9 Neuromechanics of Triathletes
nataliemitchell
Sensory Feedback in Triathletes:
Triathlons demand a lot in a person’s body. Being capable to swim, bike and run requires athletes to possess both endurance capabilities and sensory feedback systems. The sensory feedback system includes proprioception and exteroception on order to prevent athletes from sustaining an injury and maintaining optimal performance. Not only do these feedback mechanisms allow the athlete to be more coordinated when training and racing but also allows athletes to be able to adapt to the different training environments they will face, their bodily sensations will be allowed to adjust and adapt more easily. By gaining an understanding of these sensory systems within the triathlon environment we will be able to prevent the overuse injuries and enhance performance (Yılmaz et al., 2024).
Proprioception feedback allows the athletes to gain a better understanding of how their body moves, and the space surrounding the athlete. This internal feedback can help the triathlete maintain better posture throughout the event, allowing the athletes fatigue to decrease. By having the athlete maintain better posture the athlete will be allowed to spend less energy on form and performance for a longer distance. An example of this in swimming would be that proprioception ensures the athlete have the correct stroke technique, expending less energy. On the bike, the athlete will be able to contract the correct muscles to perform a more efficient pedal stroke pushing more power. For the run, proprioception allows the athlete to have awareness on their stride length, and body alignment creating a more effective stride. This internal feedback is essential for a triathlete to improve their weaknesses and perform to their best.
Exteroceptive feedback is the outside cues such as visual and auditorily feedback, this is another key factor for triathletes’ performances. Triathletes rely heavily on the visual feedback, to direct them around the course fast and efficient. These athletes need to sight in the open water swimming component, steering them around the course the quickest way. In the cycling portion of the race, they are in a bunch, so they need to be able to visualize the competitors’ wheels in front of them, so they don’t hit wheels and cause a crash. As well in the bike they need to ensure their visuals when looking at their cycling computer to maintain certain speeds, power and cadence which delays fatigue (Terterov et al., 2024).
In a systematic review from (Terterov et al., 2024) they had mentioned 5 key aspects of sports performance improvement with proprioceptive training. Athletes not only have to train their physical fitness, but they must train their mind. Most of the related studies mention in the review, mentioned that they used a balance method of training, remembering to not only train their physical fitness but also their brain. Not only has proprioceptive training enhances physical performance, but it elaborates on how successful these athletes have become because of this extra training. Within triathletes exteroception can also improve overall physical and mental performance. Research has shown that cyclists tend to have incredible eye tracking behaviors. It has been investigated that cyclists train their eye to become more successful at intersections when gazing measurements of near by vehicles. This is all based on the cyclist’s cortisol activity (Rupi & Krizek, 2019).
In conclusion understanding the sensory feedback systems of proprioception, exteroceptive and gustatory are critical for triathletes to maximize their performance and reduce injury risk. By integrating these mechanisms within a triathletes training program, the triathlete will be able to optimize their performance and see the benefits that come with it.
Cortical Processing in Triathletes:
Triathlon is a high demanding sport, that involves athletes to excel not only in one sport but three sports, swimming, cycling and running. For a triathlete to be successful these athletes don’t only depend on physical endurance but also on the efficient neural processing, which is the execution on decision making, and the adaptability within a race or training. The cerebral cortex in the brain plays an important role in motor control, allowing the athlete to maintain attention while fatigued, and facilitate neuroplasticity changes to enhance their performance. By gaining this knowledge we can help triathletes become successful in a way they haven’t been before. The impact of cortical processing on triathletes, focuses on the effects of movement control, reaction time and attention, and long-term neural adaptation.
Triathlon requires athletes to have both physical endurance and cognitive agility, requiring athletes to transition between swimming, cycling, and running smooth and effectively. These movements are controlled by the cortical system including the motor cortex, sensory cortex, and the cerebellum. The motor cortex shows a key role in planning and implementing voluntary movements, ensuring that these athletes have precise coordination and control while participating in a race or training. The cerebellum perfects motor actions by incorporating sensory feedback, allowing triathletes to maintain balance and adapt to any environmental changes. However, the sensory cortex process proprioceptive input, allowing athletes to move their body freely (Aman et al., 2015). This complex network of cortical processing allows triathletes to perform at a high level by enhancing their motor execution, reducing movement errors and improving their overall athletic performance.
Attention and reaction time are critical for a triathlete’s performance, because these athletes must be able to make rapid decisions in an environment that they cannot necessarily control. For example, if an athlete is in a bike pack, and someone crashes in front of them, these athletes need to be able to make decisions on the spot to protect themselves. The prefrontal cortex and the parietal lobes allow the athletes to maintain focus, allowing triathletes to enhance their pacing strategies, and stay alert throughout training and racing. Research has shown that endurance athletes show cogitative flexibility, and faster reaction times because of the enhanced neural efficiency (Symons et al., 2023). These cognitive advantages are seen throughout a triathlon race during the transition portion of the triathlon. This is where a few seconds can make a difference to whether an athlete can make the front cycling group or not and affect the athlete’s final placing. Additionally, attention control also places a significant role for a triathlete’s success, helping the athletes to maintain focus on the training and competitions. It also enables athletes to push their physical limits while experiencing mental fatigue, ensuring they develop and optimize their skills across all three disciplines.
