what weight training should I be doing during off season? - Triathlon Week

09-30-2006, 01:13 AM

I am a newbie here and want to come back stronger and be injury free (as
possible) next season.

I have read you should do some weight training during the off-season.

Can anyone suggest exercises, links to good articles about this, books,...

Thanks.

09-30-2006, 01:13 AM

Notgiven wrote:
> I am a newbie here and want to come back stronger and be injury free (as
> possible) next season.
>
> I have read you should do some weight training during the off-season.
>
> Can anyone suggest exercises, links to good articles about this, books,...
>
> Thanks.

I subscribe to Chris Carmichael's periodicity method of training,
including weight training, nutrition, and run/bike/swim workouts.

My advice changes depending on if this is your off season (no triathlon
training), Transition/pre-foundation stage (starting to think about tri
training again), or base training (foundation, going long and easy) part
of your season.

My advice also changes depending on when your goal races are scheduled.

If you are in the off season or transition or pre-foundation, I would
work on core strength, and work on getting all of the little muscles
strong before the big muscles, and balancing front and back muscles and
other muscles that work together so that you are balanced and able to
stay injury free.

Pilates helps, as does yoga.

I am unsure of my source, as I printed this out to paper a few years
ago. This can also be found in one of his books.

These are the suggested gym workouts:
2 sets each
body weight or easy/light weight
15-20 reps each
Rest 2 minutes between sets

For 2 weeks
Day 1
Leg Press, Chest Press, Lat pull downs, Shoulder Press, Leg Curls, Back
Extension's on fitball, reverse crunches with fitball and ab crunches
with fit ball.

Day 2
Lunges, chest press, lat pull down, shoulder press, leg curl, back
extension on fitball, reverse crunches and ab crunches on the fit ball.

Week 3-4
Do 3 days a week.
Add hanging leg raises, squats, Russian twists, seated rows, dips, bicep
curls.

Good luck and enjoy your "off season". If your heart rate starts to fall
or raise too much, or you have troubles sleeping, or you find yourself
getting bored, back off. This is a sign that you are training too much
or not eating enough nutrients. Enjoy this part of the year and don't
get burned out in pre season.

My advice is to try and get a steady routine, including a week every 3-4
or 4-5 weeks where you cut down on your workload. This is so your body
doesn't force you to take extended time off every time you start to get
good at your work.

Eat enough, but don't eat so much that you have to work on taking the
weight off in other times of year. If you need to loose weight, this is
the time of year to do it in very small increments so that you are not
cheating yourself.

Have fun!

10-01-2006, 12:54 AM

Notgiven wrote:
> I am a newbie here and want to come back stronger and be injury free (as
> possible) next season.
>
> I have read you should do some weight training during the off-season.
>
> Can anyone suggest exercises, links to good articles about this, books,...
>
> Thanks.

Here is an article discussing "Off-season":
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

