Strength Train To Improve Your Sport

Every minute of your training counts and every minute of that training should be spent on your primary sport and other exercises which support your primary sport.

If you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer etc. then every other exercise which you undertake (other than your primary sport) should increase your speed, strength and endurance in the least time possible and to the maximum extent possible

Such exercises which are not your primary sport should enhance and not detract your athleticism.

A marathoner typically trains for 6-10 hours per week. A triathlete who is preparing for Ironman will spend 10-15 hours per week on training. And then you have to drop your kids off to school, go to work, drive back home, buy groceries, answer work calls and call it a day. So you have to ensure that every minute of your total weekly training hours makes a difference and provides maximum returns.

When you aren't running or cycling or swimming, you should be lifting weights and that too heavy ass weights. High weights-low repetitions for maximum strength, explosive power and most important of all, building resilience.

Resilience is the ability of your body to withstand the demands of endurance sports such as running, cycling, swimming etc. and allow you to progressively increase the training load.

You need strong muscles and joints to support your skeletal system when you train for endurance sports.

Heavy weight training will lead to increases in bone density and increase in soft tissue which surrounds the bones, thereby reducing the impact to your skeletal system when you engage in sports such as running, which in turn will allow you to efficiently absorb the high training loads without getting injured.

Heavy weights will create more muscle; muscles increase metabolism (even at rest); higher metabolism will decrease body fat; and a lower body fat will mean that pound for pound your body has started producing more power. In essence you’ve turbocharged your engine. The Prius became a Mustang.

Activities (not sports) like yoga and pilates will be a waste of time for you since the time spent engaged in them will not be commensurate with the returns. These activities will not supplement your primary sport in the manner which heavy lifting can since they do not have the ability to stress your body in the specific way which heavy lifting can. Compared to lifting weights, these activities cannot increase you muscle and bone mass and they burn way less calories minute for minute.

We’re talking about time management here; considering that your exercise schedule in terms of number of hours is already at its peak, and now you have to decide how to derive maximum benefits out of the time spent in exercising.

Every minute out of your total weekly workout schedule in which you are not training for your primary sport should be spent in increasing your strength.

I can understand the allure of yoga, it’s easy, lifting is hard and it leaves you sore for multiple days. Good things in life are hard. I don’t walk straight for three days after leg day and my back hurts after deadlifts but the strength gains are apparent when the tissue heals and I also get injured less while running or cycling.

If we think in terms of calories burnt vis-à-vis the time spent, then for allegedly the toughest form of yoga (Bikram Yoga), it was found that there is no evidence to suggest that it burns more calories than other exercise. Men burn around 460 calories during a Bikram yoga class and women burn around 330 calories. However, in lieu of a 90 minute session in a nauseatingly hot room with other naked smelly people, you can burn the same number of calories in a half an hour slow (like really slow) run (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/13/no-pain-no-gain-exercise-heart-health-dementia-cancer) and then lift weights for 30 minutes and still be left with 30 minutes to sip a coffee.

Study title- Mixed maximal and explosive strength training in recreational endurance runners

Mixed strength training combined with endurance training may be more effective than circuit training in recreational endurance runners to benefit overall fitness that may be important for other adaptive processes and larger training loads associated with, e.g., marathon training (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23860287).

Study title- The effect of strength training on performance in endurance athletes

The present research available supports the addition of strength training in an endurance athlete's programme for improved economy, muscle power and performance (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24532151)

Study title- Maximal strength training improves running economy in distance runners

Maximal strength training for 8 weeks improved running economy and increased time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed among well-trained, long-distance runners, without change in maximal oxygen uptake or body weight (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18460997).

Study title- Effects of strength training on running economy

A short period of traditional strength training can improve running economy in well-trained runners, but this improvement can be dependent on the strength training characteristics. When comparing to explosive training performed in the same equipment, heavy weight training seems to be more efficient for the improvement of running economy (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18975259)

Study title- the effects of resistance training on endurance distance running performance among highly trained runners: a systematic review

Four of the five studies employed sport-specific, explosive resistance training, whereas one study used traditional heavy weight resistance training. Two of the five studies measured 2.9% improved performance (3K and 5K), and all five studies measured 4.6% improved running economy (RE; range = 3-8.1%). After critically reviewing the literature for the impact of CT on high-level runners, we conclude that resistance training likely has a positive effect on endurance running performance or RE. The short duration and wide range of exercises implemented are of concern, but coaches should not hesitate to implement a well-planned, periodized CT program for their endurance runners (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18978605)

Charles Atlas from the 1940's- Mahatma Gandhi sent a mail to get his program! No joke.

