internet. You can find the events in the running schedule for your city. Another great source to find these kinds of events is through running clubs and stores which support running events often. They will have sections within the store where they list all upcoming events you can sign up for.

Getting Involved

Once you have found an event, the next step in running for charity is signing up. Depending on the event, this can include a registration fee. Others will ask you to find sponsors for your run. Many people like to sign up for runs which ask you to find sponsors. This involves you having people sign up to donate money depending on if you finish, and the place which you finish. The reason why many people prefer this is because it allows them to earn even more money for the charitable event than simply donating a registration fee.

Training for the Race

For some people, running for charity is something they are doing as a part of their training for another event. This can be another running event or it can be a triathlon. For others, the race itself is what they are training for. If this is your case, make sure your everyday runs are longer than what the actual race will be. This will allow you to breeze through the race on the day it happens. You should also make sure that you take a few dry runs of the course you will be running. This way you will be able to find a good pace for the race.

Racing Day

When it is time for the actual race, you should be well prepared and well rested. You should have also gotten a good breakfast at least an hour before the start time. Remember to drink lots of water and to wear your sun screen. Running for charity is a very noble way for you to give back to your community and those in need. Make sure you take the right steps so that you will not be harming yourself in the process and you will be able to enter in many more events in the future.

Photo Credits: Wootang01

Originally posted 2010-03-17 03:41:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Swimming in the triathlon is different from any other kind of swimming. There are tips which will allow you to perform well in this portion of the competition without sapping all of your energy. This is important seeing as you will still have two kinds of competition to engage in after you are done swimming. If you wear yourself out in the swimming portion, you will have nothing left for the rest of the competition. The tips include what you should do in training as well as what you should do in the competition.

Enter the Water Fluidly

One of the first tips for swimming in a triathlon you should know is how to enter the water. Unlike a swimming competition, you will not start with a starting block. This is because you will be starting with at least a hundred other contestants. It is not feasible to start in waves. The majority of competitions will start on the shore of a lake or other body of water. The object is to get as far into the water as possible without slowing yourself down. Once the water is between the knees and the groin, it is a good time to dive in. Practice this on the shore of a body of water to get the timing down right.

Saving Your Energy

It is important when you are done with the swimming portion of the triathlon that you still have enough energy to complete the rest of the triathlon. Among the tips for swimming here will be to find a nice steady pace. This is something you can train yourself to do. Many swimmers have taken to using the long stroke. This is because you will get a lot of power out of every stroke without having to take a lot of strokes to generate the power.

Concentrate on Your Stroke

The more power you get out of every stroke, the less energy you will have to put into swimming. Good tips for swimming will always teach you the best method to produce power in your swim stroke. This includes using an S-Stroke. This stroke finds new water which will propel you faster through the water. You will get more out of every stroke so that you will not use up all of your energy before you ever straddle the bike.

Save Your Legs

Knowing you will have to ride a bike next, good tips for swimming in a triathlon include saving strength in your legs. This means not putting a lot of emphasis on your legs to propel you through the water. When training, it is important to use floaters to develop your upper body strength. This will allow your legs to be as fresh as possible for the rest of the race. After all, the swimming portion is the only part which uses the muscles in the upper body. The rest is all about the lower body. Saving your leg muscles will allow you to at least get across the finish line.

Photo Credits: Eustaquio Santimano

Originally posted 2010-03-20 10:59:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Training for a triathlon is never an easy task. You not only push your body to the edge, you need to engage in specialized forms of training to get the performance you need. This is as true for swim workouts for triathletes as for any other section of the race. The reason why the exercises are so important is because you need to train your upper body to be strong enough to do the majority of the work. This way you will be able to save your leg muscles for the other two sections which are ahead.

Using Paddleboards

One of the many swim workouts for triathletes is to use paddleboards. These will help you to find the strengths and the weaknesses in your stroke. They will also help to develop the muscles you use to pull your body through the water. Because the paddleboard is a thin piece of hard plastic, you will recognize it immediately if you have your hand at the wrong angle. Your hand will slice through the water rather than meeting with great resistance. As long as you are using a good stroke, you will feel resistance the whole stroke. The more resistance, the more power you develop.

