As most triathletes either take a break this time of year, or are getting started on their winter training, it is a great time to put in place a macro structure for your coming training year. In this article Passion Fit coach and professional athlete Lydia Dant explains how she reframes the different parts of the training cycle, and what an athlete should be focussed on in each training phase. This is a great place to start for your own periodisation.
AI Coaching Platforms for sport
It’s likely if you are on social media that the algorithms are showing you targeted marketing about AI coaching platforms for sports. The machines themselves touting AI as the panacea for athletes and coaches. Perhaps you have been wondering what it can do. Caroline Livesey delves into what it currently can and cannot do.
Do I need a coach?
If you are thinking about taking on a coach, but you are struggling to understand if you need one and how they can help then look no further. Mark and Caroline highlight some of the reasons you might want to get expert help, and how a coach might help you not just with training but with finding balance in your life in general.
Record your training!
Have you ever wondered if recording your training in a platform like Xhale can help you to progress?
Well, we have countless examples of this in action over the years we have been running the Xhale coaching and training platform. As a coach, Caroline Livesey gives us some great examples here of the ways in which recording what you do can enhance your progress, and be a positive thing for overall well-being.
Triathlon race preparation- The Taper
In this article Passion Fit athlete Lauren Turley discusses the taper. While there are a million ways to approach the actual training load taper – and each athlete will be different – there are many other considerations for this phase before your race which Lauren outlines here.
Workout Builder
In this article we show you how to use the workout builder for bike and run sessions. Once you have built the session in Xhale you can easily sync it to your Garmin so you can follow it once you are training.
Triathlon race preparation- Race specificity
In the second of our Race Ready articles, Sam Wordley talks you through how to get specific about the demands of the race you have chosen. Reading the race manual and checking your kit matches the demands you are about to face can leave you with more time and less nerves so you can relax in the days leading up to the event.
Triathlon race preparation- Recce the Course
As athletes near race season, Xhale coach Caroline Livesey here takes you through how you can make the most of your pre-race days with a recce of the race course, and what you should be looking out for.
Optimising your training recovery strategy
Whether professional or an age-group athlete, understanding how to optimise recovery and developing a plan to achieve this are critical to your progression. Here, Dr Sam Shepherd explains why getting the right nutrition will help you to recover better and reap the rewards the of training. He delves into what key principles you should follow when it comes to recovery and tips on how to implement these into your training plan.
Safe Winter Running Adventures
It’s winter. The weather is cold, grey, wet and windy and it’s dark by 4pm. Fell running at this time of year just isn’t much fun!
However, what about those blue sky days where the air is cold and crisp? What about those days after it has snowed and the weather has calmed down but it is still cold enough that the snow hasn’t turned to slush? What about those dark nights under a big moon and the lights of the nearest village twinkling in the distance – those are great days to be out on the hills!
In this post Dave Taylor (Fell Running Guide) shares some of his top tips for getting out in the winter weather safely.
Getting Started – Part 2
In Part 2 of our coach onboarding series, the team from Xhale present to you some of the basics of coaching using the platform, how to make your coaching more efficient, and how to build plans without your athletes seeing what you are working on.
Strength training for women
Strength training can improve joint stability and flexibility as well as strength itself. In this article Janette Cardy shares some of the key exercises that she recommends for a strength training plan.