A question now is what are the exercises required for generating the power and strength which will support your primary sport? The legend Mark Rippletoe, has very succinctly said:

“If I’m a yoga instructor, I’ll tell you the most important thing about fitness is flexibility,” Rippetoe says. “If I’m an aerobics instructor, I’ll say it’s cardio. And if I’m CrossFit, I’ll say it’s everything. My position is strength is the basis for all physical interaction in the environment. If you’re not strong, it doesn’t matter how conditioned your heart and lungs are if you can’t get up off the pot.”

The way to get strong is simple, Rippetoe says. All it takes is five barbell moves and progressive loading of weight over time. The moves: squats, presses, dead lifts, bench presses, and power cleans. Those exercises will allow the body to move anatomically while making every muscle stronger, even if they’re the only moves you ever do. “One of my pet peeves with the modern approaches to fitness is they vary exercises,” Rippetoe says. “They confuse the whole concept of training and exercise.”

“For most people, exercise is just fine,” Rippetoe says. “But when you decide you want more out of the process, the process must be planned. Each workout becomes important because it fits into the process.”

“Rise above the platitudes of the fitness industry,” Rippetoe says. “Think about what you want and plan to acquire what you want so you can spend your time and money more efficiently.

Mark’s full article is here- https://www.outsideonline.com/1926951/get-fit-you-need-get-strong

Older athletes in fact need more strength training since after the age of 30, muscle mass and bone density keep decreasing every year. Recently a study came out which said that mortality rates were significantly lower in people who lift weights rather than people who engage in cardio.

Another question is how long should you lift weights to become better at your primary sport? The ideal duration is minimum 90 minutes per week, which can be clubbed into one hard long session or three 30 minute sessions. Stick to the basics (squats, presses, dead lifts, bench presses, and power cleans) like Mark said and you’re turbocharging your primary sport.

Remember, strength is the backbone of every sport. Lift heavy to become a faster, stronger and most importantly, a resilient athlete. Spend time on yoga and other activities like pilates only if you have extra time and money.

Coach Jonathan Livingston Seagull

The almost half a century old short story by Richard Bach never ceases to amaze me.

Each time that I spend about 30 minutes reading this story cover to cover (yes, it’s short) about a seagull (Jonathan Livingston) whose only desire in life is to improve every single day, my brain always manages to release that feel good dopamine.

I finish the story and feel that reassurance; yes this can be done, self-improvement is a continuous process and I have the apparatus to practice it regularly- specifically in my running. Why, because it’s easy to experiment in running and constantly strive for improvement. What’s the worst that can happen? Nothing! All exercise is good. You’re already better and improved after the workout than you were 45 minutes ago when sedentary.

Running for me has always been the apparatus to experiment with physical and mental improvement; I don’t have to justify the outcome to anyone but myself and I get those low doses of feel good emotions every time a training runs goes well. After that good training session, the reassurance of self-improvement stays with me, locked up but open to my inspection for a sneak peek when I need a pat on the back.

How I wish that more focus was put on this novella in schools and kids were made to understand, appreciate and deeply analyse the intent with which Richard wrote this story. Maybe, there is no better self-help inspirational book out there which in less than 30 minutes can fill you with purpose, teach you the virtues of hard work and the necessity of self-reliance.

Well, Rudyard Kipling’s poem “IF” comes pretty close which is less than a 5 minute read, especially the ending which says:

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute

with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

Rudyard Kipling was a 4:30 miler in the 19^th century, so the ending is even more relatable and intense.

Returning to the story, Jonathan Livingston is an aerial athlete- rebels, trains, fails, plans, improves and repeats it. He is obsessed with improving. Possibly the most awe inspiring fictional bird. A relentless spirit, who shows that training is an integral part of life and the be-all-and-end-all in life is not just the monotonous survival that we have become so used to, but something beyond, something that adds substance to the journey. This substance is different for everyone and for Jonathan it is training, learning and improving.

Astonishingly, mental training which has become the new buzzword in endurance sports and for which there are so many books now available, is an omnipresent thought in Jonathan’s training process.

Just  to give an example, there is a paragraph in the story, which says, “Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, other times, “is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too ...”.

        Another paragraph, “In the days that followed, Jonathan saw that there was as much to learn about flight in this place as there had been in the life behind him. But with a difference. Here were gulls who thought as he thought. For each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do, and that was to fly. They were magnificent birds, all of them, and they spent hour after hour every day practising flight, testing advanced aeronautics.”

I’ve read Matt Fitzgerald’s scintillating book (How Bad Do You Want It?) which emphasises the importance of mental training in endurance sports, and it was brilliant to see that almost 50 years ago Richard was writing along similar lines about Jonathan’s mental training for becoming a better and stronger (aerial) athlete!

It’s a marvelous short read, especially for athletes. There are more nuggets of wisdom in that novella than many lengthy profound reads!

If you want to read the story then use the link below:

http://csermelyblog.tehetsegpont.hu/sites/default/files/angol%20sir%C3%A1ly.pdf