Dream Believe TRI Coaching and Clinics

Functional Fitness/Strength Training for the Triathlete

Posted on Feb 21, 2011 by Kim Reistad   |  

Functional fitness is all the craze lately. Let me explain what it is, how it benefits triathletes, and why I have all my clients do functional fitness weight training in the off season. Strength training is an important part of training for triathletes for many reasons, as previously described in Intro to Strength Training for Triathletes. It’s what type of strength training you do that leads to the most gains. Functional Fitness/Strength training is ideal for the triathlete looking to maximize their time spent in the gym. The goal, strategy, and results are the primary focus of every single exercise and movement applied to the body.

Functional Fitness/Strength training is the ability to utilize your own bodyweight resistance to carry an action out, adding balance and multi-joint movements variables as you progress. The simple single movement on a stable surface of traditional strength training does not translate over to a triathletes lifestyle, where there is constant movement through various mediums such as water or air.

Traditional functional strength exercises are pushups, squats, lunges, etc. A functional fitness/strenth program then adds balance or movement challenges to increases the difficulty. The exercise will focus on core strength while making it sport specific for swimming, biking and running. As your ability to perform these exercises improves then you start to apply more variables to the exercise. For instance, creating an unstable surface to challenge your balance, adding some weight to the movement, performing the action as a single leg or arm exercise, or closing your eyes to challenge your proprioceptive systems are all ways to challenge your body to adapt.

Below are some key components to keep in mind when personalizing your Functional Fitness/Strength training program:

Sport Specific: focusing on movements that directly apply to the sport. In swimming and cycling we are rounded forward at our shoulders, therefore, our pectoral muscles are shortened and our opposing back muscles such as our rhomboids, teres major and minor are on overstretched, creating a weakness in these muscles. Functional exercises to target these areas make for a sport specific exercise. (ie. Horizontal Pull Up).

Core Awareness: all your exercises will rely on your core strength to effectively and safely carry the exercise out. Focusing on proper core strength and body alignment is critical.

Movements in multiple planes: while in triathlons, we primarily work in the saggital plane (front and back). However, a proper program will include all three planes of motion: saggital, frontal, and transverse. Including lateral lunges, step ups, walking push ups, or push ups with rotation are just a few ideas to challenge this single plane movement we are accustomed to.

Progression: if we continually do the same exercises at the same speed with the same reps with the same movement we will never see improvement. An easy way to challenge your progression in a functional fitness/strength program is simply varying your speed of the movement. (i.e. when doing pull ups use a 5 count to lower on each rep, or instead of doing a front lunge make it a alternating jump squat).

Time Efficient: a functional fitness/strength training program doesn’t need to take hours. Simply taking your program and making it a circuit training workout will maximize your time. Go from push ups to walking lunges to pull ups to deep squat jumps and then repeat all the exercises again!

Periodization: Remember your strength training should follow a periodized training formula just like your swim/bike/run training. And just because you’re in season doesn’t mean you stop with your strength training.

It is important to remember the key ingredient to any type of strength training is to increase your level of performance and decrease your risk of injury. Applying functional fitness/strength training you will ultimately set yourself up for a successful season and many seasons to come! If you are looking to add functional fitness/strength training program into your triathlon training plan contact Kim Reistad at kim@dreambelievetri.com.

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