the ultimate 101 · it’s great if you could also do spinning class once or twice a week,...

MEET OUR EXPERTS THE BRAINS GUIDING YOU TO PERFORMANCE NIRVANA

Joel Filliol Canadian coach Filliol guided Simon Whitfield to 2008 Olympic silver, and currently coaches some of the world’s top ITU athletes, including Richard Murray and Mario Mola.

Sergio Santos The Portuguese coach guided Vanessa Fernandes to 2008 Beijing Olympic silver and now coaches the Brazillian Olympic-distance triathlon team.

Jamie Turner is the national coach for Canada but is best known for his ‘freelancing disciples’, who include two-time world champion Gwen Jorgensen.

Siri Lindley coaches a band of the world’s finest athletes including triple Ironman world champ Mirinda Carfrae. Siri also won the ITU World Championships in 2001.

Darren Smith became famous for delivering six athletes from his noted D-Squad to the 2012 Olympic Games in London including eventual silver medallist Lisa Norden.

Kevin Currell is head of performance nutrition at the English Institute of Sport, and was formerly British Triathlon’s lead nutritionist, working with the Brownlees.

MAY 2016 I WWW.220TRIATHLON.COM I 45

ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

THE ULTIMATE

TIPSTRAINING101WE’VE GATHERED TOGETHER SIX OF THE WORLD’S

LEADING TRIATHLON COACHES, ALL WITH ONE GOAL – TO MAKE YOU FASTER. IF IT’S GOOD

ENOUGH FOR CARFRAE, MOLA AND JORGENSEN…

NUTRITIONTRI MINDSET S&CSWIM RUNBIKE

WORDS JAMES WITTS ILLUSTRATIONS PAUL TYSALL

46 I WWW.220TRIATHLON.COM I MAY 2016

FEATURE

THE SWIMTechnique, breathing and wetsuit choice are just three hurdles for tri’s first discipline. But fear ye

not loyal readership, here’s celebrated coach Joel Filliol’s surefire swim advice…

01 OPEN ARMPITSTo improve propulsion, you want to keep your

armpits open when your catch hand is pointing at the bottom. That helps with a high elbow.

02 HIGHER STROKE RATEBands or inner tubes teach you to swim with a

higher stroke rate. You can’t swim with a slow rate because pauses are too long between strokes. It’s a good training drill for open water because you don’t want long strokes associated with the pool.

03 SHORT AND SWEETAdvanced triathletes can extend drill distance

but beginners and improvers should keep them short

04 KEEP IT SIMPLEIf you need to write your swim session down on

the white board or paper, it’s too complicated. Keep it simple.


ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

and sweet. Do 25m lengths and have a rest. This can still be taxing for some. If so, add a pull buoy to add flotation.

05 ADD DRAGYou can improve propulsion further by attaching

a swim parachute to your waist (Try Finis, £19, simplyswim.com). They create resistance through the water so build strength. But they’re also useful to improve body position, as well as making you aware of activating the correct catch technique. You could also drag along a sponge or wear drag shorts.

06 PADDLE TECHNIQUEPaddles are great for strength work but

you should also use them for ingraining good technique. How? Take the wriststrap off so the paddle – which should be just larger than your hand – is only held on by your fingers. It requires you to keep pressure from the hand to paddle through the stroke. Finis Agility paddles work in the same way.

07 ROTATE DRILLSRotate swim tools for adaptation and interest.

You might do bandwork in the warm-up and pull in the main set. Or some swim parachute in the warm-up, then your main set and then more parachute at the end.

08 GO LONGYou won’t swim fast

and be fresh off the bike if you rarely complete main sets with the same or higher volume and pace than you expect in the race. For Olympic-distance, you’re looking at around 2km; Ironman 4km or more. That said, you can break that 2km down into 20 x 100m.

09 MORE, MORE, MOREIt’s obvious but swim more often, even if it’s just

an extra 20mins each week. Frequency is so powerful for swimming. When sessions are too far apart, you lose that day-to-day learning.

10 TRAIN SMARTMaximise time by running to the pool and then

swimming. Or swim and then head into the gym for a spin session. That said, don’t swim too much after other sessions as technique is initially learnt best when you’re not too fatigued.

11 DON’T OVER THINK IT...... and don’t under think it. So be engaged with

what you’re doing in the water, and use tools to help you establish a better feel for the water. But don’t over think every stroke, and suffer from paralysis by analysis. Swimming fast is about rhythm and flow, when good technique becomes automatic.

