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Simon Ward, multiple award-winning triathlon coach, shares insights on how to improve your triathlon performance with a High Performance Human approach to life.
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Podcasts and Facebook threads about swimming always seem to generate a lot of interest. This might be because becoming a faster swimmer is an enigma to most triathletes. Along with the endless search for faster times is the preponderance of information out there telling us how we can get faster. We hear about a training method that works really well for some people and we try it ourselves. After a few weeks, we haven’t really improved so we look for something else. The grass is always greener, right? But, it may not be any better. Just different grass!
This week I’m trying something new. I invited 3 accomplished triathlon coaches (all L3 BTF qualified) who have backgrounds in swim coaching. The goal is to see how much their approaches differ or match up and whether we can all find some common ground on what really works and what to avoid.
Topics covered include:
- The fundamentals we all need to get right
- Why you should practice skills NOT drills and which skills in particular
- Why kick is king!
- Toys we like, toys we don’t
- Does a polarised approach to intensity work for swimmers?
- How often should you be swimming in open water during the summer?
To follow our coaches, please use the links below.
Kate Offord
Website www.smilingtricoach.co.uk
Facebook virtual community https://www.facebook.com/groups/2937438822976147/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/smilingtricoach/
Instagram @smilingtricoach
If you are local and want to try out for the Altrincham Swim club please click HERE
Adam Gibson
Website - www.greenlightpt.co.uk
Facebook - www.facebook.com/greenlightpt
Twitter - @greenlightpt
Instagram - @greenlightpt
Carl Botten - Orpington Ojays SC and Crystal Palace Triathletes
Website :-www.thetriathlonacademy.co.uk
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thetriathlonacademy/
Here are some other links to topics in the show:
Kate’s favourite book
Peak Performance - Steve Magness/Brad Stulberg
She also recommends following these folks on Twitter
Brad Stulberg on Twitter @BStulberg
James Gibson on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jamesgibson____/
Adam & Carl's favourite book: Swimming Fastest - Ernest Maglischo
Carl also recommends this book: The Life Changing Magic of not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight
And these swim videos by Bill Sweetenham (Former GB swim director of performance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0zc1Mq1y4U
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
Wednesday Mar 02, 2022
We’ve talked about High-Intensity Interval Training quite a bit on this show and I’m a big fan. I use it regularly myself in all forms of training and I prescribe it for my athletes. I must confess that when I attempt the daddy of all HIT sessions, Tabata Intervals, I feel like my heart is going to explode. The problem for me is that if I try sticking to the exact protocol it's impossible to hold max power for even 1 bout of 20 seconds, never mind 7 more. So I end up adjusting the protocol to something more manageable. Now however I offer you an alternative. High Intensity Repeat Training (H.I.R.T.) which we are going to talk about in today's call with Craig Marker. Craig is a psychologist with a passion for strength training and kettlebells in particular. So in addition to HIRT intervals, we have lots more to talk about including:
- The origins of H.I.R.T. intervals and why you should try it
- Learning to love luxurious rest intervals
- Why too much choice leads to paralysis
- Kettlebells, greasing the groove, and frequency vs volume in strength training
- Being anti-fragile
You can follow Craig at the following places:
Website - Craigmarker.com
Twitter - @antifragileself
Links to some of the discussion topics in the show
Books
Anti-Fragile: Things that gain from Disorder Nasim Nicholas Taleb
Adapt: Why success always starts with failure Tim Harford
Becoming a Supple Leopard Dr Kelly Starrett
The One Minute Workout Martin Gibala
Easy Strength Dan John & Pavel Tsatsouline
Simple & Sinister Pavel Tsatsouline
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less Barry Schwartz
If you would like to get hold of a list of all the books recommended by our podcast guests, please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Craig also referenced these research papers:
Craig wrote for StrongFirst ‘Why does exercise make us healthier'
And you can read about the research behind this here:
Vince Giuliano - Grand Unifying Theory of biology health & aging
Craig has also written these articles which you may be interested in
When Too Much Choice is Bad for your Training
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Train your body to learn holding heavy weights overhead
Greasing the Groove: How to make it work for you
These are a couple of kettlebell exercise videos you might find useful
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Today is episode 239 and this show has been alive and growing for 4 1/2 years! During that time we've had lots of amazing guests and shared some really interesting (and what I consider to be very useful) information.
Occasionally I get emails from listeners informing me that they followed the advice from a certain guest. George Dallam’s Nose Breathing podcast recently was one that generated several positive responses.
Today's guest is Mark Osborne. Mark has been a listener to most of our podcasts and a few weeks ago he emailed me to say that his journey of the last few years has largely been based around experimenting with many of the topics raised. If you are sceptical about whether some of this stuff works and how “out there" it is, you need to listen to this story of self-experimentation, many failures, lots of successes, but overall a huge leap forward in fitness and health. Some of the topics covered include:
- The importance of having an open mind and being mindful
- Being willing to adapt
- The value of self-reflection
- A holistic approach to life (being fit for life which enables sport, as opposed to being fit for the pure sake of sport)
- A better mental approach to failure
- Natural fitness is the key to performance - introducing standing and not sitting all day, natural mobility is better than stretching
- Just enjoy what you're doing
- Keep it simple
- Find what works for you and your body
- Know yourself and yearn to know more
- Good mobility is the key to a natural run technique
- You don't always need tech
Links to some of the previous podcasts that had a real influence on Mark's thinking
MAF training & reducing sugar intake - Phil Maffetone Part 1 & Part 2 -
Mobility - Louisa Holmes, Kelly Starrett
Primal Endurance Part 1 & Part 2 - Brad Kearns
Fast Over 50 - Joe Friel
Low Carb/High fat - Prof Paul Laursen
Recovery - Christie Aschwanden
Swim Technique - Karlyn Pipes
Running Technique - Shane Benzie
Influential Books
Lost Art of Running - Shane Benzie
Feet in the Clouds - Richard Askwith
Born to Run & Natural Born Heroes - Chris Macdougall
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Feb 16, 2022
Wednesday Feb 16, 2022
Hands up all those who have participated in an ultra-distance gravel bike ride or trail running event? Perhaps you've been seriously considering one for this coming year as a bit of a change. Gravel bike riding and ultra running events have grown in popularity with triathletes especially since multisport events were so restricted in 2020 and 2021. In Yorkshire, we’ve had versions of these for many years and the granddaddy of each is the Yorkshire 3 Peaks events. The running event takes place at the end of every April, and the Cyclo-Cross race is in September. For the majority of us, these would be 4-6 hour challenges but for today's guest, Andy Peace, they go by much faster. In fact, Andy has the honour of being the ONLY person to hold the record for both at the same time and one of only two people to win both events in the same year (1996). His running record still stands to this day, some 25 years after it was set.
Andy is an unassuming down-to-earth Yorkshireman and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this conversation. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to enter one or both of these events yourself! You have to be quick off the mark though. Both fill up in a matter of hours and are heavily oversubscribed. Some of today's discussion topics include:
- Comparison of fell running culture vs triathlon
- How to train for fell races and cyclocross events
- Why is Yorkshire such a hot bed for top class fell runners
- When Andy discovered that he was quite good at duathlon
- The value of community and training with your friends
Andy doesn’t do much social media so as much as you might want to, it's difficult to follow him.
Some of the topics that we discussed today were:
Yorkshire 3 peaks running event
Tom Pidcock winning the World Cyclo-Cross Championship 2021
Tom Moses losing his handlebars in the 3 Peaks cyclocross race
We talked about this book a lot, "Feet in the Clouds”. If you want a brilliant insight into this community, this book is a must-read!
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
Wednesday Feb 09, 2022
Sleep is the rockstar of recovery, and in an ideal world, it would occupy about 1/3 of our life. But thus far I've only recorded 2 podcasts on the subject. It's time to put that right with today’s guest, Dr. Meeta Singh. Dr. Singh is a board registered physician and psychiatrist with a specialty in the applied science of sleep. She spends a lot of her time working with C-suite executives and elite athletes. Regardless of the individual, however, the benefits of sleep are huge and overlooked (how many times do I say that each week?). I think you’ll appreciate the articulate way in which Dr. Singh outlines these benefits and I'm confident that by the end of this podcast you’ll be looking for more ways to improve the quantity and/or quality of your sleep each night. Topics covered include:
- The stages of sleep and why each plays an important role
- Your short and long-term health and the impact of sleep (TIP: pay attention to the part about COVID)
- Your daily routine and how to change it to get better sleep
- Caffeine and why even if you can drink coffee late in the evening and fall asleep, it still affects your ability to get deep sleep
- Waking up in the middle of the night and why it's entirely normal
- Are sleep trackers accurate, valid, and worth the money?
