Training concepts can be super simple.
The basics of stress and adaption have proved repeatable for generations of athletes. Indeed the concepts haven’t changed in centuries. Yes there are new technologies and some learnings but have any fundamentals really changed since the Greeks and Romans gladiators days? The legend of Milo is based on progressive training overload. Milo is said to have carried a baby ox as a child and growing together to eventually lift a grown bull as Milo himself turned into a grown man. But this simplicity is far from easy.
When I was a kid I once got a copy of the Guinness book of records for xmas.
One record caught my eye….the vertical balancing of golf balls.
A tower of balls. One ball wide. One ball balanced onto the top of the last.
A super simple concept yes, but very difficult to achieve.
The record? It was 8 !!!Â
Triathlon training: So when we look away from golf balls to our training and racing although the concepts and principals are simple, the execution takes time, patience, plenty of fails, retries, set-backs, successes.
Consistency and sticking with core basics. Staying injury free. Steady progression, allowing all of the body to develop in step not just cardiovascular, going at the rate of the slowest development element not at the fastest. Eat well and sufficiently. Achieve the right sleep quality as well as quantity. Have the confidence to allow adaption windows not just recovery. Know the intensity goal of every session, not just the duration/distance.
Bank week after week, leading into month after month. Play the infinite game rather than the short-term thrash.
Crucially, enjoy in the process. Guess what, when you get to your personal 8 stack achievement, the record evolves. Its now 9. 😀
Don’t watch if you want to keep 3 mins. Or watch whilst doing a plank or picking up a calf 😀
Take away: What element in your training could you simplify and what can I help you with? Lets chat through on your next 1-2-1 call.