12 UPPER STRENGTHYou must have good upper-body conditioning and

you won’t get that by walking or running. Swimming and bodyweight exercises will add conditioning, which ultimately will help when training technique.

13 BAND WORKTubing or therabands are a great way to practise

front crawl. Just doing that on its own, or before and after swimming, 2mins every day, will create good technique. We do that, 5mins every day, for muscle patterning before diving into the pool.

14 ALL ABOUT FITKey to wetsuits are fit and flexibility. Hike it

up from the bottom and give yourself a wedgy! There shouldn’t be huge swathes of excess material. When it’s dry, you should be able to put your arms over your head without any stretch whatsoever in your armpits.

15 NECK CHECKMake sure the neck fits properly. People’s

neck shapes can be quite different, and you don’t want water coming in too easily. When purchased, this is also an area you should lube up to stop chafing.

16 LOW HEADIt’s all too common that an age-grouper will lift

their head too high, especially when breathing in open water. Head down means feet up. So keep your head low and just out of the water when breathing.

18 TEST SETSThere are many ways

to measure swim performance including a repeated set where you measure your time for a set distance. You can also measure stroke rate from a device called a Tempo Trainer Pro from swim brand Finis

(www.finisinc.com), which secures beneath a swim cap and transmits an audible tempo beep.

19 GROUP TRAININGThe UK’s blessed with great OW venues, so go

along with a group. We do that with our triathletes, so they can practise open-water skills like swimming close to each other and drafting.

20 “CAN I KICK IT?” SLIGHTLY…Learn how to swim with a light kick – a two-beat

kick – to add balance and improve your rhythm. Short fins can help as they can provide awareness of the kick.

21 BILATERAL BREATHINGEvery swimmer should have the ability to swim on

both sides; it’s especially important if the sun is strong and there are big waves. That said, many find their best race rhythm comes from breathing to one side. Still, learn bilateral for sighting even if you predominantly breathe to one side.

22 LIGHT FUELLINGMany athletes swim very first thing in the

morning and won’t eat anything beforehand. That’s fine but have a coffee to keep up your focus and engagement. We also have athletes with a bottle on deck, sipping on a light carb solution.

17 GET WETWetsuits are meant to be wet on the inside, so you can only judge when

swimming in one. Ideally, you should get in the water at a OW session before you buy your suit.


FEATURE

THE BIKECadence, cranks and carbon. Follow Sergio Santos’s

tri bike leg steps to increase your two-wheel competitiveness come the race season…

23 WHAT ARE YOU RACING FOR?Before you choose your bike, work out what your

goal is. Are you looking to race long distance or Olympic? Do you need aerobars or not? Or will you race Xterra, so you’ll need a mountain or cyclocross bike?

24 FIT THEN FASTWhatever level you are, it’s mandatory to have a

professional bike-fitting assessment. It’ll ensure you maximise every pedal stroke, be more comfortable and less prone to injury. It’s better to spend £1,000 on a bike and £200 on a bike fitting than £1,200 on a bike.

25 ALL-YEAR-ROUND TRIATHLETEThat goes for other bike gear, too. Don’t spend all

of your budget on a shiny piece of carbon. Instead, make sure you have everything you need – clothing, turbo trainer – to ride in any condition, whether it’s cold, windy, wet or indoors.

26 TOOL UPAs you build experience, you should think about cycling with a HR monitor and power meter.


ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

27 KNOW YOURSELFThere’s a tendency for age-groupers to copy pro

triathletes from what they see in magazines, websites and the TV. That’s fine but remember they’re pro. A triathlete training, say, 3-4hrs a week might not need things like power meters and compression socks.

28 PEDAL REVOLUTIONWhen you start off in tri, focus on your cadence

(revolutions per minute, rpm). This is more important than any other skill. Aim for 90-100rpm. Your gear selection should work back from that range. If you can’t spin at 90rpm, drop down a gear until you can. You should aim for that figure when climbing, too.

29 PERSONAL CRANKCrank length is important and ties in with your

bike fit. In general, there are three sizes available – 170mm, 172.5mm and 175mm – but there are smaller and larger options. These may be useful if you struggle to maintain an aero position, feeling cramped or find your knee is thrown out at the top of the pedal stroke.

30 THE CORRECT TEETHEnsure you have the correct crankset for your

ability and experience. That might mean you need bigger sprockets out back. So instead of 19, 20, 21-teeth cassettes, you should have 28, 32… Again, key is maintaining that cadence range.

31 BETTER BY BIKETraffic, environmental impact, cost – there are

numerous reasons why you shouldn’t commute by car. But, as triathletes, it means easy bike time. If commute distance allows, make this a staple of your tri training.

32 HEAD OFF ROADI advise younger triathletes to use a mountain

bike instead of a road bike and I’d recommend the same for new age-groupers, especially for winter training. Not only will they avoid traffic, but they can also better hone technical skills like handling, braking, ascending and descending. Work on these skills before worrying too much about intensity of riding.

33 MINIMAL PEDALLINGI’d advise riding a minimum of twice a week,

which might mean once in the week and a longer ride at the weekend. That midweek ride might benefit from a turbo trainer. They’re not a big investment and will keep you cycling when it’s wet, cold and dark outside.

34 SPIN, SPIN…It’s great if you could also do spinning class once

or twice a week, especially in winter. They’re great for building fitness, though don’t forget ‘real riding’. That’s where the technical stuff comes in.

35 UP THE INTENSITYAge-groupers with two or three seasons behind

them, and who race regularly, should focus on training by intensity – after mastering bike skills and cadence. They’ll probably be at a stage where they’ll benefit from the input of an accredited coach, and a training plan.

36 HIT THE LABSBefore you start training by numbers, undergo

physiological testing to set different training zones.

These will guide your session intensity, and will help you improve different parameters of fitness, which might be stamina, speed or power.

37 PHONE A FRIENDGroup rides at the weekend are essential if you’re

looking to stick to a training plan. Longer rides with friends are always more fun than going solo, and provide a competitive edge, meaning you’ll train harder.

38 THREE NOT ONEPure time-triallists can afford an extreme bike

set-up because they don’t have to walk after. You need to run. Ensure your aero position doesn’t inhibit your run.

39 FOCUS ON TWO WHEELSMany Iron athletes will spend a minimum of

5-6:30hrs on the 180km bike leg; more than 50% of total race time spent on the bike. That should be reflected in the proportion of training dedicated to the bike.

41 SHOP WISELYWhile the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset is very

good, save your money and buy their Ultegra version. In my opinion it shifts just as reliably and is only a few hundred grammes heavier. Spend the saved cash on a set of deep-rim race wheels – you’ll shave more time there.

42 WATCH THE WEATHERNormally, especially for tubulars, your tyre

pressure might reach 120-140psi. That’s fine but, when it’s wet, drop that to around 90psi. It’ll increase grip and reduce your chances of crashing.

43 FEED REGULARLYThere’s no set menu for the bike – some prefer

all gels, some might want a ham sandwich if the ride is long – but key is that you fuel regularly, especially at Ironman. Not only will it fuel your bike but your run, too.

44 SEE A NUTRITIONISTAs you become more serious about your

triathlon, it’s worth seeing a nutritionist. They’ll calculate exactly how many calories you need for your training and race goals, as well as the macronutrient split.

45 BOTTLE ITPractise drinking from your water bottle in

training, as well as the simple action of grabbing from the cage and returning, to ingrain good technique.

40 JUST RIDEIf it’s your first year of triathlon, don’t get bogged down with

aerodynamics or the flashiest gear – it’s all about riding.


FEATURE

THE RUNJamie Turner is the run coach behind Gwen

Jorgensen’s invincible form. So what can we learn from the Australian about speed, stamina and

stride rate? Let’s find out…

46 BUILDING BRICKSYou must remember that triathlon running isn’t

the same as running. It’s important to know in our game how well you run subsequent to the first two components of the game. So a brick session is ideal for meeting or exceeding demands of competition.

47 MODELLING SPEEDIt’s good to model behaviour and teach the

athlete the pace that they need to run at. You want to run 42mins for 10km. That breaks down as around 4:12mins/km. So run that but break it up so it’s manageable. That might mean running 10 x 1km at 4:12min pace with a 1min rest between. Or do it as 4 x 10:30mins with a 1min walk in-between.

48 MAXIMISE RESOURCESThe UK presents fantastic opportunities for

running over a variety of terrain and conditions, especially as you pommes have open access to a lot of land, even if it’s in private hands! So try off-road running. It’ll increase what I term your running vocabulary (skills, fitness…). Extending your vocabulary and running across a number of platforms help you to reach your goals.

