Men's Health - UK (2019-07)

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01

SWIM

STRONG

FOCUS ON

BREATHING

Yes, you can be

really fit and still be blowing

hard after one lap. A classic

mistake for the less experienced

is forgetting to breathe out.

Exhale every time your face

goes under to give yourself

a chance to inhale when your

face is above water. It sounds

simple, but it takes practice.

BUILD YOUR

STAMINA

Swimming

technique is where novices

flounder, so build your stamina

with Ruggiero’s interval

workout. Warm up with eight

50m laps. With 15 seconds of

rest between each, swim 200m

fast, 300m easy, 400m at top

speed, then 400m recovery,

300m fast and 200m easy.

REAL RACER’S TIP

CALM YOUR

NERVES

“Before the swim of my first

race, I was nervous. My heart

rate spiked,” says Andrew

Harley, triathlete with the

PlayTri Club. “When I got in the

water, it took my breath away.

I felt like I’d drown.” Now, he

slows his heart with deep

breathing before he gets in.

BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO

YOUR SWIM BY EXHALING

WHENEVER YOU GO UNDER

T

riathlons are

booming, but

convention states

that you need to

put in countless hours of

training on the road and in

the pool. But there’s a short

cut: sprint triathlons, made

up of a 750m swim, a 20km

bike and a 5K run. In short,

half a standard triathlon

• but don’t let that fool you.
  “The sprint is the hardest
  distance. You’re pushing
  your limits from the first
  swim stroke,” says Paul
  Ruggiero, triathlon coach
  with Carmichael Training
  Systems. To help you
  overcome those limits for
  a more gratifying race, we
  collated a treble of sharp
  strategies, speed secrets
  and real-people hacks to
  put you on the inside track.

38 MEN’S HEALTH

NO TIME TO

TRAIN? FAST

TRACK YOUR

ROAD TO GLORY

Three sports in a day may feel

daunting, but halving the race

could double the satisfaction

THE MH

GUIDE TO

SPRINT

TRIATHLONS

WO

RD

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SH

ILT

ON

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TO

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BR

OD

EN