Something to Think About During the Off-season!
The risk of injury is an ever-present aspect of triathlon training and racing, but almost every great performance follows a long period of relatively uninterrupted training. Though many athletes believe either that an injury is just a normal part of training or an unfortunate random event, the frequency of injuries may be dramatically reduced by an off-season prevention program that develops strength, flexibility, and elasticity in tissues that are at high risk for injuries. Use this off-season to prepare your body fully for the high-volume, high-intensity training that will come later in the season.
Since both running and cycling actions occur primarily in a single plane, the tissues that act in that plane become disproportionately strong while those that act side-to-side atrophy. Programs developed only for performance enhancement usually neglect tissues that act laterally, therefore increasing the risk of injury.
Strength Training
Strength training is a critical aspect of off-season preparation, affecting the connective tissues as well as the muscles. Most strength training programs are designed to improve performance but not to prevent injuries. Increasing strength in muscles that are not developed by our primary activities will maintain balance and reduce injuries.
When performing the weight training exercises, use relatively heavy weights and slow movements. Keep the duration of each set between forty and sixty seconds.
Several muscles that are generally neglected in strength training programs:
Core
Strength
A Strong Core Reduces Back Pain, Improves Athletic
Performance and
Improves Postural Imbalances. Core
strengthening exercises are most effective when the torso works as a solid unit
and both front and back muscles contract at the same time, multi joint
movements are performed and stabilization of the spine is monitored. Abdominal
bracing is a basic technique used during core exercise training. To correctly
brace, you should attempt to pull your navel back in toward your spine. This
action primarily recruits transverse abdominus. You should be able to breathe
evenly while bracing and no hold your breath.
There are
many exercises that will strengthen the core. A large number of core
strengthening exercises can be done at home with no equipment while some
require the use of equipment and gadgets.
The
Best Core Exercises:
Core
exercises are most effective when they engage many muscles throughout the torso
that cross several joints and work together to coordinate stability. Core
muscles need to work as a unit, contract at the same time, across joints in
order to stabilize the spine. Some of the best core exercises are simple
bodyweight exercises, including the following (examples can be seen on YouTube).
- Plank Exercise
- Side Plank Exercise
- The Basic Push Up
- V-sits
- Push Ups
- Squats
- Back Bridge
- Hip Lift
- Oblique Twist
- Plank on a Balance Ball
- Lunge with Twist
- Supermans
Hip Adductors: The adductors pull the thighs together. Sit on a chair with a basketball between your knees. Squeeze the ball with your knees as hard as possible for 40 seconds. These muscles also can also be worked effectively with a cable and low pulley on a weight machine if available.
External Shoulder Rotators: The internal rotator muscles are strengthened by the catch and pull, but the external rotators are not. This strength imbalance stresses the connective tissues of the joint. Lay on your right side holding a dumbbell with your left hand. The left elbow should lay against the torso with the elbow just above the hip and bent to 90 degrees. Slowly rotate the upper arm to raise the dumbbell. The elbow should not move and the upper arm should only rotate.
Calves: Stand with the ball of one foot on the edge of a step and the rest of your foot hanging off the edge. Slowly push upward to full extension on your toes, lower your body to the fully stretched position with the heel well below the edge of the step, and repeat.
Ankle Flexors: Strengthening the muscles that lift the foot will reduce a number of shin and foot injuries. Sit on the edge of a chair and hold a weight on your toes. Flex the foot upward, lower, and repeat.
Flexibility
While an effective stretching program may reduce injuries significantly, many athletes look to stretching as the answer to injuries. Athletes do become injured because of over flexibility. Be consistent with your stretching, but don’t go to extremes and don’t look to it as the injury cure-all.
The following stretches are recommended:
Hamstring: Sit on the floor with both legs out straight in front of you. Grab your ankles, and gently pull your chest down toward your knees. Hold a moderate stretch for 45 seconds.
