Ok, I know the weights versus no weight argument has gone back and forth around here, so I’m not here to bring it back. I’m curious, though. How many days do you lift per week? After a long discussion with a personal trainer concerning what body parts to lift and when I’ve decided that I’m only going to do my upper body two days a week and legs one day a week with abs (core) done all three days. For years in the off season from cycling I was in the gym 3-4 days a week doing my entire body. My new personal trainer friend explained to me that this was not the proper way to go about gaining strength and/or endurance. I’d like to hear what others think.
My new personal trainer friend explained to me that this was not the proper way to go about gaining strength and/or endurance. I’d like to hear what others think.
I think your new personal trainer friend is right, but not for the reasons he/she might think.
2-3x/week. I do a series of lightweight shoulder exercises for swimming, then do a series of leg exercises (leg curl, dips, leg press) and a tricep extension for the bike, then a series of ab and core drills for my lower back.
2-3x/week. I do a series of lightweight shoulder exercises for swimming, then do a series of leg exercises (leg curl, dips, leg press) and a tricep extension for the bike, then a series of ab and core drills for my lower back.
Interesting. What do you need from your triceps on the bike that your swimming doesn’t provide?
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My professional and personal experience indicates that using the “muscle head” approach (focusing each session on a certain region of the body) is not as effective as working the entire body. Of course, overall results will depend on your overall exercise history and age.
Pre-season: 3x per week. No curls, no benchpresses - in short, no “muscle head” exercises. Virtually all exercises are multijoint. I alternate upper body/lower body. Pull-ups and lunges are examples of good multi-joint exercises. Setsxreps: 4x10-14 for lower body and 3x8-12 for upper body.
In-season: 2x per week or every 2-3 days. Same format as above.
The result: No injuries for over 5 years.
Your results will vary. But you can be sure that most of the folks you see in the weight room (including many “personal trainers”) do not understand what “functional fitness” is all about.
I do a lot of road biking, road racing, group rides, etc. so I meant that I do the tri-extensions for that. The OP probably didn’t need that, but that’s my routine.
i guess it depends a lot on how much other stuff your doing in conjunction with the weightlifting. Last winter for instance, i’d be in the weightroom 4 days a week, 2 upper, 2 lower, but i wasn’t putting a whole lot of time into biking and running. I went the route of trying to build up power in the offseason, and thus lifting was my main focus, and maintenance was the goal in s/b/r. Once winter ended, i transitioned back to focusing on getting my major workouts from s/b/r, dropping my lifting down to two solid lifts a week, 1 upper/1 lower. I chose only 2x a week because with the amount of training i wanted to accomplish i couldn’t take being sore for an extended period of time. So if you could toss up maybe an idea of what else you’ll be doing throughout a typical week, it would help a lot in determining what amount of lifting would be best.(im a pt as well)
ps FREEWEIGHTS! FREEWEIGHTS! FREEWEIGHTS!!! o, and cable work is pretty sweet too
4x per week.
Two days of freeweights (entire body Monday/Wednesday), One day of Ergometer work (paddle adapter for Dragon Boat), and one day of Pilates and Abdominal work.
While the Erg work might not be classified as weights by some, I’m leaving it there. Nyah, nyah.
I do 2 days per week with the weights and usually throw in an additional day or two of abs. I do the following: d-bell bench press, lat pulldown, upward row, standing curl, skull crushers, straight arm pull down, close cable row, hammer curls, leg curls, and leg extensions.
I do 2 sets each, 8-15 reps, depending on whether it is strength or endurance phase. I have just added 2 days per week of yoga (power and strength) to increase flexibility and strengthen my core.
**The result: No injuries for over 5 years. **
How do you know that this was the result of lifting weights?
I have not been injured in years, and eat an apple everyday, so I conclude that eating apples keeps you injury free.
Two times per week, upper body only, because my girlfriend likes the way it makes me look.
She does it too, because I like the way it makes HER look.
3 days, Mon, Wed, Fri. Circuit training whole body with an emphasis on legs and core. It only takes 30-35 minutes but I leave with a good pump and sweating like crazy, for me, the high intensity works very well. I only take 30 seconds between each excercise and a minute after the circuit which I do twice. The only drawback is if the gym is crowded it is hard to have a fluid circuit.
sometimes you don’t need definitive proof to believe what you believe. You of all people should know this ; )
…So if you could toss up maybe an idea of what else you’ll be doing throughout a typical week, it would help a lot in determining what amount of lifting would be best.(im a pt as well)
I’m currently in pre-IM training mode. I’m trying to get in 4 rides, 3 runs and 3 swims along with the weight work. For instance, tonight I’ll take an hour spin class and then do upper body work. Tomorrow I’ll ride to work (30 minutes) and ride the long way home (60-90 minutes) and then go swim for 30 minutes or so. Friday I’ll run for 30 minutes after work and then swim, Saturday is an hour on the trainer early am and then I’ll go to the gym with the wife do lower body work with her.
1st off, with regard to “triathlon” I don’t really believe in weight lifting (except for some suplimental injury orevention exercises).
However, rewind 6 years and 40 lbs ago when I was doing a body building routing I would lift 6 days a week for about 1:30 to 2:00 a day. I hit each body part about once every 5 days. It’s what al the pros were doing at the time. The idea was to kill a particular muscle group on one day giving it your full attention and then let it rest. Part of the reason that body builders would wait so long to hit the muscles again was because they wanted a balanced physique. In other words, one might be ready to lift with their legs again in just a couple of days, but they had other muscles that they needed to lift with as well, and they took priority.
I believe the power lifters were lifting a little more frequently…maybe twice a week. But they would still try to dedicate an entire workout to one muscles group or particular type of lift, instead of trying to do everything every day (ie like us…bike today, run tomorrow).
3x/week. And on two of those three, lift in the a.m., then bike 45min-1hr easy on trainer or rollers p.m. after work.
I’m not a triathlete (bike racer), so these are my two-a-days. The spinning really helps to stay loose and makes me feel like I’m not gaining a bunch of muscle mass (ie weight), even though I’m sure spinning for 1 hour probably does nothing of the sort, it makes me feel like I’m gaining strength, but staying lean.
$0.02.
We’re doing about four days a week now with a shift coming in the future. Sarah worked as a personal trainer and knows all the weight stuff, so she designs the program and so far it has been very good. The workouts are interesting, challenging and I am seeing and feeling results after five weeks. So far, so good.
I’m a big believer in wieght training.
Two times a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. Both sessions involve intense legwork and “maintenance” upper body. They also involve ab and back work. If I do it right, with sufficient rest between each set and a good warm up and cool down on the fitness bike, I’m in the gym for 2 to 3 hours. I’ve just started in the beginning of October and will continue through the first or second week of January. Then it’s no weights for the rest of the year.
Starting next week, I’ll follow the Tuesday workout on Wednesday with a 2 to 3 hiour climb in the local mountains – at a conversational pace with a few pedaling drills and about 20 straight minutes out of the saddle. The Friday workout will be followed by a similar, yet longer (3 to 6 hours) climb on Saturday. And sometime in November, I’ll through in a high rpm spin on Mondays for about 1 hour. This will continue through mid-December, when I’ll start joining some intense group rides.
Off season, 3-4 times per week. Alternating between upper & lower each session