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发帖数: 9013 | 1 http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2012/01/how-to-do-endurance
So if you read the first six articles in this series, then you’ve learned
so far how to get nice shoulders, a better butt, a flat stomach and an
impressive chest. You’ve learned how to sculpt legs like Lance Armstrong
and how to look very, very good in a t-shirt.
But can you keep that amazing body and still do endurance sports…like
triathlon? After all, it’s pretty typical among the triathlon crowd to have
tiny arms, a thin neck, a stick-like midsection, a weak body frame and even
a “skinny-fat” look, with a little bit of weight in the belly and waist.
Let’s face it, folks – that ain’t sexy.
Even though triathlon is the fastest growing sport on the planet, and races
sell out thousands of slots in just a few minutes, it can still be a bit
depressing when you realize that traditional triathlon training doesn’t
really give you a nice body – and just makes you either really skinny or
skinny-fat.
And the fear of having that emaciated, marathoner-like appearance is a
legitimate concern if having a nice body is important to you. I know that it
was a big concern for me when I got into the sport of triathlon – I didn’
t want to watch in the mirror as my lean, hard muscle wasted away and I
ended up looking like a skinny weakling.
But the truth is, when you train for triathlon, you don’t have to lose
precious muscle, get extremely skinny, or become a scrawny endurance athlete
. You can actually train for triathlon while still adding incredibly
functional muscle and athleticism. You can swim, bike and run fast – and
still have an amazing body.
Here’s how, in five easy steps:
1. Lift Right
There are two styles of weight lifting that most triathletes do:
1) high-repetition, low-resistance endurance style lifting, such as a
circuit of 20 reps of several different exercises;
2) heavy, slow, football-style lifting, like deadlifts, squats or benchpress
. In reality, there is a third style of lifting that is neglected among
endurance athletes, but a long-kept tradition of the bodybuilding industry:
“hypertrophy” style training: multiple sets of 8-12 repetitions.
With hypertrophy training, you can add and define lean muscle very quickly.
But the problem is that it is very easy with this bodybuilder-style training
to build non-functional muscle that actually slows you down when you’re
competing in a sport such as triathlon.
The solution to this issue is to still do the hypertrophy-style training,
but to avoid single-joint exercises like biceps curls, and instead to choose
full body, functional exercises while scattering in just enough explosive
and heavy weightlifting to keep your muscles extremely functional and fast.
2. Eat Right
This may be a bit of a news flash for you, but fat doesn’t make you fat.
Instead, fat – the healthy variety, like olives, almonds, walnuts, fish and
avocadoes – is a hormonal precursor and gives your body the building
blocks it needs to develop lean, hard muscle, as well as competitive drive,
mental energy, libido, and every other advantage that comes from adequate
hormones.
On the flipside, carbohydrates, especially the type that are really favored
by endurance athletes, like bagels, sports drinks, and cereal, give you that
soft, pudgy look in the mid-section, accompanied by a complete inability to
build impressive, defined arms and legs.
So here’s what to do about this:
if you’re trying to be fast at triathlon and also have an amazing body, you
should eat a diet comprised of a high amount of healthy fats (40-50% fat),
add in moderate helpings of natural protein to keep amino acids elevated for
your muscles and brain, and top it off with strategically timed
carbohydrate doses when they really matter, such as before or after your
exercise sessions.
3. Train Right
For years, sports scientists have know that short, hard and intense
intervals give you just as much fitness and performance benefit as long,
slow, aerobic exercise. But like a mouse on a wheel, it is tempting and even
addictive for an endurance athlete to continue plugging away hours pounding
the pavement, turning the pedals, or swimming back and forth.
Not only does this long, slow aerobic training completely nullify any
attempts to add lean muscle or get a nice, defined body, but it also
depletes hormones, causes overtraining syndrome, and takes away precious
time from family, career and other hobbies.
Instead, for the triathlete who wants to avoid the skinny-fat look and get
an amazing, muscular body, the training plan should incorporate
strategically targeted high-intensity bursts of energy, a moderate amount of
slightly longer “tempo” work, and finally, a low amount of long aerobic
training…
…strategically saving long rides, runs or swims for times when they are
completely necessary and crucial to the program.
4. Supplement Right
Inadequate hormones are a big issue for both men and women, and especially
physically active men and women. “Andropause”, the decline or imbalance in
male hormones and “Menopause”, the decline or imbalance in female
hormones can begin to occur when you’re as young as 27 years old – and
only gets worse as you age.
Although hormonal deficits are the biggest problem among endurance athletes,
there is also a prevalence of nutrition deficiencies, mineral loss, and
very low fatty acid and amino acid levels – all of which keep you from both
getting fast and having an amazing body.
These deficits and imbalances can occur because the body simply needs extra
help if you’re lifting, swimming, cycling, running and cross-training on a
regular basis. This level of activity is just more than the human body can
naturally handle!
The extra help comes in the form of completely legal sports nutrition
supplementation like digestive enzymes, fish oil, vitamin D, greens
supplements, magnesium and Chinese adaptogenic herbs. While there are
countless supplement ads in magazines and on websites, you really only need
a few of these key supplements to have your body ready to both go fast and
maintain muscle.
And yes, if you are pushing your body beyond it’s natural tendencies, then
even in a situation where your diet is perfect, supplementation is a must if
you want to be fast and also have an amazing body.
5. Live Right
There are little hacks or tweaks you can make to your lifestyle to simplify
this whole process of performing fantastic and looking good.
For example, you can sleep more deeply by using magnesium, melatonin,
keeping your bedroom completely dark, and even using sleep applications like
“White Noise”. You can de-stress at the beginning of the day with a very
simple 5-10 minute yoga routine. You can keep bouncing back from your
workouts day-after-day by using a ice, compression and foam roller. You can
detoxify your body by making sure you aren’t using body-damaging chemicals
to clean your house or cook your food.
These are just a few of the little lifestyle tweaks that you can make, but
they’re incredibly important if you want to add muscle and athleticism
while getting the body of your dreams and still being fast for triathlon. |
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