Using Floaters

Another effective method of swim workouts for triathletes is to use floaters. These are little more than cylindrical pieces of Styrofoam connected by tethers. What you do is clench the tethers between your legs. You then swim through the water without kicking your legs. You will have only your upper body to pull you through. The floater creates drag, but more importantly, it prevents your lower body from sinking towards the bottom of the pool. This prevents you from using your legs at all.

Closed Fist Training

One of the swim workouts for triathletes seldom heard about is the closed fist training drill. This is a method by which you will dig your fingers into your palms as you swim. This will force you to use your forearms as a paddle to move you through the water. This is a good exercise to use with floaters as you will not be going very fast. Do not use your legs and concentrate on how your arm is moving through the water. This will help to make sure your arm will combine with your hand to create a great force to propel you through the water.

High Intensity Interval Training

A training method used as swim workouts for triathletes among others is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This is a method which includes short intervals in which you are swimming as hard as you can for about a minute and then taking a thirty second break. This is used because a 15 minute workout will be more effective than a thirty minute workout. The level of workout will train your muscles to be more powerful for the big day. The secret is the fact your body will continue to be effected long after you get out of the pool.

Photo Credits: Grahambones

Originally posted 2010-03-20 03:55:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The most effective stroke for people in a triathlon is the overhand crawl. This is a style which is also known as freestyle. The swimming kick used for this stroke is very important to your performance. It is also the most undertrained part of most people’s stroke. It is taken for granted as something which cannot be improved. In fact, you can train your leg muscles to be stronger and more effective. You can also train your kick to be more effective by creating less drag and more push. By following some simple advice, you will turn your kick into a propeller.

Developing Strength

One of the best ways to develop strength in your swimming kick is by using a kickboard. This is little more than a piece of Styrofoam. What you do is rest your torso on the board and then kick your way from one side of the pool to the other. The board will stop you from using your arms to pull you through the water. The board will also create extra drag to make it even more difficult for you to kick your way from one side to the other. You will have to train your feet to be like flippers.

Flipper Training

While using the kickboard to develop a stronger swimming kick, you might want to also use flippers. This is because the flippers will help to show you the angle which your feet should be when you are kicking. You will be able to feel the difference when your feet are angled correctly and when they are off. By using the flippers you will also create greater strength in your legs because of the excess force you will need to push the water.

Keeping Your Legs Together

Floaters are a great way to train your legs to stay together. This is an important part of the swimming kick because if your legs are far apart, they create more drag. By clenching a floater between your thighs, you force your legs to stay together. If you allow your legs to separate, you will know it right away. This is because the floater will come loose and float away from you. The other added benefit you get from the floater is that it will create extra drag. This is important to develop better strength in your upper body as well as in your legs.

Photo Credits: hectorir

Originally posted 2010-03-19 10:53:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Running in a triathlon is unlike any other running you have done in your life. This is because the triathlon run is completed after you have already swum and rode a bike. You will be tired and ready to stop, but you will need to dig in and find a new well of strength. The running portion of the race will start after you have already found your second and maybe even your third wind. This is why the training you go through should teach you to push through the walls of fatigue.

Increase Your Running Distance

The first thing you will need to do when preparing for the triathlon run is to increase the distance you are running every morning. This is not something you can do fast. If you add an extra mile to your morning run without any build-up, you can seriously injure yourself. The best advice is to make sure you are increasing your distance gradually over time. Increase at a rate of 10% every week. This will allow your body to work into the increased distance. If it takes you longer to work into the increased training amount, that is okay.

Increase Your Speed

Once you have reached a good training distance for your triathlon run, it is time to work on your speed. This is once again something which will have to happen slowly. If you try to run fast in a race after you have been jogging every morning, your body will simply crash. Make sure you are setting goals in your training schedule which will allow you to slowly work towards lowering the amount of time you need to finish the distance you have set for your training. This way you will condition your body to the higher level of performance.

Find a Good Pace

Make sure you are working at a good pace while you are training. This is good advice no matter what you are training for. In the triathlon run, you will want to make sure you are not thrown off your pace by those around you. If you always train at a good pace, this will translate into a pace which will be manageable in your actual race. One way to maintain a pace is to create a cadence which you can use. This way if you feel you are out of pace you can easily reset yourself by thinking about your cadence. This can be something like what the military uses to stay in step.

