Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

**The key to strength and stability work, as with most things, is to be consistent**

Strength & Stability for Triathletes

Why is this important? In short, because it makes you ​faster​ while also ​mitigating risk
of injury

Importance to running:

● Most knee and lower leg pain is not due simply to the act of running, but is due to
load management malpractice and muscle imbalances that hinder run technique.
In fact, research shows that running and weight bearing exercises are actually
good for tendons in the knee and bone strength (e.g. ​Horga et al. 2019​). The
reason that sounds counterintuitive is because, in practice, it is incredibly
common to get injured from running, so we tend to blame the running itself rather
than the root cause. We can mitigate the risk of injury (and, of course, also get
faster) by focusing on improving those muscle imbalances -- hence, the
importance of glute strength, core strength, and stability.
● Balance is key to running efficiently because it allows you to spend as little time
as possible with your foot on the ground. Ideally, you’d like to minimize the
energy required to stabilize your foot and get off the ground without losing speed.
The longer your foot stays on the ground, the more force you have to exert with
every stride in order to re-accelerate.

Importance to cycling:

● While moving your legs around in circles might seem straightforward, a smooth
and efficient pedal stroke actually requires conscious activation of muscle groups
other than our quads, as well as a strong and stable core. It’s all physics.
○ Rather than just smashing down as hard as you can, the force vector
applied by your foot should always be tangential to the circular path of the
pedal. Let’s dissect that:
■ Top​: push foot forward using shin, calf and hamstring to approach
the downstroke
■ Downstroke:​ the most powerful zone, engage glutes, hamstring,
quad and calf to push the pedal down
Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

■ Bottom:​ engage glutes, hamstring and calf to pull the pedal back
smoothly, the feeling is best described as ‘scraping mud off the
bottom of a shoe’
■ Upstroke:​ lift the pedal up with glutes and hamstrings to maintain
momentum, and ensure the correct leg muscles are engaged and
active as they move into the top stroke.
● Every action has an equal and opposite reaction… If your core and upper body
can’t support the power generated by your legs when cycling, then power will be
wasted as the body rocks from side to side. Ideally, we want all of our power to
be translated into forward motion. Thus, a good pedal stroke requires a strong
and stable core.

Importance to swimming:

● A strong and stable core is essential to minimize drag in the water, and to
support the propulsion provided by your arms and legs. Further, strengthening
the obliques and hip flexors enables better motor control of arms and legs,
allowing for more successful implementation of improved stroke technique (e.g.
The importance of core stability in swimming​).

For further reference: ​If you would like proof of the things I constantly nag you about
(ahem, glutes), ​this paper from the International Journal of Physical Therapy​ has some
scientifically backed info about the importance of ​glute strength​. ​ And Emily Infeld, a
very successful professional runner who has experienced many injuries, reiterates the
importance of glute strength in ​this article,​ and shares her short core/glute routine in ​this
video.
Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

Glutes & Balance

Before any run, bike, or strength training routine, neuromuscular activation ​of
your glutes will help you get the most out of the exercises. Neuromuscular activation
gets your brain to fire the muscles you want to focus on, so that the desired muscles are
actually able to engage in whatever you do next.

Glute activation:​ Stand with your legs hip width apart and slightly lift one foot off the
ground, keeping your hips square with the ground and your torso up straight. Bring your
lifted leg straight out to the side as far as you can and hold for 7 seconds. Do this 3
times, then repeat the same thing but bring your leg back at a 45 degree angle instead
of straight out to the side (again, 3 x 7 seconds). You should feel a different part of your
glute firing here. Do this on both sides.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

The above is advisable to do before any bike or run workout. Below are examples of
other exercises to build into a strength training routine. The first two are arguably the
most useful!

1. Single leg deadlifts: ​See video demo

● Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart. Raise your arms up to your
shoulder level and slightly lift your foot off of the ground. Slowly hinge forward, flexing
your abdominal muscles, and keeping your back straight. As you do this, lift your leg
(the one that was slightly off the ground) straight behind you until it is parallel to the
floor (or as far as you can maintain balance), keeping your hips square with the floor.
Make sure you are doing slow deliberate movements. You should feel your lower
leg/foot stability muscles working. ​Do Not ​just kick your foot back, you want to
control every movement so that you get the best results. Only go as far down as you
can without losing balance; it’s better to start small with correct technique than to be
wobbly. Go back to start position by activating your glute and hamstring on the
standing leg to pull yourself up slowly. That is one rep.
Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

