SBR is null right now and i gotta say it feels good. 2 weeks off lol
I carry a decent amount of extra fat and since i’m not lifting heavy yet, and getting accustomed with the lifts i can still do a deficit, that period might change next year depending on where i land, weight/fat wise. But at 185lbs for 5’8" there’s a LOT more to be lost lol.
I’ve gotta put everything in the calendar, i wanted to just do base training until march-april and then turn on the machine, which gives me about 2 months of build, 1 month of specialty before the race.
Also i’m almost 98% sure i’m getting a tribike (vs my roadie) so my it should be interesting to see its effect on my bike time.
I don’t know the research at all, but my small group of friends who do this stuff have all had bad experiences mixing goals between “dieting” of some kind (calorie restriction and what-not), endurance gains, and strength gains. It’s almost like you can pick to progress in one of the three while maintaining the others. IDK what level you have to be at to work on two or three at once (maybe a pro with full-time coach, nutritionist, etc).
It’s like those ability points in RPG you only have so many to allocate at “our levels”
And yes i believe that it’s not possible to get meaningful improvements unless you’re focusing on a particular segment, heck SBR by itself consists of that too, there’s always one that’s stronger than the others.
To the OP and the original question my opinion is that it’s not really possible unless you are happy to make significant compromises across the board. Sure, strength and tri, but not really in my experience linear strength progression in compound moves as well as build and improvement in tri disciplines.
I have tried alot over the years. Basically I was a power lifter for 10 years then for the past 7 have been enjoying endurance sports. I have only ever improved significantly in one or the other.
There also comes a point, as already pointed out, where time is a major issue.
That’s not to say that strength gains aren’t possible but I think starting strength or 5*5 things are too challenging.
Hahaha I used to dream of Blizzard letting me have unlimited talent tree points. Alas
Coach Chad has mentioned many times working on strength gains during a base phase, then switching to strength maintenance during build and specialty phases. Seems consistent regardless of source.
As always it depends on the goals.
If the goal is to become as fast as possible in Tri races, then concentrate on SBR (+ maybe core or other limiters) and don’t mess with strength training.
If the goal is to have fun and be an overall healthy athlete, then it is possible to some degree with a good periodisation.
First of all: the most important thing in Tri is reaching the start-line healthy.
To achieve that, it is highly recommended to run all year round to avoid big ramp ups in volume.
That should be priority No 1 (although this is the bike centric TR forum).
If you prepare with TR plans for the Tri races, these are 24 weeks a year, where strength training should be reduced to 1/week maintenance at max. TR plans are heavy on the side of intensity. Additional strength training can easily be too much (+ it increases vlamax).
But during the rest of the year, you could start with a focus on strength (while keep running) and reduce it gradually while ramping up SBR when the beginning of the Tri training plan is getting nearer.
If the goal is to become as fast as possible in Tri races, then concentrate on SBR (+ maybe core or other limiters) and don’t mess with strength training.
So while i completely agree with it, having listened to the podcast and all… i know that in terms of injury prevention, strength can help (obviously if you don’t overdo it).
In terms of recruiting more “different” muscles to get the work done, there is a lot of work to do as well. My hammies, my lats, my core, etc… they haven’t been properly worked in years. And being able to use them can contribute to less fatigue in the long run (pun intended).
I’m not winning any podiums, but i want to be more resiliant, as an athlete but also as a human
Hi PhilippePhlop;
Here is my advice based on my personal journey starting as a bulky weight trainer, to a runner, then a triathlete, and eventually a well-rounded but non-categorized fit person.
For YEARS I fooled myself into thinking that I could be amazing at everything simultaneously, and to make a long story short, you can’t…or at least I definitely can’t. The types of workouts and nutrition you need to get better and then become REALLY good at one sport are often counter-productive to other sports.
