Benefits of Triathlon training for badminton?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by LenaicM, May 15, 2020.

  1. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I recently picked up triathlon as a cross training activity for badminton. I plan to train for sprint marathon or 5km running, 750 meters swimming and 20km cycling. I'm not fond of working out at home or the gym as I have no motivation and always stop after a while, so I thought triathlon would be a good cross activity to help me improve my physical abilities on court and keep a clear goal in mind which is to participate in a sprint triathlon twice a year.

    I also chose sprint triathlon as I do not want to provocate any injuries with running and 5km is enough already. On the other end swimming and cycling is rather soft on the articulation and body generally and I aim to mainly train in both discipline with just 2 running session a week of 30 minutes max, 3 swimming session and 3 cycling session. My main goal is to avoid injuries and benefit of this training for badminton. Also I don't think I should train for long endurance events (full triathlon or ironman) as it wouldn't be too beneficial for badminton.

    Who does triathlon paired with badminton here and what are your experiences on court after and before you trained for triathlon. Any noticable advantages on the physical side? Also did you get injured training for a triathlon? If so, in which discipline of the triathlon? Is it more beneficial to workout at home with badminton oriented exercises or training in the 3 sports of triathlon would do?
     
    #1 LenaicM, May 15, 2020
    Last edited: May 15, 2020
  2. speCulatius

    speCulatius Regular Member

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    Triathlon
    swim for a long time (anything above 1 minute is long), cycle for a long time, run for long time, rest for a long time

    Badminton
    rally, rest, rally, rest, rally, rest, rally, rest, ...

    ________________________________________________


    That being said, it's a good full body workout, better than sitting on the couch and drinking beer while eating fast food and snacks all day

    If you enjoy it, do it. Don't think about the benefits for Badminton. There are some, but that shouldn't be the focus... in my opinion.
     
    #2 speCulatius, May 15, 2020
    Last edited: May 15, 2020
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  3. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    It's totally different sports right.. well I hope it can still help on long tournament days for badminton where may be I could build a better endurance but yes... won't be too beneficial for badminton except for the general fitness.

    I tried to come up with other sports but I liked the challenge of triathlon and I have weak upper body and thought swimming would be very beneficial in this regard. I have a rather small sized pool in my garden and I installed an elastic resistance band to swim in it and the local pool (whenever it opens) is 1 km from my home... that weighed in my decision to pick up triathlon. Like you said I'll just focus on enjoying triathlon and I'm sure the benefits for badminton will show, somehow. :)
     
  4. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    I did triathlons. Sprint, Olympic, Half/Full Ironman. did them all. you will find that most tri training is aerobic, ie. slow and long endurance. The type of muscles required is completely different. You will lose speed in the court. There is less push off from corners.

    Maybe if you focus on sprint tri where speed and intervals are more useful than longer events you may have some benefits.

    Oh and also, badminton in the evening after a long swim session during the day... is a fun experience. jello arms. :)
     
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  5. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Impressive! How long did you train before being able to complete an ironman?

    Thanks for sharing your personal experience, I'm afraid it won't be too beneficial then but I had to find a sport that was doable now (individual sport only because of the global health crisis) and easy to pursue everywhere in the world as I will be moving off France anytime soon.

    It would still be another 4 months before stepping on court in case I'm still in France by September and like @speCulatius said it will still be better than doing nothing. I play tennis too but surprisingly I don't really enjoy it. I play with my wife for fun and it is fun but I don't see myself investing some serious training time in tennis. So sprint triathlon it will be... I will try to focus on intervals. Especially when running.
     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    For off court and individual activity that benefit badminton you should focus on strength and strength endurance. Running is still good as long as you mix it up. Do moderate distance runs (10km) at easy pace, but also in alternate days, do intervals, 400/800/1600. For intervals, accumulate to ~5km of speed intermixed with easy jog recovery or rest. ie. run 1600m, rest for a couple minute, and then do 1600m again, for 3 or 4 times (total 5-6km of actually running at speed). Similarly for 400m/800m, 12-16x 400m, or 6-8x 800m intervals. The key is to be able to sustain the same pace throughout the intervals. ie. the last interval should be the same speed as the first (it will feel much harder to keep that same speed).

