How Triathletes Can Improve Their Performance in 2025
With the triathlon season fast approaching, now is the perfect time to focus on your foundations. Whether it’s fine-tuning your equipment, optimising your nutrition, or refining your training plan, laying the groundwork now will pay off as the intensity ramps up later.
Mastering the Swim
Swimming is the most technical discipline in triathlon, rewarding those with superior technique and efficiency. Focus on key drills in the pool, particularly those enhancing your feel for the water.
Proportionately, the swim is the shortest part of a triathlon. Many training plans emphasise frequent swim sessions, often as much or more than biking or running.
This is because swimming is highly technique-based and requires multiple sessions per week to maintain and improve your ‘feel for the water.’
Adapting to this unique medium helps you swim more efficiently, conserving energy for the bike and run. The goal is to exit the water feeling fresh and ready for the next stages, without losing valuable time.
One sure fire way to increase your efficiency in the water is to swim in a buoyant wetsuit like the Spectre, the most buoyant of our suits.
Designed to correct body position and enhance your glide, giving you a head start in T1.
Optimising the Bike
The bike is where you’ll spend the most time during a triathlon and in training, especially for distances like 70.3 or full Ironman races. One key to optimising your bike performance is the type of bike you choose. A triathlon bike is designed to keep you aerodynamic, potentially shaving significant time off your race. These bikes also help alter your riding position to engage different muscles, keeping your legs fresher for the run. For those who can’t invest in a triathlon-specific bike, adding clip-on aero bars can still improve aerodynamics and efficiency.
In training, whether indoors or outdoors, it’s crucial to develop good bike handling skills, especially as you approach race day. Events like the London T100 (Formerly The London Triathlon) have technical sections, and strong bike handling will help you navigate crowded courses and varying skill levels more effectively. Especially when using aero bars, as your brakes will be a little harder to reach.
Perfecting the Run
The run is often where you’re most at risk of injury during a triathlon, aside from accidents like bike crashes. As you approach the triathlon season and your training intensity increases, it’s vital to ensure your running shoes provide adequate support. The right shoes can significantly help prevent injuries. Many stores offer gait analysis to help you choose the most suitable pair.
Another crucial aspect of injury prevention is your running technique. Avoid heel striking, which can lead to common injuries. Instead, aim to land on the front or midfoot.
If you’re considering top-end performance carbon shoes, keep in mind that while some can handle both training and racing, it’s generally best to have a separate pair for training, focusing on stability, and use the carbon shoes closer to race day for that extra boost.
Training Periodisation
Structured training is crucial. Periodise your training into phases: base, build, peak, and ensuring you have recovery weeks.
This approach ensures balanced development, prevents burnout, and optimises performance. For a deeper dive into periodisation, check out our detailed guide here.
Nutrition Strategies
Fuelling strategies vary between training and race day. For long, slow sessions, train with lower carb intake to teach your body to burn fat efficiently. For high-intensity sessions, ensure you're well-fuelled with carbs for optimal performance. Finding the right balance is key.
However you do not want to wait until race day to try a new nutrition option. Start testing what works with you now so that its one thing ticked off the list as the training intensity and vaolume increases.
Keep these tips in mind, and you'll see significant improvements in your triathlon performance in 2025!