ENDORPHIN FITNESS..............

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2012 ARTICLES FROM EF Advice....
- TRANSITION FOR MOUNTAIN BIKERS

2011 ARTICLES FROM EF Advice....

-GAINING A MENTAL EDGE - Michael Harlow
-BUYING SPEED - Michael Harlow
-Testing: Assessing Fitness Level and Developing a Platform for Improvement - Michael Harlow
-Race Nutrition Strategies - Michael Harlow
-Weight Lifting is Useless - Camille Ronesi
-Effective Strenght Training - Camille Ronesi

2010 Articles from EF ADVICE...
January: Planning for a Successful 2010
February : The Smooth or the Rugged Road?
March : Key Workouts For Off-Road Racing
April : Training Beyond Yourself
May : Introducing Youth to Endurance Sports
June : Off Road Triathlon Training
July : Dealing With The Heat

Endorphin Fitness joins the Virginia Off Road Series once again in 2012 to continue helping our athletes get to the finish faster! Last year, EF contributed training and nutritional columns for our athletes. Endorphin Fitness is committed to getting the most out of the athletes they train. Training, testing and whatever you need to make yourself faster and stronger... ENDORPHIN FITNESS has what you need!

Another great addition to our EF page is ASK EF. Here, you can ASK EF anything specific regarding training and nutrition for better results. Try ASK EF or stop by their website and see what all the talk is about... Click Here

CAMILLE RONESI - Head of Strength and Conditioning.... Check out her blog > CLICK HERE

Camille has long been regarded as one of the top strength and conditioning specialists in the area. She has made her name through her motivating personality as well as her ability to identify potential injuries and prevent them from occurring through strength and conditioning

Camille graduated from the College of William & Mary in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology/Sports Medicine. Since 2004, Camille has incorporated her sports medicine background into her personal training practice, creating a total body approach to fitness and performance development. Camille also has a background in Athletic Training which gives her a keen eye for preventing and rehabbing injury through strength training. Her certifications include:

• National Athletic Trainer's Association (NATA) Certified Athletic Trainer
• National Strength and Conditioning (NSCA) Certified Personal Trainer
• Level 1 Kettlebell Instructor

Camille has participated in a range of events including 100 mile mountain biking races, XTERRA off road triathlon, road triathlon, and 18-hour adventure races.

Buying Speed

The winter months are an essential building block to a successful season.  During the off-season, you have the opportunity to train without the distraction of weekend races.  This allows you seven days a week to focus on the essentials: technique development and turning your weakest discipline into your strongest.  These are crucial developmental months for any triathlete looking to have his or her best season yet. 

During this time, it is also very important that you begin to assemble the equipment you plan to use for the race season so that you can train using this equipment.  You want to have plenty of time to get used to the equipment, be it a bike or new set of wheels. 

In considering your equipment choices for 2011, you will want to make purchases that give you the most return (speed) for your investment.  For triathletes, the primary concern in achieving greater speed is maximizing aerodynamics which allows you to go faster with less energy utilized (less watts).  Weight is a consideration but should be far less of a concern for triathletes.  In terms of upgrades, below is the order in which you should proceed.  I will reference watts saved for each item to quantify the savings.  A Twenty-five watt savings is equal to around a mile per hour in speed.  

Bike Fit – If you have not had a professional bike fit (2-3 hour process), start here.  Your position on the bike is more valuable than any piece of equipment you can purchase.  It enables you to maximize comfort and aerodynamics to get the most speed out of your body and equipment.  70% of aerodynamics is your position with a good fit saving you around 25-50 watts (1-2 mph).  Therefore, start with finding your ideal position and then purchase equipment that enables you to better utilize that position.  A good fit will include a discussion on the right equipment for your individual position and needs.

Inexpensive Necessities – There are a few small items that every triathlete should have.  These include proper race uniform, a race belt, and speed laces/cord locs on your shoes.  These three items are inexpensive and allow you to save a lot of time in transition.  These three items could save you upwards of 2 minutes in transition and are therefore no brainers. 

Aero Bars – The primary benefit of aero bars is not the actual aero bar itself but rather the position it enables you to achieve.  If you have a road bike, adding aero bars to your bike and getting a bike fit to get in the ideal position with these aero bars will gain you about 25 watts (or 1 mph).  This should therefore be your first upgrade if you are currently using a traditional road bike with drop bars. 

Aero Helmet – Though perceived as only for the speediest of triathletes, an aero helmet is something that any triathlete who desires faster race times should have.  Compared to other upgrades, aero helmets are rather inexpensive ($75 - $200) but you receive a great return (around 10 watts or ½ mph) for this investment.  I caution you to get expert counsel (and ideally a bike fit) before making an aero helmet choice as there are different aero helmet shapes for different positions. 

Race Tires – Another rather inexpensive purchase, your tire choice can make a significant difference in your race times.  This is quantified in rolling resistance with the fastest tires having the least rolling resistance.  Depending on what you are upgrading from, tires can save you between 5-15 watts (around ½ mph) which is significant for such a small investment. 

Race Wheels – Lighter, more aerodynamic wheels will save you around 10-20 watts (around ½ mph).  Most triathletes jump to this purchase first, as it is the flashiest, but I recommend exhausting the options above first and then making this purchase as wheels are more expensive.  When considering your wheel choice, consider aerodynamics first and weight second.  Though deep rimmed wheels and disk wheels are not always the lightest (as they have more material), they are the fastest for triathletes cheating the wind. 

Triathlon Bike – Purchasing a triathlon bike is a great step once you have made many of the above purchases and are ready to make a larger investment.  Luckily, most of the above investments can be used in conjunction with or on your new triathlon bike.  The most significant benefit of a triathlon bike is that it allows you to achieve your ideal aerodynamic position.  A road bike with less aggressive, slacker geometry can only get you so far toward your ideal position.  A triathlon bike with a more forward position opens up many more options for an aerodynamic position.  Beyond this, the tubing will be more aerodynamic as well, but this still only accounts for about 30% of the benefits of moving to a triathlon bike.  It is very important when making a bike purchase to find the bike that fits your position best.  At Endorphin Fitness, we start by finding this position without the limitations of the bike by using the Serotta Size Cycle and then match you with the bike that has the best geometry for this position.

I hope this article helps you make more informed decisions on the most practical ways to buy speed.  Best of luck in 2011! 

Michael Harlow is the head coach and owner of Endorphin Fitness (http://endorphinfitness.com).  For questions or more information on coaching, gear, or bike fit, you can email him at michael@endorphinfitnress.com.

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Testing: Assessing Fitness Level and Developing a Platform for Improvement
Coach Michael Harlow

The start to a new season should begin with an honest and accurate appraisal of your fitness so that you can determine reasonable and achievable goals.  The way to do this is through proven testing techniques.  Through testing, you are able to determine exactly where you stand fitness-wise today and set reasonable goals for where you want to be at the end of the season.  More so, through repeat testing throughout the season, you can check your progress toward your goal and make modifications to your training based on the results. 

There are three major objectives with testing:
1: Identify Fitness Level – To get where you want to go, you have to start by identifying where you are.  A good test should identify your limiters, those factors that are keeping you from reaching your goals.  These could include technique, endurance, and/or speed. 
2: Set Training Zones – Once fitness level is determined, individual training zones should be developed from this.  These training zones will guide your training, ensuring you are training at the correct intensity at all times.  Depending on what training aids you utilize, these zones can be set for pace, heart rate, and power. 
3: Gauge Progress – As you work toward your goals, you will want to repeat your tests approximately every 4-8 weeks to reassess fitness and adjust training zones. 

Testing has various forms that are valid and useful.  The important thing is that you find a test that works for you and is repeatable in similar conditions (temperature, terrain, time of day, etc).  Testing can be made very simple or very advanced through scientific laboratory testing.  Though there are numerous test variations, I will focus on two for the purposes of this article: Time Trials and two laboratory tests, V02 Max and Lactate Testing. 

