THIS MONTH’S COACHING PANEL

BRAD BEER

Massage guns Brad is a sports & exercise physiotherapist, founder of Pogo Physio, and is head physio for Super League Triathlon.

DR CATH SPENCER- SMITH

Secrets of the heart Cath is a sports medicine doctor and lecturer who’s worked extensively with Olympic athletes.

EMILY KIER

Fuelling your run Emily is a nutritionist and co-founder of health & fitness blog Twice The Health.

JAMES WITTS

Plan your training Freelance writer and former 220 editor James specialises in sports science.

➨ DO MASSAGE GUNS WORK?

Q I’ve seen a lot of athletes using massage guns. What are they and do they actually work?

James Vaughn

A Massage guns are portable handheld devices that provide muscle tissue with percussive vibration-based input. The devices output high-frequency, low-amplitude pulses, and are typically wireless, coming with interchangeable attachments such as bullet-, flat-, cushion- or fork-shaped heads.

Percussion and vibration therapies are well utilised in the remedial massage world, with some innovative manufacturers having now created portable devices for home use to provide the same stimulus.

Manufacturers of massage guns advocate that using the guns can assist with sports recovery and well-being, but the current scientific literature regarding massage guns is unclear. Purported benefits include: increased joint range of motion, muscle activation, force output, and potentially reductions in the perception of muscle soreness and the onset of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Prices vary from smaller devices through to larger, more powerful ones. There are also lightweight options designed for athletes on the go. Brad Beer

➨ SECRETS OF THE HEART

Q What’s a good resting heart rate, how can I measure it and when should I be worried?

Philippa Howell

A Generally speaking, your average resting heart rate will be a reflection of your overall cardiovascular fitness, which has many variables! Your GP will tell you that 72 beats per minute (bpm) is the average for a patient, but if you’re fitter that number drops.

An Olympic rower in their 20s might have a resting heart rate of under 40bpm, but a good level of fitness for your average marathoner might be around 50bpm. It’s only one indicator of fitness, however.

If your resting heart rate (measured first thing in the morning before you get out of bed) shows an elevation day to day, it can be a sign of overtraining, so it’s still useful to measure it.

Very fast heart rates (e.g. well above 200bpm) tend be associated with an abnormal heart rhythm, such as ventricular tachycardia. Most of time if we’re in a hard training session, we’ll top out at a maximal rate, which gets lower as we age.

You may have heard of the equation of ‘220 minus your age’ as being a predictor for maximal heart rate for your age, but this hasn’t really borne out in the science to be very accurate, and genetics may have a role to play, too.

If you have a very elevated heart rate at rest, palpitations, breathlessness, or chest or arm pain with exercise, these are signs of a potential cardiac problem, so get it checked out – especially if you have a family history of cardiac issues.

So how do you measure your resting heart rate? You don’t need any fancy equipment to measure your heart rate – you can easily find your radial pulse on the inside of your wrist with your opposite index and middle fingers. Simply count the number of beats felt in one minute first thing in the morning. Of course, you can also make it super-easy by using the app on your smartwatch or use a heart rate monitor when you train.

If you’re interested in assessing your cardiovascular fitness levels, ‘sub-maximal’ exercise tests (on a bike/ treadmill/track) are simple to perform, or you can get an in-depth assessment with an exercise physiologist.

Dr Cath Spencer-Smith

➨ FUELLING YOUR RUN

Q Should you eat before you run? Jon Moore

A Yes! In fact, it should be encouraged, not only to fuel your run but also to help maintain a healthy hormone balance. If you’re heading out first thing and you haven’t eaten since dinner the night before, it’s important that you have something before your run (even if it’s a small snack).

Fasted training can lead to a spike in cortisol, which, if frequent, over time can lead to a negative impact on performance and health. Women should be aware that these can include a disruption or cessation of the menstrual cycle.

By eating a meal or snack before a run you can improve

your carbohydrate availability and prevent your body from tapping into its glycogen stores straight away. This means you can run further and/or at a higher intensity and reduce recovery time, due to being less likely to completely deplete your body of carbohydrate.

Ideally, choose simple carbohydrates that are easy to digest; a banana, a handful of sweets, a slice of toast with jam or a small bowl of cereal are all great options. If you’re eating a meal, aim for 2-3 hours before running. If it’s a snack then around an hour should be adequate. Every runner is different so you should do a little bit of trial and error and find what works for you.

With the correct timing and fuel choice you’re only going to benefit from fuelling your run. If you eat the wrong food, too much food or don’t leave enough time for digestion you could end up with some gastric discomfort. As mentioned, experiment with your fuel and timing to find what works and doesn’t work for you.

And should you tweak what you eat depending on the length of your run? Yes, for longer runs you might want to increase the portion size and the gap between eating and running. For your long runs a meal or substantial snack with complex carbohydrates will provide a more stable and prolonged release of energy, reducing the risk of ‘hitting the wall’ (AKA running out of carbohydrate). You might also need to fuel during your run. For shorter or faster runs you want to consume quick-release carbs closer to training - sweets, gels or fruit juice all work well. Emily Kier

➨ PLAN YOUR TRAINING

Q What are macro-, meso- and microcycles? And how do they relate to training?

Rachael Kirton

A A macrocycle is the greatest chunk of time in your training plan. “This can be anything from one season to four years (e.g. an Olympic cycle),” says Paul Jones of F4L Coaching. “In fact, it can be longer depending on an athlete’s goals.”

This is broken down into smaller parts or mesocycles. Annually, these phases are preparation, base, pre-competition, competition and recovery. Each mesocycle is a set period and will have a particular goal. For example, if your goal is in July…

Preparation (Nov-Jan)

This develops the foundation. It’s where triathletes might work on swim technique, run form and adapt to a new bike fit.

Base (Feb-Apr)

Now the aerobic work develops, longer rides creep into the programme, as do longer runs and 100m reps off a short rest in the pool. Throw in some higher-intensity efforts as this is crucial to an athlete’s development.

Pre-competition (May-Jun)

Where an athlete focuses on their specific event. Bricks will be included, as will minor races and single-discipline events.

Competition (Jul)

Here, intensity stays high, but volume reduces. This is the taper and ensures you’ll arrive at your event in the best possible shape.

“In each of these, we have the smaller part of the mesocycle, which is the microcycle,” adds Jones. “These tend to be a week long. For example, a longer bike on a Sunday and easier day on the Monday. However, it can stretch to 14 days.”

These cycles sit beneath the umbrella of a periodised programme, which is about structuring an athlete’s training to meet the demands of the event. “Imagine building a wall,” Jones explains. “You put the foundations in first (traditionally the preparation phase), then start building up the layers (base phase), before putting the top layer of bricks on (pre-competition phase) and finally adding decorations on top (competition)!”

Just remember that what works for one may not work for another. Periodisation is an individual thing and will depend on a triathlete’s goals, longer-term ambitions, current fitness levels, weaknesses, ability and strengths.

“An athlete may have more than one competition phase of their macrocycle, for instance,” says Jones. That makes things more complicated but, if you are a regular racer, arguably you’re more experienced and have started to fathom what works for you.

“Finally,” concludes Jones, “recovery phase, after an event or at the end of a season, is critical for an athlete to remain motivated and healthy to sustain the next phase of their triathlon journey.” More is often too much! James Witts

Need advice or help with any aspect of your multisport training and/or racing? Simply send an email to coaching@220triathlon.com for a chance to be featured.