Workout Terms and Abbreviations
To help you understand workouts
Below are general terms that I tend to use and re-use in training. Workouts are not limited to these alone but I plan on using this as the beginning of a reference sheet to build on. If you come across terms that you don't understand or that are not listed here PLEASE ASK ME! That is what I am here for!
ATP - Annual Training Plan - this is the list of all the races you plan to do this year. Located in the "Classic" version of Training Peaks. I keep this up to date. If one of the races you plan to do is not on it...that means I am NOT planning for it so you need to look at this on a regular basis and keep me updated of changes. This drives your schedule.
HR -Heart Rate
AVG HR - Average Heart Rate either of the interval or the entire workout
SWIM RELATED
*These are just quick definitions and reminders. I will be doing videos of all of these within the next month or so and I also have longer descriptions if you have questions about any of these. For the most part I like to show you these drills but to make sure everyone has something to reference I thought we would start here.
*This is not a complete list of my terminology. I will be adding to this as the year goes on.
OS - other strokes - meaning any other stroke than free so it could be breast stroke, back stroke, or butterfly
Free - this means swim freestyle
Catch - the part of your stroke in the water
Early catch - the part of your catch starting at fingertip entry all the way to your shoulder
Recovery - this is the part of your stroke when your arm is out of the water
Pull - this means you drag your legs - NO kicking, usually you use the pull buoy between your legs for this
Head touch - tap your head during the recovery phase of the stroke before your arm enters back into the water. Good for high elbow recovery
Finger Tip Drag - dragging your fingertips across the top of the water during recovery phase but right before entry. Good for high elbow recovery and correct entry position
Fist - Simply swim with your hand in a fist. This forces you to use your forearm as part of your "paddle" and helps you to develop a stronger catch
Catch-up - Both hands touch out in front of you during your stroke. They literally "catch-up" to each other. This drill promotes good reach and the proper position to start your catch. This is my favorite drill because it tends to fix many issues at once. If you don't know how to do this correctly you need to schedule some pool time with me!
Cheating catch-up - this is the same as above except you can start your pull just before the hands catch-up in front of you. This is very close to normal swimming just with more emphasis on keeping the leading arm high in the water.
Magic Marker Drill AKA Zipper Drill - this is done during recovery. You drag the recovery arm up your body with your thumb touching your body all the way from your hip to your arm pit. Works the high elbow on recovery, flexibility, and timing as well as correct body rotation.
Swim on Side AKA Kick on Side - I tend to use these interchangeably in workouts but they mean the same thing. Roll over on your side with the lower arm straight and the arm highest in the water next to your side and KICK on your side. When you need to breathe you can push down and lift head (preferred) or take a stroke which makes this easier. Change sides normally each 25.
Switch kick - this is a more fun version of kicking on your side. You kick on your side for 6 beats and then take a stroke and switch sides.
Wide Arms - this is simply where you focus on your arm entry being shoulder width. For most people this is going to feel very very wide but that is about where it will be correct. This helps avoid over-reaching and sets you up to be in a good place to start your early catch
Do 100 "on" - when I say "on" that means you leave the wall every 2 min. So if you do your 100's in 1:45 that gives you 15 seconds rest. Normally I just specify how much rest you will have but you will see this terminology occasionally
Disclaimer on swim workouts - I have lots and lots of swim workouts that I have put together over the years and I am always adding to them and changing them and sometimes they might not add up and for that I apologize in advance! I try to fix them from year to year but somehow a few always slip in. So if you notice it doesn't add up BEFORE your workout you can gladly harass me about it, during your workout you are stuck doing as much as you have time for and can harass me later!
BIKE RELATED
(CAD) Cadence - you need to have a cadence sensor on your bike. Some coaches require a power meter, I require a cadence sensor. No matter how long you have been cycling this is a number you need to pay attention to, especially for triathlon
(SLD) Single Leg Drills - this is a drill where you unclip one leg and only pedal with the other. Ideally this is done on the trainer to begin with, once you are competent you can take this drill on the road with you.
Computer on Bike - If you are using a Garmin it needs to be mounted on your bike so you can see it. Having it on your wrist is useless to you because you can't see your cadence and HR. You can mount watches on your handlebars or aerobars with all sorts of gadgets or you can put a piece of pipe insulation on your handle bars and wrap your watch around that. Simple, easy and cheap.
Under-seat tool bag - carry 1-2 spare tires and C02 cartridges with you at all times along with tire levers and an Alan wrench. Don't know how to change your tire? Carry this stuff anyway and make some time to learn how to change your tire!
Nutrition General Rules for cycling - I am normally looking for 1 bottle of fluids per hour. I recommend being able to carry at least 3 bottles with you for training (1 water and 2 sports drink). If you can't this is something that is easy and cheap to add
RUN RELATED
*You might laugh but I get a lot of questions about what Easy, Medium and Hard mean which is why I included them below. I am sure I will add to this as the year goes but I thought many of you might find this helpful
Easy - this means SLOW, So for example if you usually average 9 min pace on your runs, then this should be at 9:30 or even 10 min pace. Your Grandma should be able to run with you! Seriously, I know this one is hard for most to master but you HAVE to learn how to run slow so that you can run fast.
Medium - this means it is a little bit of an effort, but very sustainable. If we take the example from above and your average pace is usually 9 min on your runs then this might be an 8:30 or 8:45. Just a slightly different gear.
Hard - This should make you feel like you are doing something. Usually I would think of my race pace as "hard". So if your 5K race pace is 7:30, then "hard" efforts should be around that. If you haven't raced enough to know what your 5K pace is a hard effort should make you breathe really hard and get your heart pumping. During an effort like this you are NOT chatting with your friends. This will hurt a little, that is how you know you are doing it right.
WU - warm-up, every workout has one, if it isn't written out, it is still implied
CD - cool down, every workout has one, even if it isn't stated, it is implied
Zones - this refers to HR zones, usually 1,2,3,4,5 with 1 being an easy and 5 being all out. I don't use these often in workouts, but occasionally you will see them.
Tempo - Going back to the example from above with the 5K pace being 7:30. If I am asking for "tempo" I want a harder/sustainable effort. Depending on how long or hard I will often specify what I am looking for but usually when I call for "tempo" I am looking for a little slower than your next race pace but still a pretty hard effort. So if you need a number it would be 7:45 based on our example.
Race Pace - your HR and your race pace should both be what they are when you race. Following the example above that would be a 7:30.
Race Pace + - this is FASTER than race pace, usually only 10 seconds or so but enough to make it challenging. This would be a 7:20 pace based on the above example
Race Pace MINUS 10 seconds - this is the SAME as above. Yes, sometimes I have different way of saying things. Mostly it comes from writing workouts over many years and changing the descriptions
Strides - these are sprint FORM ONLY not sprint pace. Strides promote good form, picking up knees, using your arms and keeping a still upper body. I recommend doing these on grass
Sprints - only done after a really good warm-up. This is just like a stride BUT you want to have some speed in here too.
Butt Kicks
- just a drill where your foot comes up and kicks your butt while you are running
High Knees - getting up on your toes and picking the knees up high almost like marching while running. Just a drill to practice picking up your knees and getting more on your forefoot
Skipping - yes, just like a little kid. This is a great way to work on glute strength and drive. A fun drill to add into the mix.
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