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<\/a>Time-starved, over-booked triathletes often ignore strength training in favour of squeezing in one of the many swim, bike, or run workouts they\u2019re trying to balance.\u00a0 However, doing so is not only a big mistake for performance but, particularly for endurance athletes over 35, it\u2019s not helping to slow the aging process. Strength-training can keep your neuromuscular system sharp and encourage your brain to recruit muscles more efficiently which can lead to swim, bike, and run economy and, therefore, to faster and more powerful performances.<\/p>\nRemarkably, the myth that weights will result in endurance athletes bulking up continues to be pervasive even when it has been debunked repeatedly. In fact, in an age of Instagram, more and more high profile (lean and mean) triathletes and distance runners like Mo Farah<\/a> publicize regularly hitting the gym for strength work and plyometrics.<\/p>\n According to Ming Chang Tsai,<\/a> Performance & Data Scientist at the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific<\/a>, a robust strength training program is a crucial part of the endurance sport mix.\u00a0 \u201cEndurance sport (ie triathlon) relies on a complex interplay between physiological and biomechanical factors,\u201d says Chang Tsai. He explains that when we talk about performance indicators in endurance sport we tend to think of the cardiovascular functions such as VO2max, lactate threshold, \u00a0even economy, and yet those are believed to be partly dictated by the neuromuscular system. It\u2019s not that he suggests triathletes should drop their endurance workouts totally, in fact he cautions that athletes be mindful of the concurrent training effect. \u201cNot all strength training complements endurance training so it is important to periodize strength training properly as it relates to endurance training.\u201d\u00a0But, including strength work alongside your swim, bike, and run has several benefits.\u00a0 According to Chang Tsai, doing so:<\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Improves economy by encouraging stride efficiency and coordination<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can help prevent injury<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Improves neuromuscular efficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ameliorates musculo-tendinous stiffness (by converting fast-twitch (type IIx) fibers into more<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0fatigue-resistant type IIa fibers)<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Helps with stability and also side-to-side rotation that helps propulsion in the water<\/strong><\/p>\n –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Delays less efficient type II (ie fast twitch) fibers<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Long-time Team Atomica athlete Claudia Bolognesi<\/strong> runs group and private strength training sessions in Leaside. As a triathlete herself, Claudia has excellent insight into the specific needs of the sport. You’ll be in good hands teaming up with her! Drop her a line (\u00a0claudiabolognesi68@gmail.com<\/a>). Similarly, Team Atomica\u2019s newest swim coach Alan Warner<\/strong> is also a strength and conditioning coach who operates out of the end. Alan can be reached at:\u00a0alanatlasalliance@gmail.com <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time-starved, over-booked triathletes often ignore strength training in favour of squeezing in one of the many swim, bike, or run workouts they\u2019re trying to balance.\u00a0 However, doing so is not only a big mistake for performance but, particularly for endurance athletes over 35, it\u2019s not helping to slow the aging process. Strength-training can keep … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":4305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142,55,51,50,23,1],"tags":[144,61,57,113,30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4304"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4340,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4304\/revisions\/4340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teamatomica.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why it’s a Must<\/strong><\/h5>\n
<\/a>Convinced but don’t know where to start? <\/strong><\/h5>\n