50 WIDEN STRIDE RATEI know a lot of coaches who use treadmills to

develop cadence and cadence bandwidth. Why? As an analogy, it’s like moving pieces of firewood. If you’ve 1,000 pieces of firewood to move, you could do 10 reps of 100 but you might be smashed after the third 100. Or you might do 100 reps of 10 and find it easier. In tri it’s the same. If you have a good cadence range, it’ll come in handy when you’re fatigued. A treadmill is a good place to build this, to develop stride rate and have you working out a bandwidth that you can sustain fatigued or fresh.

51 COUNTING STRIDESYou can measure stride rate in several ways. With

a simple wristwatch, count how many strides you take in 15secs and multiply that by four. Or use an advanced training tool that measures cadence like those from Garmin and Polar.

49 WATCHING YOUHave a biomechanist or physio observe your run action

and then set about improving technique. Sometimes just reducing your knee angle on landing and having a faster turnover can improve your run.


ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

52 JOIN A CLUBJoining a club with good coaches will improve

technique, too. It’s a matter of screening what you do, which could be as basic as a coach’s eye, or something more complex like a video device or iPad recording.

53 INJURY-FREE RUNNINGConsistency of running is key to success. I’ve

been with Gwen for six years and, in that time, she hasn’t had one real injury. My analogy is that it doesn’t matter if you take the muffin to a cake-icing competition – it’s still a muffin. The secret is consistency and then icing on the cake. Staying injury-free can be as fundamental as looking after your soft tissue by massage.

54 CHOOSE THE RIGHT COACHOur sport isn’t one + one + one = three. It’s one +

one + one = 55. The comparative stresses are exponential. Often people in individual sports might think they have the solution for you based on, say, their experience as a swim coach. But that’s measuring success by what they do, not what we do. Work with people who are working with triathletes.

55 FOOTWEAR VARIETYYou should have a pair of shoes for longer

distances and one for shorter efforts and racing. It’s hard to put a numerical value on how long those shoes will last, but understand that they compress and take time to return to their normal state. So have a couple pairs of longer [more cushioned] shoe if you’re running a lot.

56 SHADOW THE CHAMPAs identified with Alistair Brownlee’s off-road

work, having good proprioception really adds to your run performance. Don’t just look at how fast you’re running or what your heart rate is doing. Enjoy the process of noting where your feet land.

57 GREEN LIGHT FOR LSDThere should be four run sessions in your ‘run

vocabulary’: long, slow distance (LSD); tempo, which is a

bit slower than race pace; race pace; and faster than race pace. Ultimately, that LSD session is the most vital for age-groupers because we’re an endurance sport so ensure you have one LSD each week. The rest is up to you. You need the capacity to generate work over a sustained period of time.

58 TAKE IT EASY… AND RUN DAMN HARDDo your easy runs easy and your hard runs hard.

Using Gwen as an example, she runs 16km easy on a Sunday. She’ll start out at 5:30min/km pace and increase speed to maybe 4:45min/km pace. For Gwen, that’s really easy. Remember: in a tri, she’s looking at around 16mins for 5km. But I know age-group guys who’ll run 22mins for a 5km sprint run and will be running much faster than Gwen on a Sunday morning… but they can’t change pace. Gwen’s bandwidth is huge.

59 RUN-WALK BEGINNINGSI’m a big fan of a run-walk strategy at the start of

an age-group session. Maybe do 9mins of running and 1min of walking just to reboot and refresh. It’ll prepare you for the set ahead.

60 RUN TO THE BEATMusic’s a great tool for motivation and

increasing stride rate. There are apps where you can listen to the beat you’re aspiring to, which might be 80spm (strides per minute). So an iPod is handy but don’t let it become a crutch as they’re banned for races.

62 REGULAR WARM-UPIf I throw a basketball at you and you’re unaware

I’ve filled it with water, you’ll drop it because your brain is only tuned into catching an air-filled ball. It’s the same with a warm-up – you need to activate mind and muscle.

63 TAKE IT SLOWBe mindful of training load when increasing run

volume as you still have two other disciplines to train for. That fatigue can build up, so take it slow to avoid injury.

64 LOVE TO WALKIncorporating 30-60secs of walking every

5-10mins during longer runs can help you focus on key self-coaching points. You’ll get more out of less and likely have less fatigue the next day. As for walking, aim for around 60 stride cycles per minute as a starting point.

65 METHODICAL PLANNINGYour long run on a Sunday should be at a pace

to prepare you for your hard run on the Tuesday. Don’t spend your ‘hard running money’ on Sunday as it’ll tire you too much and jeopardise the quality of your harder Tuesday effort.

