The newest fad being touted as the “secret to success” for endurance training is to train and eat to become “metabolically efficient”. What exactly does this mean? The term efficiency combined with metabolism sounds like an athlete’s dream, especially to an endurance athlete. After all, efficiency means to “save energy without waste or unnecessary effort.” Well, this surely must be the key to success for endurance performance; go as long as possible and waste as little energy as possible. Unfortunately, this new fad is just that, a FAD! “Metabolic efficiency” training or fueling to enhance performance will come at a cost, a big cost which happens to be your performance.
After you have made some strength gains in the gym, the time is ideal to build sport specific power. The goal is for the strength gained in the gym to translate into added swim, bike, and run power. Here are some high resistance intervals you can do in the pool and on the roads to build strength and power for each of the three sports. As these intervals involve explosive movements, you should be warmed up before beginning them to reduce the risk of injury. The first time, just do one interval toward the end of your workout. Assess your body’s response to the first interval to determine how many you will do the next time, and gradually increase the number of intervals.
