In
the previous blog post, Jason Shortis praised the impact that gym work had
played on lengthening his career and lowering his risk to injury. He is not alone
in being a firm believer of spending time in the gym. Most, if not all elite IM
athletes spend time away from the standard swim, bike and run training to value
add to their program.
So
what are they all hoping to achieve?
It
is a combination of outcomes they are striving for:
1)
Extra
strength
This is especially important towards the end of long
races. The gym work and weight sessions can target specific muscle groups that
would be hard to strengthen by triathlon training alone. Take a calf muscle for
example (soleus or gastrocnemius). This can be targeted specifically with a
calf raise piece of gym equipment and loaded above normal body weight. This
improves its strength above the normal parameters that running alone can give
it. A stronger muscle can work more efficiently for a longer period of time
with less effort. All of these things combine for faster times and the ability
to working longer in a race setting.
2)
Extra
balance
It is no surprise that a balanced body can work more
efficiently and with less chance of injury. Gym work can build one side of the
body that is weaker than another by targeting just that side. In cycling for
example, if one leg is stronger than another, the body must compensate with
these inefficiencies and use more effort for the same outcome. When yourironguide
first visited Star Physiotherapy, the first hour session was to test both sides
of the body individually, specifically the lower legs. It was quickly apparent
that one side was being favoured much more than the other causing a break down
over longer sessions. This difference was between 15 to 20%! In addition, to
compensate, body alignment was effected. In other words, running was not in a
straight alignment but slightly crab walking (leading with the left side). This
wasn’t obvious to the naked eye but over a 20km training session run, every
millimetre the alignment was out (for say 20,000 steps), increased the chance
of injury. If you go to a masseur regularly like me and run with a left side slightly
forward, this is easy to spot as one calf muscle on the left leg is strained
laterally (on the outside) and the right leg would be strained medially (on the
inside) and both need remedial work. The gym program is thus best designed with
all single leg work – nothing combined to try and improve this imbalance.
3)
Extra
core stability
Every Pro triathlete talks about core stability. Jan Frodeno (3rd this year at the IM world champs) said this in his latest interview "If I could offer one key tip to age-group athletes to improve their Ironman running it would be to get a stronger core". Have you
ever heard about running with your “bum in a bucket”? As we progress further in
to the run, the core muscles (stomach and torso) begin to work more and more to
keep an upright running stance. The further we progress, the more these muscles
tire and allow the skeletal system to take over. The outcome – your backside
starts to get closer and closer to the ground. While this may seem a natural
progression, it causes a massive inefficiency to your running style. Instead of
the foot planting under your centre of gravity and pushing out behind you
causing forward efficient motion, it makes contact with the ground further forward,
causing an initial “stopping” motion before being pushed out behind. Look at
any pro athlete running at the 30 – 40km mark of a marathon and see where their
bum is (high or low) and get the picture by comparing to an age grouper. By the
way, this may need some explaining if you are cruising the internet and your
partner asks what you are looking at!
4)
Time
management
If you are able to target and strengthen a muscle in half
an hour at the gym and it would have taken 3 hours of running to achieve the
same result – it is a “no-brainer” as to what option you need to go with.
5)
Flexibility
Any improvement in the range of motion a muscle can work
under obviously lowers the risk of injury.
6)
Rehabilitation
Yourironguide unfortunately has had far too much
experience in this outcome. If you are unable to run or train due to injury, a
tailored weight training program will allow “active recovery” rather than
simply rest. It also beats getting depressed over not being able to train at
all.
Yourironguide
also asked Merv Travers, Clinical Director at Star Physiotherapy (and well respected
specialist in long distance athlete rehabilitation) to give some basic ideas of
why we should follow a structured gym routine. Here are his top 3 reasons:
1)
Injury
Prevention
No athlete can be bullet proof, but if you
want to reduce your injury risk the simple answer is to get strong. If you are
an endurance athlete the most effective way to reduce your injury risk is by
integrating strength training into your regime. Minimising training time lost
through injury, will allow you the consistency to make gains in each of the
disciplines.
2)
Run
Faster
Improved leg strength has been demonstrated to increase
running economy in triathletes and has also been shown to improve 5km time
trial time.
3)
Ride
Faster
Strength training has
been demonstrated to improve cycling economy and increase time to exhaustion at
max power in competitive road cyclists.
So
if now you are motivated to incorporate a weight session program in to your
week, how much and what activities should you concentrate on?
Merv
also gave some tips for sessions and frequency - The first step is deciding how
many sessions we should have a week. Every athlete is different and so no two
programmes are the same. Most importantly, your programme has to be “doable” –
it must fit with your other training and your life commitments. Yourironguide
had two weight training specific sessions a week in preparation for IMWA and
then added two core sessions at home a week. This fit with Merv’s intentions to
increase strength and also time management of how to fit them in. The gym based
sessions lasted an hour each and the home core sessions (following a fit ball
video or palates video) 30 minutes each. Not a lot of time in the scheme of
things - 3 hours total for the week as they are very specific in intentions!
The
second step is to design training sessions tailored to the individual athlete’s
needs and goals. A word of warning here
– any weights programme needs a professional to coach technique, to set
starting weights, activities and repetitions. Over the course of your
training programme, ongoing feedback is also vital to optimise the results from
your gym sessions and minimise injury risk. Yourironguide recommends here to
look for someone with an endurance background to give this specialist
information rather than a gym instructor at a one size fits all gymnasium.
The
following list is the top 11 gym activities we agreed on (after all, why stop at 10) typically for long
distance triathletes. Remember though, these are only a guide!. Every one of
these exercises MUST be performed correctly and only a specialist can give you
this training. Many of these exercises completed incorrectly will not only
fail to improve your strength but may well lead to injury!
1)
Calf
raises both combined and one legged (running and cycling specific)
2)
Leg
Press both combined and one legged (running and cycling specific)
3)
Weighted
split squat one legged (running and cycling specific)
4) Romanian Deadlift (cycling specific)
6) Lat
Pull down (swim freestyle specific)
7) Triceps
extension (swim specific)
8)
Side
and standard plank (core specific)
9)
Push-ups
or bench press (swim and core specific)
10)
Single
arm rows (swim specific)
11)
Flutter
kick (core and swim specific)
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