Dry Runs Are Important

The triathlon run will be different from just running and you need to be ready for what you are facing. The beast way to do this is to go through a dry run. This means setting up a triathlon course of your own. You should try to get friends to help you with this so your equipment will be where you left it. Make sure that you have the right amount of strength and stamina to finish the race before you run in it.

Photo Credits: Sonic Fitness

Originally posted 2010-03-14 10:27:09. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Unlike running or biking, swimming does not have nearly the high tech gadgets, but you will need some gear, possibly more than you would initially think. Your swimsuit should not be difficult, as in the end they are all basically the same. Your swimsuit needs only to cover you without impeding your smooth movement through the water. There are no fashion police, and fashion statements need not be made. You should be able to get your suit from the local sporting goods or specialty shop.

Next up for purchase is a good pair of swim goggles. Keep in mind, you will have your head face down as you swim, and turned to the side as you breathe and orient yourself in the pool. If you had no goggles, the chlorination of the pool would irritate your eyes, not to mention that our eyes do not see so well under water without aid.

You very likely will have to try on many different pairs of goggles to find a pair that fit you comfortably. Whatever you do, do not buy goggles solely on the look or size. You must try on all pairs you consider. If you can, go specifically to a swim shop to get good help with fit for your needs.

While there, see about getting yourself a swim cap. A cap is not a necessary item for training, but seeing as you will have to wear it for the triathlon, you might as well get used to wearing it now anyways.

A useful tool you should definitely consider for your training are hand paddles. These tools help you to learn proper hand entry into the water, and proper catch and pull of the water as part of your swimming stroke.

These paddles will also help you strengthen your arms and your shoulders thanks to increased water resistance. Stronger arms and shoulders pull harder and faster, meaning you move through the water faster overall. Note: if you have a shoulder or rotator cuff injury, then you should avoid using the hand paddles until those injuries clear up, otherwise they could make your injuries worse.

The next 2 items on your list should be a pair of swim fins, and a kick board. The swim fins will help you to gain leg strength and increase ankle flexibility; while the kick board will help you practice proper kick technique via kick board drills.

Lastly, you should look into a pull buoy. A pull buoy is a large hunk of foam that goes between your legs and keeps the back end of you afloat to keep you from kicking. That way you can focus specifically on the use of your arms to propel you thought the water.

If water in your ears is an issue you cannot abide, look into earplugs to keep water out. If you cannot abide earplugs, there are alcohol solutions which work well in getting the water out of your ears fairly quickly. Last of all, you will need a mesh bag to carry all of this gear in.

Photo Credits: akunamatata

Originally posted 2009-10-19 03:19:17. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

For people who are not professional athletes but are still interested in training for a triathlon, the concept of training ahead of time might seem like a lot of impossible work with no guarantee of any rewards. In reality, training for a triathlon is something that is well within your grasp, no matter what your current physical shape or abilities are. If you are serious about training for a triathlon and you are looking for the best way to get started, keep reading.

Many of the people who have regularly competed in triathlons actually began in the same state of inactivity as the next person. Some of these people only occasionally went to the gym or worked out before they decided to participate in these events. Many of these people found the inspiration to try out for a triathlon, and enjoyed the training and preparation process so much that they simply improved their physical capabilities over time. So if you are interested in training for a triathlon, you can be successful in time regardless of your current physical condition.

The real key when it comes to training successfully for a triathlon is to begin slowly, and simply work your way up over time. There are three events involved in the triathlon: swimming, biking and running. You should add elements of training that correspond to all three of these events. You may want to consider joining a health club or a gym for the best results, because this will allow you to get your swimming, your biking and your running all in during a single visit, and you can time yourself as you go.

You should make sure to track your endurance, keeping track specifically of when your energy wanes. Many people find that they need to build up the endurance, stamina and strength in their legs in order to tackle the running and bicycling aspects of the competition. You may also find that you need to build up your upper body strength in order to do well in the swimming aspect of the competition.

Some trainers also find that their best course of action is to lose weight over all, increasing endurance and aerobic activity in the process. In order to achieve either of these goals, you should aim to begin small and slowly increase your aerobic activity and weight lifting over time. If you end up pushing yourself too hard when you are training to compete in a triathlon, you can quickly become discouraged, which will prevent you from accomplishing all that you are capable of achieving. You may also end up hurting yourself if you push yourself too hard without regard for your physical well being. If you want to stay fit and healthy practice triathlon diet & nutrition on a regular basis.

