RIAK COACHING

- BESPOKE TRIATHLON & CYCLING PLANS - SUPERVISED & UNSUPERVISED OPTIONS - TAILORED TO YOUR NEEDS -

Life is complicated, it’s hectic and it’s exhausting…then you have to somehow fit exercise in!

Our speciality is helping people find balance between their training and the rest of life’s stressors, whilst preparing them to achieve their goals.  

We are often asked if we only support advanced level athletes.  In truth, it doesn’t matter if you are preparing for the Ironman World Champs, doing your first triathlon or simply looking to get fitter, we have have a coaching relationship for you because we thrive off working with a range of athletes.

Ironman

COACHING RELATIONSHIPS


Squad Membership is ideal for those requiring on-going coach support and have a real desire to learn. It does not matter what your current fitness or experience level is, we love working with a spectrum of athletes. Ultimately, our goal is to give you the tools to take responsibility for your own progression and learn how to train consistently, which is always the main driver for development.

THE TRAINING

All Squad Members benefit from a fully tailored plan and on-going coach supervision, with the focus being on developing them as athletes over multiple seasons.

Your coach will prescribe each of your swim, bike, run and strength sessions and work with you to ensure they are tailored to your requirements and scheduled according to how your life works in reality.  To help streamline this process and ensure you have access to your plan at all times, we manage our athletes’ training via Training Peaks, a well established online platform that can be set to auto-sync with all the major training watches and devices.

With regular coach communication in the form of a monthly catch-up video call or face-to-face meeting, further ad hoc calls when necessary and unlimited email/WhatsApp communication, our athletes are never without support.

SQUAD SESSIONS

One of the major benefits of being a Squad Member is our weekly live coached Squad Sessions. Both the squad strength & conditioning workshop and coached cycling session are performed online and are straightforward to join from home.

We see these challenging sessions as a vital opportunity to coach Squad Members and disseminate knowledge that will help take them to the next level. They’re also a fantastic opportunity for our athletes to ask questions and grab a quick chat with a coach if needed.

SQUAD TRAINING WEEKEND

At least once a year, we hold a squad training weekend in London.  The details of this training weekend are flexible according to what the squad require but for example, coached open water sessions, group training rides and squad track sessions at one of the London tracks.

EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS

Alongside the weekly squad sessions, there are some really cool benefits that come as part of the Tri Squad Membership, these include:
~ a RIAK triathlon race suit designed in collaboration with Milltag;
~ x2 online Dynamic Screenings per season to assess the athlete’s inherent strength, muscular balance and mobility before building their bespoke strength plan;
~ x4 online Full Spectrum Cycling Performance Testing sessions to set benchmarks, assess the athlete’s characteristics as a cyclist and establish how they are developing;
~ x2 Video Swim Assessments to analyse and track the athlete’s swim stroke development and fitness;
~ x3 nutrition focused seminars from our training partners and expert nutrition consultants, Total Endurance Nutrition;
~ access to exclusive training resources, such as our Audio Swims for open water training and entire library of Cycle Seminars;
~ each member also becomes part of the RIAK Fitness race team enabling them to race on our behalf in RIAK colours; and
~ invitations to all squad social events.

All of the above is available for £125pm, with 2-months’ notice should the athlete wish to roll off.

REFERAL PROGRAMME

Our Tri Squad Members benefit from a referral scheme, whereby if they introduce a friend and they sign up to Tri Squad Membership or Cycling Coaching, both will receive 25% off their coaching fee for 3-months!

We only have a very limited number of spaces left on the squad. To register your interest, please use the ‘Get In Touch’ options below, which include the option to arrange your free 15-minute coach consultation to assess your options.

Take your training and racing to the next level with a dedicated coach!  We look after a real range of riders, both in terms of experience and in terms of focus.  We have riders mixing it in top level amateur road racing, riders preparing for insane gravel competitions and even riders focusing purely on E-racing.