Time Trials are a simple, accessible form of testing completed through a swim, bike, or run max effort over a designated distance.  What better way to test your fitness than test your speed, the most pure indicator of mountain bike/running performance?  When doing a time trial, it is very important that you create a repeatable environment.  You should always do these tests at the same location which is free from interferences like traffic.  Often, the easiest way to do this is to use a track for the run, trainer (do based on time) or a closed loop.  I encourage you to test two limiters with regard to each field test: speed and endurance.  Therefore, your time trial should consist of at least two distances: a very short distance that will measure speed as well as a longer distance that will measure endurance.  The speed test should be very short in the form of 10-20 seconds with the endurance test being longer in the form of 10-20 minutes.  You can also test intermediate distances as well to pinpoint additional limiters such as VO2 Max.  By looking at the disparity between the various tests, you will be able to identify which areas are your greatest limiters and thus where you should focus your efforts for the upcoming season.

Laboratory Testing: There are a lot of laboratory tests used by athletes with the two most commonly used tests being V02 Max Testing and Lactate Testing. All laboratory tests require a trained individual to conduct the test. 

V02 Max Testing: V02 Max testing measures how much oxygen you are able to consume at maximum intensity before becoming anaerobic. In theory, those athletes who are able to process the most oxygen should be fastest as they are getting more oxygen to the working muscles. However, this does not take in to consideration the effect of proper technique. With proper technique, which is teachable, an athlete requires less oxygen to race at the same speed as someone using all of their available oxygen.  VO2 Max is your highest potential VO2, a number that can only be identified through testing at your greatest possible fitness level.  VO2 Peak is where your VO2 is currently.  This is the number we identify with individual tests and is trainable.  Since VO2 Peak is trainable, it is a great number to identify at the start of your season and reassess throughout the season as you work toward your goals.   

Lactate Testing: Lactate Testing is an additional laboratory test to establish an athlete’s Lactate Threshold.  Lactate threshold is defined as the point at which there is a switch from the predominance of using oxygen as one’s primary source of fuel to using anaerobic means (lactate). With this switch comes limited capacity to maintain pace.  Under lactate threshold, one can hold pace for 40-60 minutes whereas above lactate threshold one can only sustain pace for 8-10 minutes.  As endurance athletes, we want to identify this point and train to increase endurance under it as well as push it upward.  Lactate threshold is trainable with the goal of moving it up and should be tested often to gauge progress.  This is one of the major goals of endurance training.

Testing is an essential component of any endurance athlete’s training program as a tool to improve performance and accomplish one’s goals.  Many of us rely on racing to gauge fitness, but unlike specific testing designs, races are not 100% equal in distances, terrain, or weather.  Therefore, performing test sets throughout your season is essential.  Use this testing to plan your season.  I invite you to join me on January 31st at 7:30 PM for a Free Lecture on using testing protocol to plan your race season training.  Please reserve a spot by contacting me at the website below. 

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness where expert coaches use field, VO2, and lactate testing to help their athletes set and achieve their goals.  To learn more, visit http://endorphinfitness.com. 

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RACE NUTRITION STRATEGIES
Coach Michael Harlow
Endorphin Fitness

Once all the workouts are completed and the hay is in the barn, nutrition will make or break your race.  To perform optimally, you need to feed your body with optimal fuel.  This is the case with a 5k, a sprint triathlon, or an Ironman – regardless, nutrition matters. 

This article will take you through race nutrition from two weeks out from the race to the hours following the race.  Good nutrition does not start and end on race day but it should be a habit we utilize every day we train.  Therefore, the strategies outlined below can and should be applied to your training as well, especially your intense and/or long workouts.  For recovery workouts, assuming you are eating well, you should be fine with just water as you do not need the extra calories. 

1–2 WEEKS OUT FROM RACE
It is time to begin re-building, re-fueling and preparing your body for the rigors of racing.  This is the time to do all the things nutritionally you know you should be doing on a daily basis but may not always follow.  Look at food as fuel and make sure you are only consuming the highest quality nutrients.  Cut out non-essential food that will not aid your body in performing optimally.  Unnecessary fats, calories, and simple sugars should all be minimized or eliminated to make sure your body is getting only the highest quality nutrients.  If you regularly consume alcohol, this is a good time to minimize or eliminate it from your diet as alcohol inhibits your body’s ability to rebuild and reduces the red blood cells’ ability to absorb oxygen. If you regularly consume caffeine, now is the time to drastically reduce or eliminate this from your diet as well.  You may know that caffeine can be used as a performance enhancer, but this is only the case if your body is not used to it and thus de-sensitized from the effects. 

Fruits and vegetables should be eaten regularly during this time as they provide the bulk of the amino acid building blocks that your body needs to repair itself from the hard training you have been subjecting yourself to in the weeks and months leading up to your race.  Combine fruits and vegetables with small portions of lean meats as well as proper carbohydrate levels to fuel your workouts and you have a powerful package of fuel to allow you to perform optimally. 

I do caution you to be careful of over-consumption, especially with regard to simple and complex carbohydrates during this period. You may have the same hunger and desire to eat, but your body will require far fewer calories with your dramatically reduced training load during this period.  Scale back slightly and consume only the calories needed for your current level of training.

3-5 DAYS OUT FROM RACE
As we enter race week, begin to add more complex low-glycemic index carbohydrates during this period. Whole grains, brown rice, and other complex carbohydrates are great choices to bring your body to peak fitness. Stick to lean meats and still consume adequate fruits and veggies to repair and re-build. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water - start and finish each day with a large glass of water to ensure this is the case.

1-3 DAYS OUT FROM RACE
This is the most important dietary period for racing performance and the traditional carbo-loading period. Consume frequently (4-6 meals a day) including some form of complex carbohydrate at each. Start to reduce fiber consumption by reducing the amount of fruits and veggies.  Increase your sodium intake, an important electrolyte to performance, by adding some extra salt on your food at all meals. Continue to drink lots of water.  Your bodyweight may increase slightly – this is a sign that your body is storing extra liquid and glycogen – this means that you are fueling properly.   Two nights before the race should be your last big meal (though don’t go crazy) – whole grain carbohydrates are preferred at this time. 

DAY BEFORE RACE
You want to start with a large, balanced breakfast that is normal for you and then eat frequent, small meals throughout the day.  Lunch should be split it into two smaller meals at 11am and 2 pm.  Snack throughout the day on predominately complex carbohydrates though it is ok to balance with a little protein.  Dinner should be light and balanced with foods that are normal to your stomach.  Try to finish dinner before 7pm and snack later if hungry.  Continue to focus predominately on whole grain carbohydrates with minimal fat and fiber.   Extra salt/sodium and plenty of water is a good thing and very important. 

RACE DAY BREAKFAST
It is preferable, though rarely possible to eat a meal 4-5 hours before race start.  If you are able to do this, 1000-1500 calories is ideal to stock your glycogen stores.  If you are eating breakfast within 3 hours of the event, make it a little lighter around 500-800 calories. You are looking for whole grain, complex carbohydrates for this meal (i.e.: whole grain bagel, whole grain waffles, oatmeal).  Consume little to no fiber and fat - no fruit, veggies, eggs, bacon, cream cheese, and butter.  Start drinking water as soon as you get up and continue to drink until 60-75 minutes before the race start. 

Coffee can be resumed at this time if it is part of your plan for performance and habit. Waiting until 20-40 minutes before the race for caffeine consumption will give you the optimal effect.

LEADING UP TO THE START
At 60-75 minutes from the race start, it is time to start consuming high-glycemic carbohydrates that will become available for the race.  Switching from water to a sports drink is extremely important at this time to ensure you are fueling your body with the adequate carbohydrates and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) to perform.  You should consume around 24 ounces of a quality sports drink in the last 60-75 minutes before the race.  If you like to eat something close to the race, eat a bar or something like it 1-1.5 hrs before. If you still want something right before, consume one 100 calorie gel fifteen minutes before the start.

DURING RACE
There are a few key nutritional benchmarks (shown below) that are essential during any race.  Implement these benchmarks in your training and commit to hitting them in the race.
Sports Drink: Approximately 24 ounces (a standard sports bottle) per hour of a quality sports drink (Accelerade, Gatorade Endurance, Powerbar Perform, etc).  Notice that water is not recommended here as this dilutes your body of essential electrolytes that are present in sports drinks.  This is a big mistake many make in racing!
Calories: 300-400 calories/hour on bike and 200-300 calories/hour on the run as your body does not digest as easily on the run.  This is a combination of your entire intake including gels, solids, fluids, etc.  You need to train your body to be able to consume this amount of calories.  Long rides and runs are great opportunities to work on consuming more calories. 
Sodium: 600-1000 mg/hour combined with all intake.  Sodium is one of the key electrolytes – consuming enough is extremely important but often overlooked.  Too little sodium will lead to dehydration, cramping, and deteriorated performance.  If you feel any of these coming on, it is time to take more sodium.  If it is a hot day and/or you are a heavy sweater, you should be on the upper end of this scale.  If it is a cooler day and/or you sweat less than most, you can get by with less.  To hit this goal, it often requires sodium supplementation.  I like a product called S-Caps which have 340 mg of sodium per capsule.  I always have these close by in races and recommend the same for my athletes. 