Pacing yourself is vital when you are training for a triathlon. It may seem slow going at times, but it is worthwhile if you want to train the right way. You may consider aiming for a mini triathlon or a Sprint competition if you feel more comfortable competing before you are ready for a real triathlon competition as well.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-31 13:10:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There are many different reasons that a person may decide that they would like to compete or participate in a triathlon, do one of the multiple types of cycling, swimming or running and more. These are all activities that many people find enjoyable but are also all activities that take training. One of the main reasons that many run triathlons are the programs themselves they may be participating in.

Some triathlons or other related evens are for causes such as breast cancer or aids and more. This can mean a great deal to a person morally and emotionally especially if they have had a family member or have themselves had to deal with the cause that the event is for. Many of these events have proceeds that go to victims or to help these things not happen to more people and for many people this is very important and is there way of making a difference. In addition, it means that each person who participate counts and each person who can make it till the end also counts, to some their speed may count but to most it is simply having the endurance to be able to make it to the end.

As mentioned above the main thing a person will need to be able to complete a triathlon is endurance. For many people they prefer to say stamina is what is needed but no matter what way you chose to look at what is needed what a person’s main goal should be is to be in good enough shape to be able to make it across the finish line. This is true for running, swimming, cycling and triathlons. When competing in order to win you still should make sure to make a point of strengthening your stamina or endurance because these are what you need to be able to make it through a triathlon or a competition in any of these areas.

When training for endurance or stamina you need to be able to make time for yourself to be able to train and you need to start early. When you find out you will be entered into one of these events you should try to start building endurance as soon as possible. It can be helpful if you use the activity itself to help you build this endurance. This normally starts with setting a timed limit for these actions such as swimming for one hour or more or running for an hour and not allowing yourself to stop.

Some individuals need to start at much lower amounts of time such as five minutes or even fifteen, and then you work yourself to longer amounts of time. When you do this you are helping to make sure you will be able to pass that finish line. While some people compete simply to win others simply enjoy the feeling of knowing that they did it and that they achieved something that others have not been able to.

Photo Credit: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-10 13:28:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Most people who are facing the concept of their first triathlon are wondering what type of gear and equipment will best suit them. Depending on your skill level, your budget and what equipment you currently own, your needs for the right gear will certainly be difficult. Assuming that budget is a concern and you are dealing with a relatively short triathlon rather than an ironman competition, here are some considerations that you need to keep in mind:

Swimming –

You are definitely going to want to have a good pair of goggles, so do not be afraid to drop $20 or $30 dollars here. You do not want to go cheap when it comes to a nice pair of goggles, because these really go a long way. Visit a real sports store and buy a pair of rubber sealed goggles. As far as swimming attire goes, you can go the wetsuit route, or you can choose a triathlon in a climate that allows you to dress more casually. If you do decide to go the route of the wetsuit, then you are going to need to learn how to get in and out of the wetsuit quickly in order to perform well during the competition. If you own biking shorts that have a pad built in, then you may be able to swim in them, negating the need to purchase a separate swimsuit. Girls may aim to wear a one or two piece with a T-back, making sure to choose something that is light and comfortable.

Biking -

A bike can certainly blow a budget, so don’t worry about getting a good bike until after a few races. Right now, just worry about using whatever bike you can borrow, or already have stored in your garage. Road bikes, ten speed bikes and mountain bikes are all acceptable in these types of races. Make sure at the very least, however, that you have cage pedals. Biking helmets are also a complete must because you cannot participate without one. Padded bike shorts or a soft, gel pad seat are also vital so address these issues sooner rather than later.

Running -

Do not skimp when it comes to good shoes. Spend a little money here and it will certainly pay off in the end. Make sure that your shoes are being fitted properly. As far as running wear goes, make sure that you are choosing something comfortable, light and airy in order to best survive your run. Many people throw lightweight running clothes over the attire they wear for biking and swimming, and this makes the transition from one sport to the next much more fluid. You may want to consider this, but ultimately it is up to you what you choose.

There is also a lot of fun gear that you can buy to customize your experience during each triathlon race. Just don’t go too overboard at first until you know what you really need.

Photo Credits: envisionpublicidad

Originally posted 2009-06-14 12:26:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter