• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Training Plans
  • Courses
  • Books
  • Videos
Alp Fitness logo

Alp Fitness

Alpine Endurance Training

Strava   TrainingPeaks   Instagram   YouTube

Healthy Habits for the New Year

Adam Hodges | January 1, 2012

Four Simple Ways to Become a Better Athlete

As you make your resolutions for the year ahead, here are four healthy habits to add to the list. Working these positive practices into your life will help you become a better athlete.

Add functional strength work to your training

The principle of specificity states that triathletes must spend the majority of their training time dedicated to swimming, cycling, and running. Yet spending all your training time in these pursuits is a recipe for overuse injuries. To be sure, any triathlete will benefit greatly from supplemental strength training that focuses on functional exercises. Time-crunched athletes need only dedicate an extra ten minutes three to six days per week to become stronger and less injury prone. You can incorporate a ten minute sequence into your daily activities without the need to go to a gym—for example, set aside ten minutes upon waking in the morning, ten minutes while taking a break from work in the afternoon, or ten minutes while watching your favorite television show in the evening. Check out these videos (introductory level | advanced level) and additional workouts on this website to incorporate supplemental functional strength training into your routine.

Learn to run with a quicker cadence

The path towards becoming a more efficient runner begins with baby steps—that is, quick baby steps. As you begin your base training for the season ahead, focus on developing a quick cadence that targets 84-90 foot strikes per minute. That corresponds to 28-30 foot strikes per 20 seconds, or 42-45 per 30 seconds. A “foot strike” refers to a single foot—left or right. Not only will you increase your running efficiency, but a quicker cadence helps spread out the impact forces associated with running to help alleviate some of the stress on your joints. Running over hot coals with quick steps is a good visual image to put in your mind, along with the tick-tock sound of a metronome set at the right frequency. Check out these tips to learn to run with a quicker cadence.

Incorporate drills into your easy workouts

Good form equals free speed, and the key to developing good form is to ingrain proper movement patterns into your muscle memory so that it becomes automatic even when fatigue threatens to break it down. To help develop good form, incorporate supplemental form drills into your training. Easy workout days are especially good opportunities to focus on form. Check out this video for a short sequence of running drills, as well as these swimming drills to make your running more efficient.

Use short-term and long-term goals to guide you to desired results

What do you want to accomplish this season and in the years ahead? What abilities do you want to improve? What are your top priority races and what do you want to accomplish at these races? Writing down your goals and assessing your progress can be a powerful means for achieving great things. Check out these tips to effectively implement goal setting into your life.

This article also appeared in the Colorado Triathlete.

Related:

Rethink Traditional Assumptions When Choosing Running Shoes Runner on a BeachCadence Counts for Improved Running Form 920XTGear Review: Garmin 920XT The Pre-Race Warmup for Running Events The Pre-Race Warmup for Triathlons

Filed Under: Perspectives, Training Tips Tagged With: Life, Run, Triathlon

About Adam Hodges

Adam Hodges, PhD, is a trail runner, mountain endurance athlete, and coach with credentials from the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA), USA Triathlon (USAT), and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). In addition to coaching multisport athletes, he has coached high school cross country and track runners in California and masters swimmers in Colorado and California. As a USAT All-American triathlete, he has competed in the ITU World Triathlon Championships, the ITU World Duathlon Championships, and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a masters runner, he has won a series title in the XTERRA SoCal Trail Series. His current pursuits include trail running, climbing, mountaineering, skimo, and cross-country skiing. Check out his training plans and courses to help you prepare for you next adventure.

Primary Sidebar

One Percent for the Planet Business Member logo

Colorado Triathlete Multisport Club

InsideTracker logo

Footer

Alp Fitness
Training Plans | Courses | Books | Videos

Calculators | Glossary | Newsletter

Search by Category

Race Calendars

Ultra-Running | Running | Cross Country Skiing | SkiMo | Triathlon | XTERRA | IRONMAN | UTMB World Series
Alp Multisport Publications
About | Meet the Coach | Contact

Terms of Use | Ads | Privacy Policy

Alp Multisport LLC
Boulder, Colorado
© 2009–2023


One Percent for the Planet Business Member logo