Below is an overview of what a few popular supplements have nutritionally:
Drinks

1. Gatorade Endurance: 150 Calories / 600 mg Sodium
2. Accelerade: 240 Calories / 380 mg Sodium (Protein)
3. EFS: 182 Calories / 600 mg Sodium (Other Electrolytes)

Gels/Blocks

1. Accel Gel: 100 Calories / 100 mg Sodium (Protein)
2. First Endurance Liquid Shot: 100 Calories / 100 mg Sodium
3. Clif Shot Blocks (3): 100 Calories / 70-210 mg Sodium
4. Powergel: 110 Calories / 200 mg Sodium

Bars

1. Clif Bar: 250 Calories / 150 mg Sodium
2. Powerbar: 230 Calories / 200 mg Sodium

Other

1. S-Caps: 0 Calories / 340 mg Sodium

In long races, the SWIM has the potential to leave you at a caloric deficit pre-race nutrition is so important as well as that you begin replenishing immediately upon exiting the water.  If you have not practiced consuming nutrients right after the swim, wait until 5 minutes into the bike to do so to give your body time to adjust to the flow of blood from arms to legs.  You can assist with this by adding more kicking in the final leg of the swim.  For Half or Full Ironman races, you may consider tucking a gel in your suit as well and consuming at the mid-way point of the swim.  Again, practice this before race day.

The BIKE is the time to consume the bulk of your calories as digestion rates are best.  Consuming 300-400 calories an hour is a good goal for about 90% of athletes.  Some have trained their stomachs to handle up to 500 calories but this takes practice.  You have to be aware of what your body is telling you.  You may experience a small pouch or sloshing feeling in your stomach – this is telling you that there are calories waiting to be digested which is being prevented from doing so by your level of intensity.  Slow your intensity and/or simply wait until this feeling passes and then resume your nutrition plan. 

For Sprint and Olympic, your calories should come from fluids and possibly a gel if you have practiced during training. For Half and Full Ironman, some choose to race without solids, but most want something to vary intake and fill your stomach slightly. If you like solids, find a few things that agree with you and vary them through longer races so you don’t get sick of any one thing.  This applies to your sports drink and gels as well.  Energy bars work great here or even more normal foods as long as they are fairly high-glycemic and low fiber. 

Space your nutrition out evenly throughout the bike while consuming in small portions.  With that said, give yourself a few minutes at the beginning of the ride to allow the blood to flow to your legs and taper nutrition off near the end of the ride so that your body is ready for the slower digestion that comes with running.  This will also allow you to begin the run with as much blood available to your legs as possible as blood is required for digestion.  Again, you can train your body to be better at these transitions and thus take in nutrition sooner. 

On the RUN, settle into your pace and give yourself a few minutes before consuming any nutrition.  Remember that your digestion rate is slower on the run so you will need to consume less than on the bike and be very aware of what your body is telling you. 

If you are doing the Sprint or Olympic and fueled well up to this point, you should not need much on the run so drink based on what your body is telling you. For Half or Full Ironman races, you need to keep up your nutrition to prevent bonking at the end. Settle in for the first 5-10 minutes and evaluate how your stomach feels. If you feel good, start taking in nutrients at about 200 calories an hour. If you have practiced, you can take in as
much as 300 calories an hour but you must train your body to do this. Most athletes need to adopt a liquid only diet at this point consuming sports drink and gels at the aid stations.  There may be cola and chicken broth at the aid stations as well - these are excellent sources of sodium, sugar/simple carbohydrates, and often give you what you need when bonking.  
If you run into problems on the run, it is generally your inability to absorb what your body needs to continue at you desired pace or a lack of sodium.  If you feel your pace slowing, slow down, let the calories absorb, and then slowly pick back up the pace.  Your legs require blood to run and your stomach requires blood to digest – there is only so much blood to go around.  If you feel any cramping, consume sodium immediately.  For this reason, I recommend keeping sodium tablets close by at all times. 

POST RACE
You did it – time to celebrate!! But first, get a recovery drink as the first 15 minutes after a tough race or workout is crucial for getting nutrients in.  Your cells are open wide and staving for nutrients which are critical for your recovery.   

It is also important for you to consume a quality meal around 60-90 minutes following your workout.  This should be a nutrient/vitamin dense meal of carbohydrates and protein.  A salad with grilled chicken and whole grain rice would be perfect.  Make sure you also hydrate throughout the day with water. 

As I alluded to in the introduction, the strategies introduced here should be employed in your training as well.  This serves the purpose of not only practicing your race nutrition plan but also ensuring that you are fueling your workouts properly as well as giving your body every chance to recover post workout.  Make good nutrition a part of your every day training.  It is absolutely essential to your success. 

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness where expert coaches apply science based nutrition practices and Richmond’s leading triathlon retail shop to guide athletes to their goals.  To learn more, visit http://endorphinfitness.com. 

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Don’t settle for mediocre goals! Take a risk and believe in yourself. The reward is great. Therefore, choose goals that take your body and mind to the next level. If they do not stretch you and call you to full engagement, you probably should consider more challenging goals.

Once you have chosen your goals, it is time to get started achieving them. As you approach your training, these are the steps with which you should attack the program.

1. Examine Yourself – Before you start a new training program, you must fully examine your abilities. By doing so, you will be able to tailor the program so that you will gain the most fitness with the least amount of effort. This should involve analyzing your strengths, weaknesses, past training, available time you have to devote to training, as well as your current physical & mental state. All of these items and more will dictate the layout of your training program. Remember, your training should improve your life, not take away from it. So, make sure your training fits your life and priorities.

2. Start With Technique – Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, technique should be the foundation of your program. Without proper technique, you are creating a ceiling that will dictate how much you can improve. Master the technique early before adding distance and/or speed.

3. Add Volume Safely – Increasing total volume is the first step to improvement but only if done correctly. An athlete’s volume should never supersede the point at which this athlete’s technique breaks down. Furthermore, volume is cumulative and should be added conservatively from week to week as well as year to year (both being around a 10% increase). This is also an argument for increasing race distance slowly from year-to-year as you can only increase total training volume in small increments which is not possible if you are making a significant jump in race distance.

4. Choose Speed Work Wisely – There are many ways to add speed work (intensity) to your training program to get results fast, but these must be chosen based on your greatest opportunities for improvement (i.e.: weaknesses) and those areas that will prevent burnout and injury the most effectively. There is a place for intensity in your program year-round, but it must be periodized to ensure you remain injury free and don’t burn out.

5. Race Specific Training – If your goal is to complete a particular race or event, you must start tailoring your training towards this race as you get closer to this event. This will require researching the race and deciding what workouts will allow you to effectively work the same physiological systems that will come under demand by the race.

I wish you the best in 2010. Dedicate yourself to the principles introduced in this article and unleash your potential.

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches gets some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com - find them on Facebook, too.

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March : KEY WORKOUT FOR MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING

Last month I discussed the importance of training on both trails and roads to excel at off-road racing. This month, I am going to take this a step further and detail some key workouts that every mountain biker should employ to race his best. These workouts will focus on physiological rather than technical gains though the latter is an essential foundation to any physiological focus and should be emphasized in any training program.

It is important that you have some background information to start. There are a variety of physiological targets in the human body - fitness pools that require training attention to fill and perform optimally. Typically, we have shallow pools in some areas and brimming pools in others which become evident in our strengths and weaknesses. It is important that the athlete pay attention to each of these pools, but depending on the demands of your race, focus more attention towards some more than others. As mountain bikers, it is essential that you focus on some key pools.

At Endorphin Fitness, we refer to these pools as seven training zones which are expressed in the chart below:

Many people use different names and classifications for these zones, but the characteristics of the zones remain the same. As you move from Zone 1 to Zone 6, you move from predominately aerobic to predominately anaerobic energy sources. This transition does not work like a light switch as many people believe, but rather a dimmer with your energy being fueled partially by both aerobic and anaerobic means in all zones. Zone 7 is fueled by creatine-phosphate and is limited to short, explosive movements as this energy system is short lived.

