clairec2007 wrote:
Push wrote:
Tough to answer without more info.
What is your strength like now? Your body composition? Any muscle imbalances? Weaknesses? Injuries?
I don't really know how strong I am now. I can do 3.7 w/kg for 30 mins on the bike. I have 20% body fat. My right side is stronger than my left. No injuries other than tight hips--I'm getting ready for a December marathon now. In your strength sessions, how many reps are you doing? How many sets? What do you feel like at the end?
I normally do 1 rep of 15 with the weight stuff. About 5 sets of 10 pushups. Core can be all different. I look up core routines on youtube a lot. I don't feel that fatigued when I'm done. However, I do noticed that if I do strength in the afternoon then swim the next morning, my arms can be a little tired. What does your current SBR training program consist of, not only the time but the quality (intensity) of the sessions? What are your goals? What is your exercise background?
My ultimate goal is to KQ. I did the 70.3 WC in September. When I was gearing up for my A race in September I was doing about 13-15 hours total. 2 hours swim, 6 hours bike, 4.5 run, 1:30 strength and core. Here's a sample week: Monday: EZ swim, strength Tuesday: Run hill repeats Wed: 1 hour swim with a 900 TT, 7 mile hill run Thurs: 1.5 hour hilly bike Fri: 1650 straight swim Sat: hard swim, strength Sun: 2:30 bike with some surges, 1:00 brick run with a lot of hills I'm not trying to be a PITA--promise:)
Not a PITA at all! I appreciate the help! I'm just wondering if I could have ran or swam more during the strength. I mean, would I get more out of an addtional 1.5 hours of relaxed running with some core and maybe some pushups throw in there? Or, should I keep doing the strength training?
Well, that looks like a pretty rigorous schedule. Your runs all have a hills component and hills are considered "strength" and quality days. I don't see any easy running in there. It is possible that your run might improve and you could potentially reduce your risk of injury just by having some additional easy mileage. That being said, I wouldn't add another easy swim. You're swimming 4x/week now, and I don't think another easy day in the water would gain you much. Perhaps you could experiment by doing a period of 4-6 weeks of no ST or significantly reduced ST, and add in that EZ run, and see how your body responds? Another reason to add the run would just be to increase your weekly mileage as you prepare to transition from 70.3-IM.
You know you're stronger on your right than your left, and your current lifting regimen has you doing quite a bit of stability and single-sided work, which is good. As mistressk suggested, I would focus on bigger exercises and drop things like bicep and tricep curls. I am a big fan of body weight exercises--pushes, pulls, single legged squats, and lunges (with all the variations you can get pretty far)--and it looks like you're doing a lot of this stuff, so that's awesome :)
Now, if you were specifically trying to change your body composition and get you BF lower (
and I'm not saying that you necessarily should), I would encourage you to keep both strength days (perhaps add a third session), and might encourage you to increase your weight in areas where you can so that you are hitting fatigue (really can't continue to do more reps without sacrificing form) in less than 10 reps. 5 x 10 sets of pushes? I would encourage you to try some sets of 15 or even 20.
Ugh, I haven't really given you any firm answers and just more to think about. Sorry :/
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You asked us what we do. I am in a period of only doing SBR as my BF is very low yet my weight is higher than I'd like it for tris and I am wondering if I actually lost some muscle mass, if I might be faster, particularly on the run. I have never had an extended period of
not doing strength training, and I miss it, but I am one of those women who can really build mass. I am still doing core, and I shoot for a solid ten minutes of that a day.