Tri guys are weak... (Page 3)

I have my 45's and 9's but if we are talking equalizer's here then.......

Somehow this has turned into the tri equivalent of a penis-wagging contest.

Quite entertaining, though.

dang...drpete beat me to it, haha.

Noelle1230 - A rock climbing chick who can do pull ups is definitely hot.

Bench press - Way overrated. Overhead pressing is the better press, IMO.



Well, you can ask that about anything. Why would anyone ever need to run 26.2 miles when they can just take a car?

metric system

Uuuuuhhhhhhh, I think it was a joke...but maybe that's 'cuz I don't have a powermeter to wag?

I wonder if the OP has been watching some of the mark rippetoe videos on crossfit.com. 

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Wow, that statement couldn't be any more wrong.

Ask a family member or S.O. of an Ironman in training about balance.

Overall fitness should be a balance of endurance, speed, coordination(have you ever seen Lance Armstrong throw a ball... not so good) and strength.


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My dad can beat up your dad.

x2!!!!  I workout and train an average of 12 hours/week.  I've never felt so unbalanced as when I switched from dedicating 5-6 of those hours to tris as I do for sprint/olys over to 10-12 hours for a HIM.

X3. Any athlete dedicated to a single sport is going to be unbalanced in the sense that he or she will lack one or more of the following physical qualities: endurance, speed, coordination, and strength.

Endurance athletes are almost always seen as the pinnacle of fitness and health (see, for example, Outside magazine), and this is justified to some extent, but not completely accurate. People who lift weights are seen as vain. This is also justified to some extent, but also not completely accurate. Muscular strength is an important part of overall health and fitness. Note that I said nothing about muscular strength being important for improving triathlon performance.

If you have gotten into triathlons in order to make it to Kona and stand on the podium in your age group, then you should focus all of your efforts on that goal. But understand that by doing so you will become a specialist which will allow you to be good at one thing to the exclusion of others.

If you have gotten into triathlons to improve your health and fitness, then you are short-changing your goal by not adding in some weight training.

"Unbalanced" does not equal "lack". 

There is no accepted definition that I am aware of for physical "fitness" that provides weights to the qualities you mention.  Or define even an acceptable "minimum" level for each so that one qualifies as "fit".  I know your opinion on the matter, but it's just that.

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That's pretty funny- first you say that someone else's opinion couldn't be more wrong, and then you follow it up with a statement like that. How many people in the world would question whether Lance Armstrong is fit? How does throwing a ball well mean you are fit? Have you ever seen David Wells? Big, rotund ex major league pitcher...could throw the ball quite well but I'd never actually call him fit. Strong? Maybe. Talented? Yes. Coordinated? Well, if your definition is throwing a ball, then yes.

[rant]
So if I can't throw a ball particularly well, I 'm uncoordinated????  I can play scales on the guitar at a blistering speed.  I can write with both hands.  I can throw a (golf) disc over 400 feet, but because I never put any time into learning how to throw a ball I'm uncoordinated?  Come on.

Of course, this whole debate is, frankly, silly.  These terms are what you make of them.  As many others here probably did, I lived through the government's definition of 'physical fitness' while I was in elementary school PE (remember those 'Presidential Physical Fitness awards'?) and it was just as arbitrary and pointless as the definitions being offered here.
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Sorry.  I guess I"m in a bad mood.  I think I'll go swim to get more fit.

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You're right, weight training has traditionally not been included in definitions of fitness. I attribute that to two factors. First, if you're going to administer fitness tests it has to be fairly easy and convenient to administer. Take the Army PT test, for example. It tests push ups, sit ups, and two-mile run. Not the greatest of tests, doesn't measure all fitness qualities, but if you need to test a group of 50 soldiers, it's way easier to administer than having to take them into the weight room and watching them to bench press or squats. In practice, however, the majority of soldiers realize that physical strength beyond what push ups and sit ups measure is important to their job. So they add weight training to their routine.

Second, weight training has been associated with bodybuilding, with the typical response being "I don't want to look like those freaky bodybuilders." Hey, I don't want to look like that either. But this is a stereotype.

Fortunately, some researchers have looked past these bodybuilder stereotypes and have begun to explore the benefits of weight training for the average person, including the middle-aged and elderly populations. Here are the health benefits that can be gained from weight training: increased bone density/prevention of osteoporosis (important for both men and women), increased joint strength, better mobility, better coordination (muscles trained with compound exercises are trained to work together), increased muscle mass to prevent drops in metabolism that can lead to fat gain, and increased strength to be able to carry out daily activities.

My opinion may be an opinion, but it's based on lots of evidence.

I didn't give the example of throwing a ball as a benchmark of coordination, just like the bench press shouldn't be the determining factor for strength.

But if we're talking about overall fitness you have to consider all of the factors I mentioned. That's why the winner of the Decathlon is considered the worlds greatest athlete.


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But the apparent implication of your statement is that LA somehow lacks coordination, and that his alleged inability to throw a ball is somehow indicative of this condition.  The point that I was trying to make (in an admittedly somewhat snarky way -- sorry) is that 'coordination' in the general sense just means something like 'muscle movements coordinated in a way that accomplishes some end' (like throwing a ball).  There are many such ends, and the fact that a person is not particularly 'coordinated' with respect to one particular end (like throwing a ball) does not imply that that person is uncoordinated 'in general' -- in fact, I'm denying that the notion of 'uncoordinate in general' makes much sense at all.  There are various activities with respect to which one might be 'coordinated' or not (throwing a ball, playing the guitar, dancing, etc.).

And, as it turns out, there are some such activities with respect to which LA happens to be very coordinated (like handling a bike).

As for 'fitness', I'd say the very same thing.  I deny that there is such a thing as 'general fitness'.  There is fitness with respect to a variety of activities.  There is some carry-over from one activity to the next.  (The person who can run a sub 3hr marathon is probably also 'fitter' on a bike than the person who can't scratch out a 12 minute mile.  Probably.)  But I just don't know what it means to be 'generally fit' as opposed to 'a fit runner' or 'a fit swimmer'.  And I think that attempts to define 'general fitness' lead to the kinds of weirdness that I experienced in elementary and middle school PE classes.  (It didn't strike me as weird at the time; but it does now.)

I just find it funny (or sad) that there is so much negativity towards strength training on this site and on the "other" site.

True, triathlons are hard and the general public are in awe of what we do for fun. But don't get so focused into S/B/R that other important things suffer.





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agreed! ..strength training can be fun/competitive/aerobic too!

...check out www.crossfit.com!  I use their website to find my workouts for strength training 2-3 times/week.  They're fun because you compete against each other and against the clock (I don't do any of the heavy powerlifting stuff) ...their workouts are hard core..if you don't believe me, watch their exercise/demo videos--especially "Nasty Girls" or "Filthy Fifty"! 

Tuesday we did a total of 105 pull ups and 105 wall balls (squats where you throw a 14 lb. medicine ball up to hit a 10' mark) (sets of 50/35/20)

I actually think that the "Secret Service Snatch Test" is a pretty good test of "general fitness." Yes, it actually has origins in the Secret Service. It's simple. You have 10 minutes and one 24 kg (52 lbs.) kettlebell. Snatch it as many times as you can. You can set the kettlebell down and rest as many times as you want, but the clock keeps running. If we agree that "general fitness" requires some of each of the qualities of strength, endurance, speed, and coordination, then this test measures all of them.

http://www.fitnessyoucanuse.com/SSST.html