When to hit the gym?
81
Member
1464 days
pimm posted 3 years ago.
I personally go to the gym the year round, but my 'package' of exercises changes depending on what time of year it is. I go for short distance races as well so maybe you can relate to my way of thinking a bit more ...
I do all my fitness-training either on a non-Tri-day (no swim-run-bike) or :
- before Swim (makes it a bit more thougher in the pool)
- before Run (some extra strain on those legs)
- after Bike (I do skip the leg-exercises then, I have a sore calf-muscle)
(No particular reason for this, just seems the logical choice to me ...) Ofcourse I prefer to get into the gym on a non-Tri-day (a longer session, more focussed, etc.)
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Most important fact I keep in mind is actually that I'm not overdoing it in the gym. I had an episode like that before and suffered a back-injury (you know, acting though & lifting too much weight/in a wrong way) ... I've learnt from that!
I picked up a lot from a book called "Triathlon Trainingsprogramme" from FORTE publishers (sorry I only found it in Dutch, don't know wether there's another translation ...) written by Paul Huddle & Roch Frey (Multisports.com ). They coached P-N-Frazier to her victories in IM, so they know what they're talking about.
These guys are talking about strength fitness in the following phases :
1. First getting basic condition long time before the season (we're talking months in advance) to get adjusted
(4-6 weeks according to the book)
--> Movement & technique in exercises are in a slow & controlled way (for e.g. in lifting : 2 sec. UP, 4 sec. DOWN)
--> repeats 3 x 10-15 ...
2. Picking up more endurance (& thus endurance-related exercises)
(4-6 weeks)
--> Movement & technique in exercises are in a slow & controlled way (see above)
--> repeats 3 x 10-15 (only here put in more weight, more explosive movement, being tired but not exhausted)
3. Getting in the real strength-exercises right before your peak-performance (these are the ones that hurt!)
(4- 6 weeks)
--> Movement & technique is focused on power (explosive movement)
--> Controll is very important here (hold on to the right execution and more but not too much weight!) : think STRENGTH!
--> Repeats go down : 8-10 repeats (take 30% more weight!!!!)
--> Train untill you're tired (I mean really tired)
--> Try to limit training to a max. 3/week, to give your body recovery-time
--> 7 bacis :
1. Lat Pull-down
2. Bench-press
3. Pull-over with weights (no machine, loose weights)
4. Triceps
5. Biceps
6. Abs
7. Pumps
4. Peak-phase : last weeks before your goal (for e.g. first race of the season)
--> It's all about SPEED, think speed, act speed (2 sec. UP, 2 sec. DOWN)
--> Put in the 7 bacis (2 x repeats 10)
--> Drop weight lifting 2-4 weeks before the PEAK performance!
5. Maintenance during the season.
--> Maintain your basic exercises, keeping speed in mind (2 sec. UP, 2 sec. DOWN)
--> 1-2 x week, 2 series 10-12 repeats
That's what the book says & I try to keep all this in mind when I make a year's (half year's) planning. These are no more than 'guidelines' to me : I'm no professional & I don't feel any obligation to follow it as meticulous as I should ...
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I've been in the same gym with the same instrtuctor for years, so he knows what I'm worth & will adapt the schedule to my wishes & demands (KEEP THE 7 BASICS IN MIND) ...
In the thread before, I saw a big discussion whether or not you should train your legs. Well, I do : I'm a squashplayer before I'm training for tri's & I need to get in my lunges with weights before the start of the season to get my fitness up on the court. So yes, I do believe in the additional benifits. I do realise that those exercises aren't the coolest, but another good way to train your legs is to get on the MTB - do some off-road biking once a week just for fun.
Wow, that was a bundle! Hope this helps, if not, check these links out :
- BeginnerTriathlete
- MultiSports
Greetings - Pimm
6
Member
661 days
triathlongeek posted 1 year ago.
Great response from PIMM. Weight training should be done during the Base phase of the training - twice a week - and I'm talking about lifting weights, one day lower body, one day upper body. Then gradually decrease weights as you get into the build phase but keep the core training. In the peak phases, eliminate all weights as this will not help you at all endurance wise - although, it may make you look good on race day, experts have noted that it will not increase performance.
835
Member
1293 days
glbrum posted 1 year ago.
triathlongeek;56640 wrote:
Great response from PIMM. Weight training should be done during the Base phase of the training - twice a week - and I'm talking about lifting weights, one day lower body, one day upper body. Then gradually decrease weights as you get into the build phase but keep the core training. In the peak phases, eliminate all weights as this will not help you at all endurance wise - although, it may make you look good on race day, experts have noted that it will not increase performance.
just an FYI: you spelled TAPER wrong on your website.
I already had a look at this thread http://www.trifuel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2842
but as so often it turned out to be a battle of sarcastic fellow triathaletes :D ( PoC do not start a fight in here, please...)
My question is: When do you do weight training? Before your long rides, after them, on a former rest day?
To add something to consider: My bodybuilding instructor told me to train 5 times more for the Tri than I do weight-lifting if I wanted to gain something in triathlons.
Alright, and one more: There are other ways weight training can give you benefits than just adding muscle bulks. I do not aim for that btw.
Let me hear what you think, thanks.
Since this is posted in the short distance area: I am having short distances in mind, nothing else. And I will go to the gym, this is out of the question (want to meet chicks there)(yep, those russian weightlifting girls, looking like bulls ;) )