I think it is very beneficial. I strength train once a week during the season unless it is race week. During that one session I train the entire body. It takes awhile but I always see the benefit and it is great to mix-it up instead of SBR all of the time.

I think I've seen this topic come up before (wink wink):

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IMHO, I think many people put too much emphasis on [u]in-season[/u] strength training. There isn’t a fourth discipline in any tri. You aren’t going to have to bench press 225 for reps before you cross the finish line. (But if we ever got the Man Tri up and running, that would be part of it and it would be sweet.) Speed and endurance do not come from the weight room. I think if you are spending more than 5%-10% of your weekly [u]in-season[/u] training time volume in the weight room, you would be better served using that time on the road. Another reason is that if you have the time and/or energy for two to three hours (per week) in the gym, then you aren't doing enough S/B/R and/or you are lacking intensity.

I am very new to the sport and come from a background that had more weightlifting, strength training as opposed to cardio so my views may be different.

I feel that currently my biggest detriment (other than sucking in water) is that I am far too heavy - I would like to avoid the gym during the season of training to avoid adding muscle weight - I know the articles say I will lose weight faster, blah blah blah by strength training, but given the limited time, I am focusing on the triathlon season.

That said, my big race this year will be August 2nd, after which I plan to spend 3 months doing some significant non S/B/R training - being P90x, which I had started a year or so ago and stopped - bottom line on this program is I will be overall fitter than when I started and should be able to shed the 15-20 lbs that I want to lose to get down to a more efficient triathlon weight.

While I am doing the P90x, I will try to maintain Saturday Long Rides, Sunday Long Runs, and swimming a couple of times per week - This would end at the start of November and I could then start ramping up for next year's race season.

Curious if people think that is completely silly or makes some sense?

Hopefully this can shed some light if strength training should be part of your workout. The Following links are 4 of the best athletes EVER in their disciplines.
Lance Armstrong- think he did well in some foreign bike race
Mark Allen- Also did some endurance type racing
Michael Phelps- won a bunch of necklaces in international waters
Ryan Hall- Best shot for USA to win a marathon in 20 yrs

http://www.livestrong.com/video/5189-lance-armstrongs-strength-training-...

http://www.active.com/.../Mark_Allen_s_12_Best_Strength_Exercises.htm

http://munfitnessblog.com/how-michael-phelps-managed-to-break-so-many-sw...

http://www.mensracing.com/athletes/interviews/2006/ryanhall062306.htm

Maybe now people will stop saying only s/b/r. I do agree that you can over do it and that would be counter productive but it should never be left out completely.

I LOVE it when people compare what the best in the world are doing to what us "average" athletes should do. Cuz that totally makes sense.

Yea cuz if Larry Bird said to take 10,000 jump shots a day to make it to the NBA, I would say no .That is what Larry Bird does, he is an NBA player and I am just average so I will do much less and settle for mediocrity.

Basically what cuds is saying is us "average" athletes should not try and do what the best in the world is doing because they probally are way out of our league.

How do you think they became the best in the world??

I think what cuds means is that the best in the world have a different training schedule than we do. If I had the same number of training and recovery hours they have, then maybe it would make sense for me to train like they do. Given that I have a much more limited schedule, I try to pick workouts that will benefit me the most. I'm not saying I think strength training is a waste of time, but just that it's not often my priority workout.

There is a difference in saying "this is what it takes to get into the NBA" and "this is what people in the NBA do". They are in the NBA because they are at a certain level, and what they did to get there and what they do once there aren't always the same thing.

Plus, I think it is a bit silly to pick a single thing out of a training plan and say "well so-and-so does it so I should". It is a training plan, a complete thing. What makes them so good is not any single workout but the entire lifestyle and structure and focus. I'm sure there are many other things in the training plans of pros that I don't do. Yes, push yourself in your sport, and strive to be better. It is not that they are out of our league, but that picking and choosing from their training isn't going to do us any favors.

I will never understand why people that come from solely an endurance background shun weight lifting so much. It baffles me. Weight Lifting may not necessarily make you fast, but it won't make you slower.

Are you trying to tell me that doing squats or dead lifts (major leg, back and core workouts) wont make you faster on the bike? Addind muscle to your legs is a bad thing?

Having stronger delts and traps and pecs will slow down your swim time? Because I know that when Im in the pool I always regret having shoulder and back strength...its such a waste on a thing like swimming....

I don't shun it, I definitely think it has a time and place (and actually I find it somewhat funny that I'm posting here about the values of not doing it -- I tend to stay out of these discussions as I am undecided on my stance on the value of it in a training plan). However, for many recreational triathletes the training hours are so limited that there are better returns spending their time swimming, biking, and running -- all of which do make you stronger for swimming, biking, and running. I think sometimes triathletes make a mistake in spending time in a gym that might benefit them more in a sport-specific workout given the number of hours they have to workout each week. Yet at the same time I think others make a mistake in never going into a gym! ;)

It's sad that when the greatest shed light on there training plans and how they got to where they are, that people simply say well I'm not the greatest I'm just mediocre. So I would never need to do the same basic plan as the greats so I can be the best "I" can be. No doing what they say probably won't make you win the tour because you unfortunately didn't get there genes, but it will help you become the best you could possibly be. Don't just sit there and say well I'm mediocre so I don't do those things, just to justify to yourself that your not being lazy. Not to mention strength training is a great and proven way to avoid injuries. Wake up people

To answer the original question....

I am doing strength training via Crossfit 3 - 5x a week right now and finding lots of little benefits in my triathlon training. I like how their emphasis on whole body exercises (pullups, clean & jerk) give you a massively strong core, and that means less fatigue on the bike and in back muscles in the run. Also, due to their philosophy of deep squats, a constant hip pain that I've had since pregnant with my first (13 years ago) went away! I was convinced I would have that hip pain while running for the rest of my life. The great thing about Crossfit is that there is zero wasted time. Sometimes the entire workout is only 5 minutes, sometimes 20, but it really maximizes strength training vs. time commitment.