Changing the Conversation on Strength Training for Endurance Athletes

Endurance is considered one of the cornerstones of athletics and fitness. Some of he most popular and admired events all through sports are endurance events. Consider the marathon, the Tour de France, Ironman Triathlons, Swimming across the English Channel, Climbing Mt Everest, etc. All of these events are deeply rooted in being able to push the body for long periods of time under increased stress. A common factor regardless of the muscles being moved is primarily the ability of the body to use and transport oxygen resulting in the resupply of energy to the muscles enabling them to continue working at high levels. Athletes participating in endurance activities spend a great deal of time performing the actual activity building sport specific skills. This high number of repetitious movement also makes the athlete prone to injuries either from fatigue or other factors. This is why the concept of strength training for endurance athletes, is often fairly controversial and neglected in the endurance athletics community. This article serves as an introduction to my more in-depth piece currently in development focusing on changing the conversation about strength training practices for endurance athletes. It will serve as a means to explain more about how strength training and endurance sports coexist in a complete program and how to more effectively utilize strength training to enhance endurance performance.

This flow chart, taken from a recent study (Aagaard, P., & Andersen, J. L. (2010). Effects of strength training on endurance capacity in top-level endurance athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20, 39–47.), puts a visualization to the way that strength training can positively effect the performance of endurance athletes in longer duration events. What strength training accomplishes is alter the tissues as a result of adaptations to strategically structured stresses on the body. Basically, an individual moves against a resistance or fatigue and the body reacts by making the body more efficient through building muscle, improving neural function and strengthening connective tissue. The rest of the equation comes down to how this exactly is a benefit to endurance runners.

• Endurance performance is a function of length and frequency per stride, stroke, etc. For every athlete, when they reach a certain point in their performance development, these factors will reach an optimal number. From here a determining factor of improvement comes from the ability to produce more power per stride, stroke, etc. Strength training is the most effective way to train the body to increase the capacity of producing power.
• Strength training does not equal hypertrophy (increases in muscle size). Many endurance athletes shun away from strength training with the misconception that lifting weights will make them gain unwanted weight from increased muscle sizes. Programming weight training properly and managing diet along with endurance training has been shown to increase the percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers, but not increase the actual cross sectional size of the muscle in general.
• The only effective way to alter the tissues of the body is to move them under resistance or introduce them to impact (landing from jumps, decelerating, etc). The alterations from enough stress on the connective tissue results in the strengthening and stiffening of them which can provide some very profound impacts on reducing overuse injuries or injuries caused from uncommon movements outside of the sport.
• There is also an important increase in the coating (myelin sheath) that covers nerve tissue when muscles are placed under stress. The body will adapt to improve the efficiency of the communication from the brain to the muscles by improving the insulation around the nerves in order to facilitate greater activation of muscle fibers in relation to activity. Which can translate to a more efficient stride or stroke developed from strength training.

While there are a number of benefits that come from strength training for endurance athletes, this is only a brief introduction to the list. Truthfully the benefits of strength training are not necessarily the cause of hesitation for many athletes to get into the gym and regularly participate, many concerns are concerning how the body changes and how that can cause possible negative effects to performance on race day.

There are important items to discuss in order to change the conversation that will convince endurance athletes to take advantage of the tools available that will help them reach the next level.

Perspective is a huge discussion to have. When I work with many endurance athletes and begin to talk about strength training the primary concern they bring up is putting on weight and getting bulky from muscle mass gains. This is where the perspective of what strength training accomplishes needs to change. Lifting weights and getting stronger does not necessarily require nor equal gains in actual muscle mass. While strength athletes want to eventually lift more weight and improve performance by strength demonstrated by numbers on the bar, this is facilitated by gaining more muscle mass and getting bigger. Their training and diet are designed to accomplish this task. This is not the case for endurance athletes, the goal is completely different. An endurance athlete does not care so much about the numbers on the bar as much as the intensity of the movement being performed. While this can reflect an increase in strength and weight moved, it is not the purpose. The purpose is to train at maximal intensities as a means to bulletproof the body and increase the potential for power production. Both of these are possible without increasing muscle mass or weight and both are a means to in the end increase endurance performance. Proper program implementation can prevent unwanted gains in muscle mass but improve strength and prevent injury.

Goals are also important to discuss with endurance athletes hesitant to start a strength training program. It is easy for a competitive athlete to begin to focus too much on the unimportant numbers, like amount of pounds being moved. In the end, the idea is to support and improve race day performance. While increases in weights during lifts can be a good indicator of increases in strength, it is not a vital goal to determine success in the big picture. The goal of the workouts and the movements need to be clear so the athlete is able to maintain the right focus and not stray from the more important factors of their performance. Strength training goals should be fairly simple. Strengthen the weaknesses of the kinetic chain to prevent injury and increase power production capacity. An endurance athlete should not be treating the weight room like a strength athlete, rather the endurance athlete should use the weight room as a tool and use that tool purposefully, not just "go through the motions".

This conversation can and will go much more in depth. Strength training needs to mesh well into the sport specific training program. Especially in the case of endurance events. So much time is spent on sport specific training that the weight room cannot interrupt proper training for an event. However, strength training when properly implemented is an invaluable tool that can help any endurance athlete improve their performance on race day. Endurance coaches need to research the application of strength training for their athletes, and endurance athletes need to open their minds to participating in a strength routine letting go of many myths that are not reality.

I would like to invite any and all strength and conditioning coaches as well as endurance athletes to contribute to this conversation. What has worked? What hasn't? What concerns do you have? How has strength training improved your performance? Please feel free to reach out to me any time here on LinkedIn or visit my website Athletic Operations.