    Other individual activity, core training, planks, pushup, there are tons of core training video you can follow on youtube. Jump rope. try to do double jumps, and do intervals. see if you can do 30sec double jumps without failure. then, try to keep 4x 30s, 6x 30s, and try 4x 45s, 4x 60s, 4x 90s. My older son is able to do 6x 90s double jumps. Core and rope jumping will benefit badminton a lot.

    Ironman.. it is more about training time. for someone who has a good athletic base, it will take 1-2 yrs building up and 5-6 months of intense training. at least 10hrs a week. The time commitment is a lot.
     
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  7. speCulatius

    speCulatius Regular Member

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    That's what I'm was trying to say with very little time and pointing to the obvious.


    Sticking to the sprint distance and interval training (intervals of less than 2 minutes with a rest period of half of that would be preferable) will certainly limit the loss of explosiveness, a full (rather fast) 5 km run will not ruin your training for badminton though. But I see another problem...

    That's eight sessions a week and still missing at least one, better two weight training sessions. I'm saying two, because that's where you could adapt for badminton, too and working on your stability, maximum strength and explosive strength in one session is.. let's say difficult. You can do it, but it's stupid.

    That would make 10 sessions per week. One of your goals was to prevent injuries. I would cut that down.
     
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  8. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    if your goal is sprint tri and you are young and athletic, you probably don't need to 10 sessions per week. 5-6hrs of swim/bike/run training is sufficient. and most importantly, start slow and easy. and supplement it with strength and stretching.

    and if you get the chance, keep the badminton also but it will be very difficult to have to go to the gym when the legs and arms are already jello from interval training.
     
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  9. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Thank you, that seems very much better in terms of badminton benefits... I do know doing triathlon is rather opposite to badminton in terms of muscle and effort performance. Explosive vs endurance, etc. And I do realise, even more after your posts guys, that I would greatly benefit focusing on training for badminton. Ie core training, shadows, targeted workouts, etc. In fact I have been doing that just up until 4 weeks ago, I built myself a good program only targeted to badminton off court training along the last 3 years.

    I guess it's either I do triathlon and i somehow hinder my time and performances on court or I keep focusing on a badminton off court program. But not both.
     
  10. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I'm 35. Not that young anymore. I can see I won't be able to do both. May be I can focus on swimming only with 3 sessions per week, I will see what is doable and possible. I have over estimated my abilities.
     
  11. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    it also depends on your goal for sprint triathlon. I know a lot of ppl just get by with 3 hours of training a week and it will be easy to just complete one due to the short distance. this way it will be "fun" and won't affect badminton. However, if you want to get to say, the top 5-10% of your age group, then it is a whole different story.
     
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  12. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    it is all relative. 35 is young. :)
     
  13. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    Thank for your input. I agree and realize i overestimated myself. I will reconsider. I was actually thinking of fitting some sessions the same day, like cycling and running the same morning, etc. I guess it's either badminton or triathlon. I will reconsider. Glad I brought it up on here I would have fool myself greatly in no time... :rolleyes::D
     
  14. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I was just hoping to find an activity until September to keep me sane and active with a clear goal in mind which would be participating in 2 sprint marathon a year. (I need a clear goal to achieve things) participating would be the main goal. No clear performances in sight. As long as it keeps me trained, active and driven.
     
  15. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I'm still trying to convince myself... :) But yes still some physical abilities. I can see some amazing triathlon athletes that aren't that young and they beat many youngsters. That's encouraging.
     
  16. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    yes there are some amazing recreational triathlete who are older than most of us, but I also want to point out that they didn't become that way starting at 60 yrs old but instead probably in their 30s or even earlier.
     
  17. speCulatius

    speCulatius Regular Member

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    That's not what I was trying to say... and I don't think it was what @kwun was going at.

