Triathlon Training Plan - How Do I Get My Bike Miles Up?

I got a question this week from a triathlete struggling to build up mileage on his triathlon bike. This is a common challenge for triathletes. The trick here is to build mileage slowly and consistently. Here are some tips:

Remember to consult your physician before starting any fitness program.

1. Build up mileage slowly. Most triathletes are competitive by nature and they tend to push themselves to the limit. Out of frustration they might try to do a 4-hour bike ride when their longest ride before that is only a couple of hours. This is very risky and counterproductive.

If you overtrain like this you are likely to injure yourself, which can take you out of the game for weeks. Even if you manage to finish it without injury, your body will take a long time to recover from the workout and you may lose a lot of the benefit you might have gained from the long ride. Instead you want to build up slowly over time, adding maybe 25 to 50 percent to your base long ride (based on time in the saddle not mileage) every couple of weeks (see my sample plan to do this below).

2. Take time to recover and adapt. The goal is to slowly build up the length of your longest training ride while building in time to recover. Get to a plateau, ride there for a week and then try to extend it (see the sample program below).

3. A beginner can build effectively riding just 2 to 3 times per week. You don't have to build your endurance by riding 3 or 4 hours every time you get on your bike. Instead focus on one long ride each week (time not miles). Your ultimate goal should be to ride for as long as you think your complete race will take you to finish. Your other rides during the week don't need to be as long, but you might want to add some strength or technique training to these rides (like hills or cadence work).

4. Sample coach-janet.com/triathlon-training-plan.html triathlon training plan Let's say that your goal is to finish an olympic distance triathlon in around 3 hours. "Leg time" for this race is 2.5 hrs or more. Building your bike to 2.5 to 3 hours will help build the endurance needed for this event. Let's make your goal to do a long ride of around 3 hours about a month before your race. Today you can easily do two one hour rides per week. How do you get to your goal?

By the way, you don't have to be able to do a 3 hour ride to finish your first olympic distance race, but it is a good goal. As you advance you might try to increase the number of miles you finish during your long ride (see tip 6 for more on this). Here is an example of a basic plan to get you to your goal:

Building Bike - Time goals for your one long ride per week. Other workouts for the week would be based on your personal level of fitness.

a. Week One: Ride = 1.5 Hours

b. Week Two: Ride = 1 Hour

c. Week Three: Ride = 2 Hours

At this point you've doubled your long ride. Do you need more time to recover? If so then start over at Week Two and then do Week Three again. If you recover better then move on to Week Four. Do the same thing after each week that you build mileage - if it takes more than a couple of days to recover go back to the next lowest recovery week and start from there.

d. Week Four: Ride = 1.5 Hours

e. Week Five: Ride = 2 Hours

f. Week Six: Ride = 1.5 Hours

g. Week Seven: Ride = 2.5 Hours

h. Week Eight: Ride = 2 Hours

i. Week Nine: Ride = 3 Hours

Note: All rides should be ridden fresh with no hard workouts at least the day before and the day after. The pace should be in a comfortable easy pace (you should be able to talk or have a conversation while you are riding during the majority of your ride). Learn to "spin" or use your easier gears to prolong your muscle endurance.

You did it! At this point your long ride is now 3 hours and you have made a great improvement in your endurance. Next you will want to start working on other things like speed, terrain, etc.

5. Make sure that you are eating and drinking during these rides. If you are hungry or thirsty you waited to long to eat or drink. Right now you are asking your body to do things it hasn't done before, you will need the calories. Eventually you will get more efficient and may not need to eat as much.

6. Time, Mileage or Heart-rate? Eventually all three of these measures will be important. When I start training someone we focus first on time at a comfortable pace. Next we add a heart-rate monitor to the mix and shoot for time within heart-rate zones. Finally we start working on the number of miles covered, heart-rate, and time. I suggest you start the same way.