As a mountain biker, you need to spend time in all of the above zones. With that said, mountain biking demands something different from the body than road cycling and thus one must key one’s training to these demands.

In most races, you will be predominately in zones 3-4. If the race is less than an hour, zone 4. If the race is between 2-3 hours, zone 3. Therefore, this is your base and special attention must be paid here first. You can introduce this training into your endurance/long ride or dedicate a quality workout to it, especially early season. I suggest long intervals of 30-60 minutes in zone 3 or 5-20 minutes in zone 4 building to a total of 1.5-2 hours in zone 3 or 40-60 minutes in zone 4 during one training session. These sessions are best done on the road or a flat, predictable fire-road.

Once you have a solid base of tempo/threshold work, it is time to look deeper into what happens on a smaller level within a mountain bike race. If you look at a power file from a mountain bike race, you will notice that there is a ton of variability during the ride. The trail forces you to constantly slam on and release the gas pedal to negotiate the technical sections, clear tough climbs, and make sharp turns. Though road racing has some of this variability due to group dynamics, nothing is like the trail, and your training must simulate this on and off the trail.

Due to this variability, anaerobic training becomes much more important than any other type of racing. When racing off-road, you are essentially stringing together a series of anaerobic efforts with recoveries in zone 3-4 between. This is trying on your body and will force it to shut down faster and often cause your muscles to cramp as they are forced to utilize Type II muscle fibers. To combat this and allow your body to perform optimally longer, you need to prepare your body for this in training by including anaerobic training in your program. These workouts consist of intervals between 30-90 seconds long at near max intensity. You should take 2-3 times the interval in rest to be able to do each at the desired intensity. You can do this on the road or a hill on a predictable trail – regardless; you need to be able to be on the gas pedal the entire time.

The third key workout are VO2 Max intervals. You will see above that these are typically 3-5 minute intervals with equal rest between. The mountain biker should include some classic VO2 intervals in his program, but I encourage you to do some non-traditional intervals as well that more closely simulate the trail. These intervals consist of 5-15 minutes alternating all out zone 6 pedaling with zone 2-3 pedaling with 5-10 minutes rest between each total rep. You can alternate the hard and easier segments every 15-30 seconds. It is important that you really push the hard segments super hard and the recoveries no easier than zone 2. This workout is very important at developing the ability to push the first few minutes of the race to secure a good position, when needing to push long hill climbs slightly above average race pace, when trying to put space between you and another racer by lifting the pace for a few minutes, or when you are trying to being it home with a hard closing effort. All of these take a VO2 Max effort, and typically, the trail demands that this effort fluctuate in the hard/easier pattern described above.

These are the key workouts that every mountain biker should have in his arsenal if he is seeking better race results. Enjoy the process and the results – hope to see you on the trails soon!



Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches get some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

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Training Beyond Yourself
Michael Harlow
Founder and Head Coach
Endorphin Fitness

What is the essence of endurance sports? Endurance sports are about taking yourself to a level you did not know you had. Leaving your comfort zone and realizing that the impossible is possible. This is what releases the endorphins, brings us back time and time again, and hooks us for life. This is what makes this sport so special.

Understanding this is the first step to training (and coaching). As athletes, we need to find workouts that take ourselves to a new level – that find an ability that we did not know we had. The majority of athletes that come to Endorphin Fitness for the first time are training at one pace, their current race pace or slower. If you want to get faster, you cannot train at your current race pace. To get faster, you must train above race pace using purposeful intervals that force your body to adapt.

When choosing the correct interval, choose whatever duration your body and mind will allow you to do faster than race pace. On the simplest of levels, as coaches, we find the interval duration that each individual will mentally and physically allow themselves to push beyond and repeat it until we feel that person can handle a longer duration at near the same pace. Before long, the person’s race pace is much faster than before, and we spend the last phase of training getting them comfortable at this new race pace. All this is assuming that the person is ready for intensity and has a solid base of technique and endurance before moving to this phase.

This process is unique for every individual as their starting point (interval duration) is different. The concept is the same though for all - choose workouts that we know will force our athletes to perform beyond their current level. The process is also unique to various points in training, because as the person develops, they will need to tolerate more intense workouts to continue to perform beyond.

This concept is much like anything in life – if we are not challenged, we do not improve. Through obstacles in our lives, we are forced to rise to the challenge and become greater. We do this in training, and we do this in life.

If you want to get everything out of this sport, challenge yourself. Don’t be satisfied with staying the same. Challenge yourself to go faster, go further, and go more efficiently. Find workouts that require you to rise above. At Endorphin Fitness, we charge our athletes to “Live Red” which means train to the full extent of your capabilities constantly challenging yourself to be better; and then, allowing this to permeate into all facets of your life. My hope is that you will “Live Red” today.


Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches get some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

Introducing Youth to Endurance Sports FONT CONTROL SIZE : +... -

Many of us have young children, siblings, or friends that we would like to see enjoy the sport we love. What better way to give back to the sport than to share with a young person the life changing, euphoric nature of endurance athletics?

I get the opportunity to share my passion with young people every day with Endorphin Fitness’ youth program. Every week, team members run, road bike, swim, and/or mountain bike to new levels of fitness and enjoyment, and I receive all the joys that come with this.

I encourage you to share your sport with a young person as you have the opportunity to truly impact his or her life. With this opportunity though comes a great responsibility to make this a fulfilling experience that sets the child up for years of growth physically and mentally. To ensure this, we prioritize three principles at Endorphin Fitness that I encourage you to also implement.

1. Prioritize Technique – Proper technique raises the bar of that which the athlete can achieve in regards to all endurance sports, be it swimming, cycling, mountain biking, running, or another endurance sport. Furthermore, it sets the young athlete up to prevent injury and develop properly for years to come. With every movement, we develop neural patterns that become engrained within our mind and muscles. As you know, bad habits are hard to change and often lead to injury as well as an inability to attain a certain fitness level. Therefore, it is essential that young athletes practice technique and reinforce this technique daily. You do not need to have perfect technique to teach it. If you do not know what perfect technique is though, I encourage you to find a coach that can share this with your young athlete. Much of technique for a youth athlete is coordination – simply finding balance and coordination in movement. Technique sessions should therefore be less structured around specific instructions but rather movements and drills that elicit proper technique without the child knowing it. Mountain biking therefore is a great skill to teach cycling technique simply because it demands that the rider learn to maneuver bike and body in a coordination movement while pedaling a smooth pedal stroke to navigate a trail successfully.

2. Appropriate Distance & Intensity – Youth are not adults nor should they train like adults. We all want our kids to be our training partner, but the truth is, we are limiting how many years we will be able to train with them by setting them up for injury down the road. Let kids develop slowly and enjoy success at distances and intensities at which they can succeed instead of pushing them too far forcing their technique to fail. Instead of asking the young athlete to join you for your 2 hour mountain bike ride, instead do 1.5 hours hard and then ride easy with him or her for the final 30 minutes. With time and consistency, he or she will be able to do more and more. There are 2 ways to determine appropriate youth volume and intensity. The first is to watch the athlete’s technique and stop or slow down when it begins to break down, but more importantly, watch his or her focus. If he or she is able to maintain focus and is enjoying every moment, you are probably at the right volume and intensity. If the child is getting bored or tired by the end, continuing may cause burn out and lack of desire to continue long-term. When in doubt, always err on the lower intensity and volume to have the youth athlete beg for more.

3. Above All Else, FUN – Nothing else matters if it is not fun. It does not matter how much potential a young athlete has, he or she will not succeed unless they are having fun. Never sacrifice this simple principle and constantly find ways to make it fun. Specifically to cycling/mountain biking, ride the roads, ride the trails, ride different roads and trails, play tag while on the bike, see how long you can ride a trail without putting your foot down, enter a race, share ride stories, etc. There are so many ways to add variety to endurance sports – don’t forget why we all do it in the first place.

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches get some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

XTERRA Richmond

With XTERRA Richmond right around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to devote this month’s column to preparing for this race. For those who don’t know, XTERRA is the most popular off-road triathlon series in the world. The XTERRA East Coast Regional Championships have been held in Richmond for the past several years and will be held on June 20th in Richmond this year. Richmond is one of the most popular races on the circuit with its unique urban setting and perfectly groomed, technical trails due to the amazing volunteers we have here in Richmond. This article will explore the race and better prepare those racing for race day.

