Mastering Cycling Technique for Triathletes: From Aerodynamics to Pedal Stroke Mastery

​Cycling plays a pivotal role in triathlon, where optimal technique can make the difference between a strong performance and struggling not only on the bike leg, but through the final run leg of the race. It is important to emphasize mastering individual components before combining them into a cohesive, efficient whole.

We will explore the critical aspects of cycling technique and drills to help engrain these skills into your muscle memory.

1. Body Positioning: Maximizing Stability and Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics directly affects your speed, and an optimal body position can help you go faster with less effort. For triathletes, maintaining comfort while staying aerodynamic is key to sustained performance.

How to Do It Correctly:

• Torso Angle: Aim for a 45-degree torso angle relative to your hips. This keeps you aerodynamic while preventing strain on your lower back.
• Elbow and Arm Position: Keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees, with your forearms parallel to the ground.
• Hip Stability: Ensure stable hips, flexing between 110-120 degrees, to maintain balance and prevent lower back fatigue.

Drill to Practice: Aerodynamics Intervals

• Practice holding the 45-degree torso angle during 5-minute intervals in an aero position.
• Gradually increase the time spent in the aero position, building comfort and stability.

​2. Pedal Stroke Efficiency: Mastering the Full 360-Degree Motion

Pre-Season - Mastering Swim Technique for Triathletes
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Swimming in triathlons requires mastering efficiency while conserving energy for the rest of the race. In this post, we'll guide you through the essential swim technique elements every triathlete should focus on, along with drills to improve each area. We’ll also incorporate proven methods from TriDot’s Pool School™ to fine-tune body position and kicking efficiency, setting you up for race day success.

Key Technical Focus Points

Efficiency in swimming revolves around four key areas:

1. Optimal Body Position to reduce drag,
2. Coordinated Breathing Techniques to conserve energy,
3. A Strong and Technical Catch and Pull for powerful propulsion,
4. A Balanced Kick for buoyancy and core stability.

Let’s break these down further:

1. Body Position: Achieve FASST™ Alignment

Body position is crucial to reducing drag and maintaining speed. Using the FASST™ system from TriDot Pool School, here’s how to perfect your alignment:

• Flat hand at entry: Your hand should enter the water smoothly, fingers-first, with minimal splash to reduce resistance.
• Arm stretched out: Fully extend your arm forward before starting the pull to lengthen your stroke.
• Shoulder rotated 45 degrees: Rotate your shoulders as your body rolls to increase reach and power.
• Spine and head aligned: Keep your spine straight and head slightly down to balance your position.
• Thumb to thigh—palm up high: Complete each stroke by brushing your thumb along your thigh, ensuring a full follow-through for maximum propulsion.

Visualization Exercise: On dry land, stand facing a wall and visualize reaching for the ceiling! When you extend upward, notice how you naturally lift on your tippy toes, rotate your shoulders, and engage your core. This visualization helps you connect all the movements in the pool. In the water, imagine reaching for the wall in front of you to maintain this alignment.

Drill: Superman Glide with FASST™ Focus
Push off from the wall, gliding in a streamlined position while practicing FASST™ principles. Perform 4 x 50m with long fins, focusing on achieving ideal body alignment with every stroke.

2. Breathing Technique

Smooth, efficient breathing maintains balance and rhythm, conserving energy over long distances. Improper breathing can disrupt your body position and create unnecessary drag.

Focus Points:

• Breathe out underwater: Slowly exhale bubbles while your face is submerged, then finish exhaling just before turning to breathe. By blowing all the air out before inhaling, you create a negative pressure in your lungs, which facilitates faster airflow when breathing in  with less effort.
• Minimal head movement: When you turn to breathe, rotate your head just enough to clear the water, keeping your body in alignment. Bilateral breathing is preferred for triathlons, but unilateral breathing drills can help refine your technique on both sides.

Drill: Unilateral Breathing Drill
Swim 4 x 100m, breathing on one side per length, then switching sides each lap. This helps balance your technique on both sides, preparing you for bilateral breathing.

3. The Catch and Pull

The catch and pull generate the forward propulsion needed for a strong swim. Focus on catching the water with a high elbow and pulling your body past your hand.

