Missing Pieces to the Triathlon Training Puzzle

If you do an internet search for ‘Triathlon Training’, you’ll see every possible combination of training imaginable. It’s obvious there’s no shortage of opinions about structuring your workout schedule, which exercises are best and the latest performance gear to wear for race day.

In my clinical practice as a Physical Therapist, education is a huge component of what I do. Often my patients are surprised when we start diving into some factors other than exercise that may be playing a part in how their body is feeling with training.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if you are a one sport or three sport athlete, sleep and stress management are critical components of your training routine. Neglecting these two subtle but key pieces of the puzzle can make or break your ability to complete training and get to the starting line successfully.

Sleep

When you searched ‘Triathlon Training’ did you find anywhere that factored sleep into the plan? Probably not. Research tells us that consistently getting less than 7 hrs of sleep is associated with a greater risk for injury.[1,2,3] Sleep deprivation has a number of impacts including motivation, attention, reaction time and even immune function.[3] Essentially, sleep is your body’s time to heal and recover. When you are likely at a high frequency of workouts during training, your body needs this time even more to rest from the demands being placed on it.

Unfortunately, sleep is usually low on the priority list when it comes to managing triathlon training. It can be difficult accommodating workouts into our regular daily routine and often we end up having to wake up earlier or stay up later to get these done.

It may seem like a tall task, but do your body a favor and aim for 8-10 hours of sleep every night.

Stress Management

I celebrated a milestone birthday last year and my goal was to complete a triathlon to commemorate that. In the weeks leading up to the race, my training was derailed due to an unexpected health issue, and I didn’t know if I would be able to get back to exercise, let alone completing a triathlon. The uncertainty of my health and the disappointment of all my hard work fading away certainly threw my stress levels into overdrive.

Health issues, job demands, family life and those unexpected bumps in the road that interfere with your agenda are all psychosocial factors that contribute to stress. And yes, even sleep deprivation and exercise are types of stressors! Research has shown that elevated stress levels have been able to predict injury in university athletes![4]

There is an optimal balance between what is considered to be good and bad stressors, but we all ultimately have a threshold on the total level of stress we can handle. Managing life’s demands as well as triathlon training can be tricky. Listen to your body and, in times of high stress from regular life, understand that you may need to scale back on training.

Don’t be afraid to readjust your goals to accommodate the unexpected. Training is hard, and you must respect where your body is at. Instead of trying to push beyond what it is capable of at any given time, understand that training often requires a little more fluidity. Thankfully for me I was eventually cleared for activity and, despite missing race day, I was able to successfully complete my triathlon a few months later!

Remember, a triathlon is a huge accomplishment and is supposed to be fun! The key is to make it through training, get to the starting line and finish feeling good about what you’ve just completed.

References:

1. Johnston R, Cahalan R, Bonnett L, et al. General health complaints and sleep associated with new injury within an endurance sporting population: A prospective study. J Sci Med Sport. 2020;23(3):252-257. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2019.10.013

2. Chennaoui M, Vanneau T, Trignol A, et al. How does sleep help recovery from exercise-induced muscle injuries?. J Sci Med Sport. 2021;24(10):982-987. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2021.05.007

3. Huang K, Ihm J. Sleep and Injury Risk. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2021;20(6):286-290. doi:10.1249/JSR.0000000000000849

4. Hamlin MJ, Wilkes D, Elliot CA, Lizamore CA, Kathiravel Y. Monitoring Training Loads and Perceived Stress in Young Elite University Athletes. Front Physiol. 2019;10:34. Published 2019 Jan 29. doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00034

Jen Vermost, PT, DPT is a Physical Therapist and a running and cycling enthusiast turned amateur triathlete. Her clinical practice is in outpatient orthopedics with an emphasis on running gait analysis. She is passionate about empowering individuals with the knowledge to help remain active throughout their lifetime.