Neuroplasticity is the brains processes that involves adaptive structural and functional changes to the brain. Defined as the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure and functions, for triathletes this can be showed when an athlete is returning to play after an injury (Puderbaugh & Emmady, 2025). Research has shown that in elite athletes, long term training may lead to an increase in the volume of gray matter in the brain regions involved in motor control (Zhang et al., 2024) and the findings in endurance athletes were that they had a greater gray matter volume in the left superior frontal gyrus (Zhang et al., 2024). An example of this for triathletes is that in training these athletes are continuously going over the transitional movements to perfect it for race day, they are developing more efficient neural pathways, reducing fatigue and creating a movement pattern. The enables triathletes to sustain a high performance over a long period of time.
Overall, the cortical processing system is a fundamental part of a triathlete’s performance, involving movement control, attention and reaction time, and neuroplasticity. The involvement of the motor, sensory and cognitive processes allow triathletes to make decisions on precise movements and make faster decisions in the moment within training or racing. Neuroplasticity further supports the skill memorization and optimizing movement, allowing the athlete to heighten their overall athletic performance. By allowing us to understand these neural mechanisms, we can optimize and implement training strategies for triathletes and help them further develop their athletic skills.
Motor Input for Triathletes:
Motor output is critical in athletic performance but for triathletes, they demand a lot with transitioning from swimming, cycling, to running. Triathletes rely on neuromuscular control to maintain efficiency, reduce fatigue, and optimize their movements over prolonged periods of time. By gaining knowledge of motor output in triathletes we are able to gain an insight to how the nervous system adapts and how training can enhance performance by coordination, power and endurance.
In triathletes, motor output is linked to the brain’s ability to coordinate the type of effect they are wanting to perform over the course of the race or training. The brain allows the athlete to function the correct muscle groups simultaneously. Each different discipline of a triathlon requires different motor patterns and energy systems (“What Is Neuromuscular Coordination?” n.d.). Athletes must develop pathways that allow for adaptation and muscle memory. An example for triathletes is efficient stroke rate and power in the swim, cycling would be more based on the significant power output and emphasis on the lower body. The central nervous system is fine tuning these actions to ensure that they are performed correctly and efficiently leading to efficient muscle activation and energy conservation.
For a triathlete to be able to sustain high motor output, they are then able to have a high and longer lasting performance and will have exceptional resistance to fatigue through a race and training. For triathletes, not only is this involving muscular endurance but also incorporating the nervous system’s, they are having the ability to adapt motor unit behaviors, while reducing fatigue resistance and having the ability without a rapid decline (Mettler & Griffin, 2016) These changes suggest that endurance training optimizes motor unit recruitment strategies to maintain force output over extended periods (Mettler & Griffin, 2016)
Training has a huge influence on motor output, it promotes adaptations in both muscular and nervous systems. Strength and plyometric training, enhances motor unit synchronization and firing rate, which allows triathletes while in particular the run portion allows the athlete gain faster and more powerful movements (Chimera et al., 2004). Recovery and technique sessions are also an important part of a triathletes training program. Active recovery and neuromuscular stimulation are essential for maintaining optimal motor output. By allowing your muscles and body to rest the athlete is replenishing muscle glycogen storage and allowing the neuromuscular function to perform at a higher training level. Therefore, triathletes must balance training intensity with adequate recovery to support long-term motor efficiency.
Overall motor output is a significant part in a triathlete’s journey to become successful and reach their full potential. It is the foundation of the athletes training program and provides a significant impact in their quality of movement, as well as adaptability across the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. By targeting training and recovery triathletes are able to optimize their neuromuscular function at a higher rate than other athletes, because of their specific sporting demands. This is ensuring that these triathletes are able to perform at the highest level possible and doing it successfully.
Citations:
Chimera, N. J., Swanik, K. A., Swanik, C. B., & Straub, S. J. (2004). Effects of Plyometric Training on Muscle-Activation Strategies and Performance in Female Athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 39(1), 24–31.
Mettler, J. A., & Griffin, L. (2016). Muscular endurance training and motor unit firing patterns during fatigue. Experimental Brain Research, 234(1), 267–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-015-4455-x
What is Neuromuscular Coordination? (n.d.). Training 4 Endurance. Retrieved April 16, 2025, from https://training4endurance.co.uk/neuromuscular-coordination/