The Benefits of Strength Training for Triathletes: Enhanced Performance & Reduced Risk of Injury

Swimming, biking, running…they all need to be paid attention to and carefully balanced in order to become a successful triathlete. With the already incredible amount of activity involved in triathlon training, you might ask yourself, “What is the point of strength training for triathletes? Is it even worth it?”

It can be tempting to think that just spending more time in the water, more time on the bike, and more time running miles is going to make you a better triathlete. But we’re about to see that training in this linear fashion can only get you so far, especially with the amount of variables that have to be juggled in this 3-in-1 sport.

This article is going to teach you why triathletes should incorporate strength training into their program, and how it can benefit their performance in all three sports, while at the same time reducing their risk of injury.

 Look at the incredible muscle definition of this triathlete. She is strong, symmetrical, toned, and stable, landing with a perfect midfoot strike. This is the kind of body that can produce power efficiently over long periods of time. (Image credit: image2roman/Adobe Stock)

What is Strength Training?

Strength training is a form of exercise that uses resistance to build strength, endurance, and power. It involves lifting weights, using resistance bands, or doing bodyweight exercises. The goal of strength training is to improve muscle function, increase bone density, and enhance overall athletic performance.

Some common myths around strength training for triathletes include:

• Gaining too much muscle mass too quickly (slowing you down)
• You can train for strength as opposed to muscle mass and see improvements in performance with minimal to no muscle mass gain
• It’s too time consuming to integrate into triathlon training
• A properly designed strength training session can be done in 30-60 minutes, a lot quicker than that 20 mile run you’re planning to do this weekend!
• You don’t need to strength train if you already do other physical activities
• There is a point of diminishing return when it comes to endurance activities, one that has to be supplemented by other training to avoid injury
• It’s dangerous and increases your risk of injury
• It’s dangerous NOT to strength train, and without learning how to implement it you’ll be putting your body at risk for overuse injury and chronic strain 

Let’s take a look at the benefits of strength training for triathlons, and why it’s important for you as a triathlete to include it as part of your regular programming.

  (Image Credit: kovop58/Adobe Stock)

Benefits of Triathlon Strength Training

Research studies have shown that by doing strength training as little as 2-3 times per week can have a dramatic effect on your performance in each of the three triathlon disciplines. One such study focusing on female runners produced marked increases in running economy, and also referenced improved running and cycling times to exhaustion after just a 10-week program.

Strength training has also been shown to prevent sports-related injuries in general, even more so than just stretching alone (which people are quicker to resort to over exercise). According to this meta-analysis, it was concluded that strength training could reduce injuries to less than ⅓, and overuse injuries could be almost halved across various sports.

Blood lactate concentration, heart rate, oxygen consumption, and rate of perceived exertion can all be lowered as a result of strength training. Most interesting about that research is that well-trained cyclists were able to achieve better 5-minute performance outputs after being pre-exhausted with 185 minutes of cycling. Certainly a desired outcome for triathletes.

 (Image credit: DZiegler/Adobe Stock)

Strength Training for Triathletes

As previously mentioned, just continuing to swim, run, and bike for farther and farther distances is not only going to take up exorbitant amounts of time, it might actually make you a worse athlete. This translates to increased injury risk, frustration, and exhaustive symptoms both physically and mentally.

You only need so much strength and power to do a stroke through the water, push the pedal on your bike, and propel yourself forward while running. Once you’ve adapted to these demands, your body will plateau and actually start to go backwards. There’s no reason for it to get stronger, faster, or more powerful. That’s where strength training comes in.

By doing strength sessions you are able to overload the muscles so that they have to become even stronger than what is necessary to do your activity. Strength training also provides the opportunity to work on weaknesses and areas of the body not stimulated sufficiently in the other aspects of your training, helping you to avoid overuse injury and, well…boredom.

Triathlete Strength Training Plan (Helpful Tips)

Below you’ll find some tips on how to choose exercises for your triathlon strength training, followed by an example exercise that demonstrates the benefit from our programming over at Dynamic Triathlete. If you’re looking for follow-along routines you can do anywhere, anytime - you can try us out for free by clicking here!

Strengthen Weak Areas

The low back is a problem area for people as a whole, but it gets even more pronounced when you have to be in compromised positions for long periods of time, such as those you’re in while riding your bike. Low back pain is a common issue amongst triathletes, but strengthening it can go a long way to preventing pain and injury from occurring.

Dumbbell Good Mornings

  Instructions:

1. Start standing with your feet shoulder width apart, dumbbells resting on your shoulders
2. Draw your belly button in to engage the core
3. Push your hips back, hinging forward with a straight spine and slight bend in the knees until just above parallel with the ground
4. Bring yourself back to the standing position by squeezing the glutes, hamstrings and lower back
5. Repeat for 10-15 repetitions and 3-4 sets

Good mornings are one of the most under-utilized yet efficient exercises for increasing lower back strength, and they also integrate the glutes and hamstrings in concert with your low back muscles. People are afraid to train their lower backs, which is one of the reasons they so often become injured. 

Do Compound Exercises

Compound exercises, or multi-joint exercises, work several muscle groups at the same time. This is important when training for sport performance and general health, because the body uses complex movement patterns to perform even simple tasks like walking up stairs. These exercises also burn the most calories and give you the greatest strength returns!

Bodyweight Squats

Instructions:

1. Start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, toes can be forward or slightly turned out, find a comfortable stance
2. Hold your hands out in front of you as a counter-balance
3. Draw the belly button in to engage the core
4. Push the hips back and bend the knees to squat down, keeping the chest up
5. If you can, get to parallel or even just below parallel, where your hips drop past your knees
6. Use your legs to push yourself back up, squeezing your butt in the process
7. Repeat for 10-15 repetitions and 3-4 sets

Squats should be one of the most fundamental movements in any training program. They work the whole upper leg and hip together with the core muscles. This type of integration is crucial for the three sports of triathlon, swimming, biking, and running. Add weight by holding dumbbells, a medicine ball, or sandbag to make the exercise harder if body weight is too easy.

Always Emphasize Core Work

All sporting activity has something in common, it starts at the core. A strong, healthy core is the foundation for your limbs to work off of when you’re pulling your arm through the water or pushing your foot off the pavement. There are many core muscles with many functions, so you have to constantly challenge them in new and stimulating ways.

Windshield Wipers

Instructions:

1. Start by lying on your back with your legs raised up, slight bend in the knee
2. Engage your core to flatten your lower back on the ground, maintain this tension throughout the movement
3. Slowly lower your legs to one side, until they’re about 45° to the ground
4. Use your abdominal muscles to pull your legs back up to the starting position
5. Lower to the other side
6. Repeat this movement back and forth for 10-20 repetitions total and 3-4 sets

This exercise not only emphasizes low back support and stiffness, but it also has a rotational element, which is something necessary for swimming and not challenged at all really in cycling and running. Windshield wipers serve as an example of a challenging core exercise that demands you perform multiple functions at the same time, making you a stronger, more dynamic athlete.

Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist