Archive for category Tips and Advice
Getting Ripped Abs
Posted by sheila in Strength, Tips and Advice, Training on November 27, 2011
Six-pack abs. Or at least ripped abs. How to get them? Well, it’s really a combination of exercises–both cardio and strength training–plus diet. Eat lean. Burn calories. Build muscle. Peel the fat away. See the results. Here’s a very nice 2-part article on the topic, which not only discusses the above in more detail, but also suggests a number of good core exercises to target all 4 of your abdominal muscle areas, as you need to develop all four to see the results you want and crunches alone will NOT do it.
How to get a flat stomach like an Ironman Champ (part 1) – EverymanTri.com
How to get a flat stomach like an Ironman Champ (part 2) – EverymanTri.com
Training for Cold Water Swims
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on November 12, 2011
Not that I am training for any cold, open water swims at the moment. But saw this article on the FINIS Blog, with a number of tips on how to train for such an event, plus comments from other readers, and want to save this link. I suspect that I will do the La Jolla Rough Water Swim again next year. I did it this year. Water temps were in the low 60s and no wet suits permitted. Definitely bears some thinking on how to get prepared for it next year. Thankfully I was only in the water for 38 minutes this year, and hopefully next year even less, but the cold did take a toll on my body.
Training for Cold Water Swims – 9 Tips You Need to Know | The FINIS Blog
Follow the link above to see the article on the FINIS Blog.
Swim Stroke Technique
Posted by sheila in Resources, Tips and Advice on September 22, 2011
So I found a new swimming website with videos this week, through a link that someone tweeted. It’s called The Race Club. Videos are one of the most helpful things for me, with swimming. Swimming is so much about technique, much moreso that running or cycling, because water is about 800 times more dense than air. And water is not the natural environment for humans, so we do not naturally move through it in the best way.
The video that I saw tweeted was: Secret Tip – How to position your hands underwater – The Race Club. This is a good video about how to hold your fingers (just a bit apart) in order to create a bit of turbulence when you swim, which effectively increases your hand’s surface area.
I followed the link on the above video to this one, also very good: Secret Tip – How to Pull Underwater Drills – The Race Club.
Kicking Drills for Triathlon
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on August 12, 2010
Somehow in all the reading I had done about the swim portion of triathlon, and how triathletes should train for and approach the swim, I got the message that the kicking was very de-emphasized. That kicking was almost not necessary. Let your legs drag, if you wanted to. Use your upper body on the swim and save the legs for the bike and run. Makes sense, no?
And then I started my Masters Swim workouts. And the coach was having me do a fair amount of kicking. Although I thought I didn’t really need to be doing kicking drills, I tried to just suck it up and say nothing. After all, I was seeking the expertise of the coach. He knows more about this than I do, right? That’s why I was doing the Masters Swim. Eventually I did ask him about it and he said I needed to keep that end of my body up, or something like that. So…ok. Still doubtful but…just doing the drills like he said.
Ocean Swim Entry/Exit Tips
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on July 10, 2010
Here is a pretty good article from Active.com on entering and exiting the ocean for open water swim triathlons. I practice ocean swimming fairly regularly with the L.A. Tri Club, but I am not using all the tips suggested in this article. Saving the link here so I can review it from time to time and make sure I’m doing all these things…
Cycling Drills
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on April 6, 2010
Here’s an interesting article at Active.com that discusses some good cycling drills to help you learn better control on your bike. I really like some of these suggestions and am sure it would help me to practice them:
Bike Handling Clinic: Drill That Skill
Should I Buy a Mail Order Tri Wetsuit?
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Tools and Gear on June 20, 2009
So I am planning to buy a tri wetsuit at some point this summer. I’m always the cautious type, who generally buys from local vendors (rather than mail order), especially clothing, so that I can try it on and make sure it fits. But this is such a good deal on a wetsuit… regularly $400 for half price ($199). Seems like good quality. XTerra brand. On sale until late June. 30-day money back guarantee, and size switch options/guarantee. I’m usually between 115-117 pounds (trying to take it down a few) and 5’3”, so I just fit into the WS size, on the borderline really with WM.
Vortex 3 Fullsuit $199 (Reg. $400)
I’m so nervous about choosing the wrong size or something that doesn’t fit me right. I’ve never tried on ANY wetsuit before, nor obviously swum in one. What should I do? Buy this one? Or give it a miss and go to a local tri shop and get fitted for one there? Help? Advice?
Track Running for your Training
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on May 28, 2009
For running, speed work is generally recommended for increasing your speed for racing, for going for that PR, for lowering your pace. Here’s an article at RunnersWorld.com that has more info on how to start speedwork, how to incorporate it into your training, and various types of speed work.
Swimming – Training with Drills
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Training on May 28, 2009
So, as someone who is passably competent at swimming, I would still like to improve my swimming speed for triathlon events. Right now I’m just working up some basic yardage. Up to an easy 1500 in a workout right now. Will be dropping back these next few days as I approach my first triathlon on June 7th.
But after that is past, I will want to work up and improve my swimming and speed. I have seen recommended several times to do drills. Drills I’ve seen recommended for beginners are kick drills done on the side with no kickboard, shark fin drill, and also DPS (Distance Per Stroke).
So here is a nice site that has some explanations/suggestions for swim drills:Drills & Drill Tips | WSU Masters Swimming
They explain at the site above the side-kicking drill and the shark fin drill. The DPS is just the idea that you want to lower the number of strokes it takes you to get across the pool. By rotating your body in the pool from side to side while you stroke, having long strokes that pull, and you glide. Get fewer strokes to get across the pool.
So I guess after I finish up this tri coming up I will try to incorporate some drills into my swim training.
Triathlon Resource Links and Tips
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice on May 18, 2009
So today we have a list of links on triathlon-related topics. I’ve been getting piles of these through Twitter and here are some that look worthwhile and I want to revisit again at some point in the future…
Beginner’s Triathlon Gear List: No Need to Break the Bank | Active.com
5 Open Water Swimming Tips : Tri Swim Coach Triathlon Swimming
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Sheila Runs- Getting Ripped Abs November 27, 2011
- Training for Cold Water Swims November 12, 2011
- Inspirational Moments for Autistic Boy November 4, 2011
- Good Core Videos from Rocky’s Gym November 1, 2011
- Guerilla Cardio – When You’re Short On Workout Time October 25, 2011
- Sufferfest Bike Trainer Videos October 1, 2011