Before I get into the actual course, we need to discuss The Weather. XTERRA Richmond is almost always one of the days of the year, as if it is not already tough enough. How you handle this heat will make or break your race. Nutrition is your best defense mechanism. You will want to make sure you hit three key nutrition variables: 24 ounces+ of quality sports drink, 600-1000 mg of sodium, and around 300 calories PER HOUR of racing combined with your total intake. If you are low on any of these key variables, your race will suffer. If the humidity is high (above 50%), I suggest also pouring cold water on your head whenever possible to keep cool; if low, let your sweat cool you off naturally instead.

The Swim is true XTERRA style – completely dependent on what Mother Nature delivers us. If the river is up and the current flowing, it makes for a very tough swim and XTERRA will probably adjust the course slightly to make it safer. Regardless, you will need to know how to swim in a current. When swimming cross current, make sure you aim higher than the point you are swimming to and swim across but slightly upstream; otherwise, you will end up downstream and have to swim back up. When swimming up-current, increase your stroke turnover to minimize glide as you will be pushed back between every stroke with maximum glide. When swimming down-current, do the opposite and stretch out your stroke placing greatest importance on being as hydrodynamic as possible. Also, try to find the sections of the river where the current is flowing the least when swimming upstream – most notably right beside the island if doing the sport distance. Always expect the start of the race to be the fastest so practice going hard at the beginning of your swims and then settling in. Also, you should spend the last few minutes of the swim preparing for the long run to transition by kicking a little more which brings oxygen to the leg muscles to set you up for a great run.

The Bike is one of the best courses in the country. There is a mix of just about everything. With Forest Hill’s new format, the course should be faster than ever. XTERRA racing is about racing smooth – if you try to muscle it and hammer all out, you will fade in the end. Instead, scale back the intensity slightly so that you can get through everything technically. If you push super hard but wreck at every technical section, you will only be left with wasted legs for the run and a slower time. Don’t get me wrong, you got to race hard but let your technique be the gauge and keep the intensity at a level that you can still be technically strong. The bike is your time to fuel and really hit the numbers I mentioned in the weather section. Plan this out and make sure you know exactly when you will drink (and eat). You can race this distance on just fluids and potentially gels if you have practiced, but you need to make sure these will allow you to hit the key numbers I mentioned above.

The Run is less technical than the bike with sections on the road, fire road, trail, and over the rocks. If you fueled correctly and raced at the proper intensity on the bike, you have set yourself up for a great run. The beginning of the run is the least technical and gives you a chance to get your legs under you. Focus on taking deep breaths and keeping leg turnover high on the first couple miles. The first real knife in the quads will come with a short stair climb followed by the Mayan Ruins about a ½ mile later. The Mayan Ruins are a steep 80 foot vertical climb that brings pros and amateurs alike to their hands and knees. Don’t kill yourself here as you will want to come off the top with a little left to find your stride again as soon as possible. After this, you will get a mix of trail, road, and downward stairs before coming to the river crossing which is a highlight of the race. A course will be marked which is typically the fastest route across. This section ends with a short climb up a ladder to Belle Island where you will run a trail section before crossing the bridge and finishing on Brown’s Island. Once you get off the bridge, it is time to start lifting the pace for the finish.

XTERRA Richmond is one of the toughest and most fun races you will ever do. Race hard but also take in the experience as there are few races in the country like it. Good luck to everyone racing!


Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches get some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

It is hot! We are in the middle of one of the hottest summers in Richmond history, which directly affects your training and racing. There are several steps you can take though to lessen the heat’s impact on you. This month’s column will discuss these steps.

When temperatures and humidity rise, your body is forced to work harder to sustain the same pace. This results in a higher heart rate and perceived exertion level at the same pace or power level. When this occurs, all you can do is slow down and keep the intensity level the same despite a slower pace. Your goal should be to minimize the differential between your pace on a hot day compared to a cool day. To do this, there are several things to which you need to pay attention.

Hydration is the cornerstone of your fight against rising temperatures. Staying hydrated with water throughout the day provides you with a base. With improper hydration throughout the day, you enter workouts and races in a deficit that cannot be overcome. Therefore, analyze your daily water intake first to make sure your base is secure.

When training, you must step up your awareness to hydration even more. When you sweat, you lose fluids and electrolytes (sodium/potassium) that are essential to you dealing with heat. Maintaining a proper balance of these two essential ingredients is key to your success. Though great when not training, drinking only water during training will dilute your body of electrolytes (sodium and potassium particularly) resulting in a condition called hyponatremia. Hyponatremia can cause some dire consequences and is very common as athletes try to over hydrate with water during training and racing.

Therefore, instead of water, we want to drink an electrolyte packed sports drink that supplies electrolytes as well as water to the body. There are many options on the market to choose from – some of my personal favorites include Gatorade Pro Series, First Endurance EFS, and Accelerade. Each of these drinks are packed with electrolytes to supply your needs. Furthermore, each of these are packed with calories in the form of high-glycemic carbohydrates which you are burning continuously during exercise and should be re-supplying at a rate of around 200-400 calories per hour. Err on the lower end of this range when running and higher end when cycling as your body digests food slower when running.

Once you have chosen your electrolyte drink of choice, you need to dial in two key variables: fluid and sodium intake. In general, you should be consuming 24-ounces (a standard water bottle) per hour. On hot days, you may drink more, and on cool days, possibly less. In addition to this, you want to make sure you are getting around 600-1,000 mg of sodium per hour. Most of the before mentioned drinks get you to the lower end of this scale allowing you to supplement as necessary when needed. In normal conditions assuming you are not a super heavy sweater and deal with heat well, you will be fine with around 600-800 mg of sodium per hour. If it is super hot and/or you are a heavy sweater, your goal should be to take in around 800-1000 mg/hour. To meet this level of intake, you will probably need to supplement with an electrolyte supplement. I recommend S-Caps - they have 349 mg of sodium per capsule and I have used them for years. With that said, you need to practice with these to make sure your stomach agrees with it during high intensity and low intensity training. Other ways to supplement sodium are through the use of gels or bars though not needed unless completing an event over two hours.

In addition to proper hydration, you can combat rising temperatures by simply keeping yourself cool. Wearing a visor, pouring water on your head, or placing ice strategically on your body before and during training and competition tricks your body into thinking it is cooler than it truly is resulting in less performance decline. There is one caveat in regards to this though. High humidity, which is common on the East Coast, does not allow your body to cool itself naturally through sweating which should always be your first line of defense. When humidity is low (below 50%), you want to rely on your body’s natural cooling mechanism first and avoid tricking your body into thinking it is cooler than it truly is as this will turn off your body’s signal to sweat. When humidity is high though, your body’s natural defense mechanism is already stunted so you want to do everything possible to keep your body cool through the methods mentioned above.

Practice these techniques in your training in order to dial them in for racing. Pay close attention to fluid and electrolyte levels and do the little things to stay cool before and during training. Be safe – high temperatures are dangerous but there are many things you can do to make it much safer and faster.

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches guide some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness (www.endorphinfitness.com) where expert coaches get some to their first finish line and others to their finish line first. You can contact him at michael@endorphinfitness.com.

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What pushes some athletes to take their bodies way past the breaking point to either finish a race or beat a competitor?  If you have not seen the video of Julie Moss struggling to retain her lead in the 1982 Hawaii Ironman, I encourage you to search it on You Tube right now.  What drove her to continue going when her entire body said no?
Through my career as an athlete as well as a coach, I have become increasingly convinced that an athlete’s mental fortitude is the most critical element to success.   Our minds are either our greatest ally or our worst enemy, and this can fluctuate within each of us from time to time. 
Before I get into this, let me say that this article has been an exploration for me as well.  I have thought more about this chapter than any other because I feel it is one of the most important and most difficult topics to present.  My experience with writings I have read on the subject is that they tend to try to apply surface psychology techniques to sport which have never worked for me.  Instead, I want to go deeper starting with my experiences with my athletes’ as well as my personal training to the core of what drives someone like Julie Moss to go beyond the limits of her body.  I want to go deeper giving you a practical process that will teach you to make your mind your greatest strength.   

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TRIATHLETES
I want to start by asking you to think a little about what each of the following triathletes looks like? 

