They're specific, but be flexible: If you feel overtrained, back off for a few days and/or reduce your distances, and if the beginner's workout seems too much, just do each sport once per week at first. If you can't swim with a master's team or coach to learn proper technique and drills, the swim workouts below will be a good start. When weight training, focus on compound (multijoint) exercises like pull-ups and dips as opposed to isolation (single-joint) movements like biceps curls to complement your triathlon training.
| Beginner | |
| Monday | Run 10-30 minutes Weight train upper body; abs |
| Tuesday | Bike 30 minutes |
| Wednesday | Swim a 100-yard warm-up, six 50-yard intervals (30 seconds of rest between) and a 100-yard cool-down |
| Thursday | Run 10-30 minutes Weight train upper body; abs |
| Friday | Swim 500 yards continuously or in 100-yard intervals |
| Saturday | Bike 45 minutes, followed by a 10-20-minute run |
| Sunday | Off |
| Intermediate | |
| Monday | Off |
| Tuesday | Run 30-45 minutes; Weight train upper body; abs |
| Wednesday | Bike 30-60 minutes Swim a 200-yard warm-up, six 50-yard intervals (30 seconds of rest between), four 100-yard intervals (45 seconds of rest between) and a 100-yard cool-down |
| Thursday | 30-45-minute run (10-minute warm-up, four intervals of 1-3 minutes with 30-90 seconds of rest between, and the remainder a cool-down) Weight train upper body; abs |
| Friday | Swim (repeat Wednesday's workout) |
| Saturday | Bike 45-90 minutes at comfortable pace |
| Sunday | Run 45-60 minutes at comfortable pace |
| Advanced | |
| Monday | Off |
| Tuesday | Run 45-60 minutes (15-minute warm-up, 20 minutes at tempo pace, remainder cool-down) Swim 400-yard warm-up, 10 50-yard intervals (30 seconds of rest between), five 100-yard intervals (45 seconds of rest between), two 200-yard intervals (one minute of rest between), 200-yard cool-down Weight train upper body; abs |
| Wednesday | Bike 45-90 minutes (15-minute warm-up, 20-25 minutes at tempo pace, remainder cool-down) Run easy 45-60 minutes |
| Thursday | 45-60-minute run (10-minute warm-up, 4-6
intervals or hill repeats of 1-3 minutes with 30-90 seconds of rest between, remainder cool-down) Swim (repeat Tuesday's workout) |
| Friday | Bike 45-90 minutes (15-minute warm-up, two eight-minute intervals with two minutes of rest between, remainder at easy to moderate pace) Easy swim of 1,500 yards Weight train upper body; abs |
| Saturday | Bike 1.5-3 hours at comfortable pace |
| Sunday | Run 45 minutes to two hours at comfortable pace |
