Functional Strength Training

I'm working on a little piece relating my work and hobby. I figure I might have some expertise and could be of value to someone...maybe. Its something that has bothered me because I read these articles written by "triathlon coaches" the most recent one saying that weight training for triathletes is a complete waste of time and a poor return on your investment. There are a lot of people in this world that call themselves a coach. They may be experts in the fields of swimming, biking, and running but a lot of these guys/gals fall short in their knowledge of exercise physiology and kinesiology, a very important element in the ability to avoid injuries which is a common occurrence in endurance athletes. Maybe I'll refine it a bit and try to have it published somewhere. See below:

The Importance of functional strength training to triathletes.

Functional strength training is essential to triathletes. As a fellow triathlete I used to believe that weight training was insignificant in my training for triathlon. If you are trying to balance a family, a career, and this hobby of triathlon, you have a finite period of time to train. If you are training for long course triathlons, your time becomes even more precious. It is easy to believe that all of your training time needs to be divided into swimming, biking, and running. There are a lot of great points and counter points out there referring to the value of weight training for triathlon as it relates to getting faster and stronger. Most of us set out to get faster and stronger so how can functional strength training help me do that?

Through my training and work as a licensed massage therapist, I see many triathletes in my office with injuries resulting from training for triathlon. The majority of the movements of swimming, biking, and running exist in the sagittal anatomical plane of the body, meaning that flexion and extension of the lower body are the main movements we do as triathletes. Most of the injuries I see from triathletes in my practice are in the lower body, the most common being things like ITB syndrome, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, and piriformis syndrome, among others.

What happens when we constantly train our bodies to move forward in the sagittal plane through flexion and extension movements is that we over-develop the flexor/extender muscles like the gluteus maximus, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. The muscles that support these major muscles (gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, tfl, and the peroneals, among others) are not the primary muscles for flexion and extension in the lower body and become under-developed. These support muscles work in the axial anatomical plane of the body and do things like abduction and rotation. These movements and muscles are not directly related to swimming, biking, and running movements but they are essential in supporting those primary muscles and movements needed. When a primary muscle is so much stronger than its support muscle, injuries are more likely to happen.

Simple exercises like resistance band training, one-legged balancing, and side planks are just a few of the things you can do to strengthen those support muscles groups.

So, while functional strength training may not directly make us faster swimmers, bikers, or runners, if we strengthen these support muscles, we are more likely to avoid injuries and stay healthy. And don’t be surprised if functional strength training doesn’t play a pivotal part in getting faster!