● If you are just beginning, start with 8-10 reps on each side. Over time, incrementally
increase to 2 sets of 8-10 on each side, then 3 sets of 8-10 on each side, then 2 sets
of 15 on each side.
● Make it Easier: ​If you’re having trouble balancing, hold on to a chair or railing until
you get the hang of the motion.
● Make It Harder: ​After you can comfortably do 3 sets of 10 on each side, hold 5-10
pound weights in each hand when performing this exercise.
2. Single leg squats​: ​see video demo
● Standing on one leg, lift your other leg in front of you with your toes pointed upward.
Slowly lower down on your standing leg, keeping your chest up (i.e. don’t bend
forward, shift your hips back as you go down so your knee doesn’t go too far in front
of your toes). The most important thing is to make sure your knee stays in a straight
line; don’t let it rotate inward! As the video mentions, start shallow, then get deeper
as you get more comfortable with it. This one is hard!
● If you are just beginning, start with 8-10 on each side. Over time, incrementally
increase to 2 sets of 10 on each side, then 3 sets of 10 on each side, then 2 sets of
15 on each side. Engage your glute and push into your heel to come back up.
● Make it easier: ​Again, it’s totally okay to start by holding on to something to balance.
If that’s still a challenge, start by getting the form down by using both legs for the
squat.

3. Bridges​: ​see video demo (just 3:40 - 6:00 of the video)

● Lay on your back with your knees bent. Push your heels down and away from you
into the floor and fire your glutes to raise your torso up so there is a straight line
between your knees and shoulders, and then slowly lower back down. That’s one
rep. Try not to use your lower back, but rather your glutes, hamstrings, and lower
abs.
● Start with 10 regular, and 10 with a band (starting ~3:40 in the video and ending ~6
min). As you progress, move to 2x10 of each kind, then 20 in a row of each kind.
● To make it harder​: Same thing, but with one leg at a time! Your quads should still be
parallel to eachother, but your knee on the non-engaged leg is out straight. Make
sure your hip doesn’t drop on the side of the leg that’s raised!

4. Side lying leg raises​: ​see video demo

● Slowly raise and lower your leg repeatedly while lying on your side with your hips
stacked
● Start with 3 x 30 sec on each side, and over time, progress up to 3 x 45 sec then 3x1
min, and eventually 2-3 min straight on each side
● Additionally, this exercise is also good to do with the top leg (the leg you’re lifting)
shifted slightly back with your toes pointed down. Your hips should still be stacked.
Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

You should feel this in a different part of the glute! Can do the same time progression
as above.

5. Side stepping​ with ​band​ around ankles and above knees:​ see video demo
● Get into a half squat with legs hip width apart, keeping the same amount of
separation between your two feet as there is between your two knees. Walk
sideways, keeping your knees over your feet, which, due to the band above the
knees, requires actively resisting the urge to let your knees come together. Maintain
the half squat the whole time
● This one is fun to do around the apartment...just do it until you feel like you’re done
doing it
6. Toe yoga
○ This seems silly, but is really helpful in activating and building the stability muscles in
your feet, which
○ The example linked here shows this being done while sitting. To progress from this,
the next step is to do this while standing, bearing weight on the active foot while you
do the toe yoga.

Additional hip exercises:

● Wall sit with ball between knees
● Heel raises with ball between heels (neutral toes, not scrunched up. Work should be in
the calves)
● Wall sit with heel raises

Resource: ​SPEAR physical therapy running rehabilitation and injury prevention

Kelly Kosmo O’Neil

Head coach - UCLA Triathlon

Last updated October 2020

Abs & Arms:

● Lucy Charles demonstrates some really good swim-specific ab exercises if you’re
looking for examples: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMAAGdFbJSY​. Of course,
there are TONS of different ab things you can do. If you already have a routine, that’s
cool! But I still recommend watching the above video because it features a dog…
○ Note: at the end she demonstrates the single leg deadlift suggested above. I’d
recommend starting without the weight until you are comfortable with the form.
● Former Olympic triathlete, Barb Lindquist, gives a good overview of some swim-specific
arm mobility and strength exercises that you can do with a band:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Sw5559L6c4&feature=youtu.be
○ For the band, you can order something ​like this​, or alternatively, one could
conceivably make something out of an old bike tube, or anything stretchy.

● Plank set! ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfR4sl0ZCE

○ Holed each variation for 30s for a total of 4 mins. If that is easy for you, or once it
becomes easier if it’s not at first, continue cycling through with the goal of doing it
multiple times through eventually.
■ Standard plank
■ Pike plank
■ Side plank
■ Side plank (other side)
■ Spiderman plank
■ Up/down plank (keep pelvis stable!)
■ Side plank
■ Side plank (other side)