What does a pro triathlete look like?  What does he do on a daily basis?  How does he train?  What does he wear when he races?  What sort of choices does he make?  What is his life like?  Now, what does someone that places in his age group look like?  How about someone that simply wants to finish each race? 
Where do you see yourself mentally on this continuum? 

BELIEF SYSTEM
Where you place yourself on the continuum is deeply rooted in a personal belief system.  This belief system is an expression of how you see yourself as an athlete.  More so, it represents what you believe you are capable of achieving.  We each have sculpted our belief systems from events in the past that have solidified who we see ourselves as. 
Our belief systems are engrained in our minds, whether we are aware of them or not, and affect our behavior and choices on a daily basis.  You make choices to support who you believe you are.  You will train a certain way, wear certain clothes, and make nutrition choices based on this belief system.  Your belief system will sculpt your potential as a triathlete. 
One of my athletes recently shared her personal journey with me,
“As you know, I've been an Endorphin Fitness participant for a couple of years now…always happy with the team, happy with the coaching & always seeing improvement in my personal fitness.  In the past I have not always stuck to your schedule.  Something would come up, I'd be tired, and I’d find an excuse to miss a practice here or there.  In the past I would leave out the speed work & complain about not getting faster.  Since February, I have done every workout you've thrown my way including speed work. So for the last 7 or 8 years I've run the Monument Avenue 10k.  Every year I try to finish in under an hour.  Every year!  One year I managed a 59:24 but every other year I'd be 1:01, 1:06, 1:12...I could never get there.  Until this year!  After my run Thursday night, I made the decision to go out hard with the goal of running at a 9-minute mile pace.  I wasn't sure if I could do it and briefly considered dropping back to a 9:15 pace.  What the heck, I thought...leave it all out there...what's 15 seconds?  Well I'm happy & proud to say that I set a new PR & completed the 10k in 55:30.  55!!!!  Oh my gosh!!!  I still can't believe it. Next year I can be a seeded runner.  Me!  I feel myself getting stronger with every workout.  With that strength comes confidence, motivation & determination.  I am so excited we are finally starting to race.  While I'll not be placing now that I'm out of the Athena division, I know I'll continue to see great improvement.  Heck the last 2 races I was in the top half of my age group...seems silly but I've spent a lot of time being in the bottom half of my age group so this in itself makes me smile!  I will continue to push myself as you instruct me to do.  I know with the help & support of my Endorphin Fitness coaches, I can do anything!”
This athlete’s belief system was one of an average athlete.  Then, she bought into what her coaches were saying – she could be more.  Once she made this shift in her mind, she started making choices to support her new belief system which led to greater confidence and eventually results.  In summary, her belief system controlled her behavior which controlled her results.

TAKING ONE STEP
What I want you to do is take one step forward along the continuum.  Everyone can do this because none of us, including myself, are using our minds to full capacity.  We are all limiting ourselves mentally from being the athlete we can be.  To do this, you have to take a step mentally and change your belief system.  If you do not change what you believe you can achieve, you will not change your behavior to make it possible, and the results will not occur.  It all begins with our minds. 
Let me illustrate the power of your belief system with an example.  I was running with one of my elite athletes when I noticed he was struggling.  We were running 6:40 pace at the time and he was slightly trailing me.  I asked him how hard he was working on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the hardest, and he replied with an 8.  I told him to go in front and set the pace while keeping his intensity at an 8.  I ran behind him watching the pace which dropped to 6:20 pace.  When I asked him how he felt, he said better.  He now saw himself as a front-runner who was in control of the pace whereas before he was just hanging on – his belief system had changed. 
Many of you may doubt that you can simply change the way you view yourself.  This is understandable since our belief systems are so deeply rooted in years and years of experiences.  Remember though that I am only asking you to take one step – not a leap.  This is a journey that takes time as you take each step.

THE PROCESS
You are ready to take that one step mentally but how?  I have found that there is a systematic approach to enable you to make the shift mentally.  Before explaining this, you have to buy into the fact that you are in charge.  You are in charge of your thoughts, and you can make the decision to take that step mentally. 

Determine Motivation
We all are driven by something.  Triathlon, and especially Ironman, is hard and demands a certain level of sacrifice.  Why are you doing it and why is it important for you?  It is important that you don’t give a superficial, surface answer here but instead determine what is at the core of your motivation.  What is the one thing that will force you to take great risks and sacrifice much to attain?  Strip it all down to this one thing. 
For me, this one thing is a commitment to excellence.  I have lived my life constantly striving for excellence and have high expectations for myself.  When I don’t meet them, it pains me.  That feeling of disappointment is personally not worth sleeping in, taking a workout easy, or letting my competitor drop me in the race.  The sacrifice from pushing myself hurts much less than the pain of disappointment. 
For you, this motivation will likely be different.  On the surface, it will probably include a fitness goal like weight loss, a time goal that you want to achieve in the race, or a placing goal as you strive to podium, but what is at the center of those goals?  Why do those goals truly matter?  Whatever it is, identify it and use it to take the first step. 

Reexamine the Evidence
Your belief system is rooted in past events.  To shift this belief system, you will need to reexamine these past events to find success.  We typically remember the bad more than the good.  I want you to look into your past to find the good.  If you struggle with this, it may help to get a close friend of family member to point out these accomplishments.  These do not necessarily have to be pertaining to sport but rather stories of overcoming.  Record these victories in your mind and allow them to recalculate your belief system.   Use this to brew a new level of confidence and develop deeper, healthier roots. 

Change Your Behavior
Once your belief system begins to shift, allow it to change your behavior.  Start to make choices with your training that better align it with your new belief system.   This may be scary as you will be asking yourself to sacrifice more or train at a level you have not been before, but the reward is great. 
The hardest I have ever pushed myself was in a race I thought I should win but was challenged.  I finished the swim at a deficit and made attacked hard on the bike to make up time because I was not supposed to finish in second place.  I entered T2 side-by-side with my competitor knowing that he was a stronger runner.  During the course of the run, he attacked through countless surges making me feel like I was in a boxing match and constantly on the ropes just hanging on.  I refused to let him drop me though because my belief system said that I was supposed to win.  In the end, I won in a sprint finish and collapsed across the finish line with a huge PR.  I was only willing to take myself to this place because I was supposed to win in my mind. 
Changing your behavior to align with your new belief system is risky and many of us don’t like risks.  You may doubt yourself but you have to commit to the new belief system.  Every workout is an opportunity to catch a glimpse of your true potential.  The mystery of it is what makes it so exciting.  Be willing to put yourself out there.   

Recognize Victories
As you have success, allow it to fuel your new belief system.  Recognize victories as they occur and log them in your mind.  Allow these victories to push out any negative experiences that may cloud your belief system. 
Knowing that my perception of who I am is much more important on race day than who I really am, I make sure to create victories for myself.  I will do certain workouts that I know I can crush as well as enter certain races that I know I can win from time to time to boost my confidence.  I do the same with my athletes as well – giving them certain workouts when they need them most and choosing my words wisely to make sure they enter races mentally strong. 
We have to be protective of our mental states at all times – always ensuring we enter races in not only peak physical shape but also peak mental shape.  Our minds will control our behavior on race day. 

Repeat
Now take the next step.  You are a new athlete and you should continue to inspire to be even better.  Remember, the mind controls your behavior which controls your results.  You are in control. 

PARTING THOUGHTS
To live a life and never reach one’s full potential is a tremendous tragedy.  This supersedes sport.  We all can go harder, further, and faster than our minds will have us believe.  Come to grips with this right now and understand that you can be better.  The body is not your limiter.  All the training in the world will not allow you to reach your potential if your mind is not strong.  All it takes is a shift in your belief system and you will be one step closer to your full potential.  By not taking this one step, you are tapping into only a portion of what your body is capable of achieving. 

Michael Harlow is the founder and head coach of Endorphin Fitness where expert coaches empower athletes to increased mental and physical abilities.  To learn more, visit http://endorphinfitness.com.

At the risk of losing my job, I am going to venture out and make a bold statement.  Weight lifting is a waste of time.  To take it a step further, traditional gym exercises have little carry-over into triathlons.  Go ahead, walk around a gym and point out the machines that closely mimic your swim, bike, or run.  The leg extension machine?  How about the lat pull-down?  What about that big thing in the corner- the Leg Press?   I am here to take a stand; to say something I should have loudly declared years ago.  FANCY EXERCISE EQUIPMENT WILL NOT HELP YOU. 

