Training camps and Xmas

Happy new year everyone!

Hope everyone ended 2012 on a positive note and are looking forward to the challenges of 2013.

2012 ended very well for me: was training on the British triathlon camp in Fuerventura for a week. Was so much fun training with these world class athletes and it really taught me, in a short space of time, what it takes to get to the top of the sport. It was very humbling and rewarding to be constantly tired and yet expected to back up each day with 3 decent sessions.

Below are some pics from the camp:













I was also very grateful to have the opportunity to work with Michael Crebbin of Complete Physio in Chelsea on my cycling. In a short space of time we were able to diagnose a few imbalances in my hip flexors, look at ways on improving my pedalling efficiency and strengthening exercises to make me into a stronger rider. By noticing my left leg is slightly shorter than my right, a product called "shims" were added to my cleat to give my left leg an extra 2mm of length to equal my right. Another noticeable irregularity with my pedalling was how, at times, my right knee hits the top tube of my bike. The movement of my right leg every so often can mean a loss of watts over a lengthy period of time. The aim is to try and keep everything linear and all the force expelled downwards through the pedals and the cranks.

The solution to this was to add specialised "green" in soles to my triathlon cycling shoe with the aim to prevent the movement and and to keep the foot still. Triathlon cycling shoes are more flexible than cycling shoes on the top part of the shoe as this allows the easy transfer of the feet, in and out, after swimming and before the run. With out compensating this advantage, but with the added stiffness of cycling shoes, these in soles provided the right solution to the problem. A quick fix, but a long term improvement.

Some exercises that I do to help with my cycling, courtesy of www.complete-physio.co.uk













These exercises are for glute, hamstring and hip flexor strengthening.
They are very important for triathlon and I am very grateful for compete physio to share this with me.