Cross Train to Complement Your Sport, Not Fight It

As a triathlete, I take the fall months to boost my running speed and endurance. After a long year of juggling cycling, swimming, and running, I relish the relative luxury to build myself into a stronger runner and then see how well I do in local 5k or marathon-distance events. But more than taking time off from my multi-sport training, I enjoy knowing that what I’m doing in the fall and winter is going to pay off next spring when I jump back into triathlon training full time.
My number one piece of advice when it comes to cross-training is make sure your workouts are interesting. You want to wake up each day and want to go do it. For me, trail runs with my dog do the trick. For other people though, interesting could be hiking one day, running with friends another day, mountain biking several days later, and so on.
My number two piece of advice: Cross-training doesn’t have to be about focusing on one goal like a Thanksgiving weekend turkey trot or early winter event ride in Arizona. The goal of cross training is to maintain your current level of fitness, offset some of the strain you may have put on your body throughout the summer, and give your mind a break from a rigid training calendar.
To help you decide what to do, check out the list below for a quick idea of sports that complement yours.

Running: Mountain biking, swimming, or yoga gives your joints a rest from the relentless pounding of running.
Cycling: Hiking, swimming, and skiing are good options to build up muscles that have been underutilized while you were spinning through those miles this summer.
Triathlon: In a sense, you’re already a dedicated cross trainer, but you can start mixing in trail running, mountain biking, cross country skiing and other sports to give you a mental break.
Any sport: Rock climbing, yoga, Pilates, league sports (basketball, indoor soccer, hockey, among others) and rowing are all excellent cross training activities for any and all athletes.

I do have one note of caution: Resist the urge to take your strong aerobic fitness and go out and be a superstar right off the bat. It takes time to learn new skills and time for your muscles to adapt to a new sport - sprinting after the ball at a soccer game could result in a pulled muscle and put you out of commission for weeks. Take it easy and enjoy the learning process. Done right, cross-training should be humbling and exciting all at the same time.

Abby Ruby is a Coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs. For more information on the latest in training, fitness, and nutrition go to www.trainright.com/newsletter.