Before you dismiss my ranting, go back and re-read my words.  Weight lifting is a waste of time.  Strength training, however, is priceless.  Gym exercises have little carry-over to triathlons.  Functional training, on the other hand, directly addresses your weakest links for each event.  "Fancy equipment will not help you."  One of the most popular pieces of equipment in a gym is the hip adductor (inner-thigh squeezie thing).  It costs about $4000, takes up 30 square feet of space, and will contribute to IT Band pain and SI joint dysfunction.  Yet, exercisers (and athletes) seek it out to "strengthen their inner thighs".  I'm still trying to puzzle out when, exactly, we sit and squeeze our legs together in a triathlon.  

First, address function.  Where are you weak? Where are you imbalanced? Where are you dysfunctional?  No amount of run drills or hill repeats will manage an inability to fire your core muscles.  Mat work that incorporates planks will teach you how to engage from the inside out.  Absolutely invest time in the pool to build a better swim; but if you keep pulling your stroke with your arms rather than learning to incorporate full body movement, you could be swimming your way towards a damaged rotator cuff.  Use functional training out of the water to learn how to sequence movement from the correct muscle groups- all without the mess of remembering to breathe every third stroke.
 
Second, get strong.  We're not talking "how much can you bench" strong.  We're talking about go for a long bike in the morning, haul wood at lunch, play football in the yard with the kids all evening, STRONG.  How does one do this without spending hours at the gym on said useless equipment?  The simplest solution is already with you.  Body weight.  This winter, master the push-up, pull-up, squat, and lunge.  Focus on spotless technique that demands the most from your muscles.  Work with angles, inclines, declines, and stability.  Why?  Because, believe it or not, life is more than swim, bike, run.  Your day is not linear.  It goes left and right, up and down.  Life twists and turns, it throws and catches.  You may be able to finish an Olympic Triathlon, but if you are still getting sore after a day of yard work, perhaps you are not as strong as you would like to think.
 
Third, turn your strength into power.   If you want strength training to be useful as a runner, than you need explosive strength.  Kettlebells, tires, battle ropes,  sandbags- these are all highly effective tools for turning your body into a resilient machine.  After spending a few months training with kettlebell swings, I found that, mid-hill on a bike ride, I was able to actually speed
up.  Now, if I need to lay the hammer down on my competition, I dig into my powerful glutes, throw on an extra gear, and kick past them.
 
There is anecdotal evidence of triathletes who never strength train but continue to podium.  It's wonderful that they are fast, but I have to wonder how much faster they would be if they were able to recruit more muscle fibers.  There are current studies that "prove" that strength training is ineffective because it is not specific to endurance events.  Unfortunately, these studies often utilize exercises such as isolated leg extensions, leg presses, etc.  Of course the exercises are ineffective.  I am waiting to see studies that measure the utility of functional, real-world, movements.  Until that time comes, I will rely on common sense- if you want to be faster, you need your body to move efficiently and effectively.  Make your strength training specific to those demands and shock yourself (and your competition) next summer.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  

Camille Ronesi is the head strength and conditioning coach at Endorphin Fitness where functional strength training is one tool we use to get results.  Contact us to learn more about EF’s winter strength and conditioning programs at http://endorphinfitness.com. 

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Training for a long event requires a great deal of time commitment throughout the week. As a strength coach, it is my responsibility to assure that time spent in the gym -and away from the pool or the pavement- is of the highest value. If the exercise provides no benefit to the athlete, it can- and should be- dismissed as frivolous. This leads to the question, what is effective strength training for an endurance athlete, if it exists at all? At this point, I feel it is vital that we all take a step back and look at the whole picture. Before we can talk about what the endurance athlete should do, let's look at the world of strength training in some of its myriad of forms.
1. Body Building- ("hypertrophy") If I say "weight lifting", you may picture Arnold Schwarzenegger. Body Building is a form of weight lifting that strives to create large, symmetrical muscles. Body builders perform isolated lifts (one muscle group at a time) using high weights and moderate (6-8) reps. "Sculptors" loosely fall in to this category as they are also lifting weights for the primary intention of creating definition. In both cases, exercise selection is based on aesthetics over function. Generally, little emphasis is placed on cardiovascular fitness, therefore it is highly unlikely that you will see these folks at the start (and certainly not the finish) of an endurance event.

2. Power Lifters- ("max strength") Three exercises, as heavy as possible. Squat. Bench Press. Deadlift. These guys (and gals) are strong by the literal definition of the word – seeking the maximum weight in one repetition. Conditioning is centered around these three lifts, utilizing complementary training in order to further enhance their strength. While there are many "big" athletes in this arena, I knew a Power lifter who was 5'6" and 165 pounds that could out-Deadlift everyone else in the gym. Cardiovascular conditioning depends on the athlete, but- considering that they are not specifically trained for endurance- don't expect top finishes from them in the next Olympic tri.

3. Olympic Lifting- ("explosive strength/power”) Wikipedia sums it up nicely "In comparison with other strength sports which test limit strength (with or without lifting aids), Olympic Weightlifting tests aspects of human ballistic limits (explosive strength) and are therefore executed faster - and with more mobility and a greater range of motion during their execution - than other lifts.” (Olympic lifters have incredible range of motion and body awareness. While very strong, they must also be very flexible in order to properly execute the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. Of the 3 styles of strength listed so far, Olympic lifters may have some of the greatest balance between strength and cardiovascular fitness. Generally, they require functional movement in order to perform their event safely. They may or may not perform in an endurance event, but I would be willing to assume that they could at least tolerate going for a run.

4. Functional Training- (“real world conditioning”/injury prevention”)- Exercise is based on real world/sport specific movement. Generally, training is built upon the athlete's needs for balance, symmetry, joint mobility/stability. Functional training's roots are in physical therapy, therefore it tends to have a heavy emphasis on injury prevention and rehab (though one does not require an injury to utilize the training). Sets, reps, weight, and volume become secondary to quality of movement. Further, experts in functional training are constantly evolving the field to improve transferrance between exercises and sport. Currently, you may read about athletes of every caliber from Olympic athletes to weekend warriors who use functional conditioning to not only reduce their chance for injury, but to build strength for improved performance.

5. General Strengthening- (“Overall fitness”)- Ok, this is not really a category, technically. You may consider this "gym lifting". Average exercises as well as athletes enter a gym and pick exercises to perform based on various goals. Maybe the machines, maybe free weights. The goal could be to “get toned”, “lose weight”, or “feel better”. Sport specific exercises may or may not be included, depending on the exerciser. Essentially, this covers everything that does not fall specifically into one of the other 3 categories. You could very well be lined up next to someone who performs general lifting at your next race; however, there are several recent studies that indicate that strength conditioning does little to enhance endurance performance. This is a controversial topic amongst coaches and athletes. What is important to note is that many of the studies investigate strength conditioning that is not specific to an endurance athlete’s needs. For example, a cyclist who performs 6 weeks of leg curls on a machine is not very likely to note major improvements in overall power output on the bike. The field of exercise science is rapidly evolving, both in research and application. For the immediate future, we must apply science and a little bit of art to create the right conditioning for optimal endurance performance.

With the areas of strength training defined, let’s reconsider the endurance athlete. In order to determine the most effective course of action, we must first address an endurance athlete’s needs. There are many needs; but, for now, we will look at three.

