Workouts Every Triathlete Should Do

Updated OnApril 19, 2018
Written by
Carrie Barrett

Recovery Sessions

Quick Tip

Recovery sessions also help avoid injury and burnout. You want recovery sessions each week in between long and hard sessions.
Purple Patch Fitness head coach Matt Dixon says one of the biggest mistakes he sees in triathletes is the failure to go easy on the easy days. Athletes often think of recovery as a weakness or liability to their training. You see the hours that the competition appears to be logging and feel compelled to match or even beat it. Unfortunately, if your barometer of success is a simple accumulation of training hours without regard to the quality of those hours or what you do in between, danger looms. As Dixon describes in his recovery pillar of performance, "Recovery is the body's physiological process to compensate for the demands of a progressive training load. Physiological adaptation (e.g. metabolic rest and rebuilding) of the body takes time and must be structured in order to elicit the changes that will optimize athletic performance." Simply put, recovery days stimulate adaptations, set you up for success in subsequent harder sessions and ultimately allow you to train more consistently.

You want recovery sessions each week in between long and hard sessions. You also want recovery throughout the year and training cycle. There are many types of recovery modalities, including sport specific, lifestyle and qualitative. For more information on these, listen to the Purple Patch Podcast on Recovery.

Open Water/Wetsuit Practice

Quick Tip

Pool swims and group Masters swim sessions are invaluable to building technique, speed and confidence as a swimmer. These sessions shouldn't be abandoned or ignored in training.
One of the largest sources of anxiety in triathlon is the open water swim. It's not just what's lurking below the water but also the chaotic atmosphere of being surrounded by several hundred (or thousand) others who are sharing the same space in the murky waters. 

If location allows, spend time practicing your swim in an open water setting with a wetsuit. Yes, prepare to have some anxiety when you stop seeing the black lane line at the bottom of the pool. Expect to feel some stress without the comfort of knowing there is a wall 25 yards away. The fear of the unknown in open water and the constriction of a wetsuit can be paralyzing and should be rehearsed multiple times prior to race day if possible. 

Even if you don't have access to open water, you can still practice techniques in the pool. Line up with some of your friends and practice mass starts. Swim 25 yards with your eyes closed and sight three to four times each lap. Practice fast starts and even try your wetsuit in a pool for a couple of laps just to get used to the feel of what it does to your swim stroke.

If possible, practice open water swimming once a week. If you don't have access to open water, you can still practice sighting, buoy turns, mass starts, and more at least once a week in a pool with fellow triathletes.

Functional Strength Training

Functional strength training for triathletes isn't about going to the gym, grunting and pumping heavy weight for hours on end. In fact, just two sessions per week for about 30 minutes is more than enough to vastly improve your coordination, proprioception, form and biomechanics.

Another equally important component of functional strength training is to improve your mobility and flexibility. That's where the "functional" part becomes so important.


Yes, one of the goals of functional strength training is to help recruit and strengthen the sport-specific muscles you use for the various triathlon disciplines, but another equally important component of functional strength training is to improve your mobility and flexibility. That's where the "functional" part becomes so important. In doing so, you also significantly decrease your risk of injury.

For examples of exercises to perform to get the most out of your time at the gym check out this piece detailing moves beneficial for each of the three triathlon disciplines.

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