March 2000  
Training







Plyometric training: Walter Thoburn

Plyometric Training
By Walter Thorburn (Homepage)

Walter is one of New Zealand top triathletes, and has been since he started in the sport around 10 years ago. Each year he spreads his racing season between New Zealand and Japan. Last year he underwent surgery on his back. He has shown his full recovery with the recent win at the NZ Long Distance Championship in Napier on 6 February. Further information on Walter's background is available on his career highlights page.

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Circuit training is slowly finding its way into triathlon training. Although its been around for years, the advantages, I feel, have not been recognised as a performance enhancing aspect of triathlon. I personally feel it would have to be one of the best things that I've done for my sport in the last four years. With a time of 3:48:08 for the half ironman distance I know I'm talking from experience.

The benefits are as follows:

-The agonist muscles develop well in specific single discipline training but the antagonist (opposing muscle groups) need to be trained as well to prevent muscle imbalances. Circuit training benefits the smaller postural muscle groups and the pelvic stabilisers. Pelvic stability is of extreme importance in biking and running.

-The transition from aerobic to anaerobic training is much easier by some anaerobic conditioning during the aerobic phase. This can be achieved through circuit training where it will not effect conditioning in the specific disciplines.

Improving your strength and speed is definitely something that can be gained by applying yourself to circuit training.

-Only when I've been very specific about the actions which I've created in my circuits can I see a carry through to my sport of triathlons, doing an action of movement fast and under load directly related to the actions of swim/bike/run.

The following characteristics can be trained through circuit training:

speed

strength

speed endurance

strength endurance

endurance

-Will power. Circuit training can be very hard and requires much discipline. Sometimes circuit training work can be harder than an actual triathlon race. Psychological benefits gained from circuit training should not be underrated.

Recommended time per week

I personally do two sessions per week, 3-4 days apart, with no more than 30-45mins allocated to the circuit with no more than 10 exercises. Set depending on ability could range from 3-5 sets.

Work-rest ratio

Beginners 30sec on 30sec off

Intermediates 40sec on 20sec off

Elite 50sec on 10sec off

Rest between sets can be anywhere from 1min to 3mins depending on level of fatigue. The level of fitness relates to circuit training rather than triathlon training.

The practice

There are many exercises available for the purpose of circuit training. The following are some examples of appropriate exercises used in the circuit training. Consult a fitness trainer or someone experience in plyometric training to help you with the correct technique.

 
 
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