Gym Work Can Make You Faster
Many endurance athletes are busy people with full lives, making training and racing a jigsaw of time management, physical challenges, and mental stresses. The three-sport nature of triathlon means training is a challenging puzzle to solve. When we consider the integration of many other performance factors, such as sleep, nutrition, fueling, equipment choices, and environmental stresses (heat, altitude, etc.). It is no wonder that athletes often turn their back on strength and conditioning as a component of their training. This is a huge mistake for both health and performance. Fortunately, integrating an effective strength program does not require a significant increase in training hours. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to maximize the yield of the training hours you put in.
Meaningful action rarely happens without understanding, so today I’ll map a framework for integrating strength training.
Let’s get going:
The Value of Strength & Conditioning
It Isn't Just About Injury Prevention
Too many coaches suggest strength & conditioning is only good for preventing injury. I have two issues with this:
Injury prevention is not the whole context.
Done properly, functional strength training is a true performance enhancer for all athletes. (This is especially true for older athletes and female athletes.) Ingraining correct movements through weight lifting with proper form will make you more efficient and more comfortable when participating in all three sports. Additionally, from a psychological perspective, it is easier to commit to something that makes you better instead of simply acts as a preventative measure.
Strength & Conditioning is only part of your injury prevention protocol
It is incorrect to claim that a robust strength program alone will prevent injury. A poor endurance training plan, bad nutrition, inadequate fueling, or limited sleep will also contribute to injury risk – and they will not be remedied by a few hours in the gym. It is a mistake for coaches, and athletes, to use strength training as a magic pill to defend against injury when so many other factors contribute.
So, if strength training isn’t a magic injury-prevention elixir, what’s the point…?
I invite you to shift your perspective on strength and conditioning towards one of performance enhancement. Below are several reasons to include a year-round program in your weekly schedule:
Neural Recruitment:
Strength work improves the connection between the brain and muscles. Gym work doesn’t simply make you stronger – it also helps with coordination of movement, balance, stability, and mobility.
Consistent strength and conditioning improves your economy of movement, acquisition of great form, and delays the onset of fatigue in repetitive motions and endurance sports including swimming, biking, and running. The result: more efficient movement for longer periods of time – with less wasted energy.
More Muscle Fibers:
By increasing the number of fibers available for your main activities, strength and conditioning lays the platform for you to become more powerful.
It may seem obvious, but using more of your available muscle will make you stronger and faster. Strength training paves the way to unlocking dormant muscle fibers and teaching them to activate appropriately.
So what does a good endurance strength training program look like? Let’s dive in.
Components of a Good Endurance-focused Strength & Conditioning Program
Progression: Increase in difficulty as you gain mastery of the basics.
Therapeutic: Aid you in handling the rigors of the required challenging endurance training and racing.
Mobility Exercises: Improve movement patterns and support healthy joints.
Explosive Exercises: Ensures the elastic and explosive components of your firing muscles are maximized – the ones frequently used in sport.
Our Purple Patch strength program is designed for endurance athletes and is based on a year-round progression of strength, coordination, and mobility patterns.
I have found many athletes and coaches tend to drop strength training from their schedule as races creep up for two main
The regular (endurance) training sessions take priority.
They simply don’t know how to construct appropriate strength and conditioning sessions when endurance training becomes really hard, i.e. constructing sessions that don’t take away from properly completing endurance sessions.
It is relatively easy to prioritize strength training when training stress is low and races are months away, but looming races create conflict and confusion.
Unfortunately, a short-term focus on strength training in the postseason will provide minimal long-term gains. You need to commit to a year-round, integrated approach to strength. What you do in the postseason is very different to what’s done at the height of the race season. The key is an integrated and well-thought-out program which is easy to implement. This is why your strength and conditioning sessions should not dominate much time – a couple 30-minute sessions will yield great results.
Embrace the program, commit to it, and shift your lens from prevention to performance.
Mapping Out Your Strength & Conditioning Program
At Purple Patch, we are driven by athlete evolution. We want you to become a complete athlete this season, and improve functional strength over many seasons to come. This ethos is present in our endurance training plans and our view of strength and conditioning. We always want to keep the big picture in mind and empower you to progress not only toward your key events this year but also toward your vision of the athlete you want to become.
We’ve already discussed the benefits of committing to consistent strength training. Now we aim to explain the elements and progression of a season-long program in the context of your other training and racing. As mentioned, a strength and conditioning program should be focused on improving the following:
Mobility
Foundational Strength
Stability
Coordination
Power Production
Injury Prevention
Enhanced Recovery
You cannot achieve all this by repeating the same type of program each week. The program must match the phase of preparation (including race-readiness) you find yourself in over the course of the season. We structure our strength training program into three progressive phases. To help you further understand these phases, let’s explore a few example exercises.
Phase #1: Foundational Strength and Stability
Lays a foundation of strength and stability to improve your ability to handle an increased training load.
Prepares the body for stress with power production and multi-directional exercises.
Highly technical in nature, with skill acquisition and movement patterns being the priority.
Example exercises: bodyweight reverse lunge, push up, banded glute kickbacks, and core movements like plants or hollow rocks.
Phase #2: Synchronization and Power
Shift focus towards sport-specific functional movements and more complex exercises.
Maximize strength gains and improve power production.
Implement multi-joint movements and hit heavy overload (This is a challenging phase of programming and will make strength and conditioning a key part of your weekly programming.)
Align with challenging endurance work happening, with a focus on self-care and joint mobility.
Example exercises: squat, deadlift, and overhead press.
Phase #3: Race Specific
Optimize our preparedness to race and shift focus to maintaining health, joint mobility, and recovery.
This phase is characterized by maintenance, we are no longer seeking to get stronger here. Instead, we shore up what we have, keep sharp, and stay healthy.
Strength and conditioning takes a more supporting role in your training plan. (Think bassist rather than the lead singer. Important for overall performance but not in the spotlight.)
Example exercises: downward dog reaches, kettle twists, and banded leg lowering.
There you have it. It’s time to get strong and amplify your performance.
Want to incorporate strength into your existing triathlon, running, or cycling training program? Check out Purple Patch Strength: