Indoor/Outdoor Workouts for Aerobic Capacity

(Lower zone training)

• Long cross-country skiing

• Snowshoeing

• Hiking

• Cross/mountain/snowbiking

• Ice skating

• Rollers

Training at a conversational pace will keep you in zone 1 or 2. Hills can add a strength component to this type of training when done at a pace where you can keep talking. The largest amount of training time should be spent in these zones doing activities that motivate.

Incorporating enough swimming, biking and running into your winter training to maintain engagement and skill in these sports is still important; it’s just less important to do all of your training this way. Having a greater variety of stimuli for your body to adapt to will build a robust aerobic engine and a strong body that sets you up for a strong specific phase of training. Choose activities you enjoy, invite a friend and have fun with it.

Melanie McQuaid is a pro triathlete and coach from Victoria. This year, she finished second at Ironman Wisconsin and fourth at Ironman Arizona.