as endurance athletes with less upper body strength than most people, do you find some of the weekly feats of strength a little hard,…in fact, really hard? Since my swimming days, I’ve lost more weight in my upper body and find some of those brute strength things impossible like moving the armoire, picking up the lawn mower to throw in the station wagon, throwing around bags of mulch and stacking the fire wood. They just don’t move and so I wonder, do you all have the same problem? It’s getting worse. There is no more putting my body weight into something. I try and it laughs at me. I’m starting to envy people like my old roommate who when helping me move in, instead of me taking one end of the mattress or box spring and me taking the other end, would just pick the whole thing up without hesitation and walk right in the door. I would have to eye it, adjust my grip and stance a few times, pick it up, stagger back and forth with the weight and then take a few breaks on my way while my forearms feel like burning up.
I’m going to have to start lifting weights once I get a house, have yard work and/or don’t want to embarass my wife or kids.
Don’t go there. I’ve been suckered into helping a friend move at the end of the month. At least the beer and pizza afterwards always seems like award enough for a hard day’s work.
The only time that my lack of strength hurts is during Festivus, during the “Feats of Strength” portion. Last year, I was smacked with the aluminum pole … hurt like a bitch.
Bosco, I’m with you. I was a wrestler in college (explains my horrible swimming) and could always move anything around the house that needed it. Now I have to call to my 16 year old son to help me with everything!! My wife makes comments about my former self in a kind of dreamy wishful voice - WTF?
I do strength training with my coach once a week and once by myself a week, during the off season weights get kind of heavy but nothing more then my body weight. As I get closer to bigger races we pare it back so that its just maintenance and not really too taxing. We also cut the leg work as running volume increases because recovery was an issue. I’ve gotten a lot stronger and not really gained any weight because of it.
it sounds like you would benefit from some upper body strength training and weight training in general. being strong is a good thing. so, start now. buy some dumb-bells and get on it, along with some military style push ups. just because you’re a tri-athlete doesn’t mean you need to be an upper body weakling.
now drop and give me 20! TA-DAY!! (as my personal trainer would say)
you know the rules. unless we see a pic or two of those pecs, bis, tris lats, and quads, they don’t exist. now turn over the pictures, pal, before I have to spank you (damn, did I just say that outloud?!?!).
Not sure if this is where bosco is coming from before triathlon, but having come from a shorter endurance, higher power sport, I have found that keeping that former strength while running 20 milers and riding centuries is impossible. I have never given up strength training since being a goofy looking beefhead (no offense to any of you goofy looking beafheads :-), but my upper body strength has dwindled away to nothing in the 9 years of tri training.
First off, I said they were big, not huge. I do curl sets at 45-55 pounds (each arm), 7-9 times usually.
It doesn’t affect my run speed much, but the last year or so, I have had problems with the muscles in my neck, upperback, and shoulders cramping up on longer harder runs. I think I just need to stretch more.
Sorry kitty, I need to tan a little more evenly first, maybe I’ll post a race pic sometime.
well I can relate to that. i came out of college rowing strong as all get out–mad strong in fact. then i started running marathons. 4 years later I got back into the weight room only to discover that i had to start out using (what my trainer called) the baby blues (these little wimpy 5 lb dumbells). it was totally embarrassing. to think that me–seat number 5, formerly the fastest bad ass bitch on the water, had been reduced to curling 5’s, I wanted to cry.
now I curl 20’s. i’ll never go wimpy again.
eat more protein (add a protien shake) and calories along with the strength training (2 times a week, one body part one time a week, reps in the 6-12 range no more than 3 sets). that will keep your body from going into anabolic meltdown.
same here - after 10 years of tri & marathoning, i have lost over 40lbs, and lots of strength with it. i still hit the weights, but only two sessions a week 8 months a year - i don’t do any weights in season. and the lifting that i do in season is low weight high rep stuff - more injury prevention that real strength training. i can barely lift my television come july. on the other hand though, my half marathon time is 25 minutes faster in 2005 than when i started in 95.
I’ve also noticed it in clothing. My pant waist size has gone up an inch to compensate for bigger thighs and butt, but my dress shirts went from 18 and a half inch neck and 34 sleeves to 16 inch neck and 32 inch sleeves. No more looking like Magilla Gorilla!
bosco…I maintain most of my upper body strength with pulls in the pool. Supplement with weight work out every now and then (not often enough). Can’t slack with the upper body strength, especially the core. It only gets worse as we get older. Don’t be so hard on yourself, different kind of strength was needed for the moving, versus the specificity for triathlons.
In the process of remodeling my townhome, very humbling experience to know I can go out and pretty much ride my bike however far I want to go, yet can’t rip up this crappy 6’ x 5’ flooring in my bathroom. 9 hrs yesterday ripping, pulling, throwing, slipping, sliding, getting slammed up against a wall because I couldn’t push the bed back, and was more spent than anything athletic I have done in years! Ironically though, not an ounce sore today. Boy did I feel weak, and now must go find a guy with tools to rip out the last remaining flooring that beat me down.
Protein, weights, hydration, train, repeat for years. Thats my plan against getting old
ok, sorry, I’ve been away from work and therefore my e-mail since Friday!..
I do lift weights and in fact used to a lot in years past, but then I felt weak then too. But I’m just doing bare minimum now. The funny thins is, I actually feel stronger in the water now than before but I think that is more due to weight I’ve lost.