Regardless of their situation, all of them know the value of having a coach to help them keep the balance of their training and educate them in how to look after themselves.

There are some fantastic training platforms out there, but there are a number of things a training platform can’t help with.  For instance, they’re not great at teaching riders WHY they are doing a particular workout, what to do when things don’t go to plan and how to approach specific events.  This is where having dedicated coach support can really make the difference.

THE TRAINING

Benefit from fully tailored training plans designed to work with rather than in spite of your lifestyle and on-going coach supervision to help you manage things when they get complicated. To help streamline this process and ensure you have access to your plan at all times, we manage our athletes’ training via Training Peaks, a well established online platform that can be set to auto-sync with all the major training watches and devices.

Build towards a specific event, a full season of racing or simply focus on getting fitter.  Regardless of your goals, we always design a training plan with recovery at the centre, so you can concentrate on banking consistent high quality training volume and chip away at accruing fatigue.

Alongside a bespoke conditioning plan, all our riders also receive tailored strength & conditioning plans to help them maintain muscular balance, improve mobility and stay clear of those silly avoidable niggles.

With regular coach communication in the form of a monthly catch-up video call or face-to-face meeting, further ad hoc calls when necessary and unlimited email/WhatsApp communication, our riders are never without support.

THE SQUAD SESSIONS

Like our triathletes, our riders all benefit from weekly online Squad Sessions in the form of a squad strength & conditioning workshop and coached cycling sessions, which are very easy to join.

These weekly sessions are a great chance to reinforce good habits, teach key skills and provide context specific advice as train.  It is certainly the case that the athletes who regularly join these sessions, enjoy the most rapid progression.

EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS

There are some really cool benefits that come as part of being a RIAK coached rider, which include:

~ a RIAK cycling jersey;
~ x2 online Dynamic Screenings per season to assess the athlete’s inherent strength, muscular balance and mobility before building their bespoke strength plan;
~ x4 online Full Spectrum Cycling Performance Testing sessions to set benchmarks, assess the athlete’s characteristics as a cyclist and establish how they are developing;
~ x3 nutrition focused seminars from our training partners and expert nutrition consultants, Total Endurance Nutrition;
~ access to exclusive training resources, such as our library of training articles, Cycle Seminars and other training resources;
~ each member also becomes part of the RIAK Fitness race team enabling them to race on our behalf in RIAK colours; and
~ invitations to all squad social events.

All of the above is available for £110pm, with 2-months’ notice should the athlete wish to roll off.

REFERAL PROGRAMME

Our coached athletes benefit from a referral scheme, whereby if they introduce a friend and they sign up to Tri Squad Membership or Cycling Coaching, both will receive 25% off their coaching fee for 3-months!

To register your interest, please use the ‘Get In Touch’ options below, which include the option to arrange your free 15-minute coach consultation to assess your options.

Our Event Preparation Plans are fully tailored to the individual and incredibly flexible.  Athletes can pick and choose what they want in their plan and if desired, include various extras, such as performance testing, video swim assessments etc. at a discount to the normal price. Typically, these plans suit people who have big events coming up, such as an Ironman or a Marathon, but do not desire a full supervised coaching relationship.

An Event Preparation plan is tailored to the individual athlete and their requirements, but the major difference with the coaching relationships above is that once the planning and preparation is in place, the athlete assumes responsibility for adherence to the plan and the coach drops away.

Don’t fear though, if you require coach support at any point, you can book yourself a coach consultation for a small fee. Athletes often book such consultations when they need specific in-depth advice. For example, on race day nutrition and hydration, to prepare a race pacing strategy or to obtain advice on managing their training.

One of the few requirements we have is that the plan be for a minimum of 12-weeks, but beyond that, we will do our best to accommodate!