61 OUTLOOK CHANGETurn your run training around and focus on good technique instead of other

fitness parameters.


ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

TRI MINDSETHoning your tri mindset is an underrated – yet

invaluable – tool for improving your swim/bike/run performance. Here are the world-beating athlete

and coach Siri Lindley’s top psych tips…

70 FOLLOW THE BROWNLEESI love the idea of the Brownlee brothers fell

racing, and that’s how it should be. One of my athletes, Sarah Haskins, won bronze in Athens after spending the winter snowshoeing instead of running. Physically it’s great, but it also refreshes your mind.

71 DIG DEEPPain tolerance is vital. When I was an athlete

and worked with Brett Sutton, he kept saying I wasn’t going hard enough. So I opened my mind, dug deeper and it paid off. There’s a quote, ‘Everything great is just beyond your comfort zone.’ When you’re doing intervals, just try and hold a rep for 5-10secs longer than normal. See that pain as a friend.

72 DATA CAPTools like Garmins are

useful but only use 25% of the time as they’ll hold you back. I’ve tested my athletes and they’ve said they’d completed a great session and hit certain figures. So I’d say do it again but turn off the screen. Nearly every time the figures coming back are significantly higher. Sometimes, data can be a limiter.

66 FOCUS ON YOURemember, your biggest competitor is yourself.

If you’re in the pool and you’re the slowest in your lane, don’t hone in on that. Focus on the fact you’re 5secs faster than before. Your goal should be about being better than yesterday.

67 SESSION BREAKDOWNDemotivation can strike all abilities at any time.

So keep things interesting. Instead of doing 2hrs on a turbo trainer, add in big-gear 15sec sprints. Bear in mind that it’ll pay off in six-months’ time at the races.

68 MIX IT UPOften it’s good to follow the same bike and run

routes so you have a measure of progress. But at this time of year, I’ll give my athletes a variety of different routes to keep things fresh. Tools like Google Maps can be invaluable here.

69 WINTER BREAKWhen you feel stale and let a lot of days and

weeks go by, that can dissolve your passion for the sport. I’d rather you took two weeks off from the sport so you’re hungry to come back.

73 BODY AUDITHave technical cues to ease the pain. Don’t think about tiredness,

think shoulders back, quick feet, chest forward… Proactive thinking is as positive as positive thinking.

74 POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONMy athletes swear by positive mindset. When I

was in pain, it was, ‘Great, I’m exactly where I need to be’. This is what it feels like to go fast. If I was in a race and I wasn’t hurting, I knew I was having a bad race.

75 VISUALISE DEFECTIONVisualisation is good but don’t just focus on the

perfect race. In the actual race, if something goes wrong you won’t be prepared. So visualise things like your goggles coming off or struggling to get out of your wetsuit… and visualise what you’ll do to overcome them.

76 COME BACK STRONGERDon’t beat yourself up if you’re ill and have to

miss a week or two of activity – it happens. When returning to training, suppress your ego and don’t overdo it. Give yourself an easy week to regain that triathlon feeling.


ULTIMATE 101 TIPS

S&C for age-groupers is about improving range of motion, says Darren Smith. So what can we take

from the D-Squad maestro on strength sessions?

77 IMPROVE BALANCEClose your eyes, stand on one foot and see how

long you can avoid touching the ground. About 5secs? If you reach 60secs, you have good proprioception; your body understands it’s going off alignment and corrects itself. The best runners run with feet, knee and hips aligned – so practise this drill on each foot every day.

78 TIME TO BRUSH UPAn advanced drill is to add cleaning your teeth

with eyes closed at the same time. Then put the brush down and move onto jumping and landing on one foot.

79 FUNCTIONAL STRENGTHDoes Chris Froome look muscle bound? No.

But he can ride up a massive hill pushing a massive chainring without wiggling. He has functional strength rather than brute force. Don’t focus on leg presses; instead, do big-gear work uphill.

80 BLIND FATIGUEA further advancement is to reach 60secs with

eyes closed after a hard run. That makes you bulletproof and shows your technique will hold up off the bike.

81 ONE-HANDED PAINTo engage your core further, place one hand in

the back pocket of your jersey, the other holding onto the bars and push a big gear. Do it to the point that you feel you’re going to fall off. It’s not good enough to get up the hill; you need to get up the hill looking neat.

82 WHACK NOT SLAPThe best runners aren’t soft on the ground, not

fleet-footed like some portray them. Hit the ground with

a fair whack, which you’ll manage with quick-feet drills.

