Physiology for Athletes

Physiology for Athletes

by Emma Carney (AUS) -
Number of replies: 0

Dear Athletes,

Over the next few weeks, you will receive emails regarding race preparation. I have designed these emails to help improve your race IQ (also known as race craft) which includes your skills, understanding and approach to different race scenarios that you should expect on the World Triathlon circuit as well as your countries National Triathlon events and World Triathlon Continental events.

As an athlete, you can always develop your race IQ, and you always should seek to, because the better you understand races, race courses and your own strengths and weaknesses, the better you can use a race course to your advantage (and your competitor’s disadvantage).

There is only so much you can increase your training volume to and how many tough training sessions you can fit into your day. Develop your race IQ and you can grab cheap time gains, just by racing better and smarter. You need to know where these are though, when to grab them, how to position yourself to and how to train for them….

In order to make sure the information provided is relevant in this series of emails to every type of athlete, I have designed them not just around a specific race, instead around as many scenarios as I can cover that you will find in races. We will look in detail at the swim, bike, run and transitions and attempt to include scenarios that are involved in triathlon racing. if you can think of scenarios not covered, go to the forum to open a discussion here (https://education.triathlon.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=6150).

Hopefully as we work through these emails you will develop a better understanding and even develop some new race tactics and approaches when full racing does return.

Before we start, the emails will follow a format as we move through the disciplines.

Given no two athletes are the same, these emails when discussing a discipline will always consider three athlete scenarios –

  1. Athlete A will be a strong athlete in that discipline.

  2. Athlete B will be an athlete who has a weakness in that discipline

  3. Athlete C will be an athlete who is young or inexperienced in that discipline

Before you start any training program

In order to correctly identify an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, the athlete needs to be properly assessed. Improvement does not come through just unmonitored increased training intensities and volumes. Weaknesses need to be identified in constructive and applicable discipline specific tests that are relevant to the triathlon distance they are racing. Once these individual athlete strengths and weaknesses have been identified, an athlete’s improvement needs to be structured around planned training and realistic projections regarding performance in training and racing. Consistency is really the most important training skill to possess in times of development. Day in and day out practice and refinement.

Key Point - be patient 

It is important to remember when developing a discipline and skill, the improvements will show in training first and may not initially show in races. Racing is generally the last place an athlete will show an improvement, but when they do, they have usually stepped up to another level, so their entire performances in training and racing are at a higher level. It can be likened to raising the floor and the ceiling together.

Which tests do World Triathlon recommend?

World Triathlon Development has many documents around the physiology of triathlon. Through 2020, we also ran some webinars. All the information and guidance can be found on the education hub in the webinar section. Your coach would have a strong understanding around these. If you have any questions, this forum is always available to post questions to us.

Key Point - You DO NOT need to have the best test results to become the best athlete.

What if your test results aren’t as good as your squad members or other athletes in your group?

It is common for athletes to find testing a stressful process. Sometimes, results that are not hitting the high expectations of an athlete are generally met with disappointment. But DO NOT despair - athlete test results do not make or break you as an athlete, and here’s why –

  1. There may be differences in physical maturity between athletes, creating large differences in testing outcomes. This is the case particularly for younger athletes, when their development is at different stages. This is also a reason for U23 athletes who are stepping up to Elite racing, and their younger age, younger body and a lower experience in racing that leads to the older more experienced athletes to outperform the younger athletes.

  2. Testing environments are not the same as race scenarios. Testing can be fine tuned and designed to mimik race scenarios BUT nothing absolutely replicates a race. They can be aimed to create the stresses of a race, but the environment of a race is something quite unique that cannot be concocted in a training session or testing lab. Some athletes have an ability to race and respond, react and perform in race scenarios. This art of racing is not exactly reproduced in a testing environment. Instead, the focus remains on the ability to hurt and push yourself with performance targets are tested. Without the stimulus of a race, some athletes don’t test as well. Remember your mind is very powerful.

  3. Testing environments take some time to adapt to. Some athletes do not respond well to the equipment used or the environment of a test. Running on a treadmill in a lab testing Vo2Max is awkward for most athletes. Expecting a standout performance in something you find uncomfortable and awkward is a big ask.

  4. Testing will not always show an improvement. Unfortunately, improvement in sport is not a perfect upward sloping tracking of improvement. Some days you are tired, irritated, don’t have the legs or just feel ordinary.

  5. Testing does not properly take into account what you can achieve by racing a course better. If you know you do not have the same engine as others, race smarter. Make little time gains over an endurance race by simply being more efficient over a course, and this will leave you up with the contenders.

The most important thing to remember as an athlete is that a brilliant test result will not guarantee anything in sport. Talent is common, disciplined talent is less common and then even less common is talent, discipline and a positive mindset. Ideally you want to possess all three…

Behind every athlete is a story of why they race, why they line up each season and why they want to be the best triathlete they can be. This story relies on motivation, self-belief and the will to win. This cannot be accurately tested because it comes down to an athlete’s ability to reject what is possible and race with an open mind. In a world where seconds split athletes as they cross the line, it is often the self-belief that will separate the true winners.

With an open mind, I am going to take you through the various swim, bike, run and transition scenarios of triathlon to hopefully help you develop further your own racing skills.

Next week we start with the swim.

If you would like anything discussed, please use the forum.

Emma


Asics Logo
Global Development Partner of World Triathlon