Kelly is one of those athletes who continues to challenge herself with bigger and more aggressive goals. This year her goal was to compete in the Ironman WI. She trained like a professional, focusing on her goals, not letting setbacks hold her back or dampen her enthusiasm, and wanting to train and up her fitness level. The effort and results showed in her performance. Her time was 12:15. Great job Kelly! I wish her well in recovery from her race, and I’m sure she will be back at Pat’s Gym training intensely.
Most of the athletes that walk through our doors already understand the benefits of including strength training as part of their overall training programming. But as a broader culture, many endurance athletes still don’t do it because they don’t understand it. They don’t understand that picking up weight 2-3 times a week may just make them faster.
When was the last time you participated in an endurance event that didn’t involve some kind of acceleration or sprint? Would you not be able to perform better if you had that extra something in the tank that you could use to push past a competitor on a hill or in a battle at the finish line? Now we get to add variables into the performance equation such as max power, max velocity, power at VO2 max, velocity at VO2 max, and a neuromuscular control. Welcome, to the strength & power end of the fitness continuum.
Several studies have shown that heavy strength and/or explosive strength training done in concurrence with endurance training can improve the anaerobic variables listed above with the added bonus of also improving economy. In performance terms, workouts will be reflected in increased time to exhaustion, improved lactate threshold performance, reduced oxygen consumption for a given power output, and improved maximal power/force/speed for pushing you out of the gate or across the finish line.
You need a minimum of 12 weeks of weight programming for results to start to show. A myth that endurance athletes have is that lifting weight will make you bulky – it won’t unless you want it.
Studies have shown that mineral density in cyclists is lower than the general population. There is a well-known way to improve bone density and that is through strength training. The off season is the time to start a strength program for your endurance needs
I have yet to hear one of my endurance athletes complain about adding strength training into their programming. Rather, the opposite always occurs. They come out the other side faster and stronger, and the results show.
