Historically, training with weights for sports has been regarded as the domain of power sports like football and track sprinting and field sports like shot put and discus and hammer throwing.
It's not difficult to see why: These sports are obviously populated by large and well-muscled athletes who ooze power and strength.
Gradually, though, athletes who play team sports have added weight training, since particular aspects of the game required power and strength -- hitting and throwing in baseball, jumps in basketball, even golf swings.
Now professional trainers realize that just about any sport has elements of power and strength requirements, so strength training is used to help people like marathoners and Tour de France riders, who traditionally did not do weight training because it was perceived to be of little or no benefit and might even cause problems.
Disagreement Among the Experts
The subject of weight training for endurance athletes is discussed regularly in various training forums. Some quote the success of 7-time Tour de France cyclist Lance Armstrong as an athlete who benefited from strength training -- even though much of it was done in the off- and pre-seasons. Others say it's not worth the time in-season, although they would consider it during off-season as cross training. It's fair to say that consensus on this issue is not close and that there are no convincing studies to establish either side's certainty.Specificity Is the Key
I'm one who favors either of two approaches to weight training for endurance athletes:- Only do weight training in the off- and pre-season.
- Do weight training in-season only if time and convenience permit, and even then, only work the upper body and abdominals. Leave the legs to do the work on the road and track.
My reasons for this are as follows:
- Endurance athletes spend a huge amount of time training their legs to perform over the distance of choice. This requires many hours on the road or track to build up energy systems and muscle condition appropriate to the long races involved. This is very specific training and, mostly, it cannot be replaced by shorter distance and fewer hours at higher intensity. (I've run a dozen marathons and a few less triathlons and countless shorter endurance races, so I have a good "feel" for the requirements.)
- Strength and muscle training and endurance training are really at opposite ends of the conditioning spectrum. They involve optimizing different energy systems and muscle fiber types and it is likely that one will cancel out the other and leave you less than optimized for your event, or that one type will dominate and negate the other substantially. This has been termed "neural confusion" by some expert trainers.
- Considering the long hours and demand that is placed on the leg muscles and joints in endurance training, my feeling is that any benefit from a few hours of strength training for leg muscles each week will quickly be overcome by the long hours and miles of distance training, which emphasizes specific and disparate physiological systems. Weight training of the legs in season could be a waste of time. The many hours of running or cycling builds the leg strength you need to perform well. Specificity rules, OK?
Target the Upper Body and Core
One thing you learn quickly as an amateur marathoner or triathlete who wants to do their best in a race is that you have limited time to do much else because of the time it takes to train for these events.Getting to the gym to do a weights session is probably only really feasible, for most, if you have plenty of time on your hands or you race and train full-time as a professional. And if you do get to the gym, the most benefit from weight training could result from training the upper body and core muscles -- the arms, shoulders, abdominals and lower back -- which are probably important for developing "running economy," an efficient use of oxygen for the speed at which you travel. If you're a triathlete, arms, shoulders and upper back for swimming power might benefit from strength work, but bear in mind that it's a similar argument for the arms as the legs: Actual swimming is probably more productive in-season, and weight work may be better done in the off-season or pre-season.
Choosing a Program
The Basic Strength and Muscle program is an all-round strength program that will help you develop elements of muscle bulk and strength. Ideally, you would do this in the off-season or pre-season and either abandon the leg exercises during in-season training and continue with the upper body exercises, or alternatively, cease weight training once you start increasing your mileage for the racing season proper. This applies to endurance runners or cyclists.Either way, rather than use up valuable running or cycling time getting to and from the gym, you could also use weights at home. Dumbbells are ideal for this, especially for upper body work. The abdominals can be targeted with body weight exercises and the whole lot can be done in front of the television before dinner. How to Do Dumbbell Exercises provides some guidance.
Summing Up
While some aspects of strength training are no doubt helpful for endurance athletes -- strong abdominals is a good example -- more extensive weight training programs have yet to be proven to be advantageous for marathoners and similar enthusiasts.Source
Jung AP. The impact of resistance training on distance running performance. Sports Med. 2003;33(7):539-52.
