weight lifting

No expert here - but it is still lifting season for me - I do four days a week and do twice a week lower body (for my "bird" legs). I do three x swim and 2x bike and run. Plan to go into maintenance mode for April May with first tri early June. Will drop the weights to twice a week - one day for lower body and one for upper. Less sets - more reps and less weight. Still will do ab and core body work which helps with the swim. My trainer thinks this will be a good approach for my virgin tri season.

I think lifting weights can be a great benefit. Although I'm new to tri training I think that weights are an important part of training. I was given a book from someone at work that totally changed my outlook on weightlifting. I want to say that it's called the Power Plus Program but can't remember exactly what it is. I will find out and put it on here though. I would definately suggest reading this book. The authors whole emphasis is on functional strength for athletes, as opposed to normal weightlifting routines that are geared to looking good. I'll get back to you with the name asap.

I do twice a week, and split the upper body part. I'm trying to start working in some yoga but only about once a week so far. I definitely want to do more of that - my flexibility through the shoulders is awful, and I frequently have back stiffness. I used to do yoga back in the day and it had all kinds of physical and mental benefits. What I'd like to do is replace the lifting entirely with body weight resistance exercises, medicine ball, climbing, and yoga. When I come up with the perfect combination I'll let everyone know. (the big advantage being I'd only have to go to the Y to swim).

I do 3X a week, M,W,and F.  I alternate upper body, then lower body.  If I miss one, no big deal, just pick up where I left off.  I try not to beat myself up over this because while I know how good it is to do, I don't really enjoy it.

I lift 2x a week on Mon & Wed.
My splits include shoulders, chest, back, bi/tri, quads, hams, calves and abdominals on both days.
I built myself up to 3 X 15 reps (from 1 X 12 reps) for each with lighter weights.
I have been at it since January and really see the benefit in all 3 sports but was only sore the first couple of days.

I signed up to meet with the personal trainer at our YMCA. She is going to make a plan for me for strength training! She mentioned 4 weight workouts a week- alternate upper body, lower, upper, lower. She said she can also help me find my optimal aerobic work out zones, etc. I think this will help me feel confident as I get started.

Before I began training for tri's I would lift 4-5x per week. I have cut that down to 3x. I lift chest/tris, back, shoulders/bis. I have completely cut out lower body. If anybody has suggestions as to if they think that is a good idea or not it would be helpful. I feel I get enough lower body exercise by running, swimming, and biking 6 days a week. And when I lift lower body I don't feel like I will be able to get in a solid tri workout afterwards.

I do "functional" strength training three times a week with emphasis on core strength; every exercise has been modified to also strengthen core muscles while working on the major group. High reps, low weights, 3 sets
I also have a love hate relationship with a stability ball.
I am interested in adding some Yoga into the mix and am curious to see how it is working for people.

No need for body part splits, that's for body builders. Don't neglect the legs either.
Let's say you are at the gym three times a week (twice is enough, once won't put on muscle).
Do full body each time, with emphasis on different body parts, one or two real work sets.
Mon - heavy bench, pullups, dips, some kind of back row, light leg press, leg extension, leg curls, crunches
Wed - squats, pullups, dips, light bench, some kind of back pull, calfs, crunches
Fri - body weight circuit of pushups, burpies, dips, pullups, crunches. Set some numbers and then do as many sets as it takes to get them. Let's say 250 pushups, 50 pullups, 50 burpies, 50 dips, 250 crunches. Do as many sets as it takes to get to your numbers.
All of this shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours a week, with warmup run and stretching afterwards.
Don't have 3-4 hours a week, or that's too much time away from tri training?
Drop one of the weight workouts and just do one day of lifting and one day of body weight exercises. On that one day of lifting do big exercises that will strengthen your core, bench, deadlifts, squats, back rows, dips. They are very time efficient,
On the body weight day you don't even have to go to the gym, do them during your run/bike/swim. Run for a bit, drop down and do a set of pushups. Run for a bit, hang of a tree branch and do a set of pullups and so on...
It's a great way to train your whole body, and it's extremely time efficient.

edit:
Just saw the yoga comment above. I try to do some Pilates or yoga after every workout, as my stretching. I'm a huge fan of both. I used to be the least flexible guy on my paddling team. I could barely touch my ankles, let alone my toes. After a year of yoga/Pilates I'm probably the most flexible one. It helped my running and swimming immensely as well.



Edited by haris 2004-03-03 9:46 AM

Yeah, we have a park near us with a mile trail and workout stations along it...very good stuff.

Thanks everyone. It sounds like most everyone does some form of lifting. I'm glad I don't need to cut it out completely these next 8 weeks. I will switch to two days a week, with upper and lower body splits. I find if I try to do a whole body circuit at one time that I don't have the energy to really focus and push myself. My workout times are usually limited so I don't have enough time to get everything done.

I'm definitely going to incorporate more yoga and Pilates. In December I was really good about doing yoga and I could tell a difference in my running. I need to get back to doing it on my own, even if I can't make it to a class.

If you go to the gym twice a week, lower/upper split, each body part gets three sets a week and a week's worth of rest. It's hard to make gains on once a week workouts.

If you go to the gym twice a week, full body, compound exercises, and do two sets per body part, each body part gets four sets a week, and two or three days worth of rest. Overall it gets worked more during the week, even if it feels like it's getting less work. Plus the workouts are way shorter. My whole body workouts are between 30 and 45 minutes.




Edited by haris 2004-03-03 1:43 PM

I'm doing 4 days per week - basically a modified beginnertriathlete routine:

Mon - Chest & Tris
Tue - Back & Abs

Thr - Legs & Abs
Fri - Biceps & Shoulders

All efforts are 5 sets of 12 reps. Weight is light (50-75% of maximum) and I do 3 different lifts for major muscle groups like chest, back and legs and 2 lifts for minor muscle groups like biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I am doing this while maintaining the Olympic (2 workouts for each swim, bike, and run per week) training and it seems to be working. I'm a bit overtrained in the upper body and plan to scale back to 3 sets of 12 reps if I move beyond Olympic racing and into the (yikes) 1/2 IM level next year. It will just be too much of a time and effort commitment to compete with the added cardio time necessary for the long races.

I've been keeping this up since December and I'm doing fine (that is to say that I'm now used to being sore all the time!).

Good luck!


Edited by Eightman 2004-03-03 5:46 PM

LOOK OUT, HE IS SERIOUS.  I lift about three times a week.  Work on the whole body, no real heavy weight.

A lot of good comments to ponder. There doesn't seem to be a one-size-fits-all approach, just what works best for everyone individually. The good news is that it seems like everyone still does SOME type of lifting. Yeah! Thanks everyone!

The guys name is Dr. Colgan and the book is "The New Power Program" here are some links.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1896817009
www.colganinstitute.com

Even if you are going to a personal trainer I would still check this out. Try going to the library first, I think its on the pricey side.

After day splitting my tri-training I think the ONLY way Im going to have time to work in strength training is by getting weights for the house so even if I do it at 11 at night I'm still getting it done. I used to mostly lift weights and do cardio a couple days a week when I had time. Now I'm so involved in the tri-training its a complete role reversal and I miss the weight training.