Australian Triathlete — December 2017

AustrAliAn triAthlete | 83

coaches corner

Training TOOLBOX

•    Train at home in the laundry with the

dryer running and a heater on.

•    Train at home in the bathroom with the

heater and hot tap running to create

the humidity.

•    Train indoors - anywhere that you can

ramp the heat up (but there may not

be much humidity here).

Pros:

•    The great news is, with staying home

you can plan your training around the

time you have, or you can do sessions in

these environments but at the same

time maintain some intensity in other

training sessions when training in the

cooler conditions at home. This means

less interruption to your training routine.

•    You remain in your normal routine, and

therefore there is less impact on your

life or family.

Cons:

•    Paying to use a heat chamber or

regular sauna sessions may be

expensive and less readily accessible.

•    Training indoors, at home (in the

laundry/bathroom) – it’s difficult to

exactly measure and control the heat

and the humidity.

•    Increased water and electricitiy bills.

So, obviously you want to know - how

do you include heat training, whether

you’re away in the heat pre-event or doing

acclimatisation at home. Well, the key to

training in the heat is to respect how it will

affect you.

You need to understand that racing in

the heat/humidity will mean the training

metrics you are used to may not be

reached because of this additional

stressor - expect to be slower. By training

in the heat before the race, you will realise

pretty quickly how much slower you are or

how much the heat affects you. It is quite

individual, and that shows you why it is

important to expose yourself to it and

learn what is right for you.

Following are examples of a one-hour

indoor bike/ergo and treadmill sessions to

include in a heat chamber or at home in

your homemade heat chamber.

InDOOR

BIKe/eRGO

Session 1

Warm Up

10mins. HR <70%mhr

or 60-70%FTP cadence

90rpm

6x (30-second

accelerations, build

cadence form

80-100rpm+, 30

seconds easy)

Main Set

6-10x (5mins

@75%mhr or 70-

80%FTP, 1mins easy)

Warm Down 5-10minutes

Session 2

Warm Up

10mins. HR<70%mhr or

60-70%FTP cadence

90rpm

Main Set

10mins @70-75%mhr

or 70%FTP, start with a

cadence of 80rpm and

pick up by 5rpm every

2mins

6-10x (30seconds max.

efforts, 4 ½ minutes

easy)

6-10x (5minutes

@75%mhr or 70-

80%FTP, 1mins easy)

Warm Down 5-10mins

MeThod 1

Live and train in a similar

climate to what you are

expecting in hawaii

Pros:
• Spending extra time in Hawaii before
the race will allow you time to cover
the majority of the bike and run course,
and will also give you extra insight into
the course.
• Seven to 14 days out from the race
means that you are already in taper
mode, so you could use the first few
days of being there to give you some
extra recovery time.

Cons:
• Training for Hawaii already has
associated costs, including travel,
accommodation, training and time off
work. To increase time spent away or
take an additional seven to 14 days off
before race day may be too much.
• To be able to train in the heat and not
overdo things you’re forced to change
your training. You must not put any
intensity into your training to give your
body a chance to cope with the heat.
Any higher intensity sessions will need
to be dropped or moved.

MeThod 2

stay at home and adapt to

the heat by training in an

artificial environment
You may ask: “How do I create an artificial
environment similar to the heat and
humidity of Hawaii?” Research suggests
that if you are not going to be in the heat
day-after-day, then aim to expose yourself
to the heat every two to three days, starting
around 30 days out from race day.

You can do this in the following ways:

• Pay and go to a heat chamber or a
controlled heat environment.
• If you have access to an indoor pool
deck, you can use this for added heat
and humidity during training sessions
such as ergo sessions.

tReADMIll

RunnInG

Session 1

Warm Up

5minutes. Have the

treadmill set on a one

percent incline

Main Set

8-10x (2minutes

@80%mhr, 1minutes

easy)

Warm Down 5minutes

Session 2

Warm Up 5mins warm up

Main Set

3x (10minutes @75-

78%mhr or race pace,

2minutes easy)

Warm Down 5minutes