- On average our leg joints absorb
around one and a half times our body weight per step,
and potentially even more with running,
so inevitably, and unfortunately,
we probably experience some niggles and injuries
at some point whilst doing training
and racing for a triathlon.
So that's where pre-habilitation, or pre-hab for short
is such an important tool for injury prevention.
It's basically training and conditioning our bodies
better for a triathlon.
Before we get stuck into this video,
I'm curious to hear if you've had any niggles or injuries
at any point during your triathlon training or racing,
or any at all.
So please do drop those in the comment section below.
We'd love to hear from you,
and we'd love to help you out if we can.
But for now let's crack on with this video.
So here are my top pre-hab exercises for triathlon.
(deep pulsating)
Okay so pre-hab can be performed anywhere you like really.
It can be at your own home,
it could be in a local park, a local space,
but if you're really looking to maximise your pre-hab
and minimise your chances of injury
then a gym is probably the perfect place.
So for today's video we're gonna be using a box,
a barbell, a TheraBand and a Swiss ball or stability ball.
Now it might seem like a lot of kit,
but all these bits of kit are gonna really help
when it comes to injury prevention.
So, let's get started with our first exercise.
(upbeat, melodic music)
Right, this next exercise
is focusing on the largest muscle in our bodies.
It's the gluteus maximus, which is basically our behind.
It's our butt.
But funny enough it's also the one muscle
that we're all so bad at activating.
Which is quite a shame considering how big it is,
and how powerful it can be,
but it's also not that surprising either
'cause a lot of us do spend all day
sat on our butts at work at a desk
and then at the snap of a finger we expect it to activate
and kick into action and it just doesn't happen.
So to help that, this exercise is called monster walks,
and we're gonna use a TheraBand for this,
and not only does it help to activate the glutes,
it can also help to improve hip stability,
and also help to reduce any ITB pain.
So using this TheraBand, we're gonna put it around our legs
and we're gonna position it just above our knees
and making sure that it's not over our joints.
From here drop into a semi-squat position,
pushing outwards with the knees,
which stretches the band and activates the glutes.
Make sure to keep your back straight
and a good tension in the band throughout the exercise.
Take a small step sideways with one leg,
increasing the stretch on the band,
and then step the same distance with the other leg.
Repeat this sideways walk over five to 10 metres
and then step back the opposite way
using the other leg as the lead leg.
Then remaining in the semi-squat position
now we're going to do a similar motion
forwards and backwards.
Simply take a small step forwards with the right leg
followed by a small step forwards with the left leg.
And do this again, five to 10 metres forwards
and then the same motion backwards.
Right well now we've got
our glutes all activated and working well,
we're now gonna move to the single leg squat exercise,
which is great for also recruiting those muscles,
but also for developing them
to help prevent any hip and knee injuries.
So for this exercise
we're going to use a bench or a box like I'm using here,
and we're aiming for our knees to be around 90 degrees
when we're sat on it.
Okay now stand up
with your feet six to 12 inches in front of the box
in a hip width stance with your knees slightly bent.
Standing on one leg,
squeeze and engage the glute muscles of that supporting leg.
Push your body weight backwards,
and at the same time, bend the knee of that supporting leg
into a semi-squat position.
As you descend,
have your arms out in front of you for added stability
all whilst extending your opposite leg out in front of you.
When your bum touches the box,
immediately push through your heel
and return to that starting position.
Concentrate on keeping your knee and hip
aligned over your supporting foot,
and that your knee doesn't extend
beyond the front of your foot.
This movement focuses on stability and strength
in that targeted leg and core area.
Aim for three sets of eight to 12 reps
and switch legs between.
(upbeat, bouncy music)
Okay this next exercise is bringing it all together,
and working on the strength and the movement
required for running.
It's a step-up with a knee drive.
And for this one we're gonna use a box again,
but you can go slightly lower with that box.
You can of course use a bench, you can use a chair,
but just make sure that it's stable and it's not too high.
So start by standing in front of the box,
then place one foot up onto the box.
Step upwards vertically
whilst using your opposite arm to help drive your leg up.
Once you've stepped up, continue to drive your other knee
into high knee running posture,
and hold and balance before stepping down,
basically the reverse of the previous movement
and making sure it's smooth and controlled,
stepping right off the box and then starting again.
It's important you keep a good posture
throughout the exercise,
and you hold and stabilise at the top
before coming back down.
