Whatever your ability or experience in triathlon, follow Maxifuel’s ten week training plan and beat your best!
Triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for the fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, bike, and run components.
Whether you are aiming to just finish, or to up your game and compete for a PB, this training plan is designed to get the best out of you and your training over the last 10 weeks leading up to your triathlon. The training schedule builds progressively over the 10 weeks taking you all the way through until race day!
| Wk | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swim Warm up: 4 x 25m easy Main set: 7 x 100m |
Bike 20km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class (20min) |
Run Interval training x2 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 5km run |
Swim Warm up: 3 x 50m Main set: 7 x 100m |
Rest day | Run Interval training x3 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 7km run |
Bike 20km followed by resistance circuit (20min) |
| 2 | Swim Warm up: 3 x 50m Main set: 8 x 100m |
Bike 30km hilly route |
Run
7km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class |
Swim Warm up: 3 x 50m Main set: 5 x 200m |
Rest day | Run 10km |
Bike 40km |
| 3 | Swim (am) Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 5 x 200m Bike (pm) 20km hilly route |
Bike 15km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class (40min) |
Run 8km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 5 x 200m |
Rest day | Brick session: Bike 15km then transition to Run 4km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 10km run |
| 4 | Swim (am) Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 5 x 300m Bike (pm) 20km hilly route |
Bike 20km resistance session: i.e. circuit class |
Run 10km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 6 x 200m followed by Bike 15km |
Rest day | Brick session: Bike 20km then transition to Run 5km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 10km run |
| 5 | Swim (am) Warm up: 2 x 100m Main set: 4 x 400m Bike (pm) 30km hilly route |
Bike 40km resistance session: i.e. circuit class (20min) |
Run 12km |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 100m Main set: 7 x 200m followed by Bike 15km |
Rest day | Brick session: Bike 40km then transition to Run 7km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 11km run |
| 6 | Swim Warm up: 2 x 100m Main set: 3 x 200m followed by Bike 30km hilly route |
Bike 50km |
Run 10km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class (30min) |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 100m Main set: 4 x 300m |
Rest day | Brick session: Bike 30km then transition to Run 10km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 11km run |
| 7 | Swim Warm up: 2 x 100m Main set: 1500m |
Bike 40km followed by resistance session: i.e. circuit class (30min) |
Run 12km hilly route |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 150m Main set: 4 x 200m followed by Bike 40km |
Rest day | Brick session: Bike 40km then transition to Run 10km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 13km run |
| 8 | Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 1 x 1500 |
Bike (am) 40km hilly route Run (pm) 8km |
Run (am) 10km Bike (pm) 40km |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 4 x 400m |
Rest day | Add all disciplines together: Swim 1200m Bike 40km then transition to Run 8km |
Run Interval training x1 1min walk/ 1min run/ 30 sec sprint followed by 10km run |
| 9 | Swim Warm up: 1 x 100m Main set: 1 x 750m |
Bike (am) 30km Run (pm) 8km |
Run (am) 10km Bike (pm) 20km |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 6 x 100m |
Rest day | Add all disciplines together: Swim 1500m Bike 40km then transition to Run 10km |
Rest day |
| 10 | Swim
Warm up: 1 x 150m Main set: 3 x 500m |
Bike 40km |
Run 10km |
Bike 40km followed by Run 5km |
Swim Warm up: 2 x 50m Main set: 3 x 500m |
Rest day | RACE DAY (also trial in training)
|
Top 5 Training Tips
-
Never set out on an empty stomach
Starting a training session on an empty stomach can increade the chances of early fatigue. If you are a morning runner and find it hard to stomach food prior to leaving the house then why not try a Viper Active gel. Each 70g gel contains 25g of easy to digest carbohydrates ideal for topping up energy stores and breaking overnight fast. The added electrolytes also help to enhance hydration status especially useful when setting out for a long training session.
-
Reduce sturated fat in diet
High amounts of fat in the diet can result in unhealthy weight gain as well as stomach upsets during training. Try to avoid foods containing more than 5g of fat even on rest days.
-
Meeting carbohydrate requirements to compliment training needs
Carbohydrates are the bodies preferred energy source it is important that you are consuming sufficient amounts of carbohydrate on a daily basis when training. Aim to consume 6g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight each day. Example: 70kg x 6g = 420g per day.
-
Rehydrate during exercise
During exercise you should aim to match your fluid intake as closely as possible to your losses. When fluid loss is significantly higher, such as in hot climates electrolyte formulas, such as Viper Active are necessary to replace minerals lost though sweat. Mix 30-40g of Viper Active in 500ml of water and sip throughout your exercise.
-
Rehydrate and recover after exercise
After exercise a higher concentration of carbohydrates is required to sufficiently replenish glycogen stores and aid recovery, aim to consume 1g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight. Viper Active can be used in a higher concentration after exercise, but ideally you should aim to consume a specific recovery formula such as Recovermax to accelerate recovery and sufficiently refuel your muscle glycogen storage. Mix 75g of Recovermax with 400-500ml of water and drink within half an hour of finishing.
Training plan - Glossary
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise that intends to improve the oxygen system. Aerobic means “with oxygen”, and refers to the use of oxygen in the body's metabolic or energy-generating process. Many types of exercise are aerobic, and by definition are performed at moderate levels of intensity for extended periods of time.
Anaerobic exercise is exercise intense enough to trigger anaerobic metabolism. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength; speed and power to build muscle mass. Muscles trained using anaerobic exercise, develop differently compared to aerobic exercise, leading to greater performance in short duration, high intensity activities, which last from mere seconds up to about 2 minutes.
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), also called muscle fever, is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. The soreness is felt most strongly 24 to 72 hours after the exercise.
Fartlek is a form of interval training, which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress. It differs from traditional interval training in that it is unstructured; intensity and/or speed can be varied whenever the athlete wishes.
Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high intensity work. This high intensity work is alternated with periods of rest or low activity. Lactate threshold is a useful measure for deciding exercise intensity for training and racing in endurance sports (e.g. long distance running, cycling, rowing, swimming and cross country skiing), but varies between individuals and can be increased with training.
Overtraining is a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity.
Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance.
Tempo running is one of the most effective ways of improving your ability to cover distance at speed. Tempo pace is usually run at what is called the individual's lactate threshold, which has been determined in laboratory and other tests to be the optimal metabolic rate at which an individual can train. Lactate threshold usually occurs between 85% and 90% of Maximum heart rate. At this pace, the body is removing lactic acid as fast as it is being produced, any faster and lactic acid will build up in the individual's system, any slower and optimal training does not result.
Warm down is the term used to describe an easy exercise that will allow the body to gradually transition from an exertional state to a resting or near-resting state. Depending on the intensity of the exercise, cooling down can involve a slow jog or walk, or with lower intensities, stretching can be used. Cooling down helps remove lactic acid, which can cause cramps and stiffness and allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate.
Warm up generally consists of a gradual increase in intensity in physical activity (pulse raiser), a joint mobility exercise, stretching and a sport related activity.
Tweet
