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Strength Training & weight Loss
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 2008-01-30 10:42 PM |
Veteran  345   Indiana |  Subject: Strength Training & weight LossOK, so I know that strength training promotes weight loss by building muscle, but I am wondering about it from a tri perspective. I am currently running & swimming 3 days a week (MWF), while taking a spinning class 2 days a week (T & TH). If I do strength training one day a week (SAT) will I get any benifits from it? Or would I be better off just sticking to the swim, run, bike workouts and adding a longer block workout on the weekend? Most of the plans I have seen call for 3 or 4 days of strength training, and 2 days of cardio. For the record, I am currently over 250, and am looking to drop at least 25 lbs by my June Tri. thank you for any advice you may have...... |
| 2008-01-31 3:35 AM in reply to: #1185361 |
Veteran 168 Epsom, Surrey, UK | Subject: RE: Strength Training & weight Loss kmwilliams - 2008-01-30 4:42 AM OK, so I know that strength training promotes weight loss by building muscle, but I am wondering about it from a tri perspective. I am currently running & swimming 3 days a week (MWF), while taking a spinning class 2 days a week (T & TH). If I do strength training one day a week (SAT) will I get any benifits from it? Or would I be better off just sticking to the swim, run, bike workouts and adding a longer block workout on the weekend? Most of the plans I have seen call for 3 or 4 days of strength training, and 2 days of cardio. For the record, I am currently over 250, and am looking to drop at least 25 lbs by my June Tri. thank you for any advice you may have...... Strength training: increases your metabolism as muscles burns more calories than fat. It also promotes strong bones. For women, I would say that strength training is absolutely necessary, tri or no tri, because regular weight training can largely reduce the risk of osteoporosis and other bone density degernative problems. For men, probably not so much so, but they'll see gains from training much faster than women. Will it make you a better triathlete? Well, yes, if you concentrate on exercises that would strengthen the muscles you use in tri. Squats for cycling, lat pull downs for swimming, etc. Will it make you a thinner triathlete? Probably not much. I would say that if you have a limited time to work out, then concentrate on run/bike/swim. If, however, you have two extra 30 minute slots a week, then do it. One word of advice: do it twice a week or not at all. In the beginning, the benefits of weight training are lost quickly. Only working out once a week, or twice a week but only 2 weeks a month is probably a waste of time. Edited by jetlag 2008-01-31 3:37 AM |
| 2008-01-31 10:17 AM in reply to: #1185361 |
| Regular 54 | Subject: RE: Strength Training & weight Loss I added a professionally designed strength and core work-out to my plan a month ago. I think it's helped me out quite a bit both in weightloss and in increased power. I do strength on W and F, along with biking. I find it convenient as I'm in the gym on the bike anyway. It comes out to cardio 6/week, 2/week strength. M- Run and bike, T-swim and run, Wed - bike and weights, T - swim and run, F - bike and weights, Sat or Sun - swim and run. I do my weights after the bike, maybe you're not supposed to. My workouts are quite light, never having more than an hour of cardio so I'm not especially tired. In just a month, I have decreased my swim strokes/50 by 2. I think the increased weightloss (1lb/week, rather than < .5/week) is a factor of, I'm increasing strength, which builds muscles that themselves burn calories, and muscles that help me go further in the same time, thus burning more calories per cardio than I would have otherwise. That's just my opinion though, no medical basis. |
| 2008-01-31 8:57 PM in reply to: #1185361 |
Expert 1170 Berkley, MI | Subject: RE: Strength Training & weight Loss kmwilliams - 2008-01-30 11:42 PM OK, so I know that strength training promotes weight loss by building muscle, but I am wondering about it from a tri perspective. I am currently running & swimming 3 days a week (MWF), while taking a spinning class 2 days a week (T & TH). If I do strength training one day a week (SAT) will I get any benifits from it? Or would I be better off just sticking to the swim, run, bike workouts and adding a longer block workout on the weekend? Most of the plans I have seen call for 3 or 4 days of strength training, and 2 days of cardio. For the record, I am currently over 250, and am looking to drop at least 25 lbs by my June Tri. thank you for any advice you may have...... I agree with a comment above - do it at least 2 x a week. Here is a neat little fact. Do your strength training BEFORE your cardio... and burn up to 10% more calories than if done after or seperately. There are three basic way you can do this and get a good rounded strength training session in: Option 1 - Longer wokrouts, but splits up the muscle groups. Day 1 - upper body Day 2 - lower body Option 2 - further muscle group break down, shorter workouts Day 1 - Back and Biceps Day 2 - Chest and Triceps Day 3 - Legs and Shoulders This 3 day a week is a great way to sneak in an additional day - AND your overall strength workout is shorter because you are only working two muscle groups instead of 4-6. The theory is that back and your biceps are assitance muscles to each other - notice how you do something with your back? Your biceps are a secondary muscle being worked. The same goes for chest and tris. They assist each other! Legs and shoulders work well together because your legs require a LOT of blood and effort to work out, whereas your shoulders are small and require a lot less, so you can work these muscle groups together and not sacrifice your workout. And the third option - longest workout, requires at least 3 days rest between session. Full body with 3 days rest afterwards.
Good luck and great goal on the Weight loss! |
Just make sure you have a little rest between the strength and cardio - like 5-10 minutes or so. |
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