Essential Training and Fuelling Tips for Triathletes Planning Their First Training Camp
As many more athletes fly out to training camp destinations, this article looks at some top tips on fuelling and training that athletes can keep in mind as they begin planning their first training camp. Coach Philip Hatzis, who has run our training camps for almost two decades, provides us with some essential tips.
Training Camps for Busy People – Fitness and Strength
Training camps should be a part of the training programme. For many people, especially those who are really busy, it is an excellent way to build training volume with a total focus on training; nevertheless, you still want to make sure you go into the camps ready to take as much from it as possible. Therefore, you should consider splitting the preparation for a training camp into two parts: 1) fitness building and 2) strength work (injury prevention).
For different training camps, the fitness will be hard to quantify. This is because people can get away with more or less fitness overloads depending on how much life stress they have and how much training they can absorb. As a Training Camp allows athletes a break from everyday life, they can recover between more training sessions and absorb more training. Perhaps you can manage to double your training week or even triple it. However, if you are already training a lot, your body may not be able to take that much more, but you can focus on the quality of your training. Many camps will focus on at least two daily sessions, sometimes more. Assuming each session is one hour, the minimum camp hours are likely to be 12-14 hours, with many camps looking at close to double or, at an extreme, triple that number. To be prepared for a camp’s fitness, we recommend ensuring you have a 1-2month lead in consistent training across all three sports. Ensure you can ride for 2-3 hours consistently in that time, as that will help you get comfortable on your saddle before arriving!
Injury prevention is essential for all athletes, not just those heading to a training camp. Nevertheless, the common injuries on a training camp are chronic (i.e. from a repetitive motion) due to increased training load. Athletes can mitigate this risk by ensuring their bike fits appropriately (and flag up any niggles if you are hiring a bike) and following a basic strengthening regime. If an athlete has seen a physio in the off-season as part of an MOT, they should have a list of areas to work on; this can really help, too. In our experience, most athletes can do a lot better by improving their trunk control, hip stability and foot control. Working on those three areas will really help limit the likelihood of injury, especially when the training load increases and athletes begin to do their sports with a tired body – this is where there is a higher chance of following poor technique and picking up a niggle.
In summary, busy athletes love training camps as it allows them an opportunity for a step change in fitness and a complete focus on their sport. However, to make the most out of them, athletes should follow a consistent training programme for at least one month before attending the camp and spend some time on their bikes, as the saddle discomfort can be the most distracting experience! Strength work can set an athlete up for success and reduce the likelihood of injury.
Train more, fuel more!
Given the increase in training load when attending a training camp, athletes must pay particular attention to their fuelling before, during and after every session. For many athletes, this will be one of the most important things they can focus on, as the margin for error is reduced if athletes have a much bigger training load. They can’t get away with not fuelling sessions or missing meals like they can at home as their body will not have enough fuel reserves to do a good training session day after day. As mentioned before, athletes can recover more efficiently and absorb more training load. Fuelling is a part of recovery. It can also help prevent injuries, as people move better when they are fuelled. Finally, many camps are held in warmer locations than where the athletes come from. Therefore, athletes must be mindful of remaining hydrated throughout the camp.
If the camp includes catering, athletes don’t need to worry about where their next meal comes from! That is one more thing taken care of! If the camp doesn’t, athletes must ensure they get the food in when needed and have planned ahead over the next few days of training. Athletes should have ready access to snacks and food on a training camp! It is too late if an athlete needs to shop before their meal after a day of training. The fuelling part of a training camp should be as planned as the training schedule!
Athletes can practice before going away by reviewing their average training weeks and fuelling needs and start planning by extrapolating them. Additionally, as a general rule of thumb or guideline when on the camp: if in doubt, eat!
When on the camp, athletes should aim to prioritise training: this includes recovery (sleep) and fuelling themselves. Athletes who do this well usually have very successful camps. Given that many athletes are busy at home, this approach allows them the best chance to grow and develop during and after every camp, making it an exceptionally efficient use of time in the lead-up to their seasons. Athletes spend their time juggling training with general life at all other times of the year. On a camp, they can split their time between training and recovering on a training camp. This means they can train and relax guilt-free, ready to face the onslaught of life on their return, knowing they have banked some exceptional training time ahead of their race season.
Philip is the founder of Tri Training Harder LLP. He’s a British Triathlon Level 3 coach, and has been coaching for over a decade and is involved with mentoring and developing other coaches.
Philip has have coached athletes to European and World AG wins, elite racing, many Kona qualifications, IRONMAN podiums and AG wins.
Alongside the conventional development through many CPD courses, he has also been fortunate enough to work alongside experts in the fields of Physiotherapy, Strength and Conditioning, Nutrition, Psychology, Biomechanics, Sports Medicine. Putting this knowledge into practice he has worked with thousands of athletes to various degrees, from training camps in Portugal and around Europe, clinics in the UK and online coaching.
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