Strength Training for Endurance Athletes In- Season

Written by Jared Berg- July 24, 2008

The Reality: Now is the time to reclaim strength.  Many endurance athletes strength train all winter, are diligent about including strength during the spring but drop it all together during the season.  This may come as a bit of a disappointment to you; “If you don’t use it you lose it!”  All the strength that you worked so hard on will quickly dissipate after about three or four weeks.  You will be left vulnerable to injury and will be training without that glorious strength to weight ratio you had just four weeks ago.  Whether you are training long and or racing off the bike, your form will break down sooner, you will become less efficient and your results will show it!  Sorry about being the bearer of bad news but if you no longer in your mid twenties, you are extremely susceptible to this harsh reality. 

Why? One of the main reasons our performances decline as we age is because we lose muscle mass.  Endurance training focuses on slow twitch muscle fibers and does not help us build or maintain muscle mass. 

What do we do? I know it’s not easy but we continue to strength train throughout the season.  The trick is the timing and intensity of our strength sessions.  One of the main reason endurance athletes discontinue strength sessions in season is because they find it hard to recover before their next focused workout.  The best way to solve this problem is to do strength training after a focused bike or a hard run session.  The strength will actually become rehabilitative in nature allowing you to focus on form, flexibility and stability exercises after a tough workout.  I even have some of my athletes’ strength train after a race.  The cool thing is that you can recover from the hard work out or race and the strength session at the same time. 

A little goes a long way. One of the most important and maybe even refreshing characteristics associated with strength training in season is that is lighter.  You do not need to go to failure and lift the heavy weights.  It is all about maintenance not about getting stronger.  You can cut back on either resistance do a few less reps than you would do in the winter or spring.  The strength you maintain will still be light-years ahead of the strength you would have if stopped altogether.   Make sure you keep up with the all the stability and core exercises.

Timing is everything! Another trick for fitting strength in during a busy training schedule is to incorporate one quick strength day that spans twenty minutes or less.  Your other strength day will involve a more complete longer strength session that might take upwards of forty minutes.  On your quick strength day you could do everything at home using your body weight, exercise ball and a stretch cord. 

A typical week could involve a quick strength training session on Sunday after a long run or race and a longer strength session on Thursday after a focused bike.  With this schedule you will have time to recover on Monday before your hard Tuesday run with your training pod and Friday before a long weekend bike or race. 

It's not too late. If you have taken a break from strength work and would like to build it back in.  Start extremely slowly in order to minimize soreness and recovery time.  After a few weeks you will be able feel stronger and be in a much better position to courageously attack the end of your season!

Go long and stay strong!

Coach Jared