Strenght training programs

You could visit www.bodybuilding.com and read messages on the forums. I have learned quite a bit about certain exercises there.

Try Mike Ricci's website; it has some great general strength and core strength workouts in the tips pages.

http://www.d3multisport.com

Shane

Edited by gsmacleod 2006-01-24 7:40 AM

Have a look at this article by Ken Mierke right on our own website.  I think it's good.  Actually I'm going to start it myself soon with a few little modifications.  Mostly I'm just going to add a few little exercises that "I" need to do.

Not exactly sure what your trying to accomplish but I use an offseason bike program I got from bicycling magazine. I modified it somewhat (lunges for sqauts as I've got back issues). Admittedly, I don't do enuff core work either. Take a look at my logs if you are interested.

A good book on HOW to do exercises was written by Stuart McRobert:
"The Insider's Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique "

As for laying out a program, it depends on your goal. Assuming it's to complement your tri training, keep it simple. Getting the three disciplines in around a busy schedule is tough enough. I'm no coach, but I'd offer a few guidelines:

1) No more than twice per week, cut back to once/wk when tri volume gets higher or when you sense yourself burning out / not recovering.
2) Use a controlled rep speed and a full range of motion. Remember that one of the main benefits of lifting is prevention of injuries - you don't want to cause one.
3) Stick to multi-joint movements in most cases - you can train your body with less total exercises and get much better results. Ex: One set of shoulder presses is more beneficial than a set of lateral raises and a set of tricep pushdowns.

Do a hip/thigh exercise (leg press, squat, deadlift)
Do one or two push movements (bench press, shoulder press, dip, pushup)
Do one or two pull movements (chins, pulldowns, rows, shrugs)
Get some core work done
Get outta there

I have started Mikes weight training on D3 and I like it alot. I come from a lifting back ground and the exercises plus reps are perfect for this sport.

work on building core strength using pushups, pullups, abs, and major muscle weight lifts, ie, squats, military presses, etc, overall fitness,  check out crossfit.com.  

Here's my opinion of how to structure a strength training program for the off-season...assuming that you are currently in the prep/base phase of training andyou have several months before you begin racing.  The goal is to get stronger while your swim/bike/run training schedule is relatively light and you can afford to hit the weights hard a couple times each week.  Once you get into your build phase and racing season you won't be able to get any hard lifting sessions so you'll be focused on maintaining strength with a quick circuit every 7-10 days.

• Stickwith compound movements that work multiple muscle groups and simulatethe type of mechanics our bodies are designed to do...consider these"structural" exercises. Isolation exercises like bicep curls and legextensions might be useful for bodybuilders who lift for appearance butdon't comapre to "structural" exercises that use lots of muscles in acoordinated action for building functional strength that can be directly appliedto our sport.
  
• Avoid the machines as much as possible and chest/shoulder (pressing)machines should be avoided at all costs. Most "pulling" machines areactually okay. Most "pressing" machines don't allow your joints tochoose their own range/path of motion and force both shoulder joints tohave the exact same movement path. Some people will suggest machinesfor inexperienced lifters to avoid injury using free weights but inreality, free weights are only dangerous if you are trying to lift toomuch weight so start very light and you'll be fine.
  
• Allowplenty of time for recovery between lifting sessions. Dependingon whether you decide to do total-body workouts or "split" workouts, 2-3sessions of 30-45min per week is plenty to build strength. To beeffective, muscle-building exercises must inflict some damage toyour muscles...and then you need to stay away from the weights longenough to let your body to repair that damage. The result is bigger,stronger muscles. I try to hit everything once per week with theexception of abs/core which I work 2-3 times per week.
  
• Try to make progress every single session. This might be a higher volume of repititions (add one rep to each set or even one rep total), heavier weights (same sets/reps but with 5lbs more weight), or (more likely)some combination of the two for each exercise. For example, I dopull-ups a couple times a week as part of my strength training.I started with 3 sets of 6 reps (6,6,6) and have been adding a single rep each session for the past few weeks (7,6,6-7,7,6-7,7,7-8,7,7...) last week I was up to 10,10,9 but I decided to change things up a little the other day and did 5 sets of 6 reps (6,6,6,6,6)instead. I still only added one rep to my total but changed thestimulus my muscles got and I can honestly say I felt sore frompull-ups for the first time in a couple weeks.

So with thosebasics in mind we could build a very simple strength training routinethat you could do 2x per week and get a great total-body workout. Squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench press, pulls-ups, and shoulder press.  I personally split these up into 2 sessions (back/chest and legs/shoulders). Squats, deadlifts, and lunges are great for your legs, back, and core.They are typically done with a barbell but if you don't have experiencewith free weights then go ahead and start without any weight or justuse a light bar without any additional weight for a couple of sessionsto get the feel of the technique. Bench press works the chest, frontshoulders, and triceps. Pull-ups work the back and biceps. Shoulderpresses primarily work the shoulders (duh). If youcan'tdo more than 2-3 pull-ups then use the lat-pull-down machineinstead..keep the weight light enough so that you can pull it down toyour chest with a slow controlled motion and don't need to throw yourweight into it. The bench, shoulder press, and pull-ups are basic pushand press movements but there are many variations that can be done in agym, orat home with some dumb bells and a stability ball, includingchest press (flat, incline, decline...BB and DB), dips, and rows (bent, seated, and upright...BB, DB, and cable), and shoulder presses (BB and DB).I like to switch between barbell and dumbbell for the presses from weekto week. They provide a different range of motion and change thestimulus slightly.

A clissic 3 phase periodization plan would go something like this:

Startwith 3 sets of 15-20 reps of each movement 2x per week for the first2-4 weeks. This is   called anatomical adaptation and it basicallyconditions your muscles to start lifting heavier weights and buildstrength and power later. Remember, the goal is to make incrementalprogress everysession so try to add either a rep or some weight eachtime.

Once you get comfortable with the exercises and yourmuslces get "broken in" you'll want to start increasing the weight anddecreasing the number of reps. Generally speaking, heavy weight and lowreps increase strength most effectively. The next phase is hypertrophy.Here you'll increase the weights and decrease the reps per set to 8-12.I like to pick one exercise to focus on each session (bench press for example)and do 4X10 and then 2 sets of 10-12 for another 2 exercises like dipsand db incline presses. Add 4X10 deadlifts, 2X12 pull-ups, and 2X12rows and you've got a great upper body session. Stay in the hypertrophyphase for 4-6 weeks and continue to strive for incremental progressevery session.  This shouldn't bulk you up significantly since you'llonly spend 4-6 weeks in the hypertrohy phase and then move tostrength/power.

Finally you'll move to the strength/power phase.Weights will increase again and reps will decrease to 5-8 per set andyou might be doing 4-5 sets per exercise. Here we're no longer focusedon bigger muscles but improving power by starting to lift a bit fasterwith more explosive movements. This is where that strength you gainedin the last phase gets transitioned into something useful. Again, go4-6 weeks with this phase if time allows.

Once you've gonethrough this basic periodization progression you should be getting intothe higher volume part of your triathlon training and you might even bepicking up some more intense bike and run sessions. From here on outyou'll want to move to a maintenance phase for the rest of the seasonwhere you move back to moderate weights and lift 2-3 sets of 12-15 repsonce or twice a week as your training schedule allows. I personallyback way off the weight room from mid summer on out because I justdon't need any additional work for my legs and I can't afford to use mylighter days for something strenuous like lifting.