With a high elbow catch the elbow remains higher than the hand during the pull phase. This position allows the swimmer to engage more surface area of the forearm and hand to pull more water, maximizing propulsion. As the swimmer moves through the pull phase, the "power diamond" forms when the forearm, hand, and upper arm resemble a diamond shape under the water. This shape ensures the swimmer applies consistent and efficient pressure, allowing them to propel forward with greater force while reducing drag engaging more of the larger back muscles instead. The bending of the elbow also allows to reduce the moment of force on your shoulder reducing the odds of getting injured.

Visualization Exercise: Over the Barrel:
Visualize catching the water by "reaching over a barrel" with a high elbow. The high elbow creates more leverage and reduces drag during the pull.

Moving the the hand in a straight line, shoulder width apart, parallel to the body towards the hip is the most efficient way to propel yourself forward. By keeping the pull close to the body, the swimmer channels more force directly into forward motion, reducing lateral movements that can cause inefficiency. This straight-line path also allows for consistent water pressure on the forearm and hand, ensuring that each stroke pushes the maximum amount of water backward, translating into better propulsion with less energy wasted.​

Visualization Exercise: Train Tracks
Imagine swimming over train tracks parallel to your shoulders, with your hands grabbing the track and pulling yourself forward, straight along those lines. Keep your strokes narrow and efficient, focusing on straight pull-throughs.

The recovery is a very important part of the preparation of the hand entry and optimal catch. Make sure you elbow drives forward first with a loose wrist in a linear motion from hip to front entering the water shoulder width apart (10 and 2 o'clock). 

Visualization Exercise: Paint the Rails
Consider holding a brush in your hands and painting the train rails you have just grabbed on to. Your fingertips barely touching the surface of the water. Enter the water with your fingertips first where your wrist is supposed to be at full extension.

Drill: Sculling Drill
This drill helps refine your catch by building awareness of water pressure on your hands. Perform 4 x 50m, focusing on small, controlled hand movements and proper elbow positioning.

4. Kick Efficiency

Your kick should support your body’s buoyancy and help balance your stroke, while minimizing energy expenditure.

Focus Point: Maintain a small kick amplitude (20-30 cm), with stiff legs moving from the hips and relaxed ankles. This keeps your legs closer to the surface, reducing drag.

Visualization Exercise: 1-2-3 Waltzing
Use your kick as a metronome. Imagine a waltz rhythm of 1-2-3. On "1," kick one leg down while initiating your catch into the pull and push on the same side. On the opposite side, start the hand entry and forward thrust. This coordination helps you synchronize your upper and lower body movements. On 2 and 3 the initial side will move into recovery, while the opposite side will glide and prepare the catch. A complete cycle turns into a 6-beat kick, or focus only on the 1's for a 2 beat kick.


Drill: 1-2-3 Waltzing Drill
Swim 4 x 50m, focusing on timing your kick with your stroke in this 1-2-3 rhythm. This drill synchronizes your legs and arms for a more balanced stroke.

5. EXTRA: Open Water Skills

The unpredictable nature of open water swimming makes strong sighting and navigation skills essential.


Focus Point: Regularly practice sighting, lifting your head just enough to spot landmarks while maintaining your form. This skill is critical in open water races. Try to prepare your swim by evaluating which larger landmarks you will target. Don’t forget you can sight forward, sideways to shore, your position to other swimmer, angles to the sun, sometimes even based on under water sand ripple patterns.

Drill: Sighting Drill
Incorporate sighting every six strokes during a swim. Perform 4 x 100m, sighting regularly while maintaining your stroke rhythm.

Conclusion

Mastering your swim technique is about breaking down each component - body position, breathing, the catch and pull, kick efficiency, and open water skills - and then putting them back together into one cohesive movement. By focusing on these key elements and practicing targeted drills, you'll build a more efficient stroke and see faster swim times come race day.

Don’t forget: It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

• Visualization is the most effective and efficient way to train. While you are thinking about the right technique, even on dry land, the muscle memory is reinforced, allowing you to train even out of the water. The strongest visualizations coordinate multiple technical elements in a simple idea.
• Ask us for a virtual video analysis or to join the Tridot Pool School nearest to you.

