This is what scientific triathlon have concluded:
Edit, excerpt of his “Ten Commandments”
- Do a combination of heavy strength training (high weights, low reps) and heavy explosive strength training.
- Do prioritise compound (multi-joint) exercises that mimic sport-specific movements versus isolation exercises, and do favour free weights over machines when possible.
- Do two to three sets of each exercise and rest for two to three minutes between sets when you do high weight low rep training.
- Do leave 8 hours or more between your endurance and heavy strength training workouts if you train both modalities in the same day, to avoid or minimise interference.
- Do two strength training sessions per week over an 8-12 week period if you want to see significant endurance performance improvements.
- Do periodise your strength training so it progresses from an adaptation phase, through a progressive build phase where you increase the demands at an appropriate rate, into a maintenance phase during your race season.
- Do include maintenance weightlifting year-round, at least every 10 days, or you will lose the gains you’ve made in the gym.
- Do include an adaptation phase with low to medium weights and low to medium reps when you are getting back into weight training to refine your technique and ingrain the movement patterns of each exercise.
- Do include core training year-round. Ten to twenty minutes three to seven times per week is recommended.
- Do, optionally, include plyometrics, but be very careful and use a conservative progression to avoid injury.