Triathletes: Fewer Injuries
Triathletes are injured only about one third as often as
marathon runners even though they do far more work in their
program of swimming, cycling and running. Training intelligently
for three sports is less likely to injure you than training very hard
for one. Training is limited by damage to skeletal muscles. Every
time you exercise, your muscles develop small tears with
bleeding. It takes at least 48 hours for muscles to heal from
exercise. Each sport stresses a particular group of muscles most.
Marathon runners who train every day stress the same muscles
and do not allow adequate time to recover from the previous
day's workout, so they are at increased risk for injury.
Top triathletes train in different sports on consecutive
days. Running stresses the lower leg muscles most, cycling
stresses the upper leg muscles most and swimming stresses the
arms and shoulders most. Triathletes usually set up a workout
schedule that includes two sports on one day and one on the
next. Of the three sports, running causes the most muscle
damage. Muscles are protected by the water in swimming and
by the rotary pedal motion in cycling. However, the force of the
footstrike in running tears up muscles. So a knowledgeable
triathlete runs on one day and cycles and swims on the next.
This way each stressed muscle group has a 48-hour recovery
before the next workout. You can apply these same rules for
alternating any two or three different activities.
Checked 9/29/08