one of the primary keys to staying healthy by using exercise is


consistency. This means not worrying about the distance, but fo- cusing your athletes on time — “I don’t have enough time for my 3-mile run, but I do have enough time for a 20-minute run.” The next day may be better for the three-mile run, but it’s more ben- eficial to fit in a run session instead of skipping a day. remember they have 24 hours in a day in which to factor in time for training, sleeping, working and eating. Life can get in the way of a training plan but stress to your athletes that it will not create a detrimen- tal effect on existing conditioning. planning is important. If there is not enough time in the day


to swim what is the back-up plan? “I can’t drive to the pool. I just don’t have enough time to drive, change, shower and drive home.” Try to establish the alternatives with your athlete. A plan B might be: “I will bike on my trainer for 30 minutes and swim tomorrow.” This leads me to my third recommendation: different modes of


exercise. Can he or she use the elliptical in place of a run? If the calf hurts, does it hurt during use of the bike or can they use the pool for water running? This helps when gyms are crowded, if an injury exists or the pool is closed due to a swim meet (in this case stretch cords are helpful). Taking the first step seems to be the most difficult. Sitting down


APPLYING THE FITT PRINCIPLE


By Mark Kotarski, USA Triathlon Level I Certified Coach


o


ver the past 20 years that I have worked as a clinical exercise physiologist, and now that I am dedicating more of my time to triathlon coaching, I have spoken to many


individuals about barriers to consistent exercise training. Two of the primary reasons why people do not exercise are a lack of time and inclement weather. I have often heard “I don’t have enough time” and “now that the weather is nice I will exercise again.” It can be difficult if your athlete lives in an area of the world that has all the seasons with shorter sunlight during the winter. This has led me to recommend the following to help my athletes fit exercise into the day.


Consider the FITT Principle: F: Frequency I: Intensity T: Time T: Type


page 14 | PERFORMANCECOACHING


with your athlete to develop a plan for fitting in the sessions early or later will help. It may involve having them set the alarm for 30 minutes earlier in the morning to run for 30 minutes. Tell them not to push the snooze button. once they put those feet on the ground they’ll get it done and feel much better for doing it. I can’t count how many times people told me that they were glad to have completed training for the day after not feeling motivated at the beginning of the session. Your athletes will see those rewards with a new pr or a podium finish and will realize it was all worth it. Another important consideration is the frequency of sessions


each week. exercise physiologists involved in researching this have concluded that three days a week of exercise is needed to gain any health benefits. In addition, some of the cardio-respirato- ry benefits transfer from running to cycling and from swimming to cycling. So, three days is the minimum. If they are busy at work or with family obligations, there can be minor exceptions. They won’t lose the fitness they have gained with a week of three sessions and that could be one swim day, one bike day and one run day for one particular week. The following week, it’s back on track with the work of art training plan you designed for them. If you haven’t considered the “fITT” principle before, try using it


with your athletes, especially those who are short on time. Taking the frequency, intensity, time and type of training into account when building a training plan will help you keep your athletes on track with their training goals.


Mark Kotarski is a USA Triathlon Level I Certified Coach. He offers personalized training through KET Fitness and maintains a blog with training tips for endurance athletes. For more visit http://ket- fitness.com or http://www.101endurancetrainingtips.blogspot.com.


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