84 HOLD NOT PULLSwimming isn’t a pulling action so it’s not about

lat pull-downs in the gym. Lats are involved but it’s more about holding while the body goes past. That’s key because 95% of age-groupers will pull. A stretch-cord helps here. They turn on the right muscles for swimming, which are the core for twisting and isometric contraction of the shoulder.

85 STRETCH AND SHAKEWe have a stretch-cord session before every

swim and our athletes never injure their shoulders. The shoulder doesn’t move but the arm does, and they hold that for 10secs to begin with in each position of the

stroke. And then step back further and hold in each position for another 10secs. There’ll be a point where you start shaking and that tells you that you’re not strong enough for that level.

86 CORE STRENGTHThe plank and bridge are good core

exercises. As is a movement called the downward dog. Basically, it’s hands down, butt up and you slide through those positions using control of the shoulders.

87 SPOT OF YOGAMany of my athletes do yoga or pilates but it’ll

be triathlon-specific. In San Diego last year I had a yoga teacher come in every Thursday for my group, so aim to find a weekly tri-specific yoga or pilates session.

88 SUBTLE STRENGTH ROUTINESet up a circuit at home. Grab a ball, a stretch

cord, brush your teeth and go through a routine where you’re focusing on tension and strength. A 15min session twice weekly will strengthen your performance.

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING

83 BUTTACHEWhen you finish running hill reps or big-gear work, your

butt should be on fire. They’re the muscles we want working; they’re bigger muscles.


FEATURE

NUTRITIONFitter, happier, enhanced performance. Follow

these nutritional nuggets from Kevin Currell of the EIS to power your multisport in 2016…

94 BEET ITEat beetroot or add it to your smoothie.

Research shows that there’s a positive performance effect for recreational athletes.

95 PERIODISE NUTRITIONYou might be doing a long ride on the weekend,

which is pretty steady. Maybe have an omelette before you ride and an electrolyte during to enhance fat metabolism. But when you’re doing your night track session, you need carbs. They’re king for intensity.

96 FREQUENT NOT LARGEIt’s preferable to have smaller, more frequent

meals if you’re heavy training. When you have regular meals, the size of those meals often equates to smaller than having one large meal in the evening.

97 GOODBYE PROCESSEDIf you’re living off wafer-thin processed ham,

don’t. Visit your local butchers and buy quality meat. It’s better for your and your performance.

98 D SUPPLEMENTVitamin-D is essential for calcium absorption

and is linked with bone health. There’s also evidence that vitamin-D’s important for a strong immune system and muscle function. Predominantly you get vitamin-D from the sun so a supplement during the winter is good.

99 CONVENIENT RECOVERYAfter a track session, it’s easier to have a

recovery shake than a tuna sandwich, but both will do the same thing in terms of recovery.

100 NUTRIENT MAINTENANCEMore nutrients remain in vegetables if you

steam or stir-fry. That said, if you boil and use the water to make gravy, you’ll still receive a nutrient hit.

89 PROTEIN POWERAlways work back from protein as it repairs

muscle and allows you to adapt and recover from training. It’s also satiating. Aim for around 0.3g/kg of protein. For a 70kg athlete, that’s around 20g, which is what you’ll find in a pint of milk.

90 TRIO OF GOODNESSSplit your plate into three: protein, veg and

carbs. Fruit and veg deliver vitamins and minerals; carbs give you energy. Go for quality, unprocessed carbs like sweet potatoes. Or jumbo rolled oats instead of fine processed porridge.

91 GOOD FATSGood fats improve signalling in the body and

make up cell walls, so add nuts and seeds to your porridge, as well as having oily fish, like salmon or mackerel, a couple of times a week. You could also split an avocado in half, take out the big stone and bake an egg in the middle of it for 10mins. It’s tasty and nutritious.

92 AS NATURE INTENDEDWhen it comes to fruit, I always say the closest

to the tree, the more nutrients are going to be in it. So ideally shop local.

93 BLITZ ITSomething like a Nutribullet or similar blender is

a great way to get a concentrated hit of fruit and veg. Have a smoothie alongside breakfast and use them to make a great recovery shake. Simply add milk, a banana and berries and you have a perfect recovery shake.

101 2016 FUELLINGYou’ll hear more about low-carb training for aerobic

adaptation this year. Hopefully what we’ll see are ways to make it more practical. ■ 220

the ultimate 101 · it’s great if you could also do spinning class once or twice a week,...

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