10-01-2006, 12:54 AM

"Triathlete" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:g%jTg.67669$5R2.11881@pd7urf3no...
> Notgiven wrote:
>> I am a newbie here and want to come back stronger and be injury free (as
>> possible) next season.
>>
>> I have read you should do some weight training during the off-season.
>>
>> Can anyone suggest exercises, links to good articles about this,
>> books,...
>>
>> Thanks.
>
>
> I subscribe to Chris Carmichael's periodicity method of training,
> including weight training, nutrition, and run/bike/swim workouts.
>
> My advice changes depending on if this is your off season (no triathlon
> training), Transition/pre-foundation stage (starting to think about tri
> training again), or base training (foundation, going long and easy) part
> of your season.
>
> My advice also changes depending on when your goal races are scheduled.
>
> If you are in the off season or transition or pre-foundation, I would work
> on core strength, and work on getting all of the little muscles strong
> before the big muscles, and balancing front and back muscles and other
> muscles that work together so that you are balanced and able to stay
> injury free.
>
> Pilates helps, as does yoga.
>
> I am unsure of my source, as I printed this out to paper a few years ago.
> This can also be found in one of his books.
>
> These are the suggested gym workouts:
> 2 sets each
> body weight or easy/light weight
> 15-20 reps each
> Rest 2 minutes between sets
>
> For 2 weeks
> Day 1
> Leg Press, Chest Press, Lat pull downs, Shoulder Press, Leg Curls, Back
> Extension's on fitball, reverse crunches with fitball and ab crunches with
> fit ball.
>
> Day 2
> Lunges, chest press, lat pull down, shoulder press, leg curl, back
> extension on fitball, reverse crunches and ab crunches on the fit ball.
>
> Week 3-4
> Do 3 days a week.
> Add hanging leg raises, squats, Russian twists, seated rows, dips, bicep
> curls.
>
> Good luck and enjoy your "off season". If your heart rate starts to fall
> or raise too much, or you have troubles sleeping, or you find yourself
> getting bored, back off. This is a sign that you are training too much or
> not eating enough nutrients. Enjoy this part of the year and don't get
> burned out in pre season.
>
> My advice is to try and get a steady routine, including a week every 3-4
> or 4-5 weeks where you cut down on your workload. This is so your body
> doesn't force you to take extended time off every time you start to get
> good at your work.
>
> Eat enough, but don't eat so much that you have to work on taking the
> weight off in other times of year. If you need to loose weight, this is
> the time of year to do it in very small increments so that you are not
> cheating yourself.
>
> Have fun!
Tri - WOW - that was terrific help. Many thanks! When my son was in track
I read and studied Tudor Bumpa's book, "Periodization training for sports".
I was able to email with a guy who won the olympic gold in his track event
that year and he said he used that book extensively so, I thought there must
be some validity to it. It is probably similar to Chris Carmichael's but I
will check it out as well. I just had not thought of using it in triathlon
but after you say that, now it makes perfect sense.

I have never done a triathlon but have been swimming a lot for the past
year, cycling and jogging for several months. My goal is to do either
olympic distance or half-ironman next year, maybe in June. That might be
too ambitious but it's a goal.

I DO need to lose some weight (20+ pounds) so I can run better and not put
so much stress on skeleton/muscles/joints so that's good advice about that
during this season.

Good advice also about not burning out. I tend to be "all out" when I am
training and need to learn to take a longer term persepctive.

Thanks again for this post and second post with the link.

10-08-2006, 12:04 AM

Here is a great article on Triathlon weight training:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Chris
SoCal Triathlete

