Iron Endurance: The Competitor Published: Friday, October 06, 2017 Transforming the human body into a swimming, cycling and running machine is a perilous quest. Tackling the unforgiving environments of the pool and the road takes a huge commitment as well as precious time. Power Plate Master Trainer Matt Gleed knows what it takes to complete this monumental task. We caught up with Matt to gain some insights into the role of whole body vibration in his endurance journey. How long does it take to prepare for an Ironman™ competition? In reality an Ironman day is the glory part! There is a lot of suffering and exasperating moments during training. The way to make it achievable and mildly enjoyable is to train for 6-9 months. The main focus will center around the bike where you will need to hit a 100-mile bike ride at least once a month. The fitness from that ride will get you prepared for the swim and run but the specific training for the speed of each cannot be overlooked. Some training days will be an hour of intense training and some will be 6-hour rides. In summary, you would ideally be on the bike three times a week, running twice a week and probably two sessions in the pool. So some days you might be training twice a day. Getting the most out of the session and recovering for the next is vital. Do you use Power Plate in your training? Absolutely. My preparation before a long ride would be about 8 minutes on the Personal Power Plate working on those muscles that link together like the glutes, quads and hamstrings. I'll also mobilize my back and hips so reduce the stiffness from being in the riding position for so long. What's involved in a typical recovery session? A post-ride Power Plate massage on the calves is the first place to start. This gives me a chance to lie down and straighten my legs while getting the tension released. Then I'll do some up dog and down dogs moving through mobility in my hips. Feeling the flexibility in my hamstrings and quads coming back is an amazing sensation. Finally, I'll massage my glutes and IT-Band to improve circulation. What is the one major benefit you feel from using Power Plate as an Ironman? The ability to get optimal performance as early as possible in my training session and to recover and get ready for the next day of training is the reason I always go to Power Plate. I will be training most days either hard or in a recovery session. Anything that keeps my body tuned into feeling better is well worth the small amount of time it takes. For a deeper look into endurance programming with vibration please feel free to contact our Master Trainer team via powerplate.com and across social media. Facebook: david_howatson Twitter: @howeyDPT Instagram: david_howatson