- Advice for shift workers
To find out more about Dr. Singh you can find her in the following places:
Twitter @meetasinghmd
We also talked about these topics:
Whoop podcast - Impact of stress on sleep performance and executive functioning
If you are interested in a Whoop sleep tracker then please click on this LINK to get 1 month FREE
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Wednesday Feb 02, 2022
Every time I open a Facebook chat room I see at least one thread on swim technique. Much of it is nonsense and overly focussed on elements that will have only a minor impact. You’ve heard me say many times that before you put the icing on the cake, you have to make the cake. This means working on the fundamentals. In today's podcast, I’ll be chatting with Russ Barber, swim specialist for British Triathlon who is working specifically with the high performance athletes at the Leeds Triathlon Centre.
Russ and I are going to be chatting about what is really important if you want to improve your swimming. So, if this is you, please set aside an hour and get your notebook out. It's a great conversation and, like all Yorkshiremen, Russ tells it straight. We cover:
- The 3 elements Russ looks for first when working with a new swimmer
- Swim drills you should AVOID (and why), and which ones you should continue with
- Kicking - why it's CRITICAL for a good stroke, and why it MUST be part of your workouts
- Polarised training for swimmers
- One set you must include in EVERY swim workout
- The benefits of using ankle bands
- Some tips for open water swim training
Russ doesn’t really do social media but he does a swim coach education network on:
Twitter - @Russ_SCNetwork
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SwimCoachNetwork
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/russ-barber-265993147/
Topics we chatted about in the podcast:
Alexander Popov swimming technique
Swimming with an ankle band- why you need to keep a high cadence
Russ also recommended the following two books
'The Storyteller' - Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) - I’m currently reading this one. It’s great!
‘Relentless' - Alistair Brownlee - You can hear Al talk about writing this book in a recent podcast HERE
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
Wednesday Jan 26, 2022
Darryl Edwards is back in part 2 of our conversation about PrimalPlay.
Having laid the groundwork in Part 1 (Why working out isn’t working out that well) Darryl and I chat about his own daily habits. If you listened to part 1 you might have heard Darryl speak about how a health scare in his 30’s caused him to take a close look at how he was living his life, so we talk about:
- Darryl’s approach to sleep including sleep hygiene and sleep tracking
- Protein, hydration, and NO caffeine!
- HIT, HIRT, and PHA training
- Using your natural environment as a gym
- Sprint training and scaring joggers in the park - seriously!
- 3 top tips on how to include PrimalPlay into your own workout schedule
To find out more about Darryl you can find him in these places:
Instagram fitnbessexplorer
Twitter @primalplay
Facebook fitnessexplorer
Some of the other topics we chatted about in the show can be found here:
Darryl’s TedX talk “Why working out isn’t working out”
Find some of Darryl’s blog posts
Stand Up desks - Why Standing can be better for your health than sitting
Books by Darryl including My First Animal Moves
The film ‘300’ - Video showing some of the workouts the actors were doing
High Intensity Interval Training discussed in this podcast with Prof Paul Laursen
Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) training. An alternative to HIIT
Dr Craig Marker on HIT vs HIRT training
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Wednesday Jan 19, 2022
Do you remember the last time you really had fun working out? I don't mean the feeling of satisfaction. I’m talking about having so much fun that you don't notice the time pass. For me, I know it when I’ve been mountain biking through the mud. It reminds me of when I was little and I used to come home absolutely caked in filth. My mum would roll her eyes and then I was sent upstairs to have a bath. As adults, it feels like we have lost the art of playing.
Today's guest is Darryl Edwards who founded the company ‘Primal Play’. Primal Play is about using the natural environment and workings with small groups to create a workout. I may not be explaining it well here but you’ll get the picture when you listen to the show, and today is part 1 of a 2-part show.
In this week's episode we chat about:
- The transition from Investment Banking Technologist to movement coach
- How Darryl's own health proved to be the catalyst for making a lifestyle and work change
- Why parents are getting their children down
- The shocking truth about why limiting the freedom of children to roam is affecting their long term health
- Why working out isn’t actually working out that well
To find out more about Darryl you can find him in these places:
Instagram fitnbessexplorer
Twitter @primalplay
Facebook fitnessexplorer
Some of the other topics we chatted about in the show can be found here:
Darryl’s TedX talk “Why working out isn’t working out”
The film ‘300’ - Video showing some of the workouts the actors were doing
The Big Short film
The Big Short film
Find some of Darryl’s blog posts
Books by Darryl including My First Animal Moves
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
Wednesday Jan 12, 2022
You may recall that in my recent podcast with Patrick McKeown from the Oxygen Advantage we chatted about nose breathing, something I've been interested in for a while now. This topic came to my attention when listening to Phil Maffetone speak, as well as in reading Primal Endurance.