If this sounds too over-planned, simplify it. Last winter I started training for a spring Century ride and my workout plan was just to add an hour to my long ride every 3 weeks until I got to 6 hours (although remember that I was starting from a pretty strong base and I didn't train much in the other disciplines, I did hit the weight room 1 time per week, and the Yoga mat a couple times a week). The key is to do what works for you. Use this plan to adapt something for yourself or for you to present to your coach.

coach-janet.com Triathlon Coach Janet Wilson is a USAT certified triathlon coach and ACE certified personal trainer. Janet is an accomplished and nationally-ranked amateur triathlete and she coaches triathletes of all skill levels, from a triathlon beginner to Hawaii Ironman qualifiers. To learn more about triathlon training plans, triathlon bike tips, coaching programs or just great tips on how to stay in shape visit her website at coach-janet.com coach-janet.com

What Is a Ball Chair?

A Ball Chair is actually a fitness ball used as your primary seating device. The thought behind the Ball Chair is to accomplish a couple things:

Comfortable seating to alleviate lumbar pain or discomfort.
Stimulate and possibly strengthen your core.
Allow you to move around and not be stagnant for extended amounts of time.

There have been many recent developments with creating complementary hardware or bases to place the fitness ball in, that give it the appearance and feel of the standard office chair. Some of them happen to be carefully engineered to look like a normal office chair.

Evolution and History of the Fitness Balls

1963 - The initial fitness ball or "Swiss-Balls" was made by Aquilino Cosani. He was able to build a process for making puncture resistant balls. Those balls were then generally known as "Pezzi balls".
The Pezzi balls were first used in various programs for newborns and infants by a British physiotherapist employed in Switzerland named Mary Quinton.
Thereafter, Dr. Susanne Klein-Vogelbach, the director from the Physical Therapy School in Basel, Switzerland used the ball for physical therapy for neuro-developmental treatment. The balls were used to help remedy adults with orthopedic or medical problems.
1980's - The Pezzi ball technology was introduced to America and referred to the ball as the "Swiss Balls", put to use in rehabilitation for the people with spinal injuries.
1990's - The fitness balls was moved into the athletic paradigm and is now quite popular in the fitness world. The fitness ball is used commonly in athletic training, fitness routines, aerobic classes, yoga sessions, physical therapy, pregnancy, gardening, offices as well as in classrooms. It would appear that functions for the balls are nevertheless developing.

Precisely what are Fitness Balls composed of?

Exercise balls are constructed of plastic vinyl or PVC (plastic vinyl, however some are burst-resistant while others usually are not. Fitness balls usually have a diameter of 35 - 85 centimeters (14 - 34 inches). Some will be more durable, created to hold more weight and in most cases will cost you a little more. It is suggested that the exercise balls are inflated to the appropriate level, and also the valve stem is used to seal air inside. Some exercise balls have "stayball technology" engineered inside, with a substance that's added inside to keep it in position.

To read more about how a ballchairhq.com ball chair might help you check out the ballchairhq.com ball chair headquarters blog. You will find information about various uses for exercise balls.

How to Use Meditation to Reduce Stress

Meditation has been around for thousands of years. Historically, meditation was supposed to help the holy men, the sages, the medicine men acquire a deeper understanding of the mystical and sacred powers of the world in which they lived. Today, meditation is commonly used as a tool, a strategy, a process to reduce stress.

Meditation is an accepted mind-body practice in complementary and alternative medicine or integrated medicine. However, I doubt whether your insurance company would pay for any instruction you receive about how to medicate.

Anyone can practice meditation. It is simple and you don't need extra equipment. The beauty of meditation is you can practice it anywhere. You can meditate on a commuter train, in your doctor's waiting room, or in a closet.

A person uses certain techniques when they meditate such as a specific posture, focused attention, or repeating a mantra. Its purpose is to eliminate the stream of thoughts that causes chaos and stress for you as they crowd your mind. The result is improved physical and emotional well being.

Meditation is one of the best ways to manage stress because it gives you a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits your overall health. The beauty of it is that these benefits can last from your meditation session to your entire day. It clears away your information overload that builds up every day and creates chaos and more stress.

Meditation is most meaningful for me because it helps me reduce my negative outlook and emotions. It also helps me focus on the present.

Meditation actually refers to a group of techniques such as mantra meditation, relaxation response, mindfulness meditation and Zen Buddhist meditation. Most of these techniques started in the religious and spiritual traditions of the East.

