What are your goals from the gym? It makes a huge difference whether you want to build strength overall, build specific strength for triathlon, to just improve body aesthetics or to cross train.

I’m a middle of the pack athlete but went from being unable to run 400m to 70.3 in about 3 years. Part of getting there I had to build muscle to support the strain of starting running.

I started with StrongLifts (you can also go with ‘starter strength’ which is what StrongLifts was based on). After 6 months of that my knees felt like I could really rely on them. The downside is I’ve put on weight particularly in the legs... 78-80kg but wear XL cycling shorts and medium tops.

What I notice between StrongLifts and your program is that your volume is huge... StrongLifts is 3 exercises a day 3 times a week. Squats, Benchpress, Row one day, Squats, overhead press, deadlift the next (all 5x5). It takes ~1hr to complete.

I stopped StrongLifts a while ago and started doing CrossFit - my goal changed from building leg strength to more of an overall strength and conditioning (and a bit of aesthetics of course), my ‘box’ also does Olympic weightlifting classes. This has helped even further, but you do have to be careful not to get injured by trying to complete with everyone else.

I would highly recommend the research you found on Scientific Triathlon. The website has a great podcast, too, with a handful of insightful episodes specifically about strength training.

There are quite a few pointers in those episodes that might help a tiny bit, like when to schedule lift sessions during the week, but the overwhelming and more important advice is to simply do it. Even once a week is better than none at all.

Good for you! I am doing a home/body weight circuit program from 80/20 Triathlon right now. Better than nothing, though I am excited for when gyms will open up again and I can go back to lifting heavier weight for fewer reps.