The following outlines how to learn more about what stage of athlete development you are at and help you get the most out of your training with LE. Training under a coach suited to your skill level and with a group of like minded athletes pursuing similar goals will ensure a positive experience and reduce risk of injury. Individuals can always move to programs better suited to their needs when they see fit or have developed the required skills.
It is important to be as honest as you can when estimating your needs so you can maximize your positive experience at LE.
LE has three main categories of programs:
- Beginners: newer participants
- Seasonal: more experienced participants
- Yearly: most experienced participants
LE Beginners: Active Start
- I am new to sports and physical activity
- Physical activity is essential for my health and development
- I enjoy being active
- Physical literacy gains are important for my satisfaction
- I want to learn how to be part of an organized sport program
- I want to build strong bones and muscles, improve flexibility, develops good posture, improve fitness, promote a health body weight, reduces stress and improve sleep
This program:
- Offers a safe and challenging environment is the best way to keep participants physically active.
- Introduces participants who are new to sport and triathlon to the LE program structure
- Introduces participants to building a healthy coach-athlete relationship
- Lays the foundation for future development in all three sports by introducing basic skills and drills
- Instructs participants about proper sizing of triathlon equipment- bike fitting, helmet, shoes, goggles and basic maintenance of the equipment (including changing a flat tire!)
- Teaches about suitable clothing and sizing
- Presents opportunities to develop coordination, social skills, gross motor skills, emotional development, leadership and imagination.
- Helps participants build confidence and develop positive self-esteem
- Presents physical activity as a fun part of daily life
- Helps you acquire habits for a lifestyle of activity
LE Beginners: Intro
- I am new to some of the sports in triathlon and have limited experience with sports in general
- Formal competition is not important to me at this time
- I want activities and programs with a focus on fun
- I want quality instruction from knowledgeable leaders/coaches
This program:
- Achieves skill development through a combination of structured and unstructured activities in a safe and challenging environment
- Is a critical stage for the development of a physically active lifestyle
- Establishes and develops the importance of FUNdamental movement and build overall motor skills
- Improves coordination and balance.
- Offers variety of well-structured activities that develop basic skills
- Builds the foundations for many advanced skills
- Offers well-structured, positive and FUN training concentrating on developing Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed, plus the rhythmic aspects of physical activities
- Encourages participants to take part in a wide range of sports- land based, water based and ice/snow based activities at different times of the year
- Focuses on mastering fundamental movement skills before sport specific skills are introduced
- Develops strength, endurance and flexibility through fun activities rather than a training regimen
- Creates opportunities to “read” the movements going on around the participant and make sound decisions in sport specific situations
- Introduces the simple rules and ethics of sport
- Introduces basic tactics and decision
- Helps participants ensure their equipment is the right size, fits well and optimizes safety
- Integrates physical literacy activities where necessary
- Encourage participants to engage in unstructured physical activity every day, regardless of the weather
- Try as many different activities as possible
- Is not concerned with results
- Is focused on learning and having fun, rather than on doing whatever it takes to win
- Is focused on developing all-round athletes rather than specialists
LE Seasonal: Active for Life
- I have experience with sports in general but am new to some of the sports in triathlon
- I am new to triathlon but am familiar with all three sports
- I have been a competitive athlete in another sport
- Formal competition is not important to me at this time
- I enjoy the active triathlon lifestyle without the pressure of high performance competition
- I want structured activities and programs that are enjoyable
- I want quality instruction from knowledgeable leaders/coaches
- I enjoy the triathlon lifestyle without necessarily competing
This program:
- Accepts athletes can of any age
- Achieves skill development through a combination of structured and unstructured activities in a safe and challenging environment
- Is the cornerstone of a physically active lifestyle
- Maintains or improves coordination and balance.
- Offers variety of well-structured activities that develop skills
- Builds the foundations for many advanced skills
- Offers a well-structured, positive and FUN training environment for developing Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed, plus the rhythmic aspects of physical activities
- Encourages participants to take part in a wide range of sports- land based, water based and ice/snow based activities at different times of the year
- Focuses on mastering or maintaining fundamental movement skills before sport specific skills are introduced
- Develops strength, endurance and flexibility through a variety of methods
- Creates opportunities to “read” the movements going on around the participant and make sound decisions in sport specific situations
- Introduces the simple rules and ethics of sport
- Introduces basic tactics and decision
- Helps participants ensure their equipment is the right size, fits well and optimizes safety
- Integrates physical literacy activities where necessary
- Is not concerned with results
LE Seasonal or Yearly: Learn to Train
- I love to compete
- I train 10-12 months of the year
- I enjoy learning about training and my sport
- I budget some time and money to my sport
- I train 12+ hours a week on average
- I have a LE coach designing my program or plan my own training
- I get technical coaching in most sports
- Triathlon is a one focus in my life
- I get satisfaction from training for sport
- Triathlon is part of my identity
- I am committed to pursuing excellence
- I still need to focus more time on skill training and physical development over competition
- I need to begin training according to more formalized methods
This program:
- Teaches overall sport skills suitable to a number of activities
- Encourages you to enjoy practicing skills and seeing improvement.
