| Swim - Bike - Run - Race Day - Tracking Progress - Events - Great Resources - FAQ - Contact - Home |
Core Strengthening Exercises for TriathaNewbies Article written by Niki Dobbyn
One of the most common problems triathletes face is a weak lower back. If we push though lower back pain instead of address it, there is a possibility that we will have to discontinue working out altogether to recover from related injuries. But if we can detect the weakness ahead of time, there are exercises we can do to build up our lower back muscles before we injure them. Warm Up:
Exercise 1: (see fig 1) Keep your body in position and raise both arms so that they are perpendicular to your body. Keeping your left arm in place, lower the right arm down to your side. Then bring it back up. Keeping your right arm in place, lower the left arm down to your side. Then bring it back up. Be sure to keep your body posture through these arm movements. Start out by completing 1 minute of these exercises. Then, as you get better, move up to 2 minutes. To challenge yourself even more, grab some stretchy bands and ask a friend to help out or use a pole. Slide into the same position listed above, but have your friend or the pole stand behind you and hold the stretchy band in the middle while you hold the two ends. You will do the same exercise above, but this time you will have resistance. This will work your core muscles, specifically your lower back and butt muscles as well as simulate a freestyle-like arm movement that will certainly strengthen your swim. You can do this same exercise but change it up to work other muscles by having the friend or the poll on the other side of you, standing down by your knees. Instead of lowering each arm to your side like the exercise above, lower each arm the opposite way and brush your biceps by your cheek. Make sure your arm is straight and not bent. Again, start out doing 1 minute drills and move to 2 minutes as you get stronger. To get out of this position, let go of the stretchy bands, put your hands on the floor and sit down carefully. Move the ball away and stand when you are ready.
Exercise 2: (see fig 2)
Exercise 3: (see fig 3) Start out by completing 1 minute of these exercises. Then, as you get better, move up to 2 minutes. To get out of this position, simply put all hands and feet on the floor, roll back so that your knees are on the ground, and sit back on your feet. Roll the ball away and stand up when you are ready. Warm Down |
||||||||||||||||
|
Exciting News: TriathaNewbie.com featured in Triathlete Magazine as "Your one stop shop for beginner triathletes". Check it out! Transitions are the times between the swim and bike and the bike and run. Any time you are in the transition area, you need to know how to get through it without wasting time. Here are some suggestions:
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
![]() TRIATHLON QUESTIONS |
![]() TRIATHLON EVENTS |
![]() GENERAL TRI STUFF |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
| More Triathlon Questions | More Triathlon Events | More General Triathlon Information | ||||||||||
Swim - Bike - Run - Race Day - Tracking Progress - FAQ - Events - Contact - SiteMap - Home ---- Back to Top Copyright © 2008 TriathaNewbie.com; Content and images are the property of TriathaNewbie.com and may NOT
be copied or |