The Importance of Strength Training for Triathletes
For triathletes, effective strength training can be achieved within a mere 30 minutes, which is only 2% of your day. Endurance athletes who overlook regular strength training in their workouts may compromise their ability to generate optimal muscular force.
Spencer recommends incorporating low-weight, high-rep strength training to enhance a triathlete's musculoskeletal system, which is essential for race day. This approach improves the body's capability to sustain prolonged periods of work against resistance just above the athlete's current muscular threshold, gradually increasing the ability to produce slightly more force and reducing competition times.
It emphasises the importance of a comprehensive full-body training program, as every muscle group is engaged during a race.
The Importance of Strength Training for Triathletes
The ultimate goal for every season is to improve, regardless of your focus or discipline. That's why it's important to incorporate strength training into your structured training as it can offer the following benefits:
Injury Prevention: Consistent strength training can help to increase bone density, maintain muscle mass, and safeguard vulnerable joints from injury.
All-Around Improvement: Although your primary focus should be on your specific sport, it's valuable to be an athlete in general rather than just a runner, cyclist, or swimmer. Building strength can improve your performance in all areas of life and help you feel your best no matter what you’re doing.
Increased Power: Strength training, particularly with weights, can switch the type IIa muscle fibers, which enables you to produce more power for longer periods. This results in a higher lactate threshold, which translates to more power.
Improved Form and Body Mechanics: Strength exercises can correct any imbalances in your body and help you achieve better posture and overall alignment with continued and consistent training.
Balanced Power Delivery: Strength training can help athletes deliver more even and consistent output to the ground or pedals, improving efficiency and enhancing resistance to fatigue regardless of the activity.
Understanding Strength Training for Triathletes
It's crucial for triathletes to comprehend what strength training entails. Unfortunately, many media outlets continue to provide misinformation. Suggesting 10-12 reps as a strength training regimen is not accurate and can verge on endurance training in the weight room.
Authentic strength training is typically 5 reps or less. Occasionally, we experiment with 8 reps, but to gain maximum benefits from a weight room workout, we should aim for no less than a 7 or 8 out of 10 difficulty level.