Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes?

For all time you crunched multisport athletes out there, I feel your pain. Who needs weights when we only have time to run, bike, and swim? Unfortunately, resistance training is essential for building power and strength. In addition, adding resistance training to your program will decrease risk of injury as you are creating increased strength around your joints. Furthermore, weight training can dwindle out muscle imbalances if you target the appropriate areas.

Studies show that when an endurance athlete incorporates strength training into their training program, their time to exhaustion increased (run or bike farther than previously at the same intensity). Strength training can improve an athletes efficiency in a sport as well. Most endurance athletes are afraid that if they incorporate resistance training, they will gain weight. You need not worry because since most of our time is devoted to endurance training, our bodies do not gain muscle mass easily. But if we do end up gaining a few pounds, it shall typically result in increased power, something we should strive for.

How many reps? How much resistance? How many sets? These are all common questions I face everyday and this is where the principal of individuality comes in. Everyone has different needs when it comes to training, but I will try and simplify these common questions. I must reiterate, everyone's needs are different, therefore there are no cookie cutter exercise routines. Each one needs to be tweaked for the individuals needs and requirements.

For a beginner who is new to weight training or someone who hasn't done resistance training in over 3 months, the first thing you want to work on is proper technique, therefore high reps (15-20) is adequate with low resistance (40-60% of 1 repetition maximum [RM] ). The last rep should not be to failure, and if it is, lower the resistance for the next set. The amount of sets for each exercise should be 3-5 and you should attempt to take a break no longer than 30 seconds to a minute between sets. This can be continued for 2-8 weeks while performing 2-3 workouts per week.

For someone who is used to weight training and feels confident with technique, I suggest they focus they try to focus on power and strength. This can be accomplished multiple ways and many magazines and books offer their own resistance training templates. I will explain my suggested plan as it can improve your applied force in the gym, but also translate to increased power when out for a bike ride or a run. Keep your rep range within 5-8, with your last set being to failure. The speed of your repetitions be moderate and the resistance should be about 60-80% of your 1 RM. You should attempt to do 3-6 sets for each exercise and progressively increase the resistance as you go through sets (60% of your 1 RM for the first set progressing to final set being 80% of 1RM). Your rest period between sets should be 2-4 minutes. Continue this weight training for 3 weeks (2-3 sessions a week if possible) but on the 4th week change it up by doing explosive (fast) repetitions, which will cause you to increase your power. Again, I shall reiterate for the 3rd time - this is merely my personal opinion and every individuals needs are unique.

Here are 4 guidelines for weight training, especially for us time crunched athletes:

Sport Specific Movements - When doing an exercise, try to mimic the exact position you would be in if you were doing the sport. For example, if you are doing a single legged squat - bend your knee no further than if you were running, this is where you will need most power.
Big Muscle Groups - focus on doing exercises which target the major muscle groups used in each discipline. For example, the quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteus are all used during cycling, therefore a great exercise would be a squat since it would target all areas.
Multijoint Exercises - these exercises can save you precious time in the gym because they allow you to work many muscles at once. Again, squats are a wonderful example since they incorporate the ankle, knee and hip.
Wore Your Core - if you do not have a strong core, this may be what is keeping you from reaching your potential. A strong core is necessary for an efficient swimmer since this is where most movements are initiated. In addition, runners require a strong core to maintain an upright position during their distance.