Alistair: We’re generally out on the bikes, running and swimming six days out of seven. We’re very lucky as, living in Yorkshire, we can train mostly outside in stunning surroundings and have a huge amount of choice about where we can run and ride. Variation’s important so that it keeps training interesting. My training coming into this season was disrupted a lot by my achilles tear. I had to rest up in a cast for several weeks and so, during that time, I decided to try and dig a massive hole in our back garden and we installed a small pool so that I could put in an underwater treadmill. That meant I was able to do running training underwater, otherwise I would have missed out on even more training during my recovery. I’m convinced that was key in helping me prepare in time for London 2012.
Jonathan: We’re also very lucky that we get to train together. It’s great to be able to motivate each other and push each other and I’m sure that’s had a huge impact on our race results. In a standard week, we’ll do an easier run on the Monday morning, then weights, an hour or so swim and then a few hours on the bikes in the evening. Tuesday we’ll do a hard swim session starting early morning, then a spin session on bikes and then a track session at night. Then Wednesday to Saturday we’ll pretty much swim and cycle every day and then add in running sessions. Some sessions are harder than others depending on the programme. Then, on Sunday, we don’t take a full day off – we try and do a long ride and run.
Alistair: Your heart has to be in it. If you’re really struggling to motivate yourself then maybe it’s not your sport. We love what we do and we love training which obviously makes a big difference. It’s important to keep your training varied and also to set yourself targets. If you can visibly see yourself reaching your aim, and you can see your own steady progress, that can be huge motivation in pushing yourself to work harder and get better results. It can also really help to train with other people. We spend most of our time training together which definitely helps but we also train in larger groups sometimes and we have a group of friends who are also athletes so we cycle with them a lot.
Alistair: The best way to build your stamina and endurance is to train consistently. No matter how little you can manage, the most important thing is to exercise regularly. If you can manage to train 3 times a week, every week, your stamina will increase very quickly.
Jonathan: I agree with Alistair. If you scale down our training it boils down to consistency. Doing the same key sessions, at the same times every week. Obviously you don't have to be as strict as us, but that is certainly what gives us the edge.
Whilst Jonathan was hampered by a daft 15 minute penalty that cost him the chance to square off against his older brother, Alistair destroyed the competition. In fact, his 10 km time (in which he spent the last 30 seconds draped in a Union Jack and essentially jogging) was just 1 minute and 23 seconds slower than Mo Farrah's gold-winning run over the same distance, whilst he would have won the women's 10 km race with his time. And remember, this is after the swim and cycling elements.
Naturally, we swam, cycled, ran and jumped (well, got the Underground...) to have the chance to sit down with the BT Ambassadors after their London heroics. Start clicking through our gallery, as the brothers exclusively reveal their fitness secrets to AskMen...
We caught up with BT Ambassadors Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee from BT House at BT London Live
Jonathan: It’s definitely a good time for triathlon and the sport continues to grow and gain more interest. It was incredible to see how many people turned out to watch the Olympic triathlon in Hyde Park. We heard it was around 200,000 to 300,000 people and the noise was deafening – when Al and I were trying to talk to each other as we raced we were literally having to shout as loud as we could above all the noise. At times, the crowds were fifty people deep.
Alistair: I think triathlon continues to become more accessible to people and i hope that more people take it up. London 2012 has been a great advert for the sport and we speak to people all the time who say they’re entering their first triathlon and are looking for tips. There seem to be more and more triathlon events appearing and so it seems to be going from strength to strength
Jonny: It’s hard to say. We’ve met Daley Thompson a number of times as we’re all BT Ambassadors. He’s a very interesting guy and what he achieved in decathlon was incredible, to be unbeaten for such a long time and to compete so strongly across so many disciplines.
Alistair: From this Games, I think Mo Farah is incredible. To win two golds in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres against such strong fields is amazing and he seems like someone who has put in an exceptional amount of hard work and made a lot of sacrifices to get to that point. I also admire Bradley Wiggins. After winning the tour, working tirelessly for Cav in the road race, then coming back to smash the time trial takes real class.
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