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One of our proudest Aussie sporting feats is the Ironman Triathlon Competition. Whilst watching these amazing athletes from our comfortable couches we can't but help wonder if our bodies can be taken to those limits.

These guys are after all the product of constant intensive training and have broken through various mental and physical barriers to reach where they are now.

The last thing one of our staffers broke was his coccyx after he fell trying to reach for a burrito that rolled behind the refrigerator.

So I thought we give some insight on how to train to be an iron man in the comfort of your local gym.

The typical ironman course is a 3.8km swim,  42 km run and a 180 km bike ride. This is to be done within a 17 hour time limit to have a qualifying time.

Not something we would recommend our average reader to start with of course.

What we are doing here is a compact version. Something that you can finish in your regular workout time and still hold the essence of a triathlon. Your body will still be worked out the same as triathletes, just to a lesser degree. So this workout could be you stepping stone to qualifying in a competitive triathlon event.

Routine (Intermediate Level)

• Start on the bike machine. In a scale of 1 to 10 try a 6 effort level and keep a steady pace for 20 minutes.
• Then move on to the treadmill. Again at an effort level of 6 try and keep a steady pace for 20 minutes.
• Finally dive into the pool and do another 20 minutes at a similar intensity.

This is a full hour of cardio that will give you a total body workout. The swim has been kept as the last workout simply for convenience. None of us would be too keen to run from the gym into the pool and back into the gym.

*Beginners can try 10 minute routines or a lower intensity.

Variations

If you feel that you hit a slump on the routine then your best opt is to move on to variations of your original plan.

• Replace the excercises with other cardio machines in your gym to train other muscles in your body. e.g. rowing machine, elliptical trainer, stair climber, etc.
• Decrease time and increase intensity to train for speed and power.
• Increase time and decrease intensity for endurance and stamina training.
• Add free-weight circuit training for strength training.

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