Build up to two to three sets of eight to 12 reps
and then progress.
(upbeat, rhythmic music)
Well now let's step away from the legs
and move on to our upper body
with the bent over barbell row.
Now this typically focuses on building and strengthening
the muscles in our upper body, but it does also require
the assistance from our lower back, our core, and our arms.
So this is gonna help
with a number of aspects for triathlon,
but particularly the swimming.
So if we can help to engage and hold the muscles better
through our back, and particularly our upper back,
it will actually help
to not only improve our performance while swimming,
also help to reduce
the risk of overuse injuries through our shoulders.
So for this exercise we're going to need a barbell.
And with that we're gonna assume a standing position
with feet a shoulder width apart whilst holding the bar
using a double overhand grip.
Hinge forward until your torso
is roughly parallel with the floor or slightly above that,
and then begin by setting your shoulders back
so it's all engaged.
And then begin the movement
by driving your elbows behind your body,
pulling the bar towards your hips
until it touches your body
and then slowly lower the bar back down
to the starting position, but under control.
To really work the scapula control,
I suggest letting the shoulders relax between each rep
and then essentially disengage before then
reengaging them and repeating the exercise.
Aim for three sets of eight to 12 reps.
(upbeat, melodic music)
Okay then back to the legs now,
and now we're gonna be focusing
on the lower legs, the calves.
Now they're not the biggest muscles on our body,
but given how much contact
our feet make with the ground during a triathlon,
I'd say they're pretty important.
So this exercise is called the eccentric calf lower,
and this is a really good exercise
for those people that maybe struggle with Achilles issues.
Start on a step or a box
with your heels hanging over the edge.
Push up with both of your feet, using a wall or something
to lightly stabilise yourself if you need to,
then lift one foot off the ground to the top
and then begin to slowly lower on the other leg.
Allow your heel to drop below the edge of the step
providing it doesn't cause pain.
Then place the other legs back down
to push back up to the top of the movement
and then repeat this roughly for 15 reps on each leg
aiming for three times through in total.
(upbeat, rhythmic music)
Right, now we're going to use
our Swiss ball or stability ball
for the hip bridge leg curl exercise.
So again this is going to make work of our glutes,
but it's also gonna start working our hamstrings.
So start with your legs up and heels on the stability ball
and your hips raised several inches off the floor
so they're in line with your knees.
Curl the stability ball in towards your butt
and then drive your hips up towards the ceiling.
Fully contract your glutes at the top of the motion
and try to maintain this straight line
from your shoulders to your knees.
Then slowly lower your hips down towards the mat
as you release the ball back to the starting position,
use your hamstrings and glutes.
Make sure to keep the control
throughout this entire exercise,
and with it being a relatively hard exercise,
aim for eight to 10 reps
and two to three times through in total.
(upbeat, bouncy music)
Okay this next one is using the TheraBand,
and we've actually got two exercises within one.
We've got the internal and external shoulder rotation.
Now if you are someone
that's maybe increasing your swimming volume
or the intensity of your swimming,
then you're going to be wanting to reduce or avoid the risk
of getting something called swimmer's shoulder,
where essentially your muscles and your joint
is getting overused,
and to do that we want to strengthen the muscles
in what's called our rotator cuff within our shoulder,
and that is where these exercises come in.
For this one just simply attach a TheraBand
to something solid, and hold on to the other end.
Whilst keeping your elbow at your side at 90 degrees,
simply externally rotate your arm.
This then works
deep into those external rotation muscles of the shoulder,
which will help to improve
the functioning and the strength of the shoulder joint.
Do it in a controlled manner
and complete around 15 repetitions,
doing it around two to three times on each arm.
Okay, and then for the internal shoulder rotation
simply turn yourself around,
hold on to the band and keep your elbow by your side,
with your hand pointing straight out in front of you.
And then simply rotate your hand
inwards and internally across your body,
keeping it nice and controlled on the way in
and also on the way back out.
Again repeat this for around 15 repetitions
and two to three times on each arm.
While triathlon can be a very repetitive sport
requiring the same movements over and over again
and in a relatively linear motion,
so pre-hab is all about preventing those injuries
before they even manifest themselves.
Now if you do have any questions from this video
please do drop them in the comment section below
and I'll try and get back to them for you.
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If you'd like to see my full exercises
to improve your power on the bike video,
just click down here,
and if you'd like to see Heather's
strength and conditioning for beginners video,
just click down here.