Paul wrote:
> "Triathlete" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:g%jTg.67669$5R2.11881@pd7urf3no...
> > Notgiven wrote:
> >> I am a newbie here and want to come back stronger and be injury free (as
> >> possible) next season.
> >>
> >> I have read you should do some weight training during the off-season.
> >>
> >> Can anyone suggest exercises, links to good articles about this,
> >> books,...
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >
> >
> > I subscribe to Chris Carmichael's periodicity method of training,
> > including weight training, nutrition, and run/bike/swim workouts.
> >
> > My advice changes depending on if this is your off season (no triathlon
> > training), Transition/pre-foundation stage (starting to think about tri
> > training again), or base training (foundation, going long and easy) part
> > of your season.
> >
> > My advice also changes depending on when your goal races are scheduled.
> >
> > If you are in the off season or transition or pre-foundation, I would work
> > on core strength, and work on getting all of the little muscles strong
> > before the big muscles, and balancing front and back muscles and other
> > muscles that work together so that you are balanced and able to stay
> > injury free.
> >
> > Pilates helps, as does yoga.
> >
> > I am unsure of my source, as I printed this out to paper a few years ago.
> > This can also be found in one of his books.
> >
> > These are the suggested gym workouts:
> > 2 sets each
> > body weight or easy/light weight
> > 15-20 reps each
> > Rest 2 minutes between sets
> >
> > For 2 weeks
> > Day 1
> > Leg Press, Chest Press, Lat pull downs, Shoulder Press, Leg Curls, Back
> > Extension's on fitball, reverse crunches with fitball and ab crunches with
> > fit ball.
> >
> > Day 2
> > Lunges, chest press, lat pull down, shoulder press, leg curl, back
> > extension on fitball, reverse crunches and ab crunches on the fit ball.
> >
> > Week 3-4
> > Do 3 days a week.
> > Add hanging leg raises, squats, Russian twists, seated rows, dips, bicep
> > curls.
> >
> > Good luck and enjoy your "off season". If your heart rate starts to fall
> > or raise too much, or you have troubles sleeping, or you find yourself
> > getting bored, back off. This is a sign that you are training too much or
> > not eating enough nutrients. Enjoy this part of the year and don't get
> > burned out in pre season.
> >
> > My advice is to try and get a steady routine, including a week every 3-4
> > or 4-5 weeks where you cut down on your workload. This is so your body
> > doesn't force you to take extended time off every time you start to get
> > good at your work.
> >
> > Eat enough, but don't eat so much that you have to work on taking the
> > weight off in other times of year. If you need to loose weight, this is
> > the time of year to do it in very small increments so that you are not
> > cheating yourself.
> >
> > Have fun!
> Tri - WOW - that was terrific help. Many thanks! When my son was in track
> I read and studied Tudor Bumpa's book, "Periodization training for sports".
> I was able to email with a guy who won the olympic gold in his track event
> that year and he said he used that book extensively so, I thought there must
> be some validity to it. It is probably similar to Chris Carmichael's but I
> will check it out as well. I just had not thought of using it in triathlon
> but after you say that, now it makes perfect sense.
>
> I have never done a triathlon but have been swimming a lot for the past
> year, cycling and jogging for several months. My goal is to do either
> olympic distance or half-ironman next year, maybe in June. That might be
> too ambitious but it's a goal.
>
> I DO need to lose some weight (20+ pounds) so I can run better and not put
> so much stress on skeleton/muscles/joints so that's good advice about that
> during this season.
>
> Good advice also about not burning out. I tend to be "all out" when I am
> training and need to learn to take a longer term persepctive.
>
> Thanks again for this post and second post with the link.

10-12-2006, 07:18 AM

Paul wrote:

> Tri - WOW - that was terrific help. Many thanks! When my son was in track
> I read and studied Tudor Bumpa's book, "Periodization training for sports".
> I was able to email with a guy who won the olympic gold in his track event
> that year and he said he used that book extensively so, I thought there must
> be some validity to it. It is probably similar to Chris Carmichael's but I
> will check it out as well. I just had not thought of using it in triathlon
> but after you say that, now it makes perfect sense.
>
> I have never done a triathlon but have been swimming a lot for the past
> year, cycling and jogging for several months. My goal is to do either
> olympic distance or half-ironman next year, maybe in June. That might be
> too ambitious but it's a goal.
>
> I DO need to lose some weight (20+ pounds) so I can run better and not put
> so much stress on skeleton/muscles/joints so that's good advice about that
> during this season.
>
> Good advice also about not burning out. I tend to be "all out" when I am
> training and need to learn to take a longer term persepctive.
>
> Thanks again for this post and second post with the link.
>
>

Hi Paul, thanks for the exciting post. You help me to be invigorated in
my own training.

How is your training progressing? I don't think your goal is too lofty.
In any event, it will get you training for that goal, and this is the
most important part of triathlon.

Chris Carmichael cautions that by loosing weight, you are more
susceptible to breaking down internally, therefore you are much more
susceptible to injury or illness. I believe that getting fit is more
important then loosing weight. The weight will come naturally as your
metabolism speeds up, especially just before race season as your mileage
increases.

I also wanted to mention the link between stress and carbs and
refueling. If you ever start to feel burned out, add some carbs to your
diet. When I say carbs, I do mean fruits, vegetables and grains, and not
just white bread and pasta like most people assume. There have been
studies that show when you consume more of these carbs, your stress
levels reduce and the amount of stress related hormones reduce, which
also reduces injury and burn out.

I will check out the book that you have mentioned. I had a good training
year, my best yet, but I have not gotten on track for my transitional
period as of yet. I have only just started to get back into the routine
again. I seem to be much more busy than usual, and days seem hours shorter.