How does the typical triathlete prepare for a race? They concentrate first and foremost on the three disciplines that make up a triathlon of course – swim, bike, and run! How about nutrition? Mindset? Strength training? Mobility? Breath work? Bike fit? Stress management? Injury prevention? Sweat test? The list goes on. Here at The Endurance Collaborative we start an athlete with a solid foundation and then build upon that foundation to make a healthy, well-balanced triathlete. Think of it this way, if we had our way, Athlete would come before the Tri in TriAthlete!
Baseline
All of our athletes begin with a baseline assessment to determine their fitness level and readiness to train. This baseline includes a nutrition consultation, movement screen, heart rate testing, athlete history, swim, bike, and run form analysis, bike fit overview, and general discussion about our training methodology.
Foundation
Once the athlete’s baseline has been established, the foundation can be built. We start that foundation with recovery. Every athlete will understand how to effectively measure their recovery, how to then optimize training to assist in recovery, and how to best approach the next workout based on their current training stress.
Based on the athlete’s nutrition consultation, both a daily and race fueling plan is developed. Our nutrition plans are specific to each athlete and include athlete’s race goals, genetics, history, and desired outcomes.
Based on the athlete movement screen, a specific strength and mobility plan is developed that will best lay the groundwork for success in triathlon with a focus on athlete health and longevity in the sport.
Assessment
At The Endurance Collaborative, we measure an athlete’s progress through repeated assessment. First, we make sure the athlete understands the assessment and how to properly execute the test. This is advantageous both from a conditioning point of view as well as for racing preparation. Second, we analyze test results to determine next steps. Is the training plan effective, what could be holding an athlete back from positive adaptation, what needs to change? The amount of variables that can affect all of these outcomes is pretty overwhelming. To get where you want to go you need to know where you are coming from. Let us help you get there!
Sport-Specific Training Periodization
Finally! We focus on our training plan! A central piece to the entire training plan puzzle and the core to what a coach develops for each athlete. But remember, this is not the foundation of our training as we discussed above. Training is developed individually and takes into account an athlete’s experience, time availability, desired outcomes, and through discussion, what the athlete and coach think is best and what will lead to the greatest success. The training plan is a constantly moving target and adjusted continuously based on assessments (progress) and recovery.
Recovery
Recovery is a central focus of the Collab. Adaptation occurs during the recovery process. Short circuit that process and you’ve compromised a workout, possibly many workouts, and lost fitness as a result. Endurance athletes are notorious for disregarding recovery in favor of our sport specific training. This is backwards! Recovery should be the primary focus of everything we do.
Recovery can be thought of as intraworkout, between workouts, between training blocks, and between seasons. Recovery is not a single idea, it is the cumulative outcome of our foundational training philosophy. Is this something you’ve thought about as much as your sport specific training? If not, let the Collab change your mind and introduce you to the possibilities of how primary recovery is what you’ve been missing.
