How much strength taining?

What are your goals?

Strictly for triathlon performance, the answer is probably none.

Man, you should make that your avatar.

I should. It's my new favorite. I crack myself up.

ETA - sorry for the hijack.

OP - You'll find lots of interesting discussion about strength training.

Edited by mrbbrad 2010-08-11 3:35 PM

I guess some of you have noticed the thread that was supposed to 'put the weighttraining debate in its grave' over at ST.  I think it's up to 200+ posts by now -- I guess it's 'grave' is the 7th circle of hell.  (OTOH, there are actually quite a few good points being made there -- OP you might have a look.)

Didn't know that was the can with all the worms in it.....Just perused the ST forum's charlie foxtrot on the subject and now I have a headache....Think I'll go ride my bike 

hey now.....my face palm pic in another thread got deleted. 

Best response ever...

Generally triathletes (including myself) who strength train do it solely for injury prevention rather than increased performance.

I would suggest triathletes (including myself) who strength train do it for overall fitness rather than injury prevention or increased performance.

OMG, I just spewed Diet Coke on my screen laughing so hard. I swear these threads are giving me an ulcer!!

Cheeky cheeky!

Well then people do it for a variety of reasons it appears.

yes, I suggest 3 sets of squats, 10-15 reps for the best cheekiness   

Yeah, it's a pretty contentious topic. Not a lot of agreement on what the benefits, if any, are.

I happen to be in the camp that thinks there can be some benefits in specific areas - as a personal example I used to experience quite a bit of lower back pain on long rides that made it hard for me to stay aero for long periods.

I decided to try and add some core exercises to my routine and after a few weeks of that I found I was able to hold my aero position more comfortably and with less pain.  I attributed the improvements to the fact that I now had a stronger and more stable core helping me hold a good position.

I also think, and I could be wrong, that it's possible to use some strength training to improve your power to weight ratio which, under some racing circumstances, could be advantageous.  The big question there seems to be how much time do you devote to that and are you actually better off spending that time doing more swim-bike-run than strength training.  I think that's a pretty individual question and depends a lot on where you are in your training block, what kind of race you're training for, what the current state of your aerobic fitness is, what your physical limiters are etc., etc.

Most of the elites do some kind of "cross-training" whether it's plyometrics, core conditioning, resistance training or whatnot.  I don't know any who bother with bench press and curls, they tend to be much more "sport specific".

Ultimately it's a question only the athlete and/or his/her coach could answer. 

That said bench press and curls have other advantages - sometimes it's nice to stretch that finisher's t-shirt a bit.  :-) 

I'm a huge proponent of lifting, but then again I used to be into powerlifting.  Go figure.

I'm a big proponent of strength training as well, but if you have a race coming up and you're trying to decide between S/B/R and lifting weights, I'd go with S/B/R every time. I do a lot of strength training in the off-season, but shift to almost 100% S/B/R as race season approaches.

Yes, I don't think you'd want to do strength training (which encompasses more than just lifting weights, of course) in lieu of S/B/R.  I think you'd want to do it as a supplement to S/B/R.  Unless you're rehabbing an injury perhaps.
 

I put strength training and core work in two different camps.  I do core work as ongoing PT for a back injury and swear by it, but it doesn't amount to much time and I can work it in after a run or swim or the odd time in the day without impacting my s/b/r.  I do some lifting in the winter to break up the gym routine, but rarely any during the Tri season.

Fair enough.  I tend to lump them together.  If I were to split them out then I'd say I do very little lifting during the year, but I average probably 3 core strength sessions (~25 minutes each) during the week.  

What lifting that I do isn't very triathlon specific - just general fitness really, unless I'm rehabbing something or trying to build specific strength in a particular area (rare). 

I think any speed I gain from my core/strength work is indirect -  probably mostly the result of being more stable and being able to hold better form longer as well as the hard-to-measure reduction of injury allowing me to S/B/R more consistently.

I suppose I may also gain a little extra power on the bike, but I haven't tried to measure it. 

I would suggest triathletes (including myself) who strength train do it because it makes us look so good when we take our shirts off.

Nothing to add for OP, but here's a lil sump'm for the "facepalm" sidebar discussion...

I do strength training numerous times a week. They're called "hills". I run up and down them a lot. Builds running-specific strength, and has the added bonus of fitting into my regular schedule.

Not all strength training involves machines and equipment and a gym, you know.

I would agree except Breen is a little MUCH older.     (but he does maintain a similar hair style)