It really depends on the athlete’s requirements as to the cost of their plan, however, a simple 24-week plan (i.e. no added extras beyond training prescription) depending on the number of disciplines required, would likely cost the following:
– 4 disciplines (swim, bike, run & strength) £365
– 3 disciplines £310(plus £50 if includes a personalised strength plan)
– 2 disciplines £255 (plus £50 if includes a personalised strength plan)
– 1 discipline £200

To find out whether this relationship is suitable for you, why not drop us an email at [email protected] or arrange your FREE 15-minute coach consultation?

Nutrition is fuel and the flip side of the coin to high quality training, particularly if you have ancillary weight maintenance/loss goals.  For us, investing in your nutrition is just as wise an investment as investing in a bespoke coaching relationship.  That is why we have teamed up with nutrition coaching experts, Total Endurance Nutrition (TEN) to offer a seamless service that ensures you have it all covered.

With an extensive background in research and academia, the team at TEN are at the forefront of modern nutritional theory, so you can be absolutely certain the advice you are receiving is bang up-to-date.

The Nutritional Coaching ‘add-on’ to either our Tri Squad Membership or Cycling Coaching relationship is not just ensuring you have it all covered though.  The real value is in a seamless coaching experience where your nutrition coach and RIAK coach work in synchrony.  All your RIAK training sessions will be backed up by meal plans to ensure they are properly fuelled.  This synchrony goes further and extends to the manner in which you receive advice.  For example, when working with you to prepare the plan for your goal race(s), your nutrition coach and RIAK coach will brief you jointly on how to execute your fuelling and pacing plan.

TEN support includes:

· Initial dietary evaluation

· Daily nutrition plans to create good dietary habits

· Support with weight management

· Nutrition planning to meet your training demands

· Race-specific planning and preparation

· Dedicated nutritionist

· Ongoing support via WhatsApp and/or Training Peaks

This combined coaching relationship is available for £245pm when added to Tri Squad Membership and £230 when added to our Cycling Coaching relationship, with 2-months’ notice should the athlete wish to roll off.

GET IN TOUCH

RIDE WITH US


Join us for FREE every Monday evening at 6:30pm on WahooRGT for our weekly group workout.

Our partnership with WahooRGT means our weekly workouts are promoted by WahooRGT within the app itself, so simply head to the in-app event calendar and you will find our workouts on a Monday evening.

Current Series: THE RIAK FTP BUILDER SERIES

Your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is the tipping point at which your body begins to work more and more anaerobically. This 12-week series of sessions aims to delay the point at which that happens, so you can produce more power for longer before lactate starts to build.

Complete the series in full, whilst supporting these high intensity workouts with progressive sub-threshold base training and you WILL get stronger!

MEET OUR COACHES


RIAK COACH

Rich

Founder & Head Coach

Rich founded RIAK Fitness in 2017 setting up the triathlon coaching business before adding our online training service, RIAK ONLINE in 2021. Rich's speciality as a coach is looking after time poor athletes, helping them to find balance in their lives between training and the rest of life's stressors. Being an ex-city lawyer he is well versed in the challenges of progressing athletically whilst juggling a busy professional life.

As a coach, Rich is particularly strong when it comes to helping athletes improve their bike performance and also places a big emphasis on strength and conditioning in all his athletes' plans for the injury prevention and muscular balance benefits.

Qualifications: BTF Level 2 Diploma, Certified Ironman Coach, Certified Level 3 Personal Trainer

triathlon coach

Matt

Affiliate Coach

Matt has a wealth of experience in coaching athletes of all levels. His coaching philosophy is founded on the idea that a coach’s role is to accelerate the rate of improvement for each athlete, whilst enriching their experience in the sport. An engineer by training, his approach is rooted in scientific research, whilst recognising that if we aren’t having fun, we are missing the point!

As an athlete, Matt has 20 years of experience competing as a swimmer up to national standard. He races triathlon up to domestic elite level in the British Super Series and has won medals at age-group national championships, all whilst balancing training with a successful coaching business, a day job in engineering, and a busy social life.