Many people practice meditation for health issues including anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia, and physical symptoms associated with chronic illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

What's interesting is that medicine doesn't know exactly how meditation works on the body and the mind. The research shows that it does cause physical changes in the body and there are some theories about why this happens, but nothing conclusive. There are, however, a couple of theories.

One of the theories is that meditation may work by affecting the automatic or involuntary nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles regulating your heartbeat, breathing, and digestion.

In another area of research, scientists are testing whether meditation is associated with changes in brain function. Still another theory is that by practicing meditation you may improve your mind's ability to pay attention. Paying attention, of course, could lead to other benefits, because we need to pay attention to do everyday tasks and to help regulate our moods.

Please keep in mind that mediation is not a replacement for your conventional medical care or an excuse not to see your physician or postpone an appointment.

And one more piece of advice: if you're looking for an instructor to help you meditate ask about the training and experience of that instructor before you register for any classes.

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Can Yoga Enhance Your Mental Performance

We all know that exercise can improve us physically - lowering our cholesterol, decreasing our predisposition to heart disease, and enhancing our immune system - but, what we might not be aware of is the mind, not to be left out, can also be improved through exercise. The reasons for this are biological and emotional, benefiting the exerciser on several levels and leaving us to discover, when it comes down to it, that the mental benefits of exercise are as important to our overall wellbeing as the physical ones.

Rather than mindlessly putting on the running shoes, or climbing onto the treadmill to discharge energy and get the blood flowing, participating in yoga can give you both exercise for the brain and the heart. While providing physical benefits, it also powers your brain's ability to focus and to recognize unconscious habits that don't support your structure in gravity or your full potential as an emotional spiritual being.

Yoga is often described as a type of exercise, although much more than an exercise routine, when practiced consciously, it greatly aids our mental capacity. While mental health can be difficult to quantify - there is no blood test that reveals emotional health - people who practice yoga regularly can not help but adopt better moods, possess more energy, and have an outlook submerged in positivity. In a nutshell, yoga makes you feel good, and good energy always results in better mental clarity and performance. When you are filled with positive, life affirming emotions, your mind reacts in a way that makes thinking and achievement virtually limitless.

From a biological standpoint, the ways yoga aids the brain can be explained in medical journal fashion. To begin, yoga is a science and an art that coordinates the movement of the body with the breath, improves oxygenation of the blood, allowing better blood flow to the brain, ultimately producing clearer, more concise thoughts. Yoga can also boost dopamine and other neurotransmitters, boosting both moods and the retention of memories.

An essential part of yoga, breathing, is also a cornerstone of the mental aid exercise provides. While breathing does facilitate circulation - allowing vital minerals and nutrients to get where they need to go and letting all organs of the body, including the brain, function more adequately - breathing also helps the brain in a more direct manner. For example, a practice that is sometimes used in yoga is the act of concentrated breathing through one nostril at a time. In EEG studies - studies that monitor a person's brain pattern - this practice shows that breathing through one nostril can increase activity on the opposite side of the brain (i.e., breathing through the left nostril will increase activity on the right side of the brain). This ultimately results in better communication between the brain's two sides, creating better mental function and enhancing a person's ability to learn.

Mindfulness, a foundational component of yoga helps students to embrace, and focus on, the present moment, can also assist mental function. This is because those who practice mindfulness train their brain to work in a certain way. By relaxing, and severing the rope that keeps you clinging to stresses and worries, yoga calms the mind. A calm mind is better at retaining information, remembering information, and concentration skills. A calm mind focuses on attention, and possesses an advanced ability to perceive sensory information. Because of this, some people suggest that yoga, a vehicle

of calmness, gives you the amazing ability to open up completely to the present moment and just be more "on" - whether it is in making a decision quickly, being emotionally responsive, or seeing another solution to a problem with ease.

There have also been studies that concluded certain yoga positions can alter a person's position on things; specific poses relay specific moods. Researchers at the University of California, for example, performed a study that found certain yoga poses were more mood-altering that others. One finding concluded that bending over backwards was one of the best ways to improve your frame of mind, giving those in bad moods something to fall back on.

