I know there are some people on this forum that don’t believe in weight lifting. This is not meant to be a discussion on if lifting is a good idea or not.
I was brought up playing contact sports and the lifting routines have always been to do certain muscle groups at each lifting session. (example: Monday = Heavy chest and Easy shoulders, Tuesday= heavy legs and easy back Wednesday = Heavy bi’s and easy tri’s Thursday-Saturday repeat with opposite heavy/easy). Training for triathlons, I have been lifting 3x per week with a heavy / easy alternate weeks.
Recently, I have been wondering if more of a full body work out 3 x per week would be a better approach. So, I am looking for some opinions from the members of this forum. Also, would it be better to do a heavy lift for one muscle group at each session (example: Monday=Heavy Chest, Wednesday=Heavy Legs, Friday =heavy arms) while going light for the rest or to do medium weight for all muscle groups at each session?
My recommendation is that you do a leg routine each time you hit the gym to ensure that your body stays in one piece and does not fall apart from overuse swim-bike-run stuff. For upper body, do all the exercises required to balance off the body from too much swimming front crawl so your shoulder does not pull apart in the long term.
Also do lots of stuff that strengthens the lower back and abs (dead lifts, back extensions, sit ups), to give you body the robustness to not fall apart from too much running or aero position riding or sitting around in an office, car or airplane.
It takes 48 hours of rest for a muscle to repair and grow after a workout. Body builders usually work out every day so they focus on different muscle groups for each session. There’s no advantage to body mass and bulk strength in triathlon. It might even slow you down. To maintain strength and muscle tone on 2 or 3 workouts a week, it makes sense to use a comprehensive routine. Most triathlon training books contain a section on weight training but essentially they’re just a collection of standard excercises that combine to work the whole body. The workload is light to moderate; no heavy lifting, cheating, shocking or other body builder techniques.
I’m sure if you browse the ST site you can find lots of examples of effective weight programs.
In the off season I try to lift 3x/week. My routine would look something like:
3 -4 weeks of 10 -12 reps. going Day1 Upper, Day 2 Lower, Day 3 Upper
then
3 - 4 weeks of 8 - 10 reps Lower Upper Lower
then
3 - 4 weeks 6 - 8 reps Lower Upper Lower
That pretty much concludes the Off season. I usually do 2 sets of the reps. I’m not body building.
Once I begin my training season I switch to 2x / week. Full Body, super sets. Keep the reps high…12 - 15 for a 3 - 4 weeks then 8 - 12 for 3 - 4 weeks. No lifting week of a “B” race or higher. I keep charts. If I start a new 3 - 4 week cycle I want to see an increase in the weight I lifted by the 3rd week. (keeping the same number of reps)
I’m 42 so just keeping the muscle I have at this point is my goal. I will usually take a week off from weights completely after 2 cycles are completed.
Right or wrong, this is my routine. Tri’s aren’t my only sport so it’s not my only reason for weight training. Hope this helps.
I weight train except I strictly do low weight, high reps routines, broken up into the muscle group work outs. (I’m not looking to put on mass, just looking to do core strengthening and toning) If you have been doing the same routine for a while, I’d definitely change it up. I’d also go light on the weights as well, unless of course you’re looking for mass, which to me would be counterproductive to improving on your triathlons.
Check out CrossFit.com for a different take on strength training. More of a whole body, functional strength approach. And one that will kick your ass! Plus the workout is fast leaving you more time for other training–if you can move
For upper body, do all the exercises required to balance off the body from too much swimming front crawl so your shoulder does not pull apart in the long term.
What do you mean, “pull apart”?
love from,
scared tigerchik with beautiful shoulders that she does not want to be come “pulled apart”
Well, if you just keep doing lots of crawl, you’ll develop a muscle imbalance over time…luckily you do all strokes including backstroke…however, if I can equate front crawl to do lots of lat pulldowns, its like you are not doing anything to lift weight up (imagine doing an upward row motion, and also doing a dumbell press over your head…one at a time).