With the lockdown and restrictions in place around the world due to COVID-19 or Corona Virus, swimming pools have been closed and restrictions on movement outside have come into place in most western countries. Further frustrations for endurance athletes have come with the cancelations of events all over the world. Training plans have been thrown into turmoil. As frustrating as it is that you can’t continue to train for the event that was your goal and we don’t know when the crisis will be over enough for events to recommence.
In most western countries you can still continue to train in a limited capacity with restrictions. Most places you can still continue to exercise in your immediate neighbourhood by going for a run, some places you can continue to ride your bike, and unfortunately unless you’ve got access to a private 25m pool, swim training is very much out.
What you can do is swim with Stretch Cordz, ride your bike on a trainer or run on a treadmill if you have access to these items.
I have a range of training plan options that you can use to maintain or build your fitness over the coming weeks or months, so that when we get confirmation of future events your fitness is well advanced. Some of my popular plans include:
Faster 5km Challenge
I have 28 day, 6 week and 12 week Faster 5km Challenge Training Plans. These plans build your 5km running fitness over either 28 days, 6 week or 12 weeks (longer plans give you more time to make greater improvements). Typically most people following these plan make about 90 second improvement in their 5km time in the initial month.
Programme options are based on how frequently you want to (or have time to) run each week (2, 3, 4 or 5 times per week) and the longest duration of your runs in the last 6 weeks.
These training plans can be done on a treadmill or out on the streets and trails of your neighborhood. Having a GPS watch will be a great help with the training plans but you can also follow them using a Stryd Power Meter, heart rate monitor or your own subjective measure of how hard you are running.
Equivalent training plans are also available for 10km and half marathon training plans.
Faster Cycling Challenge
As with the Faster 5km Training Plans there are options available for 28 days, 6 weeks or 12 weeks. If you train with a Power meter or smart trainer you will be able to measurably see your improvement in your FTP.
Programme options are based on how frequently you want to (or have time to) ride each week (2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 times per week) and the longest duration of your rides in the last 6 weeks.
These training plans can be done out on the road, on a smart trainer or using a ‘dumb’ trainer. Also you can use a power meter, heart rate monitor or just your own subjective measure of intensity.
Training plans also available to focus on preparing for century rides or the cycling portion of 70.3 half Ironman events or Olympic distance triathlons.
Stretch Cordz Dryland Swim Training Plans
With the lack of swim training being able to be conducted at the moment, I’ve made my Dryland Swim Training Plans available, these have in the past been kept for my one on one coached clients.
Stretch Cordz are a great training tool. Normally they would be used to supplement swim training, but during the COVID-19 crisis I’m using them myself to substitute my swim training until I can get back in the pool.
Amazon is still shipping Stretch Cordz:
Grab a set of Stretch Cordz and jump on board to keep your swim training moving forward.
Home Based Strength and Conditioning Programmes
I’ve also got a range of home based strength and conditioning programmes that can be done with no equipment, simply using your body weight as resistance. These are short, sharp, circuit style sessions.
If you’ve got your own home gym I’ve also got gym based strength and conditioning programmes.
These programmes run for a variety of durations with options for both body weight circuits and gym based programming from four weeks through to 24 weeks length, with two or three sessions per week.
Smart Trainers Currently listed on Amazon
A number of smart trainer options are also available through Amazon:
If you’d like touch base with me and have a chat about your training options, book a time with me here: https://calendly.com/qwikkiwicoaching/60min