While the spotlight tends to shine on the physical benefits of exercise, the mental ones are quickly coming out of the shadows and into their own. Yoga, because it exercises your physical body, is a mindful practice that helps you to embody your thoughts, emotions and your spirit. Providing the physical benefits of other exercise, yoga is helping the mental benefits of fitness to get discovered and becoming increasingly well known for giving those who practice it a piece of open mind.

TWISTED is a medical yoga studio at the Center for Osteopathic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. Twisted integrates osteopathic medicine, hatha yoga and mindfulness practices to teach optimal balance between physical, mental, and emotional health. It aims to educate and help people to live a healthy life from the inside out. Rehabilitation programs offer a comprehensive treatment regime for the whole being, empowering each person one breath at a time to stimulate the body's natural healing potential.

Jennifer Jordan is senior editor of yogatwisted.com yogatwisted.com. Specializing in articles that not only teach yoga techniques, but also teach techniques on fulfillment and enrichment, she aims to educate students proudly enrolled in the school of life.

Training the Subconscious Mind to Attract Wealth

Wealth is all about success, but not many of us have the kind of luck necessary to be born extremely rich or come across millions by chance. Most of us have to work to that goal, weed out opportunities, make the right friends and find that X factor. The adage 'work smart' has more use in the day and age where technology is the third arm of everyone, we can't live without it and if we use it wisely, we just might make a tidy sum. But what is holding us back? Drive, ambition, purpose, creativity - life gives them out in measured doses, and sometimes not when we want them as well. We have to produce them ourselves, from the factory that is our brain. How? Well read on as this article deals with training the subconscious mind to attract wealth.

The subconscious mind is the most underutilised and mysterious aspect of the human mind. We don't think much about it and most of us don't know how it works. It takes instruction from the brain's conscious mind's interpretation drawn from the five senses. What we see, hear, do, act and experience translates into electric pulses of information that determine how we react to situations, our overall mental state, our behaviours and our attitudes. It is the general that commands us in our waking and sleeping state and most of us have no control over it.

What we need to do is to train our subconscious to listen to us. We need to achieve a state when it is accessible and in a perfect state for reprogramming. The new code that we insert into it will then be cascaded down into the rest of all our body's emotional and physical functions. And voila! We have with us a new man or woman, ready to take on the world with new found vigour, ambition and happiness - and even supercharged intelligence.

How is it done? Succinctly put, the brain produces electromagnetic waves, fired by neurons deep in the cerebrum that instruments can measure as frequencies. Certain frequencies and certain ranges have been linked with states of acute learning, acute relaxation, sharpened mental focus and one that even allows us to enter a meditative state and reprogramme our mind. Now we can't call on these frequencies at will, but science has found several ways that we can. A music file programmed with engineered sound called binaural beats trigger a cortical response in the brain to emit specific frequencies. Biofeedback and autogenics are similar methods that achieve the same results. Equipment that imbues magnetic fields over the cortex is able to relax and relinquish control of the subconscious back to us. Even different forms of yoga can achieve some of these results.

As you can see, there are many ways for us to train the subconscious attract wealth. If we can just reboot and refresh ourselves, gain higher states of intelligence and creativity, extreme ambition and a drive for success, we can attain our goals that much easier and better confidence will naturally be a magnet for wealth potential. The possibilities are endless.

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How could a Shy Person Become a Yoga Teacher?

The calling to teach Yoga classes can reach into any of us, but what about obstacles which hold each of us back. A shy person may want to become a Yoga teacher, but how can he or she develop the voice of a Yoga teacher?

For an aspiring Yoga teacher, shyness is like a prison which stops him or her from life's rewards. This person knows what to do, but feels serious anxiety when having to address a person or when having to speak in front of a group.

So what is a shy, but aspiring Yoga teacher to do, when confronted with this impasse? Should he or she give up the dream of becoming a certified Yoga teacher? Some trainers of Yoga teachers would agree, but the truth is there is a solution for the shy, but aspiring Yoga teacher.

Luckily, we are surrounded by recording devices. You can record your voice or film a mock Yoga class to develop your Yoga teaching skills. Watch the recording of yourself teaching Yoga, and later, practice along with the film or the audio recording. Then you can make corrections as you deal with the learning curve involved in becoming a Yoga teacher.

