Feeling Like You're Stagnate Or Feeling a Small Plateau? Consider This...

Why is it important to break out of routine and try new drills in the water, on the trainer, and on the treadmill?

Routine creates consistency, and consistency is the foundation of improvement in triathlon. However, consistency does not mean repeating the same workouts and drills indefinitely. Once your body becomes comfortable with a particular session, it becomes more efficient at completing it. That is useful at first, but over time the training provides less of a stimulus. If the challenge never changes, the body has less reason to continue adapting, and progress can plateau—or eventually begin to move backward.

Introducing new drills gives both the body and brain a fresh problem to solve. It challenges coordination, balance, timing, technique and body awareness in ways that ordinary steady training may not. It can also expose weaknesses that your normal movement patterns allow you to hide or compensate for.

The pool, indoor trainer and treadmill are ideal places to work on these skills because they remove many outside distractions. Without traffic, changing terrain, weather or navigation to manage, you can focus closely on one specific element of your movement.

In the water, different drills can improve your feel for the water, body position, breathing, rotation, catch and stroke timing. A drill may initially make you feel awkward or slower, but that is often because it is asking you to move in a way you have not yet mastered. The objective is not simply to become good at the drill. It is to use the drill to improve a specific part of your stroke, then carry that improvement into normal swimming.

On the trainer, drills involving cadence, single-leg emphasis, controlled standing, aero-position work or changes in resistance can improve pedal control and muscular coordination. Because the trainer provides a stable environment, you can pay attention to how smoothly you apply power, whether your hips remain stable and how well you maintain your position as fatigue develops. These skills can then make your outdoor riding more efficient and durable. You can place a full length mirror in front of yourself and watch and feel technical changes.

On the treadmill, changes in cadence, incline, pace or short technique-focused intervals can help improve posture, rhythm and foot placement. The consistent surface and controlled speed make it easier to notice when your form begins to deteriorate. You can learn to maintain good mechanics under increasing fatigue before applying that skill outdoors. The treadmill also provides a sound cue from your feet to feel rhythm and foot speed or cadence changes.

Trying something new also builds adaptability. Race conditions are rarely perfect or completely predictable. Open-water contact, hills, wind, heat, changes of pace and accumulated fatigue all require you to adjust. An athlete who regularly develops new movement skills is often better prepared to respond when conditions change.

That does not mean every session should be different. Too much random variation makes it difficult to measure progress or develop a skill properly. The goal is purposeful variety: maintain the consistent training that builds fitness while periodically introducing a new drill, stimulus or progression that addresses a specific need.

Training works by applying an appropriate stress, recovering from it and allowing the body to adapt. Once that adaptation has occurred, the stimulus must gradually evolve. Changing a drill, increasing its complexity or performing it while slightly fatigued gives the body a new reason to improve. The best training therefore combines repetition with progression—enough routine to create consistency, but enough new challenge to keep learning and adapting.

What are some of the benefits of introducing new workouts mid-season to help shake things up?

Mid-season is often when motivation begins to dip and training can start to feel repetitive. A new workout can provide a valuable mental reset while introducing a different physical stimulus. It may also expose weaknesses that familiar sessions allow an athlete to hide—for example, an inefficient pedal stroke, poor running posture or a technical issue in the water. The goal is not to change the entire program, but to add enough variety to keep athletes engaged and progressing without compromising the consistency required for their key races.

Do you encourage your athletes to do drills as part of their training? If so, why?

Yes. I use drills to help athletes develop a particular movement pattern or understand what good technique should feel like. They can improve efficiency, coordination and control, but they need to have a clear purpose. Rather than including drills simply for variety, I choose them according to the individual athlete’s needs and connect them to the full movement. A drill is most effective when the athlete understands what it is addressing and can carry that improvement into normal swimming, cycling or running. It should be apart of an athletes program weekly, year round and part of warm up’s and fundamentals.