    It's all fairly short distances (considering it's an endurance sport). Each on it's own, you could probably do it already is the goal is not to get the best times.

    With the focus on intervals for cycling and running, swimming and adding some strength training with the focus on explosive strength, and... iirc, you're already doing yoga? It's possible to improve your times for the sprint distance drastically without losing too much for badminton.
    1st day
    running short intervals, highest intensity possible, regarding badminton, shuttle runs would help
    that's high intensity, so give you the rest of the day to rest

    2nd day
    cycling; you can base the intervals on your heart rate if you know what the maximum is, 2 minutes of higher intensity, followed by 1 minute of lower intensity
    again, the intensity is quite high, allow your body to rest

    3rd day
    strength training, focus on legs and explosive strength
    maybe your can follow this up with a recovery run it a shot, technique focused swim session later that day
    maybe switch around the 2nd and 3rd day, I'm just writing from the top of my head to give you an example that might work, but necessarily the perfect training plan...

    4th day
    swimming; I'd say you can go for the full distance, not sure how that works with the resistance band, but I guess there's some equivalent
    I'm not sure how your technique in those three disciplines is, but I think it makes the biggest difference in swimming...

    5th day
    a short strength session (probably focus on explosiveness again) followed by a combination of those three disciplines, but maybe not the full distance to start with

    two days of rest

    throw in yoga whenever you want to

    Again, this is not a well thought out plan, just an idea from the top of my head to start working with. The idea is to start with high intensity when getting well rested rather than increasing the speed over the time of a period. It's based on a week, because that seems to make sense, but a ten day schedule or something similar might work too, that depends on you though. There's other options... like the more classical approach (not sure why it's seen as classical, but that's a different story) of starting slow and increasing the speed and options that base the real schedule on your body's condition on that particular day. That's where it gets complicated though...

    I see like I wrote most of this under the assumption that you can track your heart rate at least... make sure you can do that! A cheap Fitnessband would be only 20 or 30 € if you don't want to spend much money, you safe that by not using any shuttles with a week or so.

    I hope this shows that I do see options to do both, this and badminton... but if you consider other sports, that might work as well.
     
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  18. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    I know it's not what you guys said but 2 major points clearly surfaced from these discussions: 1) triathlon is not compatible with badminton (that's not to say there aren't some benefits but seems like there is more cons and another sport would work better paired with badminton) and 2) triathlon (3 sports) + badminton will increase the risk of injuries like you pointed it out. Also I won't perform at 100% during the badminton sessions since I will be burnt with the triathlon training.

    I have been doing badminton (×3/4 per week) with yoga (almost every night) and targeted injury prevention workout at home 2 times a week. It worked because desptite playin 3 to 4 times a week for 3 hours and the occasional tournament every month, I progressed a great deal and never really injured myself.

    Well this is the kind of program that would be great! I need some more time to reconsider and think what my body can do. It does look doable but I still believe I overstimated what I can do in any given week. I think my mistake is that I considered triathlon within the current context (no badminton) so it felt doable but clearly when badminton is playable again... how will I fit all those triathlon sessions without being too tired and not risking injuries for badminton. Badminton would become the secondary sport I'm afraid. At the moment I'm thinking of keeping one sport of the triathlon only such as swimming. But I need to research the benefits of it and how could I apply it in favour of badminton. Anyhow, great discussion that helps me move forward smartly!:)
     
  19. LenaicM

    LenaicM Regular Member

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    A ten day program is very interesting! We always base our program on a week or 7 days for whatever reason but I really like that idea of using a 10 day schedule and that does seem to change how I could incorporate another sport with badminton! I have to read your posts again guys, all your ideas and suggested programs need to be studied a bit then I can make a decision to see what I can do. Thanks!
     
  20. speCulatius

    speCulatius Regular Member

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    it's the schedule we have anyways... easier to fit in with the regular life.

    By the time you'll get back on court, you'll be more used to the load from your training and you can already think about how to cut it down in that case... under the assumption that you won't be trying to only improve your throat
    triathlon times.
     

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