Success in the sport of triathlon comes down to training properly in all three sports- swimming, cycling and running. Putting in the work, making the sacrifices and committing yourself to the multisport lifestyle. But at the top level of sport, every professional triathlete does the same thing from a training perspective. The sets, intensities and durations may differer but we all swim, we all bike and we all run.
And because of this, nearly all professional triathletes are at 95% of what it takes to be elite. The remaining 5% comes down to what you do off the training grounds. There are countless small details that separate someone from simply racing as a professional to having success and making a career out of the sport. But one major component of training that can help take an athlete to the next level is focusing on recovery techniques.
The major recovery techniques that I focus on are nutrition, sleep, protein intake, use of my Normatec recovery boots, foam rolling, massage and acupuncture.
In the past, tracking recovery was a preemptive measure and I would attempt to anticipate how I would respond to a block of training or super hard string of workouts. But the body acts in mysterious ways and no matter how much I try to calculate that, it is a very difficult variable to predict. And this is where the Jaybird Reign comes into the picture.
The Reign is a small, watch-like device worn on the wrist that is essentially a power meter for your body. The Reign understands your body's fatigue and recovery by measuring your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in addition to activity and sleep patterns. These values are put together and converted into a singular number called your "GO-ZONE." Using the Jaybird app, I can log on in the morning and see exactly how my body is responding to my training. When the numbers are good, my recovery is on track and I am confident to push it in training that day. When the my go-zone is off, that is a red flag that something may be up and I take a serious look at how I am feeling before going out on a 5 hour ride or a 2 hour run.
The Reign is an awesome tool that can easily be incorporated into your training and get you that extra few percent you are looking for next season.
For more information on the Reign or to pick one up, click
HERE.