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Imagine this: you’ve just completed a major race season or wrapped up a high-pressure business quarter. The temptation to stop, relax, and take an extended break is strong. After all, you’ve earned it. But what happens when you come back from that break? Stopping entirely, whether in triathlon training or business, doesn’t just mean pressing pause - it often means losing momentum. When you return, you’re starting from scratch, undoing months of progress.

Now consider the alternative: continuing your training through the off-season, not with the same intensity, but with strategic focus on speed, strength, and recovery. This approach isn’t about grinding harder; it’s about setting the foundation for a leap to the next level, both mentally and physically. Rather than falling behind, you’re preparing to move ahead - using the off-season to fine-tune skills, build resilience, and sharpen your competitive edge. In business, as in sport, this is the way forward.

Here’s how off-season training can transform not only an athlete’s performance but also the leadership of a forward-thinking executive.

1. Recovery as Rejuvenation: From Rest to Preparation

The off-season begins with recovery, where the body and mind recharge from the previous season. For triathletes, this means healing from physical fatigue, allowing muscles to repair and refocusing mentally after the demands of competition. However, recovery is not the same as stopping. It’s an essential part of the process, a time to reset and rebuild strength for the next challenge.

For executives, recovery plays a similar role. After completing a major project or fiscal year, stepping back to reassess, reflect, and re-energize is critical. Just as athletes need to restore themselves physically, leaders need to rejuvenate mentally, ensuring they are primed for the next phase of growth. This recovery then transitions into pre-season preparation, where you shift gears, focusing on building the foundation for the challenges ahead—whether that’s the next race or the next business cycle.

2. Speed and Strength: Building Toward Next Season’s Performance

TriDot’s off-season philosophy focuses not on endurance but on speed and strength. Athletes use this period to refine their explosiveness, agility, and power, knowing that a solid foundation of strength will allow them to excel when endurance training picks up later in the year. It’s about making strategic gains now to achieve faster race times and peak performance in the future.

For executives, this phase is about sharpening the tools that will give you a competitive advantage. Whether it’s enhancing team skills, streamlining processes, or investing in technology, this is the time to focus on strategic, high-impact improvements that allow your business to operate more efficiently and adapt quickly to changes. Much like athletes preparing for their next season, business leaders who focus on speed and strength now will be better prepared to capitalize on opportunities as they arise.

3. Addressing Weaknesses: Strengthening for the Long Game

The off-season is also the time to address weaknesses—those areas that might have held you back in the previous season. For triathletes, this might mean refining swim technique, improving core strength, or building greater power on the bike. TriDot’s AI insights help athletes target these areas specifically, ensuring each workout contributes to long-term progress.

In the executive world, the off-season provides a similar opportunity. Whether it’s refining internal processes, upskilling your team, or exploring innovative solutions to persistent challenges, this is your chance to eliminate inefficiencies and strengthen your organization’s core. Just as triathletes use the off-season to prepare for upcoming races, business leaders can use this time to ensure they are ready to tackle future market conditions, crises, or opportunities with renewed confidence.

4. Multi-Year Goals: A Long-Term Focus in Both Sports and Business

The most successful athletes and businesses aren’t just thinking about their next season - they’re focused on multi-year goals. Each off-season builds upon the last, with every training block designed to feed into long-term success. For triathletes, this means understanding that gains made now may not be fully realized until future seasons, where cumulative improvements lead to personal bests.

For executives, this long-term view is equally crucial. An off-season isn’t just about preparing for the next quarter or year—it’s about setting up the groundwork for sustained success. Whether that means investing in new technology, entering new markets, or developing leadership within your team, the decisions you make during quieter times will have a profound impact on your long-term business trajectory.


5. AI-Driven Insights: Maximizing Efficiency for Long-Term Performance

TriDot’s use of AI-driven insights ensures that athletes are training smarter, not harder. AI personalizes workouts, focusing on areas where athletes can make the greatest gains, and ensuring they don’t overtrain. This precision ensures every moment of training is aligned with long-term goals.

In the executive realm, leveraging AI and data analytics provides similar benefits. Leaders can use insights to streamline operations, optimize decision-making, and anticipate market changes. In both sport and business, it’s not just about the effort - it’s about strategic, data-driven action. This ensures that every investment of time and energy during the off-season contributes to achieving your long-term objectives.

