You mention twice that you are too tired to perform well. Maybe you need less and not more? I lift twice a week at most for legs, (cyclist only), but the next day is always an off day or super easy recovery day (think 120 watts).

I've been lifting for 40 years, and no longer "strength" train for performance. By the time I've put in my run, bike and swim kicking mileage, I don't have any muscle left to tear down in the gym. Today, as a geezer, I mainly lift for opposing muscle balance, and injury prevention. I lift 3 times (one hour sessions) a week, before my swim sessions, mainly because the gym is a cross the hall from the pool, and it's convenient. I use machines mostly these days, even the inner and outer thigh master machines. Very rarely do I go heavier than I can do 30-50 reps. Keeps me healthy, injury free, and I'm still winning my age group at the local races.

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Athlinks / Strava

I'm not clear on whether you do the weight lifting before an off day/super easy recovery day or AFTER that day?

It makes more sense if we are doing it after an off day. I guess that might be your point by having an off day and doing less.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Thanks. Yes, my thoughts are similar to yours. That's the way I have been lifting. I can see the pool from the gym floor so I go swim whenever there is a lane free which could be before after lifting. Do you have a preference on that?

Went "heavy" today which meant about ten pounds up in weight. Didn't seem to hurt me today ;)

Might try "light" as being ten pounds down in weight. Medium as being in the middle. Not too big a range yet maybe that will provide the mind/body with enough stimulation and feedback to keep the lifting interesting.

Like you, I'm interested in how the opposing muscles are going. It's also a continuation of the PT that's been given to me to from previous injuries that I don't want to stop doing.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

This quote: "My number one concern is not hurting myself while lifting" Is that meant to say just stop you from getting sore kind of hurt or hurt meaning injured? If you have proper lifting form and perform lifts in front of mirrors to ensure proper form is being maintained, this should never be a concern.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Yes, my preference is to always lift before swimming. I give it a lot more hell in the pool than I do with the weights... and have little left when my swims are done. And besides, I'm all nice and squeaky clean, so I shower off the chlorine, and I'm good to go for the day. The last thing I want to do after a swim, is get all gym grungy again :)

My personal rule for lifting, is to "never do today, what I couldn't do again tomorrow". Anytime lifting interferes with my other training, I've gone too far. Like I say, I've been lifting for over 40 years, and still love it. The trick is to do, what you will keep doing. Even if it's sub optimal, whatever you keep doing, is a lot more effective, than anything you stop doing. The biggest mistake I see folks (runners and triathletes) do, is approach lifting like body builders or powerlifter, and over do it, and burn out and quit.

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Athlinks / Strava

So...I lift on run days.

My swim days are also bike days. Run in the morning, then lift in the evening and try to keep the session to 30 minutes. You'll recover enough overnight to swim and then hammer on the bike in the evening.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I like to lift before I swim -- either immediately before or earlier the same day. I find the lifting creates some tightness / contraction, and the swimming stretches things out. I'm a fairly mellow swimmer -- Total Immersion style -- so I'm not doing a ton of exertion in the pool. I imagine a hard-core max-effort swimmer might have trouble maintaining power after a lifting session. I never lift on a recovery day.

I'd prefer to lift after running (easier days) and not before, to avoid the risk of injury from weakened muscles. Before or after the bike doesn't seem to make much difference -- I'm better at whichever one I do first, so it depends whether the strength or bike work is the priority that day.

Twice a week is a good target. As long as you're working the muscles to the point where you can't do another clean repetition, you're getting the benefit. For building strength, it doesn't matter too much if you're doing one set of six reps or three sets of 15, as long as the last rep is almost impossible. There are some slight differences as far as building muscle bulk, where more sets seem to be better, which might be a factor at 64. Alex Hutchinson wrote about it here:
https://www.outsideonline.com/...decide-how-much-lift

I don't have a problem with Bicycling's plan -- I can see some neuromuscular benefit to doing low reps one day and high reps a different day. Figure out what works for you. The downside of low reps is that you'd need heavier weights, which can increase injury risk. A few visits with a personal trainer weeks would be a good idea to get your technique right, to reduce injury risk. Good luck!

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<The Dew Abides>

Not to hijack the thread, but I have a question. Do you count strength training (lifting weights, core work) as part of your weekly training hours? Or do you limit that number to swimming, biking and running (aerobic activities) only? Just wondering.

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"The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Thank you for that website. Changing number of sets seems to make a difference.

It also seems like more people lift and then swim. So did Charles Atlas, I read.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Yes, part of my weekly hours. So lifting makes up about 3 hours weekly.

By far, I'm an aerobic person and enjoy that the most. It's taken me years to enjoy time spent lifting and thinking that it's worthwhile.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.