Guidance for Base 1

By Rich Strauss

Now the fun starts. Using the results of your testing at the end of the Preparation Phase, we begin to get you in peak fitness.

I want you to keep one central idea in mind for the next 4-8 weeks: we are building you a big, efficient, and strong engine. Not necessarily fast, not yet. That will come later.

Big. We make your engine big with easy aerobic workouts. During this period, the following training adaptations will occur:

Your blood volume (the amount of blood in your body) and stroke volume (the amount of blood your heart can move with each beat) increases.
Your body begins to grow more and more capillaries to deliver much needed oxygen to working muscles.
Your body learns to conserve glycogen in your muscles, burning fat instead.

Efficient: Now is the time to work on your technique in all three sports. Use the easy efforts in each workout to focus on efficiency and technique.

Swim : refer to Improving Your Swimming Technique in my Training Tips page. Think distance per stroke and count your strokes, always. This is all about technique, not fitness, at this point. You will build your endurance by swimming more and more well-swum laps. Even if you get there by doing 25's and 50's, remember that you are building the muscle memory of good efficient swimming, rather than reinforcing a bad stroke.
Bike: Refer to Proper Cycling Form in my Training Tips page. The most effective way to increase your pedaling efficiency is with high cadence cycling and isolated leg drills. In general, pedal at 100+ rpms in this period.
Run: Refer to Proper Running Form and Running Workout Descriptions. In general, insert some Strides into every run. This will help your body learn how to run fast.

Strong: Heavy weights in the gym work well with the easy aerobic training above. We are building your raw strength first, then we will turn it into the ability to push the pedals harder, for example. This lifting phase is called Maximum Strength (MS). Please read Strength Training for an overview of where we are going in the weight room.

Your most important exercises are the large muscle groups: squats, leg press, lat pull down, seated rows.
When possible use a spotter and perform each exercise like this: 1 x Warm-up set, relatively easy. 1 x Intermediate set (a little harder but still not close to max). Then get some water, listen to some loud music, whatever. Then push up a big weight. Use the spotter to go to failure + 2 reps. If you still feel good, do a fourth set, but it's not really needed. The idea here is that you get stronger by putting up a lot of weight. Period. Nothing fancy about it. Remember to do the core exercises for your abs and back.
Try to be flexible with your lifting days. If you are still sore on your scheduled lifting day, roll it to another day. Take advantage of each lifting session by being fully recovered before the next one.
Stretch before, during, and after your lifting session.

Rich Strauss is Founder, Crucible Fitness and Head Coach, Team Crucible
http://www.cruciblefitness.com/