Triathlon Strength Training

Triathlon strength training, is arguably one of the most misunderstood and controversial concepts of multisport training. The funny thing is, they shouldn't be.

Where does this come from? My belief (see how I said that?...more later) is that the various experts out there while knowledgeable, sometimes want to get their point of view across so badly that they sometimes use absolutes when doing so. The problem with using these absolutes is that you sometimes lose valuable tools in the process. One expert says that one thing is the greatest, but then you hear that another expert says no, there is no reason to do that, you should do another thing, and then another expert.....confusing huh? So, what is a triathlete to do? Well this is where I hope to help clear things up.

First, as I have said before there are no absolutes. I currently work with athletes as well as personal training clients. There is no way I can do a "one size fits all" strength plan with all of them. (nor would I want to!) There are too many variables such as age, training age, previous or current injuries, current medical history etc. I do have some great plans but they have to be modified as needed depending on the athlete. So, where do you start?

The first thing to do is to match your strength training to your triathlon training. For example, to build muscle you need to break the existing muscle tissue down a bit so the body will send proteins to repair and build it back up. This is not a good thing to do when your training plan calls for high intensity work during the build phase of your training or worse yet during your peak phase when you are actually competing. You are better off doing this during the off season when you training load is (or should be) much lower and you have longer recovery times. If you have ever lifted heavy weights (heavy for you that is) and felt that stiff, sharp soreness within the 2 days following, you know that you don't want to have to try and race under that condition. While doing low weights and high repetitions can make you sore, such as when you do triathlon strength training with kettlebells for example, if done correctly you shouldn't be breaking down muscle tissue because you aren't lifting enough weight to do so. The links below will take you to descriptions and examples of what I think are appropriate techniques for triathlon strength training based upon what phase of training you are in.

Follow the links below to learn more.

Base Phase

Build Phase

Peak Phase

Off Season

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