Endurance Athletes, especially Ironman, should have one main objective during a triathlon: that is to maximize wattage (power) and speed (velocity) while minimizing muscular fatigue and depletion of energy stores. This is where triathlon becomes a science. To achieve this goal is huge. For this article we will call it the, “triathletes holy Grail” or THG.
All particulars aside, the athlete who achieves THG the most efficiently will be the first to cross the finish line. The athlete who only achieves the first part of this goal, maximizing wattage and speed, will accomplish a big ol’ DNF (did not finish), while the athlete who only achieves the second part of this goal, minimizing fatigue and energy store depletion, will accomplish a FLFL (cross the finish line with a flashlight).
Applying a combination of the science of triathlon – basic biomechanics and exercise physiology – to the three legs of the triathlon (swim/bike/run), an athlete can accomplish the holy grail with optimum efficiency.
This article out line the basic bio mechanics involved with swimming, cycling and running that will make you faster and more efficient. The Next article will teach you about the biological side of triathlon in regards to the body’s energy systems and muscle to gain peak performance.
Firstly, we need to go over the relationship between leavers and torque.
The human body is a made up of may leavers (bones) that are attached to different rotational points such as the elbow, knee and hip. Imagine you are grasping your running shoe in your hand, while your arm is stretched away from your body and your elbow has zero bend. in this case the shoulder becomes the center of rotation. The lever is the the length of the arm between the shoulder and hand, the force is the weight of the shoe.
We can say that the weight, or the force, of the shoe that you are holding away from your body is producing a torque at the shoulder. The torque in the shoulder is found by multiplying the length of the lever (the arm) and the force (the shoe’s weight). Therefore, we can decrease torque in the shoulder by either decreasing the weight of the shoe or decreasing the distance of the lever arm (amputation is never an option in physics problems). For example, if you shoe weights 1lb and your arm is 3ft long, the shoe is producing a torque at the shoulder of 3 foot lb’s. But if you bend your arm, so that it is 2ft long, the shoe only produces 2 foot lb’s of torque. Or if you lighten your shoe to 1/2 lb but keep the arm at 3 feet, the shoe produced 1.5 foot lb’s of torque.
Where some get confused is at the that arm length is not determined by distance of the lever but by the distance of the point of force application from the center of rotation.
Therefore, torque in the shoulder can be decreased simply by dropping the arm down a few inches, or, as in the example above, bending the arm. When the arm is shorter, you can drop a straight line down from the shoulder, and then another straight line over to the new location of the shoe. The second straight line would be the new lever arm. So you can pretty much bring torque down to nothing at all by simply dropping the arm holding your shoe all the way down to your side. With your arm at your side holding the shoe, there is no rotational torque on your shoulder at all, just the weight of the shoe pulling straight down on the shoulder (and that’s not rotational torque, just a downward force).
Lets assume the arm is straight at the side holding the shoe, and the shoe is causing down ward torque on the shoulder. There is another source of torque: the torque in the other direction needed to keep the arm up. As you can see this torque is made by the muscle its self, in this case it would be the rotator cuff and deltoid muscles. By contracting and shortening they produce torque at the shoulder joint goes against the down ward force of the shoe.
Why is this important to triathletes and the science of triathlon? Here is why, the amount of torque at a joint determines how much force the muscles must make to resist that torque. Minimizing torque in one direction a triathlete can minimize fatigue, by maximizing torque production in the other direction a triathlete can maximize power and velocity. As you can see this will maximize speed and wattage making you go faster.
The next article will display to you how you can use the concept of science in triathlon detailed above to minimize “bad” torque and max out “good” torque to make you a faster athlete with less injuries.
Want to know more about the Science of Triathlon? Then go to Rock Star traithlete academy a sign up to get you free tips loaded with science to make you a better triathlete.
