Gym Jones was responsible for the monsters of men in the movie 300.. from what I understand through a friend who lives out west, the place is the real deal - and if you can get in it will turn you into a beast... They do post their programs online, but they are tough because they use some unorthodox methods and its tough to find monster truck tires at my local gym.

Have fun! :-)

From what I read, those guys are animals. Their bussiness went sky high after they literally transformed the actors for the movie 300.

I think Crossfit workouts and plyometrics are fun and good for endurance and gain lean muscle. There is no need to become a beast in order to complete a triathlon, but certentaitly the excercises are going to help.

Try the web site of CrossFit New England, they seem to be more accesible. There is a particular routine that is on youtube from that CrossFit gym that is called "beyond burpees" I think is great, and really useful for improve endurance, I like it, it is fun and really kicks your butt doing it.

If you guys all start being built like the guys in 300, I am coming to any race you are doing...one's where you don't have to wear a tri top anyway! Good luck with the monster truck tires, I may have to check this guy out!

wow... a lot of attitude at that gym

Sorry for the double post, know idea what im doing apparently.
"universal gym and calisthenics are preferred by the overwhelming majority of athletes:"

this is not meant to be confrontational, but i've played twenty years of baseball, football, rugby, and soccer, and i dont think in all that time i've ever met an athlete that prefered calisthenics and machines to free weights, ploymetrics, olympic lifts. the key is form. check out the book dinosaur training. theres some pretty cool stuff in there. great for explosiveness, power.. great strength builders.. all that said, my first triathlon is this weekend and i'm not familiar enough with tri strength training and "universal gym and calisthenics" may be more common.. go for it, learn good form and enjoy it.. tire flips a blast. i love unconventional lifts to mix it up..

For oswa,

Example for me two days ago (and I still hurt):
4 ROUNDS OF-
12 squats- body weight
8 deadlift- a little over body weight
5 Turk getup each side- 30 pound dumbell
750 meter row

I don't think anyone will argue that this workout won't in some way help a triathlete....squats and deadlifts are great for cycling power. Rowing is great for all three sports- strong back and shoulders for swimming and legs for cycling or running.

Also for more examples go to http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html
Scroll thru their WODs for ideas

It’s all about context. The question re: Gym Jones is being asked on a triathlon forum.

Triathlon = slow twitch
Gym Jones = explosive.
The two are not a match.

You go doing stuff like “Boot Camp” or Gym Jones, be prepared to spend a lot of time in rehab, with ice bags and ibuprofen.

Hey, if I were training a bunch of guys to look good on camera, to grunt, sweat, scream and die horribly in combat, Gym Jones is the way to go. Suppose they had 30 actors doing that show. It probably took 40 in training to have 30 healthy enough to get on screen. The rest were healing. There are casualties in war.

Sure we triathletes need to improve muscular strength in the off season, pre-base training phase, but that phase is short, just a matter of weeks. The potential risk of training time lost to injuries is too great in proportion to the benefits. So sensible triathletes will choose safe training methods.

I have a British Amateur Weightlifting Association Coaching award. I can train power cleans, snatches, squats, you name it. Would I teach those lifts to a triathlete? Not on your life.

I’m sure it’s a lot of fun. I used to do that in my twenties, and I’d brag to my friends on the BB team about how I got the bruises working out with the Marines Water Polo Team. But I’ve gotten older, and smarter since then.

PoC

dr_rios,
I don't mind opposing viewpoints. I enjoy a good debate. I believe a free exchange of ideas is healthy and if folks choose to do things contrary to what I believe, I won't be offended.

As I said above, my advice should be seen in the context of the question. As usual we have been told little about the inquirer's experience/ability/age etc. The questioner has noted he is leaming toward IM, so what s/he wants explosive power for, I can't imagine. We don't even know if oswa0060 is a guy or a girl, so giving / receiving advice in a vacuum needs caution. So, caveat emptor.

As to whether "most people" choose universal equipment and their ilk, you know I haven't done a global survey. My experience has been that more schools, universities, health clubs, apartment bldgs that have fitness equipment, have some kind of universal gym equipment than free weights and squat racks say. I'm not speaking specifically of the "Universal" trademarked stuff, just the weight training machines that commonly populate exercise areas. Consider also, when I speak of "most athletes," I am including women. I think more women, not just triathletes or bodybuilders, but females in general, are happier on a machine than hefting barbells around. Even at the elite sports centres of universities I have visited in multiple countries I have almost never seen a woman standing over an Olympic bar doing sets of power cleans. The exceptions were at Gold's in Santa Monica.

As a thought experiment, ask yourself what percentage of all people, men and women, competitive athletes and w/e warriors alike, are serious muscleheads who like to throw heavy dumbbells around? versus, say, how many will sit on the leg press machine and press out a few reps with a reasonable weight say, up to 100% of their bodyweight?

Look, I'm not trying to start a war here. Variety is the spice of life, but there's a reason why pro athletes are forbidden from partaking of risky activities - the employers don't want their star football players out for half a season because they are nursing a broken ankle they got skiing.

If A-Rod sprains a knee playing ultimate frisbee in the park, his boss George Steinbrenner is going to be some pissed.
If you put your back out flipping a truck tire at Gym Jones and miss your next triathlon, just remember I urged caution. You'll have plenty of time sitting in front of the TV with a heating pad on your back to think about it.