From reading your post, here are two lessons that I learned that eventually helped me improve at everything:
First, focus only on ONE sport at a time! Break your year into 3 or 4 different parts and focus on only one sport during each one. That one sport you are focusing on, do it 3-4 times a week and really concentrate on being fully prepared and ready to put 100% into those. All your other sports, you can still do them, but at most once a week at reduced volume and intensity. I really struggled with this one as I felt that I would lose hard-earned progress in the neglected sports, but it didn’t work that way. The progress came back as soon as I made it my focus again.
Second, strength is not always about building bulk. Doing resistance training in a very controlled and slow manner tends to fortify existing muscles rather than build new ones. You can use this to your advantage as it’s possible to keep your weight down and still become much stronger. You will eventually hit a plateau though and you will have to decide at that point if you want bigger muscles and start the cycle again.
Good luck.
Thanks
Yeah it seems to be the consensus, there needs to be a focus.
I don’t care THAT much about appearance… mostly about performance and just being a fit human being. But since i’m definitely in it for a few years i can keep repeating the cycle yearly and keep building on close to where i left off i guess.
But the problem with triathlon is that i can’t just focus on ONE at a time, otherwise i won’t be race ready. Yes, one of the 3 usually has to take more of a backburner spot. But i wonder how little time i can dedicate to strength in order to maintain, or not lose as much
Hey PhilippePhlop,
Check out Alex Viada - The Hybrid Athlete. He is an extreme example, towards the power-lifting side of the spectrum, but I found the principles behind his scheduling of workouts really helpful in developing my own training regimens.
A triathlete training is doing 3x SBR each week minimum in my very humble opinion. We aren’t trying to becoming better cyclists we’re trying to become better triathletes. I’ve tried single sport focus and failed miserably and gone backwards in the neglected two.
I know lots of triathletes don’t do 3/wk/leg, in fact even as a swim lover I’m only doing 2/wk. A focus on one sport should mean upping to 4+/wk without reducing the others below 3.
But in order to maintain strength only 1 session a week is all that’s needed. 30-45mins.
A triathlete training is doing 3x SBR each week minimum in my very humble opinion. We aren’t trying to becoming better cyclists we’re trying to become better triathletes. I’ve tried single sport focus and failed miserably and gone backwards in the neglected two.
I know lots of triathletes don’t do 3/wk/leg, in fact even as a swim lover I’m only doing 2/wk. A focus on one sport should mean upping to 4+/wk without reducing the others below 3.
But in order to maintain strength only 1 session a week is all that’s needed. 30-45mins.
Yeah that’s the thing, i can do bike and run easy (just run off the bike)
The swim always takes up more time between getting there, getting changed, doing the workout, getting back and getting changed.
And so does the gym (which is why ive been eyeing the idea of getting a home gym… but i can’t do overhead press in my basement )
I just don’t know how i’ll fit everything in my already busy schedule. There’s always one of the 3 disciplines that enters more of a maintenance stage at some point. Can’t push hard on all 3 in every block.
It all depends on your goals. Triathletes tend to get totally soaked into this spiral, where you always think you should train more and if you want to be a real triathlete, you should train even more. (Maybe over 20h+/week are like acceptable, but more would still be better).
I‘d agree that if you are performance orientated and focus on the longer distances, 2/3/3 SBR is the minimum (with 12h/week).
But Triathlon is a beautiful sport on shorter distances and with less performance focus, too.
And to be honest: if you tell a recreational runner, that you are training almost nothing with only 2x/week (each sport), this still means training at 6 days a week…
So even if you are not training a lot (many hours), you are still training very often in triathlon. Adding other sports increases this problem. And with having many other things on the plate, I find it sometimes mentally easier to train 4x3h/week than 8x1,5h.
I’ll be 43 this year so I decided it was time to actually start lifting some weights. I started doing Scientific Triathlon’s 19-week strength program this year. I feel like it has been very helpful. I definitely feel “stronger” and more durable. I like how his plan incorporates some mobility before the lifts and core/plyometrics after. I have noticed that I have had to reduce the intensity of a few swim/bike/runs.
I’m back into 5x5 lifting, twice per week, now that my 2023 Ironman is behind me. At my age 3x5 is probably more suited but while the weight is lighter it’s okay.
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