Olympic Triathlon Training - Novice
As all athletes have different needs, a single program suitable for all athletes is not possible. A training program has to be developed to meet the athlete's individual needs and consider many factors: gender, age, strengths, weaknesses, objectives, training facilities etc. The program supplied here is just an example and will require updates to meet your specific aims and objectives.
Any training program application is at the athlete's discretion and risk.
Before You Start
Before starting any training, you must have a medical examination to ensure it is safe for you to do so.
Overview of the Training Program
The season's training plan is based on six phases, each comprising a repeated four-week program. The workload in the first three weeks of the four-week program increases each week (easy, medium, hard), and the fourth week comprises active recovery and tests to monitor training progress. The four-week cycles aim to:
- Build you up to a level of fitness (3 weeks)
- Test, recovery and adjustment of the training program (1 week)
- Build you up to a higher level of fitness (3 weeks)
- Test, recovery and adjustment of the training program (1 week)
- Build you up to an even higher level of fitness (3 weeks)
- and so on
Remember, a training program is athlete specific, and the results of the tests in the fourth week can be used to adjust the training in the next four-week cycle to address any limitations.
The content and quantity of training each week and phase will depend on many factors. The Planning page provides an insight into tdata gathering and preparing training programs.
Example Training Plan & Programs
The objective of each phase, with links to examples of a season's training plan and four-week training programs for phases 1, 2 and 3, are as follows:
- Training Plan - General overview of the season by phases
- Phase 1 - General development of strength, mobility, endurance and basic technique
- Phase 2 - Development of specific fitness and advanced technical skills
- Phase 3 - Competition experience - the achievement of qualification times for the main competition
- Phase 4 - Adjustment of the technical model, preparation for the main competition
- Phase 5 - Competition experience and achievement of outdoor objectives
- Phase 6 - Active recovery - planning preparation for next season
The content of the four-week programs in phases four and five depends very much on the athlete's progress and competitive races. Your aim in these phases is to address any limitations the athlete may have to bring them to a peak performance for the major competition in phase five.
Training Activities
The following are links to the appropriate page for the activities identified in the training programs.
- Circuit Training
- Conditioning Leg
- Conditioning Lower Leg
- Conditioning Upper Body
- Evaluation Tests
- Plyometrics
- Stretching Exercises
- Warm-up and cool down
- Weight Training
Training Pace
The intensity of each session is given in terms of a percentage of the event distance target time. e.g. run for 40 minutes at race pace +15%. If the athlete's target time for the 5 km is 18 minutes, then at race pace + 15%, their time for 5 km would be 21 minutes 10 seconds (18 ÷ 0.85). It equates to running at 4 minutes 13 seconds pace per kilometre, and in 40 minutes, you would cover approx. 9.5 kilometres.
Page Reference
If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:
- MACKENZIE, B. (2007) Olympic Triathlon Training - Novice [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/triathlon/onovice.htm [Accessed