Today's guest, George Dallam, is an exercise physiologist and triathlon coach and was recommended by Patrick because of his interest in nose breathing. Please have a good listen and if you are so minded, give it a go. You may find that it improves your health and performance. I found this conversation a great learning experience and I hope you can give this a try.
In today's call, we cover the following topics:
- George explains the underpinning physiology of breathing
- Differences between oral and nose breathing
- Why nose breathing is better for your health
- How to use a neti pot to clear mucus from your nasal cavity
- Simple steps to help you get started with nose breathing
- The nose breathing paradox - it doesn’t have to slow you down
- David Rudisha breaking the world 800m record while nose breathing
To read some of George’s research papers and blog posts, please visit these links:
Website: https://www.csupueblo.edu/profile/george-dallam/index.html
Researchgate Site: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/George_Dallam
Blog: https://triathlete.science.blog/
We also talked about the following topics:
David Rudisha breaks the 800m world record while nose breathing
We got a bit sidetracked talking about barefoot running and Pose method. You can find 3 great series on running technique here on Ross Tuckers Sportsscientists.com website
My recent podcast with Patrick McKeown on Breathing
George mentioned the book Indian Running
We also talked about Born to Run
Some research papers to read:
What happens when you attempt maximal work and are not adapted to nasal breathing:
Comparison of maximal oxygen consumption with oral and nasal breathing. Australian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 27(3), 51-55. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8599744/
What happens following adaptation:
Effect of nasal versus oral breathing on Vo2max and physiological economy in recreational runners following an extended period spent using nasally restricted breathing. International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Science, 6 (2), 22-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.6n.2p.22
Review Paper on Effect of Nasal versus Oral Breathing During Exercise:
The Effect of Nasal Breathing Versus Oral and Oronasal Breathing During Exercise: A Review, Journal of Sports Research, Volume 7, 1, pp 1-10.https://www.consciousbreathing.com/articles/shut-your-mouth-save-your-life/
What we are doing to ourselves by breathing orally (developing EIB most obvious thing):
Airway dysfunction in elite athletes--an occupational lung disease? Allergy. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24117544/
The effect of nasal breathing acutely on EIB:
Triathlete adapts to breathing restricted to the nasal passage without loss in VO2max or VVo2max. Journal of Sport and Human Performance, http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.6n.2p.22
Effect of the oronasal breathing route on sulfur dioxide-induced bronchoconstriction in exercising asthmatic subjects. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7091868/
Effect of nasal and oral breathing on exercise-induced asthma. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7318162/
The beneficial effect of nasal breathing on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. . https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/677559/
Why we should all be using nasal irrigation regularly (especially if breathing nasally during exercise) and not just when getting sick:
Do saline water gargling and nasal irrigation confer protection against COVID-19? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33046408/
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
This week I’m returning to a podcast that I recorded in March 2021 with my brother Jonathan. In the podcast, we talk about self-compassion, which is a subject that is not usually linked with endurance sports. However, if you pay close attention you'll discover that far from being something light and fluffy it's really important if you want to develop the resilience and mental toughness that will help you to thrive as a human and an athlete.
During our chat we discuss:
- Jonathan explains what self-compassion is and why it's different from self-pity and self-indulgence.
- The 3 key components of self-compassion
- How self-compassion creates healthy behaviours and has positive long term benefits
- Resilience and ‘bouncebackability’
- Self-criticism is NOT a motivator and why positive self-talk is better
- When you feel under pressure the 2 questions that you must ask yourself
- How to practice self-compassion
To find out more about Jonathan visit his website, Courageous Living Coaching
You can also find him on Instagram - courage.coach
Jonathan has a new course on 'Mindful Self Compassion' starting on January 19, 2022
You can find out more about that HERE
To find out more about Brene Brown visit her website, https://brenebrown.com
Brene Brown Ted Talks:
Brene Brown's book, Daring Greatly
To find out more about self-compassion please go HERE
Take a 30 day trial in my SWAT Inner Circle for just £1. Watch this video for more information.
Purchase a copy of my High Performance Human e-book featuring more than 30 top tips on how to upgrade your life.
If you would like to help offset the cost of our podcast production, we would be so grateful. Please click here to support the HPH podcast. Thank you!
Visit Simon's website for more information about his coaching programmes. Links to all of Simon's social media channels can be found here. For any questions please email Beth@TheTriathlonCoach.com.