Lightweight Eats

Your coach gave you a training plan. You're following it, but you're impatient. You want to hit that PR asap, and you're motivated to do more. Where do you start?

Trophies are not won the day of the race.

Adding in a lot of extra work can really mess with the flow of a good training plan. Instead, try adding in just 10 minutes a day of extra work. Here's my suggestion:

Add in 10 minutes of:
Day 1. steady state
Day 2. stretching
Day 3. strength

Day 4. steady state
Day 5. stretching
Day 6. strength

Day 7. sleep

Here's the catch, though—you have to actually DO it. On paper, adding in ten minutes a day seems really easy, but it's much easier to add in 70 minutes once a week. The hard part is making the little bit extra a part of your habits, and that means coming back to it over and over again—even when you've stopped.

Some best practices:

Steady State
This is super easy work tacked on to the beginning or end of an existing workout. It can be 10 minutes of drills after a hard row, or an easy jog/bike after an erg workout. It's not enough to mess with the training plan, but over the course of a year, you're adding an extra 1,000 minutes of work. Think of it as setting yourself up for next year's PR.

The pace should be easy enough to take selfies and wear sweatpants.

Stretching
If you have mobility issues, this is a no-brainer. But if flexibility doesn't limit your stroke, it can be hard to remember to stretch. I find that 10 minutes of stretching right after practice or right before bed helps me sleep better, which makes all the difference in the world. I like stretches that focus on the hip area.

Strength
Here's an easy 10 minute strength session you can do: 2x1' each of body weight squats, planks, super-mans, pushups (or pull-ups, if you have a bar—assisted if necessary), rest.
If you're already lifting weights on the reg, change this to 10 minutes of easy core work: 2x1' sit-ups, bicycles, supermans, planks, rest.

Sleep
Yup. That's right. Wanna get faster? Use those ten minutes to sleep a little bit longer. In fact, if you're not feeling jazzed about steady state, stretching or strength work, feel free to sub in 10 extra minutes of sleep any day of the week. It's that important. Can't sleep well? Use this time to practice (or just lie down and relax).

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