I'm trying to remind triathletes that they are no longer rugby players. Matti Brick gave a seminar at Kona in 1993. There were fifty or so elite AG and pro triathletes there, and some journalists, like me. He asked if there was anybody in the room who could dunk a basketball? Nobody put his/her hand up.
Matti went on to say, if you're pursuing a slow twitch sport like triathlon to a high level you should avoid explosive sports like tennis because of the risk of injury due to making sudden explosive efforts such as lunging for a shot.

good luck with your training
Geoff

My advice to you would be to do what you want to do, but choose an approach that you like and will enjoy.

I’ve read about both CrossFit and Gym Jones and the results they have led people to achieve, including Ironman finishes. Seems like a key component of both of these approaches is intensity; which if I’m not mistaken has long been key component to any athlete’s successful (read: record of improving performance without injury) performance.

I would imagine that it is a fact that no training program for any sport will lead to significant performance improvements without intensity and working to exhaustion. There is truth in the old and simple saying, no pain no gain. Just as this seems to be a key ingredient in these “boutique” (for lack of a better term) programs, it is also the key in more sport specific training plans and programs espoused and taught by successful coaches across the world. Just as an example, Mike Carter, cycling coach is known here in CO for intense bike workouts to build strength (what he calls “Weights on the Bike”), power and endurance. His workouts leave you gasping for air and wishing you could have a blood transfusion, but they lead to winning performances…..his program, like other coaches’ programs also have as a key component to them a keen focus on RECOVERY and INJURY PREVENTION. Even the unknown triathlon coaches that I’ve used in my past have all included intense puke inducing run, bike and swim components of the plans, but always include a strong component of REST to allow for RECOVERY and the body to assimilate the fitness gains. These workouts which don’t lead to fatigue but processes lactic acid out of the muscles and lead to muscle repair are regular fixtures on the plan.

Those two pieces seem to be significantly lacking in the CrossFit and Gym Jones approaches, at least according to my cursory research (and it has been cursory). Seems like their approach is if you hurt yourself enough and get used to the pain you won’t feel yourself getting injured. That’s one reason why they’d never be suitable for me.

All of that and the fact that I’m just amazed by the fact that it seems like everything (gym workouts, skiing, climbing, triathlon) these days points to this sort of “skull and cross bones,” knock yourself out, and spit up blood or you’re “not tough enough” approach to fitness and athletic performance.

It is mind boggling to me that anyone would be interested in loading all of that pressure on top of the physiological, physical, mental, and emotional stressors already associated with a full training program for a sport as challenging as triathlon (especially endurance triathlon), in which intensity, strength, and endurance have to be built and assimilated, on top of work, life, family, buying the right shoes and bike, etc., while also paying attention to proper nutrition.

Based on my experience some of the best gains in performance, from strength and endurance perspectives come when I do the opposite and focus on building strength, stamina, breathing power, focus, will to overcome, and self confidence through things like yoga or pilates. That way I can lay it all on the line in my sport specific intensity workouts, and build strength in a way that is not so focused on being in your face, and in a way that actually lets my mind have a break. Then I’m refreshed and ready for the next one.

But then again, certainly no one thinks things like the handstand that demonstrates and builds shoulder strength, and which helps with balance and stability (useful for staving off fatigue on those long bike rides in the aero position) is very powerful or even cool for that matter. Guess I’d better respond to that “Rex Kwon Do” add afterall…(that last bit won’t make any sense unless you’ve seen Napoleon Dynamite.)

I want to avoid going off on tangents here, but not because it wouldn't be fun. If you want to explore "the most outrageous, off-the-wall training" for sports that you have ever done or would contemplate, I'm in, start a thread.

But to stick to the question, ".. Would the training be effective for triathletes?" that oswa0060 asked above, I would say the following:

No.

Note that the question was not, "Could triathletes succeed using Gym Jones?" or "Could triathletes get some edge through following the training methods of Ultimate Fighters, say, in the final sprint of a tri?"

Would it be effective? No. And for precisely the reasons I laid out above. Would it be fun? Maybe, but that was not what was asked.

Horses for courses. The principle of "Training Specificity" applies. This does not contradict the idea of "cross-training" by the way. The two are compatible, albeit at different times of the season.
If you want to improve your finishing sprint, head for the track, not the demolition yard looking for big tires to flip.

"There are bold triathletes and there are old triathletes, but there are no old, bold, triathletes."

I want to spell it out plainly, the risk of course is that one comes off sounding dogmatic.
The risk of that, is that some bright spark will come up with a counter-example of some old freak who flips tires for breakfast and then goes out for humongous long runs and hasn't lost his age-group in 12 years (go ahead try, I know you want to. heh.) and people with flaccid brains will think that that destroys the whole argument. It doesn't, but we are all free spirits here and you (people in general I mean) will do whatever the Hell you want, I'm just answering the question that was asked.

Now if you'd like to start hat other thread..?

:)

PoC

Many triathletes and folks with far more experience than I, do very well, win championships place in their age group and go to worlds, just following tried and true methods for doing tri's. Oldsters like me (but not me) do the same winning stuff following training programs they have followed for years and that others followed since the birth of tri's. Nothing is new under the sun and you have to be around for awhile to understand that. Kettlebells, Crossfit type stuff and extreme workouts have been around for centuries. If triathletes who really have the chops had found value in stuff like that they would be doing it. Sometimes I think that folks here do a workout that they love and don't want to believe it could have no tri related value and in fact could be detrimental. If it trips your trigger do it. Realize though not every workout style is applicable to the racing you want to do.