Conclusion: Preparing for Long-Term Success

The off-season isn’t a time to pause—it’s a time to prepare for what’s next. Whether you’re an elite athlete or a business executive, how you use this time will shape your future success. Platforms like TriDot help triathletes focus on speed, strength, and strategic improvements, ensuring they start their next season ready to excel. For executives, this period is about recovering from previous challenges, then shifting focus to the next big opportunity.

In both triathlon and business, the off-season isn’t about slowing down; it’s about building momentum, sharpening skills, and laying the groundwork for multi-year success. By embracing the off-season as a time of growth, both athletes and executives can position themselves to leap to the next level when it matters most.


Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:
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1. Focus on your family and friends who might have been on the back burner for a few months. They are supporting you, it is time to give back.
2. The season can start very ambitious, but near the end it can become mentally taxing. Also take the time to just enjoy the workout without a plan. Go running or walking with friends or enjoy just a swim or nature bike ride for the fun of it.
3. Keep the long game in mind. With Great Endurance, we are always looking at the consistency of the journey for continuous learning and improvment. Rome wasn't build in a day, but they also did not stop for off-season. :-)

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Achieving long-term success often requires grit more than talent. While talent provides an initial advantage, grit—the combination of perseverance, passion, and sustained effort over time—is key to overcoming obstacles, pushing through adversity, and achieving greatness.

​​​Here's why grit outweighs talent in sports and entrepreneurship:

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1. Grit Overcomes Adversity: Success in challenging endeavors, like sports or business, involves setbacks and failures. Talent may provide an early edge, but grit keeps people going when times are tough. Those with grit are more likely to push through obstacles, recover from failures, and stay focused on their goals.
2. Grit Ensures Consistent Improvement: While talent might offer a head start, sustained success comes from dedication and hard work. Gritty individuals focus on constant growth and learning from mistakes, which are crucial for long-term excellence.
3. Grit Builds Resilience and Adaptability: Life is full of uncertainties, and both sports and business demand adaptability. Those with grit can handle setbacks, adapt to change, and keep striving forward, essential traits for navigating the ups and downs of any career.
4. Grit Cultivates a Growth Mindset: A growth mindset—the belief that abilities can be developed through effort—is tightly linked with grit. Those with this mindset embrace challenges and see them as opportunities to improve, which encourages continuous learning and resilience.
5. Grit Drives Passion and Purpose: Grit involves more than working hard; it’s about having a passion and sense of purpose that keeps people motivated. Those with grit are deeply committed to their goals, which helps them push through tough times and achieve success.

The Limits of Talent

While talent can provide an initial advantage, it has limitations:

• Talent Can Lead to Complacency: Relying solely on natural ability can make individuals complacent, less likely to put in the hard work needed to reach their full potential.
• Talent Without Effort Is Insufficient: In competitive fields, many have talent. What differentiates the best is often work ethic and determination. A talented person without grit is unlikely to succeed when faced with fierce competition or challenging circumstances.
• Talent Isn’t Always Transferable: Talent in one area doesn’t guarantee success in another. Grit, however, involves skills like resilience and perseverance, which are applicable across different domains.

Unlocking Executive Potential: Why Marathon Running Matters for Business Leaders

In today's corporate world, where stress and high stakes are the norms, many executives are finding that the pursuit of endurance sports, like marathon running, is a powerful strategy for enhancing both personal and professional success. Marathon running, a sport that demands discipline, resilience, and strategic planning, mirrors the qualities necessary for effective leadership and offers several benefits that extend beyond physical fitness.

Let's discover together why it is important, who are the big executive examples and how to get started yourself.