1. Economy of movement- When attempting to move for long periods of time- whether an hour or 12 hours – you want to go as fast as you can while using as little energy as possible. You want to be efficient. This requires maximizing your technique in your event. For example, triathletes are skilled at swimming, biking, and running. Unfortunately, most of us are not born athletes. In fact, many current endurance athletes enter their sport later in life. Most of us are learning how to swim, bike, and run after sitting at desks, behind computers, in front of TVs, and in cars. These seated, sedentary activities put us in compromised positions that take away from our economy of movement. Sport specific drills can aid in overcoming poor posture while in the pool or on the pavement. Conversely, sitting at a leg press machine encourages more sitting- more compromise. Ironically, while sedentary activities encourage a forward, crouched, position, sitting on a bike further encourages a forward, crouched position. Properly selected functional exercises can help to offset these potentially damaging postures, thereby giving you the freedom to continue your sport specific training.
2. Cardiorespiratory fitness- Your heart and lungs need to move oxygen to your muscles. Your muscles need to be able to use as much of that oxygen as possible to generate movement. Obviously, you should train in your sport to further improve your cardiorespiratory fitness for that sport. Sitting on a leg press will probably not help you as it has minimal sustained impact on your breathing. On the other hand, kettlebell swings- famous for developing powerful glutes, rock hard abs, and stable shoulders- are so demanding that a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research stated that “continuous kettlebell swings can impart a metabolic challenge of sufficient intensity to increase Vo2max” (Farrar RE, 2010 Apr) (More information on kettlebells will come in future articles.)
3. Resilience- Some may refer to injury prevention; however, this simplifies it to a matter of “pre-hab” and re-hab. The concept of resilience is more global; based around the idea of being able to consistently train, and recover, while staying free of injury. An endurance athlete must be able to survive not just a day or week of training, but a demanding race season that involves cumulative hours of repetitive motion and high impact. For example, a major area of potential concern is the eccentric loading that occurs with high volume run training. Eccentric loading is, essentially, your body actively slowing itself down. This happens with every single stride that you take in a run- you land on one leg, “catch” yourself, and then push off. The “catch” is the eccentric action. This is a moment in your run of very high force. All other biomechanical issues aside, your joints, ligaments, tendons, bones, and muscles need to be capable of handling this force or you can become prone to injury and fatigue. One of the best ways to re-coup from the prior season and prepare for the following season is to spend the off-season conditioning the body to accept those eccentric loads. Certain functional exercises, particularly explosive power moves, are specifically designed to build your body’s resiliency, without the constant pounding of running.

Let us return to the original question, what is effective strength training for an endurance athlete? Clearly, body building is out. Isolating muscle groups and building mass-while giving you nice arms-will do very little to enhance your speed on the race course. Power lifting? Again, it likely will not improve your speed. (There are aspects of power lifting that are highly valuable for strengthening, but we will save that for another article.) Olympic lifting requires mobility, stability, explosive strength, mental focus, and body awareness. Is it perfect for endurance athletes? In part; unfortunately, the skills required to perform the movements are so demanding that the time spent training for them could detract from other aspects of conditioning. Clearly, generic gym lifting is ineffective for improving speed. The perfect answer is that there is no one answer. A cookie cutter approach does not address the individuality of the athlete. A human body contains a great deal of potential. Most of that potential will be expressed on the field, on the road, or in a pool. However, if the human body is incapable of moving functionally, that potential will never be fully realized. Functional training will begin the process. A focused blend of body weight exercises, explosive moves, and mobility drills will progress the athlete in developing to their maximum potential.

A well-developed strength plan does not need to be complicated. Push-ups are functional. Pull-ups are functional. Monkey bars, planks, swim drills, run drills, stretching, foam rollers, therabands- all functional. Simple acts of jumping, hopping, and throwing, add power. Each exercise is easily accessible and costs little to nothing. All that you need to do is understand what your needs are and which tools will address them.

Camille Ronesi is the head strength and conditioning coach at Endorphin Fitness where functional strength training is one tool we use to get results. Contact us to learn more about EF’s winter strength and conditioning programs at http://endorphinfitness.com.

   As January rolls into February, mountain bikers begin looking ahead to the upcoming race season.  I like to think of this time of year as the “Transition Period”, a time when we are not hitting the trails hard, but we are no longer casually cruising through the Off Season.  The "Transition Period" can be a powerful time of year for training.  It is a mountain biker’s chance to re-examine their prior year; to break apart a weak performance, find the holes, and re-build with greater strength and efficiency.  The Transition Period is the time to literally turn weaknesses into strength, strength into power.  Fortunately, it falls right into the time of year when weather and trail conditions typically preclude quality trail riding.    

Strength training is frequently de-emphasized by athletes in lieu of getting more time on the bike.  This is an unfortunate sacrifice to make.  Studies have shown that athletes who incorporate strength training have a greater increase in overall performance than athletes who solely focus on aerobic conditioning.  The greatest improvement directly related to strength training?  Speed.  Athletes who incorporate strength training- particularly heavy strength over power or endurance- tend to show marked increases in aerobic performance. 

This brings, then, the question: Where to begin?  Lets' break it down into 3 phases; function, strength, and power.  Each phase builds on the one prior, methodically building a stronger body that moves efficiently at a faster pace.   

Phase 1:  Function

Let us start with an analogy.  You are given a brand new mountain bike.  It's a beautiful bike with clean lines, shiny paint, and glistening parts.  Unfortunately, the wheels are out of true, the shocks are unreliable, and the brake pads are worn thin.  Knowing this, just how fast do you think you will ride it?  Now, pick that same bike up from the shop where it went through a complete tune-up.  Short of trail conditions and a little bit of nerves, you are likely going to push the limits of speed. 
Your body deserves the same respect.  The term "Function" in this phase refers to "functionality".  How capable is your body of moving?  At its most foundational level, where are you strongest, and where are you lacking?  Start this Transition Period by undergoing an assessment of your stability, mobility, and biomechanics (technical skills).  The best option is to work with a qualified coach who can objectively assess each element.  A simpler, home version, would be to look at flexibility (Can you touch your toes?), mobility (How deep can you safely squat?), and balance (How long can you stand on one foot?).  Common examples are lack of mobility in the hips and poor stability in the shoulders.  Sure, you can skip this step and dive into strength training- but you are setting yourself up for a figurative (or literal) crash down the road.  Restoring optimal function can take two weeks or three months- it simply depends on where your body is.  The good news is that, in most cases, your functional training can occur as part of your warm-up or off day while continuing on with your regular conditioning.  The even better news is that once your weaknesses are identified, you will be more knowledgeable about your bodies needs and better armed to prevent injuries as you return to race season. 

Phase 2:  Strength

This is where the challenge begins. Fitness experts Dave Sandler, CSCS and Taylor Simon, CSCS write ""If you are not working, challenging yourself all year long...you will lose valuable training time, and likely be unprepared for your sport" .  Strength training in the Transition Period is not the time to "take it easy".  Rather, this is the time to have a plan that focuses on developing maximal strength while minimizing bulk and decreasing stress on the joints.  I recommend developing a plan based oneffectiveness and efficiency.  Capitalize on gym time by incorporating multi-joint movements (squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups) that, when done correctly, will challenge the body to be mobile and strong.  To avoid bulk, most exercises will rely on body weight for resistance.  This, consequently, creates a huge challenge for the core.  A portion of your routine should incorporate balance; however, the strength phase should be mostly focused on developing maximal strength.  This means that to be as strong as possible, you have to work off of a stable platform.  Two feet on the ground, not one.  A solid bench, not a ball.  Exercises that "wobble" are fantastic for developing core strength and functional balance;  they should therefore be used in the time allotted to core strength and balance.  When it is time to work on strength, pick a challenging weight that allows you to safely complete 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 12 repetitions.  Again, you should be able to SAFELY complete your reps with perfect form and control.  If you are able to knock out 15 reps on the 4th round, you took it too easy.  Make a note and, next time, increase the weight.  ON the flipside, if you're popping a hernia on the 5th rep STOP, re-check your ego, and pick a more appropriate resistance.  This phase will progress through a 4 to 6 week cycle throughout the Transition Period. 

Phase 3: Power

Now the real fun begins.  After building a solid foundation that is functional and strong, it is time to harness that strength and turn it into power.  At the Endorphin Fitness gym, kettlebells are the most commonly used tool to develop power endurance.  Other handy pieces of equipment are tires, medicine balls, boxes, and battle ropes.  Even simpler are the ever effective, ever torturous Burpees.  A few rounds of kettlebell swings, burpees, and tire flips will create a resilient body that is better able to increase the cadence in the middle of a mountain climb, withstand the vicious vibrations of a screaming descent, and sustain speed over hours of uneven terrain.   
The Transition Period Season is typically 4 to 6 weeks long, depending on your events.  Before it slips away from you, decide what you want to do with the time afforded you.  Determine your Function.  Develop your strength.  Create Power.  Will it put you on the podium next year?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will you be giving yourself the opportunity to break personal records and avoid injury?  Give it a try and find out for yourself.   

Camille Ronesi is the head strength and conditioning coach at Endorphin Fitness where functional strength training is one tool we use to get results. Contact us to learn more about EF’s winter strength and conditioning programs at http://endorphinfitness.com.