Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base? (Page 2)

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2008-10-15 10:20 AM
in reply to: #1743793

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
Daremo - 2008-10-15 10:26 AM
Scout7 - 2008-10-15 8:46 AM

bryancd - 2008-10-15 7:58 AM If you are considering only aerobic base, the bike provides the only sport where you can spend prolomged duration at your aerobic level. You can't run or swim aerobicaly for 5 hours but you can bike.

Tell that to all the people doing ultramarathons.

I believe Bryan is talking day in, day out.  Even ultra runners do not train 3 - 5 hours a day continuous.  You can do that on the bike once you've built up to it.  (Assuming you have no other obligations like a job or a family).

I happen to agree with him .......

And I know people who train consistently at around 3 hours a day, broken up over two runs.  There are also people who do it in one.



2008-10-15 11:05 AM
in reply to: #1743979

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?

vortmax - 2008-10-15 11:15 AM  Those are the muscles that will increase capillary and mitochondrial density, and thus be trained to work aerobically at higher output.  Those are the muscles that are building 'aerobic base'.  When you switch to cycling, some of those muscles will be used, but there will be plenty of others who are severely undertrained in comparison.  These muscles will go anerobic before the others, and when they do, they will serve as limiters on your performance.  The crossover may make picking up the other sport easier, but there is no way you will come off a season of dedicated run training and instantly be a monster on the bike.  This is also the reason that you have a different lactate threshold (however you want to define it) for running, cycling and swimming.

Well said.

2008-10-15 12:30 PM
in reply to: #1743529

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
Scout7 - 2008-10-15 5:46 AM

bryancd - 2008-10-15 7:58 AM If you are considering only aerobic base, the bike provides the only sport where you can spend prolomged duration at your aerobic level. You can't run or swim aerobicaly for 5 hours but you can bike.

Tell that to all the people doing ultramarathons.

Wooo-hhoooo Scott Jurek can run for 2 days!!!!

2008-10-15 2:06 PM
in reply to: #1743225

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
Wow, what a bunch of great responses.  I love this forum!!!  My goal is to participate in Tri's for fun and as a means to become healthier.  I just started training a few months ago and have tried to divide my workouts fairly evenly with a bias towards cycling because it's more fun for me (read, got a new bike).  I've built up to be able to do either about 1hr run, 2+hr bike, 1500m swim during my 6/week workout sessions in zone 1/2 for the most part.  Right now I've determined that my main area for improvement in health and performance is weight loss!!!  I'm 6'2" 200lbs which puts me a good 25lbs+ overweight.  In the last few months I have not really been losing very much weight, only about 5lbs.  To be honest I have not modified my diet very much as of yet though.  I guess my post was more aimed at figuring out which discipline will best build my overall health and get the weight off.
2008-10-15 2:29 PM
in reply to: #1743225

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
It would seem to me the answer is, "the one that allows you to keep your heart rate at the for the ", as most training plans call for different levels of intesity for different periods of time the activity best suited to building "general endurance" would vary.

The question is how would you show you have the best general endurance? The only way would be to compete with someone else in a specific event, and to do that you would train for that specific event, which does not neccessarily mean that you would have the best general endurance.

For me, when I started and wanted to limp through my IM I figured I better learn to just keep going for more than 8 hours, so I biked a lot for 4 months. I can advise, that biking a lot does not help you run better if you neglect your running, and trust me I neglected my running. It may help you be cardiovascularly more prepared to run longer but I found that my feet and legs felt like they powered out long before my heart and lungs and energy level was ready to power out.

To answer the question personally and if I have to choose and I have chosen, I think running helps out the most, perhaps I feel this way because I neglected it so, but with the stress it puts on my muscles and my bones, I just feel I am getting more out of it. I can push myself harder and longer while running than biking as well, again perhaps this is just me. As such, and like others have said, this is the winter to learn to run.
2008-10-15 2:38 PM
in reply to: #1743225

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
This question is the reason triathlons (the Ironman) were formed.

2008-10-15 2:39 PM
in reply to: #1743776

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?
zomvito - 2008-10-15 10:23 AM

Honestly I don't think there is a right answer here.  I was in great shape in high school as a competitive swimmer, and I had endless energy.  All the swimming translated into great aerobic fitness which allowed me to run competitively in a 5k with almost no running at all at under 7 minute miles.  However, there comes a point where muscle fitness overcomes aerobic fitness and your muscles just can't take it.  I tried to run a 10k at the same pace and bonked at about mile 5, still finishing at about 7:45 miles, but it was hard and my legs were a bit sore after that.  11+ years later and I wish i had that aerobic fitness back, but I am working toward it.  I would say this "muscle vs aerobic" phenomenon will apply to all 3 sports, with running/cycling being more closely related, but if you exceed your muscle fitness in the sport, it won't matter what your aerobic fitness is. 

In my opinion, I think running is the best one to focus on during the winter, and my reasoning is that it is dangerous to ramp up your running when you haven't been doing it for a long time, which is unlike swimming and cycling, which are much less injury prone.  So by building a great aerobic base in running, this will translate more smoothly once you begin to hit the other sports hard come spring (or whatever), and you can ramp those up a lot faster with less risk for injury.  I would still definitely recommend, however, cross training in the pool 2-3 times a week (or something not involving your legs), which helps tremendously for recovery and still works your aerobic base while your legs take a break.  This is just my opinion.

I think this is a valid and very important point.  Ramping up the run aggressively is tough on the body and can dampen your "in-season" efforts across the other disciplines.  Having a base of 4 runs per week going into your build phase will make adapting to larger training loads less burdensome than for those who neglected the run.

2008-10-16 12:16 PM
in reply to: #1743923

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Subject: RE: Which of the 3 sports is best for building your endurance base?

Each sport requires its own specific base for muscle development etc.  There is a ton of "aerobic cross over fitness" between them.  Certainly swimming is the most different and requires its own base moreso than the other two.  Without a doubt, if I am running fit I can become cycling fit pretty quickly (a couple of weeks).  Running is a different story due to the kinds of stress the body receives.  I agree with Birkierunner regarding the "aerobically dense" nature of running.  In running you are moving more body parts and also fighting gravity with every stride, hence why you attain the higher maximum heart rate when running.  Your muscle fatigue and tightness limit how much you can run to a much greater degree.  I also agree that you can put your heart rate in an aerobic zone longer cycling and that is a great benefit. 

I can go from running fitness to cycling fitness more rapidly than the reverse and swimming is in its own class all together, in my opinion.  If I continue to train for tris, I will do the swimming/running through the deep winter and bring the cycling in in the later part of winter.

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