Key Reasons Why Marathon Running is Important for Executives

1. Building Physical Resilience: Marathon training requires a structured plan that gradually increases intensity and distance, enhancing cardiovascular health, strengthening muscles, and boosting overall endurance. For executives, this translates into improved energy levels and productivity, helping them handle prolonged periods of stress and workload effectively​.
2. Enhancing Mental Fortitude: Endurance sports are as much about mental resilience as they are about physical stamina. Training for a marathon requires pushing through discomfort, fatigue, and self-doubt—qualities that are equally vital in corporate leadership. Developing a mindset of perseverance and resilience through rigorous training can significantly enhance an executive's ability to make strategic decisions and inspire confidence among team members​.
3. Balancing Work and Training: Effective time management is crucial for corporate leaders who aspire to be marathon runners. By integrating training sessions into their daily schedules and treating them with the same importance as business meetings, executives can achieve work-life harmony. This balance prevents burnout and demonstrates the importance of maintaining both personal and professional commitments​.

The Benefits of Marathon Running for Executives

1. Improved Leadership Skills: Marathon running instills a discipline that is directly transferable to leadership roles. The patience and perseverance required to complete a marathon can help executives maintain a long-term vision and keep their teams motivated, even when facing challenges​.
2. Enhanced Cognitive Functions: The physical activity involved in marathon training can have a positive effect on cognitive functions, executive control processes, and overall job performance. This is especially beneficial for executives whose roles demand high levels of focus and decision-making​.
3. Greater Resilience in Adversity: Much like in a marathon, where unexpected challenges like weather changes or fatigue can occur, executives often face unforeseen obstacles in their careers. Marathon training helps develop the agility to adapt quickly and maintain resilience in the face of adversity​.
4. Inspiration for Teams: Executives who run marathons often serve as role models for their teams, demonstrating the importance of setting ambitious goals, staying disciplined, and leading by example. This can inspire employees to adopt a similar mindset in their work​.

Notable CEO Marathon Runners

Several top CEOs have embraced marathon running as a means to enhance their leadership capabilities:

• Jim Jenness (former CEO of the Kellogg Company)
• Greg Brenneman (former CEO of Burger King and Quiznos)
• Bill Perez (former CEO of Nike)
• Mark Parker (current Nike CEO)
• Steve Reinemund (former PepsiCo CEO)
• Robert Iger (CEO of the Walt Disney Company)
• John Legere (former CEO of T-Mobile)​(BLog_Masteringthe MArat…).

Top 10 Tips for Executives to Start Running Towards Marathons and Balance it with Work

As an experienced executive marathon runner, here are my top ten tips to help you get started:

1. Set Clear Goals: Define what you want to achieve with your marathon training, whether it's completing a specific race, achieving a personal best, or simply improving your fitness.
2. Create a Training Schedule: Develop a structured training plan that fits around your work commitments. Consistency is key, so make sure your plan is realistic and sustainable.
3. Start Slow: Begin with shorter runs and gradually increase your distance. This approach will help you build endurance without risking injury.
4. Prioritize Rest and Recovery: Ensure you get enough sleep and allow time for recovery between training sessions to prevent burnout and injuries.
5. Incorporate Cross-Training: Include activities like swimming, cycling, or strength training to improve overall fitness and prevent monotony in your routine.
6. Manage Your Time Effectively: Treat your training sessions as you would any important meeting. Schedule them into your calendar and stick to them.
7. Communicate Your Goals: Let your colleagues and team know about your training. This fosters a supportive environment and helps others understand your commitment.
8. Stay Flexible: Be prepared to adjust your training schedule if work demands increase unexpectedly. Flexibility is crucial to balancing both commitments effectively.
9. Stay Mentally Strong: Use techniques like visualization, mindfulness, and goal-setting to keep motivated, especially during tough training sessions or workdays.
10. Enjoy the Process: Remember that marathon running should be a fulfilling experience. Celebrate small victories along the way and enjoy the journey, not just the destination.

By integrating these strategies into your daily life, you can successfully train for a marathon while maintaining your role as an effective executive. Remember, the discipline and resilience you build through running can enhance your leadership skills and contribute to your professional growth. Lace up your shoes and start your journey today!

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN:

At first, EVERYBODY thinks running a marathon is impossible, let alone finding the time to training for it. But just like a business is not built in a day, neither is your mental and physical fortitude.

The key is to start. Create a simple structure that allows you to start moving a few days a week for 30 minutes. A simple walk can turn into a walk-run, into a run. A few days a week, turns into a 5-day training plan. Before you know it you will finish a 5km run, leading to 10km, 21km and a marathon within 6 to 12 months.

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