An Introduction…

Hello there fellow Terra Australis competitors. My name is Matt Hart and I run TORQ in the UK (a Fitness Consultancy and Performance Nutrition company). I will also be riding this event with you guys and I really can’t wait. Last year at about the same time, I competed in the ‘Yak Attack’, an 8-day stage race across the Himalayas around the Anapurna circuit in Nepal, so I have some experience of competing in events like this. At the mid section of the event, the Yak Attack hit 5,500 meters as we navigated ourselves over the highest Mountain pass in the world. Although the Terra Australis doesn’t quite take us to these altitudes, in many ways I expect it to be a harder event, because the Himalayan stages were reasonably short in distance and involved some long sections of hiking/bike carrying. The Terra Australis will continually load your cycling musculature and you’ll be working these specific muscle groups day in day out for long periods of time. It is a formidable challenge.

Over the next couple of months, I will be writing articles for this website to help you to prepare for the Terra Australis. I was an Elite Mountain biker back in the day, but I can assure you that I will be hiding nothing and will reveal to you absolutely everything I know to help you to complete this event with your dignity intact. I’m riding this Terra Australis to be part of a fantastic event and for the personal challenge. Of course I’m competitive and want to beat you all, but TORQ is more important to me than my own performance these days, so it would mean the world to me if my advice helps you to enjoy and achieve more from this event than your current expectations allow. However, before I go on to offer advice, I’ll give you a brief background to TORQ and our philosophies. I hope after reading this that you feel comfortable that you’re in safe hands:

TORQ is a Fitness Consultancy. It always has been and always will be. Our roots are firmly entrenched in both Fitness Consultancy and Mountain Biking and this we believe provides us with our unique edge and integrity. We have developed our range of performance nutrition products through a need to offer the highest standard of support to the athletes we work with. We critically analyse every product on the market and take on board their best features – and then improve upon them – every little detail - without compromise. We ask our clients which types of products they prefer to use and continually develop and perfect our range.

We have uncompromising standards, yet we also have a conscience. We absolutely refuse to use ingredients that are not derived from a NATURAL source, or don’t naturally occur within the human body. We are firmly of the opinion that artificial ingredients like sweeteners offer no performance advantage, can cause stomach discomfort and could potentially harm your health long term. We see no point in including them. Advanced compounds like D-Ribose, HMB and L-Glutamine naturally occur within the human body and represent some of the most potent supplements available on the market today, so why would we want to use anything artificial? Every ingredient we use is included to the levels recommended by available research. We do not cut corners and do not accept compromise.

TORQ in the UK is a very busy Fitness Consultancy business, so we spend a lot of time advising athletes on training and nutritional practices. This helped us hugely with the development of our Performance Product range, which is distributed by TORQ Australia by Genevieve and Dean Clark from their HQ in Melbourne. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of opportunity to sample the culinary delights that TORQ has to offer on the Terra Australis, but if you’d like to get in touch with Gen or Dean before the event to test out the product, you can do so by contacting them through their website www.torqaustralia.com.au . If you’d like to have a browse of the UK website, you’ll find it at www.torqfitness.co.uk.

So, what topics have you got to look forward to over the coming weeks? Here’s a brief summary:

Topic 1: Training for Terra Australis. In this article, we analyse the demands that will be placed upon you in this event and I’ll provide an explanation of training theory and how this should be applied to your preparation. We’ll also look at ‘Peaking’ for the big week, so that you’re firing on all cylinders when it matters. Publishing on web: Mid/Late January

Topic 2. Training nutrition. What are your dietary needs during this training phase. What should you be fuelling yourself with to help you to complete meaningful training sessions and aid post exercise recovery. This won’t just be a rant about TORQ products, it’s all about getting your entire diet going in the right direction to encourage adaptation to the training you’ll be doing. Publishing on web: Mid February

Topic 4. Psychological and technical preparation. In this article we’ll be getting your mind focused. Don’t underestimate the power of your mind. There’s nothing complicated or spooky about this topic, just logical sensible advice. On the technical side, we’ll also be looking at pedaling efficiency and bike handling techniques to get you around the course as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Publishing on web: Early March

Topic 5. Race Nutrition. The training has been done, you’re physically primed and mentally focused, so now you’ve just got to make sure that you fuel yourself properly for the event and have a recovery strategy in place. I might mention TORQ products once or twice here, but essentially we’ll be looking at your entire eating plan. Publishing on web: Mid March

If you really can’t wait for these articles to be published and are hungry for information, a number of the training concepts and nutritional strategies are covered in detail in our TORQ Performance Resource. This usually sells for $12, but we’re giving away an electronic copy FREE OF CHARGE on this website as a special gift for expressing an interest in this fantastic event. We’re proud to be associated with it.

DOWNLOAD OUR PERFORMANCE RESOURCE - Click here (pdf- 2.72MB)

Please log on to read the articles too though, because they will be specifically tailored to this event. I look forward to catching up with you at Terra Australis.

Training for Terra Australis...

Mark Fenner from FTP Training (www.ftptraining.com) has designed a 12 week Terra Australis training program which proved invaluable for many competitors in the 2009 event. Mark is a legend in cycling in Australia and anyone who has ever met him will vouch for his dedication and commitment to getting the most out of himself. Mark finished second with his riding partner Sam Bach in the inaugural Terra Australis and is a well known figure around MTB endurance events around the country. Have a read of the accompanying notes and if you have any questions get onto the forum and post your questions and Mark will be more than happy to reply.

Terra Australis 12 week Traing Program (PDF - 330Kb)

Cycling Training Log (DOC - 40Kb)

Rome Wasnt Built in a Day - The Gradual Progression (PDF - 250Kb)

The Science of Racing (PDF - 360Kb)

Download the guide to 'Training for the Terra Australis' (posted 3 February, 2009) - click here (pdf, 639KB)

Download the 'Training Nutrition' guide (posted 16 February, 2009) - click here (pdf, 227KB)