If you have some areas in your video or audio recording that need work; you will find a solution, but you must be patient with yourself. We are our own worst critics. This is just a part of the learning process in becoming a Yoga teacher. It is guaranteed that if you try, you will succeed, and you will not be let down.

Many of my best happinesslifetime.com Yoga teacher training graduates spent their lives under estimating themselves, but found independence and a better quality life, teaching Yoga. The harshest judge many of us face on a daily basis is ourselves.

This is not an exercise in self-criticism, but a proven method for developing your Yoga teaching skills. Do not "beat yourself up," but do take a constructive look at ways you can improve the range of your voice, cueing skills, and your Yoga lesson plan.

You should also seek out a trusted friend or an experienced Yoga teacher for constructive advice. Some Yoga teacher mentors will tutor you through any part of learning process.

Later, you may need at least one student and you can film your lesson plan in any open room. Some Yoga teacher interns have filmed a Yoga class outside, depending upon the season. Teaching Yoga in different settings will also build new found confidence.

You will learn to develop your own lesson plan. This is not acting, but a way to see your personality evolve into a Yoga teacher. This evolution of personality knows no boundaries. Most Yoga teachers are very confident and make the most out of enjoying life to its fullest potential every day.

To be honest, I was nervous when I taught my first Yoga class. I never thought I would be a public speaker, and I never considered that I would some day train Yoga teachers from every part of the earth. The raw skills are within all of us, but your dreams will not be realized without positive action by you.

Life happens, and hopefully, most of us change for the best. As a result, you will help others and have a tremendous feeling of job satisfaction, when you become a Yoga teacher.

© Copyright 2006 - Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. riyoga.com riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: "Yoga in Practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Yoga Delivers on Its Promise

Twenty-eight years of following a daily vinyasa yoga practice gives you exactly what is promised. A strong, limber and agile body, and a focused, calm and alert mind, on the best of days. On the worst of days you still have more energy and focus than most of the people around you. Over the years I have narrowed my world of exercise to daily walks and my yoga practice. This has brought me great joy and satisfaction and yet I recently feel I needed some play in my life, but what and where to find it?

As all things are impermanent and subject to change it is our ability to embrace this need for change that allows for growth to occur. Out of fear or lack of self-awareness we stay in the same patterns, whether with exercise, relationships, food, or religion and it is only when we break out of these restrictive patterns that we can see how we have limited ourselves.

My neighbor has a tennis court, which has long sunk into decay. It is surrounded by bushes and trees and weeds sprout from cracks running like highways across its surface. I have walked or driven past it for years, and some part of me has wanted to bring it back to life. One recent morning I appeared early at my neighbor's door and inspired by my enthusiasm she agreed to teach me the game of tennis. At first I had to make peace with having a racket in my hand, then learn to swing it properly, which helps if you want to connect with the ball. Then there is the rhythm of using the whole body to run from one side of the court to the other, my heart rate moving up and down as I sprint or rest. Integral training at its best.

My yoga practice has given me a body that can take the demands of the game, and helps me to recover from the playing. My mind must stay focused and alert to keep up with the speed of the ball allowing for a different way of testing the years of "moving into stillness" which the flow of yoga has taught me. Most importantly, I have stepped out of my limited realm of possibility and discovered a whole new side to myself, one that had been waiting patiently to be discovered.

Godfrey Devereux, author of "Hatha Yoga, Breath by Breath", says that, "We must first find our limitations before we can change them." Yoga is one way to shine a light on the self and glimpse our limitations and imperfections. Then recognizing them we can take one step at a time towards change. Although it can seem daunting at the outset, the journey is truly the most important part of reaching a goal. A lesson can be learned and relearned a thousand or a hundred times, but we have our lifetime to get it right; and that is what it may take to become self-aware.

Ms. Quigley is a certified nutritionist, macrobiotic chef, health expert and certified master yoga teacher. She is also the director of StillPoint Schoolhouse Productions, a video/film production and publishing company dedicated to providing educational media presentations in the fields of health, nutrition, hatha yoga, vegetarian cooking, organic gardening and environmental topics. She has a combined 30 years of experience in the fields of yoga, health and nutrition and is the author of seven books including SuperFoods, The Bodyrejuvenation Cleanse and The Complete Idiots Guide to Detoxifying your Body.