Qualifications: BTF Level 2

Tanya

Affiliate Coach

Coming from a background in rehab and performance means Tanya has experience helping a wide range of abilities, from elite athletes to beginners. Her specialisms are in posture, hypermobility and strength and conditioning for endurance sports.

Tanya is dedicated to helping athletes achieve their goals and ensuring they enjoy the process along the way. She is an approachable coach who will work with athletes to achieve long lasting change. Tanya is primarily a run coach but in the near future will also be offering triathlon coaching `{`watch this space!`}`.

Along with many personal successes as a runner and cyclist, Tanya has experienced her own setbacks, linked to overtraining and poor biomechanics. She is now more passionate than ever to help others avoid common pitfalls and can empathise fully with the many frustrations that come from falling in and out of training.

Qualifications: England Athletics running coach, Level 3 Personal trainer and Sports Massage Therapist

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY


Previously I have been coached as part of a different triathlon training group, as well as self-coached, and have taken part in numerous triathlons; including several 70.3 races, Ironman Barcelona, and the Celtman Extreme Triathlon.

I’m taking part in Celtman again this year and wanted a more individualised and structured training programme to achieve my goals. The thing I value most about RIAK Fitness’ training is that it is tuned-in and understands what I want to achieve. The consistent structured feedback on sessions, and tailoring the training week to fit in with my lifestyle, is invaluable. Their knowledge and insight into Training Peaks (the platform they use) adds a highly professional element to their coaching, and enables it to be tweaked, depending on training volume, and fatigue. Benchmark testing helps to ensure I’m training to my current fitness levels, and allows sessions to be completed in the correct training zones. As I’m coached remotely, the individualised programmes uploaded through Training Peaks enables the sessions to be structured, and easy to follow.

Regular Skype check-ins help to ensure I’m on track, and they are always on the end of a phone/email to answer any queries I may have. Overall, I can’t recommend RIAK Fitness’ coaching and programmes highly enough. No matter what your experience, sport, or fitness level, you can only improve and enjoy your training to reach your goals, by working with RIAK Fitness.

SamSquad Member

I am very new to triathlon, coming from a running background with an unfortunate injury history. I wanted a coach to help me learn a new sport, keep injury free and maintain a positive work / training balance. I think one of the main things I have learned from Rich is that sport and competing doesn’t have to be stressful! You can still train extremely hard but have a huge amount of fun along the way.

Katie GSquad Member

Rich knows a ridiculous amount! From gruelling run sessions, bike training that makes you weep, to knowing when you've not been stretching! I've never known someone to really know how to use the gym to make such a big difference too in all triathlon disciplines!

Tom C

My training before joining RIAK was to go out and hit each ride/run hard and over time I wasn't seeing any noticeable improvements and in some cases my performance actually dropped! Rich introduced me to proper structured training and I'm very happy with my progress.

Jason KSquad Member

After completing two Ironman races on my own, I felt my training had plateaued. I wanted to start competing rather just completing, and knew to achieve that I had to take it to the next level. Enter Rich to make that happen!

OliSquad Member

You can't beat structured training. Particularly when I'm not performing as I want to or hitting the numbers I know I can, having a coach who I trust and who is setting a programme and I can speak with, reassures me that I might just be having a bad day and actually I'm making progress.

Matt BSquad Member

TRAINING RESOURCES


PARTNERS


THE ONLINE EVENTS COMPANY

The real world made virtual, epic events and challenges for discounts!

WAHOORGT

#RIDEFREE and join us for our weekly workout on the world’s most realistic indoor cycling app and our partner training platform.

SUNDRIED

Quality, eco-friendly and affordable sports apparel.

Use code 'RIAK426J' for 30% off your next purchase.

TOTAL ENDURANCE NUTRITION

Quality nutrition coaching and consultancy for all levels and types of endurance athlete.

SERRE DES ORMES

Cycling, running and hiking holidays in the heart of the Meouge Valley, Provence.

EIGHTY20 COFFEE

Premium cold brew and coffee specialists.

Use code 'RIAK15' for 15% off!