Break OUT!
In a Rut with Your Cardio Routine? Cross-Train Your Way to the Most Fantastic Condition of Your Life

By Amity Hall and Photography by Ron Amato

If you want to achieve and maintain a high level of fitness, pumping out high-quality cardio workouts on a consistent basis over a long period of time is a necessary evil. Unfortunately, this type of training is not what you’d call a walk in the park (literally!). High-intensity training is a must, but all too often, boredom with the same old cardio routine leads to lackluster efforts, and lackluster efforts lead to stagnant results. You can always spot the exercisers whose cardio training is taking them nowhere—slowly: They’re the ones on the indoor bikes at the gym pedaling aimlessly while deeply engrossed in a People magazine article. If this sounds like you, then you need to add variety to your cardio program, for the good of your body and your mind.

Triathlon training is an outstanding way to do this. Variety is built right into the sport, which combines the aerobic disciplines of swimming, cycling, and running. Besides helping you overcome boredom, this built-in variety promotes balanced physical development, which helps prevent overuse injuries. Variety is also the key to “shocking your body” to higher and higher levels of fitness. Remember, if you perform the same fitness routine day in and day out, your body will adapt to the stress and your physical development will start to plateau. To stay on an upward curve, you have to shake up your routine on a regular basis. Triathlon training exposes your body to a different kind of stress every day.

Not only is triathlon training an incredible way to burn bodyfat and get fit, it is also a great way to develop lean muscle. While too much aerobic exercise can cause all your muscle to wither away, this is not true of short-distance, or “sprint” triathlon training, as the emphasis is on power, intensity, and strength, and not on long aerobic sessions of mile after endless mile.

Triathlon training engages every muscle group in the body. Swimming promotes full-body muscular development—especially through the shoulders and back—and core body strength is developed because a great amount of power is generated from the abdominals. Biking develops strong lower-body muscles by working the glutes and quadriceps. Running, especially on hills, develops strong calves, glutes, and hamstrings. All three types of exercise work in your favor by burning off excess fat and developing a balanced and lean physique.

Last but not least, triathlon training lets you tap into your competitive drive. If you choose to, you can use our 12-week Sprint Triathlon Training Program to prepare for and compete in an actual sprint distance triathlon. What is a sprint distance triathlon? Typically, it’s composed of the following distances: A half-mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride, and a 5-kilometer (or 3.1 mile) run. If you feel like you’re not giving and getting 100% from your cardio-training program, then this program may be exactly what you need to unleash a breakthrough, and have some fun doing it. Deciding at the outset to complete a sprint distance triathlon at the end of your training program will serve as a constant source of fire for inspired, high-intensity workouts, by giving you a deadline and requiring a performance to finish things off with a bang.

So, if you want to take on the challenge of completing a triathlon—or if you just want to get in the best shape of your life—this is the training program you’ve been looking for.

Putting Together a Cross-Training Program
Here’s how to get started on your 12-week triathlon program. We’ve listed on the main chart the key workouts you need to execute over the three-month period to achieve optimal bodyfat loss and/or to successfully complete a sprint distance triathlon. This program works with a perceived exertion scale and a list of workout options described below. Should you wish to do additional cardio above and beyond the key workouts on the chart, no problem—just be careful not to pummel your body into a state of exhaustion. If you start feeling chronically tired and cranky, or if it becomes hard to get a good night’s sleep, then you’re doing too much—cut back.

It is important to note that triathlon training does not require you to go out and spend immense amounts of money on clothing and/or equipment. All you need are a swimsuit and goggles, running shoes, and a functional bike (a mountain bike, for example, will work fine). It is also not necessary to train outdoors if you don’t want to—all the training can be done within the convenient confines of your own gym. However, fresh air and country roads and trails are some of the great pleasures of triathlon training, so do try to get out of the gym when your schedule allows it.

Using the Perceived Exertion Scale
In executing your workouts throughout your program, effort levels will be determined by the Perceived Exertion Scale (see sidebar). Using this scale as your guide to intensity of effort is a smart way to approach triathlon training because it’s simple and takes into account your individual starting point. The scale is from 1-10, 1 being a very easy warm-up or cool-down pace, and 10 being an all-out, maximum-effort, blow-out-the-tubes pace. In the first three weeks of the program, your effort level will be between 1-4. Your primary objective will be to adapt to the stresses of swimming, biking, and running. In weeks four to six, you will begin interval training, which will challenge the cardiovascular system with short intense blasts of exercise, with specific amounts of rest woven in. In weeks seven to 11, “bricking” will be added to increase the intensity of the program. The term “bricking” means running immediately after biking to simulate what will happen to your leg muscles and cardiovascular system in a race. Examples of workouts to follow for each week are included.

SWIMMING
Equipment needed:
Access to a swimming pool. Weather permitting, outdoor pools are a nice change from typical indoor pools.

Special skills required
If you can paddle across the deep end of the pool fearlessly, you’ve got the prerequisite for finishing your first triathlon. However, it’s a good idea to invest in quality instruction before or during your training program. Swim clinics and instruction classes are good ways to improve technique in the water, and many fitness clubs with pools offer these classes. Or sign up for one- or two-day swim clinics, which are designed to help adults overhaul their stroke technique.