Gluteus Maximus: Lie on the floor on your back. Pull one knee into your chest, feeling the stretch in the glute muscle. Hold for a moderate stretch for 45 seconds, switch sides, and repeat.
Quadriceps: Lie on the floor on your left side. Grab your right ankle and gently pull the foot backward, bending the knee and stretching the quadriceps muscle on the front of the thigh. Hold for a moderate 45-second stretch, switch sides, and repeat.
Calves: Stand with the ball of one foot on the edge of a step and the rest of your foot hanging off the edge. Lower your body to the fully stretched position with the heel well below the edge of the step, hold for 45 seconds, switch legs, and repeat.
ITB: Sit on the floor with both legs straight along the floor in front of you. Bend the right knee and move the right foot across to the outside of the left leg. Move the right foot up toward the hip until it rests against the left leg, just above the left knee. Rotate your torso to the right and place your left arm on the outside of the right knee. Using the left arm, pull the right leg to the left. Feel the stretch in the outside of the right hip.
Pectorals: Stand arm’s length from a wall. Brace your right hand against the wall and rotate your torso to the left, stretching the chest and front-shoulder muscle. Hold for a moderate 45-second stretch, switch arms, and repeat.
Technique
Effective technique is the area most serious triathletes should give more attention. Optimizing technique in each of the three triathlon legs will reduce injuries dramatically. Great detail here is beyond the scope of this article, but below are the technique issues that contribute most to injuries. The off-season, with reduced training volume and intensity and without the pressure of competition, is the ideal time to make changes in technique.
Swimming: Many swimming injuries are cause by incorrect arm recovery and entry. Leaning to recover the arm with a bent elbow while keeping the arm above the body on the midline will reduce shoulder stress.
Cycling: A biomechanically correct position on the bike is critical for minimizing injuries. Check especially that your hip, ankle, and knee remain in plane during the pedal stroke. Many athletes ride with the knees bowed out, placing lateral stress on the hip and knee. Either Big Meat wedges between your shoe and cleat, or pedals with adjustable pronation/supination will reduce injuries and increase speed.
Running: Develop a stride with minimal vertical displacement and a foot strike with the heel unweighted (for example the POSE method) will dramatically reduce impact stress. Most athletes rely far too much on their shoes for cushioning and bypass the body’s natural shock absorption system. The heel is made of bone, which is designed for support, not shock absorption. The tissues designed for shock absorption are located in the calf and foot. Landing on the heel sends impact stress up through the ankle, lower leg, knee, upper leg, hips, and low back, none of which has significant shock absorption. Keeping the heel unweighted also reduces injuries caused by lateral stability problems. The shape of the heel bone generally causes over-pronation or under-pronation, so keeping them unweighted solves most of those issues.
Plyometrics
Plyometrics are a type of training generally reserved for athletes in power sports, but they will increase tissue elasticity and improve neuromuscular interactions, which may improve injury resistance even for endurance athletes. Be careful when starting these exercises and build gradually. On each of these exercises, minimizing contact time between the feet and ground is critical.
Lateral Jumps: From a standing position jump directly to your left, pushing off only from the right foot. Land on the left foot and immediately jump sideways back to the right. Land on the right and repeat without stopping for thirty seconds.
Lateral Hops: Standing with feet together, hop off both feet about six inches sideways to your left. Land on both feet and hop immediately back to your right. Repeat for thirty seconds without stopping.
Crossover Strides: Run directly sideways to your left, crossing your right foot across in front of your left. After about twelve steps, run back to the right using the same technique. Make sure not to rotate your hips in the direction you are running, but run sideways.
In Summary
Include weight training, stretching, and plyometrics programs during the off season that are specifically designed to reduce injuries next year. Use relatively heavy weights and make sure to include muscles that act side-to-side since training in swimming, cycling, and running does not develop these effectively. Improving technique will also reduce injuries.
Have a great “Off Season”!
