Weight Training and Endurance Sports
I came across an article from a well respected and accomplished coach (Alex Viada) that I just wanted to reflect upon. Some real information to ponder upon to anyone pursuing endurance sports.
A subject we touched on talking about interval training. A similar situation happens with weight training when approaching endurance sports. People tend to neglect or even completely ignore weight training when it comes to performing endurance activities. I want to address a couple of myths and misconceptions concerning weight lifting and why endurance athletes shun away from lifting.
Myth 1) Lifting weights will make you big and bulky limiting your range of motion:
- Too many people automatically connect lifting weights to gaining mass. The truth is that weight training and mass gain are not inseparable. You can lift and not gain significant amount of mass. Number 1 and most important is to realize this, there are other functional uses for weight training.
Myth 2) Lifting should be designed to replicate and compliment my form and technique.
-Running, Swimming, Biking, Walking, Skating, whatever dynamic motion you pursue for you endurance activity, there is no lift that will replicate or appropriately compliment said activity. The purpose of lifting is to fortify the joints and create higher capacity to move resistances and produce force. Lifting with the goal to compliment form is a misuse of effort and essentially ineffective.
An effective way to approach these two points is to talk about what lifting can do for an endurance athlete. When you lift, you are creating a necessity for your body to make adaptations to handle and support the extra load on the body. It's important to realize that how you lift (i.e. number of sets, reps, how much rest, how much weight) is going to determine the kind of adaptations your body is going to develop. Strengthening your muscles through weight training is going to address a plethora of issues that can only help any athlete be better. When you place loads upon the muscles and move that load, the muscles are forced to contract and in that process of shortening, they pull against the bone that the ligaments and tendons are attached to. This pulling away activates a response for the body to fortify the connective tissue and bones in order to support the extra load. When you lift medium-intensity loads, and push them repeatedly, on top of your endurance training, unless you are eating sufficient protein amounts to support muscle growth, as you break you muscles down from lifting, and after all the endurance work, the amount of calories and protein used will be sufficient to repair and maintain the muscle tissue and fuel the body for the excess of activity not promote mass gain.
Essentially, when you lift you are not only strengthening the muscles you are also fortifying the ligaments and joints to handle more pressure and resistance. In an endurance competition where the repetitive contact to the ground or cyclic motion occurs, it adds impact pressure and resistance to the joints, making the necessity for strong stable connective tissue much greater. When you strengthen the muscle through weight training you are also helping the muscles adapt to a greater potential in acceleration. So when you need to pick up the pace, or you are just getting moving, you can accelerate at a much greater intensity than someone who has not trained with any greater resistance than their bodyweight.
In a Nut Shell and as Alex Viada put it. Will weight training make you a faster endurance athlete? By itself no, but will it make you a stronger healthier endurance athlete? Absolutely! Weight training should not be a replacement for anything in your training regimen. It should be a supplement to strengthen yourself beyond the basic activity... Let the weight training benefits become a part of your training regimen!
Every Day... A Little Stronger