- Encourages participating in at least 2-3 of the triathlon specific sports
- Encourages learning to compete- not winning
- Teaches the behaviour habits of athletes
- Teaches about nutrition and injury management
- Teaches basic sport psychology skills such as time management, positive thinking, communication, etc.
- Is an important place to develop flexibility and mobility
- Develops endurance
- Develops and refines all fundamental movement skills while learning overall sport skills.
- Encourages participants to develop clear ideas about the sports they like and in which they feel they have success
- Encourages participants to engage in unstructured physical activity every day, regardless of the weather
- Encourages participants to try different versions of the basic triathlon sports (i.e. master’s swimming, non-freestyle strokes, mountain biking or cyclocross, track and xc running, etc.)
- Encourage participants to take every opportunity to cross-train using different sports.
- Tries to have participants take part in some land based, some water based and some snow/ice based activities.
- Keeps participants working on flexibility, speed, endurance and strength using your own body weight, Swiss balls or medicine balls
- Keep sport and physical activity FUN
LE Yearly: Train to Train
- I have a Triathlon BC Elite card or ITU International Elite card or a WTC IM / 70.3 Pro athletes
- I compete for the podium overall at regional events or win my age group at Nationals or Worlds
- I compete in the elite/pro category at national level events
- I train year round
- I am a student of the sport and enjoy learning about training
- I budget the required time and money to my sport
- I train 16+ hours a week on average
- I have a certified LE triathlon coach designing my program
- I get technical coaching in each sport
- Triathlon is a major focus in my life
- I get great satisfaction from racing and training for sport
- Triathlon is very important in my identity
- I am committed to pursuing excellence
- I still need to focus more time on skill training and physical development over competition
This program:
- Makes aerobic training a priority while maintaining or further developing levels of skill, speed, strength, and flexibility ready to consolidate their basic sport-specific skills and tactics Emphasize flexibility training given the rapid growth of bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
- Teaches the behaviour habits of performance athletes
- Teaches about optimal nutrition, recovery and injury management
- Teaches preparation sport psychology skills such as visualization, positive self-talk, coping strategies, etc.
- Observes an optimal training-to-competition ratio
- Facilitates the participants’ learning of how to cope with the physical and mental challenges of competition
- Encourages the use of specialized equipment for competition (i.e. high end wetsuits, racing flats, aero helmets, race wheels, etc.)
- Balances frequency and volume of competition between loss of training time and need for developing technical, tactical and decision-making skills.
- Allows athletes to focus on two sports- triathlon and an off season / base building sport complementary to triathlon (i.e. xc skiing, speed skating, snowshoeing, running, biking, swimming, etc.)
- Utilizes more advanced periodization concepts
- Presents a daily training environment with competitive situations in the form of competitive workouts and drills.
LE Yearly+: Train to Compete
- I have an ITU International Elite / World Cup card or a WTC IM / 70.3 Pro card
- I compete for the podium overall in national level events
- I train year round
- I am an advanced student of the sport and pursue learning about training and improving my overall performance in competition
- I prioritize budgeting the required time and money to my sport
- I train 20+ hours a week on average
- I have a professional and certified coach helping me design my program
- I have some sport science support
- I have some sport medicine support
- I get technical coaching in each sport
- Triathlon is the major focus in my life
- I get great satisfaction from racing, winning and training for sport
- Triathlon is integral to my identity
- I am committed to pursuing excellence
This program:
- National Team Program
- For fully committed athlete
- LE supported through individualized coaching
- Allows athletes to specialize in competitive triathlon at a national and entry level international level
- Provide year-round individualized sport specific training
- Focuses on high volume and high intensity training
- Individually tailors fitness programs, recovery programs, psychological preparation, and technical development.
- Emphasis on individual preparation addressing individual strengths and weaknesses.
- Teaches athletes to perform sport specific skills under a variety of competitive conditions during training.
- Teaches the behaviour habits of high performance athletes
- Teaches about optimal nutrition, recovery and injury prevention
- Teaches performance sport psychology skills
- Place special emphasis on optimum preparation by ‘modelling’ high pressure competition environments in training.
- Triathlon sports are the only ones you train and compete in
- Utilize advanced periodization concepts
- Quadrennial preparation may be important
- Supports more competition and competition-specific training over the development of general fitness, technical and tactical skills
LE Yearly++: Compete to Win
- I have an ITU World Cup card or a WTC IM / 70.3 Pro card
- I have reached the podium overall in ITU World Cup or WTC events
- I train year round
- I am a student of the sport and world leader in training and competition innovations
- I train 25+ hours a week on average
- I have a professional and certified coach helping me design my program
- I have a sport science support team
- I have a sport medicine support team
- I get technical coaching in each sport
- Triathlon is my life
- I get great satisfaction from racing and winning
- Triathlon is my identity
- I am committed to pursuing excellence
- I demand excellence from those around me
This program:
- National Team Program
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