Tired body willing mind ? Strength work needed ? Yoga ?

I agree with Judi that you might just be doing too much or too intense for your overall level. It's a fine line for sure. If you don't work hard and long enough you don't get better . . . do just a little too much and soreness/illness/injuries pop up. As to the Pilates and Yoga: my wife has been after me for years to do one or both. She was convinced it would help my bad back and other issues as well. She is a Pilates instructor but she actually thought if I was just willing to try one, Yoga would be best for me. Skip ahead, I started to work on core and flexibility a couple of months ago, it was helping. Just two weeks ago I took my first Yoga class, I've now done 4 and can't believe how much better my back is already! I also think it will be great for balance, generating power on the bike etc. Right now just doing twice a week and spending about 10 min daily on my own. I plan on upping to 3 times week and maybe 20 min a day on my own . . .

Edited by MikeD1 2014-09-13 5:01 PM

I'm just starting at this too, and my first goal has been base level fitness. I've been predominately focusing on core and leg strength. No yoga and palates for me, it's been cardio kettle bell and trx classes. Between the swings, planks and squats my legs and core are getting solid. Swimming has also been improving my core strength.

I think if you want to get better at swim/bike/run, then you need to swim/bike/run. Strength training is good as an adjunct, but it may just tire you out more. You need to assess where you are physically and set realistic SBR goals.

If something actually hurts, back off until you no longer hurt. I don't know anyone who doesn't get "achy" from training, that is just part of the territory. You need to figure out the difference between being sore, and being injured. Don't train through an injury, otherwise I say keep at it.

And remember, consistency is key. Train in such a way that you can keep doing it, and don't overdo it. If you are too sore the day after a workout to even consider doing another one, you probably did too much the day before. Keep scaling back until you feel like you can do it every day, and once you can do it every day, then do it.

Just remember, it wont get easier, you'll just get faster!

Good job being aware of all of these peripheral issues.

Your first foundation should be health...only then can you "train". By Health, I am referring to all of the things you are mentioning...tired, sore back, achy knees, feeling work out, years of stress at work.

What you do..yoga, pilates, core work or tri training...are secondary to getting to the bottom of why these issues are present.

It could be you have a lot of years of unhealthy living to undo.

In generally working on overall body flexibility & toning with light aerobic activity is generally a healthy thing to do. Don't be in too much of a hurry to "become a triathlete" whatever that means to you (future IM?) just get healthy first...then layer on the next level of stress.

If you are still in that stressful work environment, making changes or improvements there will goa long way towards helping you absorb your training whatever it is