Using Cross Training in Triathlon Training

Swimming, running, and cycling are great workouts, but they may occupy your time such that little is left if any for strength training. If you want to succeed as an athlete, strength training should be high on your priority list. This type of CrossFit training helps you to build power and keep healthy so that your muscles can sustain every workout.

In CrossFit, you will have a quick and dirty way to push in your strength training through fun, but challenging workouts of the day and a supportive atmosphere to crown it all. CrossFit can be an excellent lens which you can use to focus on strength and power and identify any muscular imbalances that may be impeding your aspirations to hone a proper form.

The critical aspect is to use CrossFit intelligently and work towards committing yourself to the regimen particularly in the offseason. It is highly advisable that you enlist the help of a trained coach because as a triathlete, you should not do CrossFit in your garage.

Maximizing the Simplicity of CrossFit

Of the many allures to CrossFit, simplicity ranks high. The exercises and movements are founded on classic strength training. The push-ups, the deadlifts, and the squats are often done with heavy weights which makes them explosive and excellent for building strength.
Swimming, running, and cycling for hours is commendable, but it only enhances your stamina and not so much in building power. CrossFit movements such as sprints and kettlebell swings stand in the gap to bridge strength training.

Building Function through CrossFit

For you to benefit as a triathlete, your focus should be so much on the mechanics of each movement. If you have access to a certified CrossFit coach, he can help you in determining your areas of weakness such as bowing knees during squats. Such weaknesses have far-reaching effects in terms of your cycling and running mechanics. Over time, such weaknesses may impede your performance.

Building Power in Off Season

If you have always wanted to push your power and speed on the bike and run, there are CrossFit functional moves such as pull-ups, burpees, kettlebell swings, and 400-meter sprints. Using CrossFit during the offseason which for people in the northern hemisphere coincides with fall and winter is an excellent way to build power because it augments your need to run, bike, and swim.

The 2 to 3-hour rides and runs do not to be done throughout the year but in the buildup to events. This means during the offseason, race-specific preparatory workouts can be substituted with power building CrossFit workouts.

However, as the race season approaches, your workouts should change in the specification so that more focus can be given to your triathlon goals. During this season, your CrossFit exercises can take a dip to let’s say once per week.