Key principle
Because of the heavy viscosity of water, resistance drag is the key problem, so efficiency in the water is more important than raw power. Swim coaches today maintain the philosophy that, paradoxically, you need to slow down to go faster. Translation: you need to master proper position and a relaxed technique in the water to ultimately develop your true potential. Watch a great swimmer perform the crawl, and you’ll see a smooth, elongated technique which provides greater distance per stroke, but which appears relaxed and nearly effortless.

Workouts
The distance of the swim portion in a sprint triathlon is approximately 800 yards, which equals 32 laps in a 25-yard pool (one lap equals one length). In weeks seven to 11 of this program, you will work up to this many laps. If you do not know how to do a flip turn, then do not worry about it for this 12-week program—there is always time for that should you decide to continue triathlon training. In the first three weeks, do not fight the water. Try to develop a relaxed stroke. You will eventually glide with a long, strong (rather than a fast windmill) type of stroke.

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BIKING
Equipment needed:
Just about any bike will do. The first time you watch or participate in a triathlon, it’s impossible not to notice the dozens of fancy, high-tech bikes people have invested thousands of dollars in. Don’t let this intimidate you. A $5,000 bike is no replacement for good old-fashioned hard work, and often the owners of the most expensive bikes forget this. That said, if you wish to push your pace to a higher level, cutting-edge bike technology (mixed with good training) can help you maintain faster speeds with lower energy expenditure.

Special skills required
If you know how to bicycle around the block, you have all the skill you need to finish your first triathlon.

Key principle
The most valuable thing you can do before starting your triathlon program is to make sure you’re set up correctly and comfortably on your bike through a proper fitting. A good bicycle shop can help you get set up, or, if you decide to go to a triathlon camp, this is usually one of the first things the coaches will do for you. Proper set-up on your bike will help maximize your efficiency and prevent injuries, such as a strained lower back.

Workouts
Biking workouts can be done indoors on a stationary bike or outside on the open road. Again, for the first three weeks, your effort level will remain nice and easy, staying between 1-4 on the Perceived Exertion Scale. The level of difficulty or gear on your bike should be easy enough so that your pedal stroke follows a quick rhythm without much resistance. On the other hand, if the gear is too easy, you will find yourself bouncing in your seat. Remain relaxed and in control of your pedaling. By the end of week three, you should be able to ride comfortably for 30 minutes without stopping. In weeks four to seven, you will begin interval training. By weeks seven to 11, “brick” workouts will be added. (See intro for an explanation of bricking.) Brick workouts can be efficiently performed in a fitness center where there are stationary bikes and treadmills available.

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RUNNING
Equipment needed:
A good pair of running shoes is your most essential piece of equipment. This is an important investment, because cheap or broken down shoes will not protect you from the impact stress of running. Running shoe selection has become a frustrating science in itself, as the range of choices and technologies can be staggering. Your best bet is to talk to other runners and ask them for recommendations as to where to buy shoes in your area. The ideal running shoe store will be a place where they can evaluate your individual biomechanics and match you with an appropriate shoe.

Special skills required
Good form is not a necessity, but over the long run (no pun intended!), good form is the key to efficiency, speed, endurance, and prevention of overuse injuries. Triathlon workshops and camps are a good place to learn drills to improve basic speed and overall technique.

Key principle
Good form is not a necessity, but over the long run (no pun intended!), good form is the key to efficiency, speed, endurance, and prevention of overuse injuries. Triathlon workshops and camps are a good place to learn drills to improve basic speed and overall technique.

Workouts
The good news about running is that it’s convenient, doesn’t require a gym membership, and doesn’t demand a lot of time to yield solid results. The bad news is that if you do too much too soon, running can pose a significant injury risk. If you choose to run outside, then a soft surface—like a forest trail—is preferable to hard pavement. The treadmill is a good option because there is less impact than with running on pavement, and it also makes it easy to combine your run with your weight-training session if you use a gym.

If you’re new to running, the beginner’s schedule in the chart is designed to be gradual and progressively move you toward higher quality workouts. The first three running segments in the program are 20 minutes long. Later, in the third week, a 25-minute run/walk is scheduled. With all of the running, if you feel you need to walk at any time, by all means, take walking breaks. You can even decide, for example, before you start on the longer runs, to alternate running for five minutes and walking for three. In the later weeks of the program, we introduce interval training.

Feel free to invent your own interval training based on the workouts listed. A favorite interval workout of ours involves music: Run with headphones, sprinting through the chorus of a song and slowing down during the other parts. Repeat this four or five times. You’ll get a great interval workout without having to look at your watch.

As with swimming and cycling, local teams offer the advanced athlete group-training opportunities and coaching.

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THE END RESULT
Triathlon training is a great way to accomplish your short-term and long-term cardiovascular fitness goals and develop an incredible body at the same time. For many, participating in triathlons is a lifestyle. How can you get bored with a sport when it is constantly changing? Your workout possibilities are endless when you have three different sports to work on! The number one thing that will keep us all on the exercise bandwagon is to enjoy the exercise and, most importantly, to have fun. Good luck, and train hard!

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