Are you confused about strength training for your endurance sport?

Do you strength train?

Why or why not?

How often?

Do you lift heavy or light weights?

Do you lift 12 months a year?

Are you confused about how frequently, how long and how intensely you should strength train?

Strength training is a positive element for triathletes to implement. The question is, what type of strength work is going to maximize triathlon fitness? From P90x to Crossfit to Yoga and Pilates to "functional" strength, we can get a bit confused about what specific program can best fit the needs of our sport.

We all want to be productive with our training to become more efficient, gain more endurance and strength, and ultimately become faster. I often hear athletes ask if strength training will maximize their performance. The phase “maximize performance” may mean something different to you than it means to me. I ask “what does it mean to you to maximize your performance? What performance do you want to maximize or improve?”

Studies regarding Strength Training vs Performance

I did some research on the topic to help clarify my thoughts. Below is some research done by Justin Levine, Joe Friel and Gale Bernhardt, three notable endurance coaches. They share my philosophies on strength training to enhance performance.

Justin Levine, justintrain.com, discusses how muscular strength starts with improving your soft tissue. “As a triathlete we put stress and impact on our body during training. Our muscles become tight and inflamed and it can limit our performance and increase our chances of injury. You will limit your triathlon performance if you do not improve our muscle tissue quality first.”

“With soft tissue and flexibility issues, strength gains will be limited if we don't solve the tissue problems first," says Lee Burton, president of The Functional Movement Systems. He published his article here

Triathletes should complete self-myofascial release using a foam rolle, massage stick or base ball to keep their structural integrity intact."Massaging overactive soft tissue will reduce any inflammation in your muscles and fascial system, or the sheath that surrounds your muscles" says Taylor. 

Spend 5 to 10 minutes before your workout, then 5 to 10 minutes after executing some soft tissue work using a foam roll, massage stick or a baseball as be part of your strength program. Click here to learn more about how to use a foam roller

As a triathlete we put stress and impact on our body during training. Our muscles become tight and inflamed and it can limit our performance and increase our chances of injury. You will limit your triathlon performance if you do not improve our muscle tissue quality first.
 
Quality Over Quantity

Gale Bernhardt outlines some studies that have been done to measure strength training and performance gains in male and female athletes. Studies on weight training and triathletes are few. One study used fifteen triathletes to determine what effect heavy weight training, in conjunction with endurance training, had on performance.Read results here .

Joe Friel states that when it comes to the strength training for performance, “both sides will toss out research and personal experience as evidence that is does or does not do the endurance athlete any good.” He tends to feel that strength training is beneficial, and I agree. Read more on Joe's studies here:

Despite personal experience or research regarding strength training to enhance performance, I will support the benefits of strength training that I outlined below. These basic benefits for me are reason enough to strength train. An increase in muscle mass and metabolism means a lower body fat percentage, gives me confidence and mental strength and enhances my performance.

Benefits of Strength Training

1. Your metabolism will increase

As we age, we naturally lose muscle mass. This causes our metabolism to slow, which means you could start building a spare tire by the time you reach your 30s. “When you do weight-bearing exercises, you start revving up your metabolism — and it keeps burning for many hours after your workout,” says Wayne Westcott, PhD, director of fitness research at Quincy College and Prevention advisory board member.

 

2. You’ll burn fat.

Muscle tissue is more "active" than fat tissue, with each pound burning about 30 calories a day just to sustain itself. So even if you’re just sitting on the couch or are stuck at your desk for eight hours a day, the extra muscle mass you develop will burn more calories

3. Your body will get tighter.

While cardio is important and will help melt fat, resistance training will help sculpt your body, creating muscle mass and definition.

4. You’ll fit into your skinny jeans.

“One pound of fat takes up much more space than one pound of muscle,” says CrossFit athlete and certified level-1 trainer Cheryl Brost, a 41-year-old mother of two. “So even though muscle weighs more, what do you want all over your body? Something that’s bulky, like body fat, or something that’s lean, and takes up less space, like muscle?”

5. You’ll reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes.

 "Muscle helps remove glucose and triglycerides from the bloodstream, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as hardening of the arteries," says Timothy Church, MD, PhD, a preventive medicine expert at Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

6. Your blood pressure could drop.

"Strength training lowers blood pressure for ten to twelve hours after each session, which gives your heart a break," says William Haskell, PhD, professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University. "How strength training does this is not completely understood, but it probably has subtle effects on everything from hormones to nervous system regulation."

7. You can do it anytime, anywhere.

You don’t need a lot of space or a lot of special equipment to get a great strength workout. Simply using your own body weight to do pushups, planks, chair dips, squats, and pull-ups is enough to tone and strengthen your entire body.

8. You’ll blast loads of calories.

Plyometric strength moves (think squat jumps and burpees) and kettlebell workouts spike your heart rate, which boosts the calorie burn of regular strength training routines.  In addition to these types of movements, systems like P90X and Insanity give you cardio, strength, and sculpting all in one, which is a great timesaver.

9. It’s good for your bones.

Strength training builds your bones. “Lifting weights can help counteract age-related bone loss,” says Ethel Siris, MD, director of the Toni Stabile Center for Osteoporosis at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. “Strengthening your muscles also improves balance and keeps you as strong as possible, which lowers your chances of a fall-related fracture.

Whether you join a gym, purchase a home-based fitness DVD, or just do your own modified body weight exercise, the benefits of strength training for health and fitness are clear, increase in muscle mass increases your metabolism so you expend more calories for a leaner body and stronger athlete. 

Who needs the gym? Click here and here to learn more about body weight exercises.

New to the Gym? Click here, about equipment 101

Free weights or machines? Learn more here