Weight training, or more correctly termed resistance training, encompasses all facets of training with any type of resistance. As with any form of resistance training, care needs to be taken to perform each exercise correctly with proper form, so as not to cause injury. When discussing resistance training a few simple terms need to be defined to fully understand the broad scope of resistance (weight) training. Strength Training is when an athlete trains his/her specific muscles to use or resist a force irrespective of time. Power training is training to have the highest amount of force (mass X acceleration) produced in the shortest amount of time. Muscular Endurance is training the muscles to perform many successive contractions against a resistance. (1)

Endurance events consist of many thousands of submaximal muscular contractions over an extended period of time, whereas Strength or Power training requires very few maximal or near maximal muscular contractions. This would suggest that there is little to no performance benefit in strength or power training for endurance competitors. There have been studies conducted to determine whether there is in fact a benefit on V02 capacity and lactate capacity due to resistance training. One study by Bishop et al used 21 trained female cycles who undertook a 12 week strength training program (<6-8 reps per set) and concluded that strength training did not improve endurance performance on a cycle ergometer.(3) Although this study suggests that strength training does not help endurance performance, there are definitely many benefits to strength training. The major benefits are related to injury prevention due to strength training increasing muscle contractile strength, increase in bone mass, and tendon and ligament tensile strength.(1)

Most forms of Power training (eg: olympic style lifting and explosive training) are not used to train endurance athletes because power training is at very high intensity's for very brief periods of time and trying to create as much force in as little time as possible. The aim of endurance athletes is to produce speed for long periods of time using very minimal force. Power is the antithesis to endurance and training for power will most likely reduce endurance performance.

The most common form of resistance training for endurance athletes is muscular endurance. The ACSM outlines that if your aim is to improve muscular endurance you should work with a minimum of 1 set between 10-15 reps.(4) From experience and from the many endurance coaches I have spoken to, the best way for endurance athletes to train is to use rep ranges no lower than 12 and anywhere up to 200 reps in some cases. The reason this seems to be beneficial because the muscle is put under strain (usually a greater strain than during the actual endurance event) for an extended period of time. Therefore when it is time to perform without the added resistance the athlete should be able to handle the previous workload easier. This allows the athlete to increase the amount of sport specific training that can be performed, allowing him/her to run/swim/ride, quicker and for longer periods of time.

A common form of weight training is hypertrophy training (also known as mass training). The aim of this type of training is to increase the muscle fiber size, therefore increasing the fat free mass. For endurance athletes the more weight put on the body, whether it be muscle or fat, is going to cause the person to expend more energy, which requires extra energy (calories) to move the extra weight. This will invariably slow the competitor down and cause the onset of fatigue sooner. Therefore, hypertrophy training is not a form of weight training that provides sport specific improvements for most endurance competitors.

The general consensus about weight training to endurance sports is that it is a supplemental training method, used first and foremost for injury prevention of muscles, ligaments and tendons. Some endurance athletes and coaches believe that training for muscular endurance will help the athlete progress at a faster pace, but that it should not be the priority in an athletes training program. The event specific training (eg: runnning, swimming, biking, skiing etc) should definitely make up the majority of training.

It is unclear as to the perfect ratio of skill training to weight training. Berhardt takes the stand that endurance athletes should train isotonically (with resistance) 1-2 times per week all year, but completely refrain from weight training 3-4 weeks before competition.(1) He believes that anymore than this will fatigue the competitor, so that he/she cannot perform sport specific training at the highest intensity.

I am of the opinion that Injury Prevention focused weight training should be performed 3 - 5 times per week and should be undertaken all year but limited before major competitions. As for resistance training for Muscular Endurance, it should be performed 2 - 3 times per week, with only muscular endurance training completely ceasing at least 2 weeks leading up to competition.

Feel free to contact me to discuss your training program on the healthfitness.com.au Q&A Discussion Board.

Mark Kovacs, B.Sc, ACSM HFI, CSN
Editor of High Performance Training

References:

1) Berhardt, G; Training Plans for Multisport Athletes, Velo Press, Colorado , 2000 p.23

2) Hawley. J; Resistance Training & Endurance Performance, http://www.sportsci.org/news/traingain/resistace.html (11/21/2001)

3) Bishop, D., D.G. Jenkins, L.T. MacKinnon, M. McEniery, and M.F. Carey. The Effects of Strength Training on Endurance Performance and Muscle Characteristics. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 31(6):886-891. 1999

4) American College of Sports Medicine; Acsm's Guidelines For Exercise Testing And Prescription Sixth Edition,Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000, p.161