Weights
582
Member
264 days
jsk85 posted 12 weeks ago.
Well, it depends on your situation. If you are relatively young, you can probably go without lifting throughout the bulk of the season since your training should maintain your strength. If you are older (35-40+) then you should be at least doing maintenance lifting 1x per week.
If you can fit it, you really only need 1-2 sessions of higher rep lower weight sessions throughout the majority of the season since you aren't really looking to actively gain strength while you're racing. Just my .02
I'll leave more specifics and detail to the people who lift more, I barely manage to fit it into my schedule if at all.
8
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92 days
hodgie posted 12 weeks ago.
thanks, fit into the 35-40 bracket ie 38! am not planning on breaking any world records at this stage. Have just discovered this sport called triathlons and want to continue to enjoy rather than become obsessed and end up injured with all the "should do's". thanks for your input. Had a great first season and thoroughly enjoyed it (still hate swimming!) but don't want to end up overtraining cos that's the done thing.
854
Member
828 days
tsilcyc posted 12 weeks ago.
If you can fit it into your schedule, I think it will help with injury prevention. Does your plan recommend doing core exercises? If not, you can do them 4-5 times a week and they can be done at home. I like using a swiss ball since it's easier on my back but you can do them however you like. You can search the forum, I believe there are several articles with specific workouts.
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372
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405 days
Leroy Bonkers posted 12 weeks ago.
If you don't want to lift, don't lift. And if you do lift don't waste your time sitting around between sets. Work the big groups (back/chest/shoulders) instead of the glory groups (bis/tris/forearms/whatever).
Even if you don't lift, if you can squeeze in three intense 10-15 minute ab/core sessions a week your back will thank you, and you'll be able to push harder in your tri workouts - and thereby get faster.
582
Member
264 days
jsk85 posted 12 weeks ago.
+1 with the core...10-15 minutes after workouts and no equipment required...very easy to start/maintain
117
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267 days
olivestri posted 12 weeks ago.
on the time issue - i've started lifting a couple times a week to make up for the lack of time i have to swim, run, and bike. after a few workouts - hand wieghts and exercise ball at home - that were really focused on core and posture strength - i feel pretty confident that this focused work will help keep the body running smoothly on race day when i push for the extra miles i did not have the time to put in.
54
Member
149 days
thesonicson posted 12 weeks ago.
I workout extensively with heavy weights 3 times a week. Sundays; legs. Tuesdays; chest, shoulders, tris, abs. Thursdays; back, bi's, forearms, obliques. Most sessions are at least 1-1:15 hr long. I don't swim on my upper body days, and don't bike/run on my leg day. I use this to maintain muscle mass as for last year I went from 202 lbs to a skinny 170lbs with very little weight training. This year with this regime, I have gone from 192 off-season weight to a current 181 but I prefer to have some meat on my frame. I'm not a big believer in "core exercises" as for strength training, but consider it more strength maintaining. It has been proven time and time again that lower rep, higher weight type training is the most beneficial to strength training. Now I wouldn't recommend this extensive of a weight training program unless you trying to do what I'm doing. But I would seriously recommend spending about an hour or so a week with weights to strengthen muscles. I have seen (and felt) the difference, especially on my bike.
Fyi. I'm a single 32 male, who has plenty of spare time to do all this. With the weights I normally spend 12-15 hrs week training.
144
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158 days
azmojo804 posted 12 weeks ago.
+1 on injury prevention...And +1 on the core.
I have the benefit of having a small weight gym in my basement at work. $80 for a year membership. So I have that in addition to my normal gym. I've gotten a bunch of co-workers into it too, so, we try to make a daily thing of going down. On good weeks, I get in 4-5 weight sessions (just light weight, lots of reps), and on bad weeks, just 1-2 sessions.
Injury prevention is my main goal, included with this is muscular balancing. I do all of my lifting with free weights, so that I don't accidentally rely on one arm/leg more than the other, and thus grow strength equally. I find this REALLY helps with the legs workouts. There are tons of roads that slope toward the outside (water runoff purposes). And, if you run with traffic, your right leg always hits lower than your left. This will definitely create a muscle imbalance, which is a no no! I also get scared of my ankles twisting or something due to the slopes of the roads too, so I make sure to do ankle workouts at the gym sometimes too.
8
Member
92 days
hodgie posted 12 weeks ago.
Wow, thanks for all the info. Injury prevention is a must for me. Through a process of elimination with some current niggles i've now worked out that the slopes on the road whilst running have been my enemy albeit i thought i was handling them well ie running middle of the road when/where possible. Started a weights programme a few weeks back after predominantly focusing on running to complete my first half marathon a few weeks back (we are in off tri season in Aus - runs Oct-March). Current weights programme 2-3 times/week is upper body (chest press, straight arm lat pulldowns, seated row), single leg squats with 5kg med ball, hamstring curls on ball & step ups with weights - all 2-3 through with 20reps. core - hovers, side planks, med ball side to side and crunch with legs on ball for lower abs. Ended up having a two week lay off due to the muscles that had been compensating for glutes etc refusing to compensate anymore. Hip rotators not very nice when they're unhappy! Pretty much overload on my part i guess (ok i know!). So am now thinking minimal weights, lots of core and maintain my run, ride, swim sessions.
532
Member
677 days
Ironmom posted 12 weeks ago.
+1 on the Core
I don't usually have time to hit the gym for weights, but I do core exercises through martial arts (pushups, crunches, squats, jumping squats are all part of our regular routine) and on off-days from that I do a routine at home with an exercise ball, stretch bands and hand weights. Nothing fancy.
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
Understanding that most if not all tri training plans incorporate weights of some description, are they an absolutely necessary part of tri training?? ie with limited time for training (kids, work, life etc) and blessed with natural strength, how much "weight" do weights carry??? And, if the answer is that they are absolutely necessary, to what extent ie sessions/week. I know what the books say but what does reality say??