Techniques for Triathlon

The triathlon is a sport composed of the 3 modern traditional and aerobic disciplines: swimming, cycling and athletics.

Here are the precise techniques of these three disciplines:

The technique of cycling

Unlike competitive swimming in a pool where the technique of swimming is alone, and corresponds to the swimmer, his movements and the various couplings that makes his members in the space-time. A swimmer has to think about where the right hand is when the left is finishing the stroke and when to breathe. However, in the whole triathlon is also referenced by the environment. Even in swimming, your technique will depend on the wave of water wherever you are or where you are competing in the group.

In cycling technique is in communion with your bike, you cannot think of pedaling a perfectly adapted technique without the various mechanical components of your bike, bring the bike to your height, weight and shape to pedal. Even the terrain where you need to compete.

This binding machine-man marks the cycling technique and even more the art of triathlon cycling. Therefore before you start talking about the famous art of cycling, try to explain how to adapt or adjust to your bike.

When thinking about bike fit, we have two orientations, the first include everything that can be changed using the settings of the machine, such as saddle height and handlebar with respect to the saddle. And some parts of the bike that cannot be changed as the length of the frame or wheels.

The technique of running

Within three disciplines or fields containing a triathlon, we have swimming, cycling and pedestrian walk or run, and the latter is the only that human beings are innately prepared for.

Our knees and especially our back is not made to go on a bike, we have to work and learn the proper way to give the pedal, to position on the bike and adjust the machine to our morphology. In swimming, technique is essential, our body is prepared to walk, run, jump and climb, but not for swimming. And especially we cannot breathe under water so we have to coordinate all propulsive movements with breathing to avoid drowning.

In contrast to this, the human being is ready to run, and knows to run naturally. A lot of great sprinters are not running form changes, strange that is. They work out the length of stride and always secondary aspects.

In the marathon's the same, the technique is almost natural for each runner and also work technical issues, prevent injury or try saving energy. But it's not like swimming that has to be learned from zero and then not stop working all aspects of the technique.

Although we will try the technique of race (an entire subject of the option), this technique has objectives that are clearly different from the other two phases of the triathlon.

We must also emphasize that the technique of running or walking in the triathlon has slight differences with the athleticism of the same distances. In the Olympic distance people run ten miles. Can be considered middle-distance athletics track. But an athlete before making ten miles has to warm up and stretch. A triathlete (in the Olympic distance) and takes a mile for swim and about forty on the bike. This makes some difference.

It also changes the way you run, the source of the athlete. A swimmer in most cases is not much trouble to run; many swimmers are working the race almost daily as a way of training the aerobic system. Cyclists on the other hand have more problems with running, especially if they are competitive athletes, their musculature is less suited to a different movement and especially don’t receive shocks.

For the latter is very important to work certain aspects of both the enhancement convenient technique to avoid injury to the knee and ankles.

In the field of swimming, there are many athletes with flat feet. Some studies say it is even good for a swimmer.

Swimming in a triathlon

This is usually the major problem for most triathletes that come from athletics and cycling. It only needs a fitness to meet the meter (typically 750 meters and 1500 meters) making up the swimming stage of a triathlon. It also requires a technical level at least good.

In the phase of running and cycling, improper technique can cause us to lose some speed or increase the risks of injury. But in swimming, improper technique can make that much of our energy is wasted and making us tired.

Swimming in a triathlon is different from the swimming in a pool, it is like the cycling track or cycling road. The phase of swimming in open water is not in a pool, how to swim here and the technique has certain differences with the technique of a competitive swimmer in the pool.

These techniques, although have significant differences, do not require a swimmer for such significant changes in the movements of the various sections of the body. These changes are more related to adaptation to the environment (waves, wind, temperature and density of participants) than to changes in swimming parameters such as frequency or length of cycle.

Authors such as Javier Solas says that there should be differences between a bottom swimmer or a triathlete open water swim in the segment. And that differences in relationship between the frequency and length for swimmers run opposite to speed swimmers. As a triathlete must have a swimmer's technique and specifically the technique of a swimmer in the background, and to know the tactics of open water swimming.

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