Training Tip Tuesday #1
Training Tip Tuesday (or TTT as I will refer to it from now on,) will be aimed at getting the most out of your training by providing you with helpful tips and advice on how you can maximize your training time, use nutrition and other tools to boost recovery, and make you faster overall!
Our first TTT topic is probably fairly obvious, but it is something that I think a lot of athletes overlook. I am of course talking about workout preparation. This can mean different things to different people and how you prep depends on a host of factors including outdoor vs. indoor training, morning vs. evening workouts, etc. But there are a few easy rules I follow that can help you save time before a workout and keep you on schedule.
#1. Plan Ahead
Because I train in the morning on a tight-schedule, I usually review the next morning’s workout the night before and lay out everything I need to make sure I can get right out of bed and hit the workout ASAP. This includes filling up bottles, laying out any nutrition I need, choosing my workout gear, and charging all electronic devices. Right now in the season, we are in full winter mode. Because I do not have access to a treadmill, this means that it is especially important for me to check the weather ahead of time if I am running. Choosing the proper gear ahead of time saves the headache of searching for a pair of gloves or wool socks in the dark at 5:30am. The same goes for if you train in the afternoon after work. Taking 10-15 minutes the night before, or in the morning to lay out everything you need will motivate you when you get home and don’t feel like hopping on the trainer. It is all ready to go, no excuses!
#2. Have a Purpose
Every workout you do should have some sort of purpose and take you one step closer to achieving your goals. This can be as big as a 5-hour training ride to get you used to the time required in the saddle for an Ironman race, or as simple as 20 minutes of easy spinning on the trainer to warm up your legs before stretching. Without a purpose, most people quickly lose motivation and their training suffers as a result. If you do not have a coach, try writing your workouts for the week ahead of time and make sure that each training session has a defined purpose that will create a positive result for you in at least one area of your training plan.
#3. Back-up Planning
When a training session goes well, it is the best feeling. You hit your targets, you did the work, you might have suffered a bit, but it was worth it! The worst feeling is when you fail a workout for reasons outside of your control. The alarm clock didn’t go off, you had to work late, the treadmill broke down. With a back-up plan in your back pocket, you can turn these unfortunate situations into meaningful training sessions that you will still benefit from. Imagine you get stuck in traffic on the way home from work and your one hour-thirty minute workout window is now cut down to just half-an-hour. Your training plan had you doing 1 hour of aerobic biking with a quick, fast run off the bike. To maximize your time, switch the workout to 30 minutes of over-unders on the bike. This will increase your aerobic capacity while touching up the high-end you would have hit on the run. Not ideal, but you will still derive a training benefit that will help you reach your goals.
If you already incorporate these philosophies into your training plan, way to go! If you don’t, I recommend trying one of these tips and really commit to it. Let me know how it worked for you and good luck!
