Is Resistance Training Appropriate for your next race?  Maybe the Pole Pedal Paddle?

How much lactic acid or “waste,” can your body buffer before you hit the “wall” during the PPP?  The more the better, right?  Or, what if your body could delay the production of “waste.”  How?  Efficiency!

You need your body to be more efficient for a top performance.  To do this, try some high intensity training. Keep your total workout time the same, but replace approximately one quarter of your endurance training with resistance training. According to research, when strength increases, endurance performance also improves.

What is your goal?  Decide which muscles are your primary movers, and those muscles should be the focus of your resistance training.  The primary movers generate your power.  To maximize that power, you need to train for it.  Power is the combination of strength and speed.  If you have not been resistance training, start with basic strength before adding speed to the equation. Basic strengthening exercises include the squat, leg press, seated row, chest press, abdominal crunches, and back extensions.  Incorporating sprints or plyometrics into your routine can increase speed.  Speed can be improved separately as you build your strength.

When you are ready to combine your strength and speed to create power, learn some Olympic lifting.  With proper technique, exercises such as cleans, jerks, and snatches can effectively give you the power to sprint to the finish, or climb a hill.  As you train to be more powerful, your body becomes more efficient.  Be sure to maintain a strong core along with your high intensity resistance training. The plank is a great core exercise.  Olympic lifts require core strength for proper form and injury prevention.  Plus, strong abdominals and strong back muscles will help fight postural fatigue during those endurance events.

So, is resistance training appropriate for the Pole Pedal Paddle or whatever your next race may be?  Noakes said, “Endurance training is limited by muscle power.”  Power can be gained through high intensity resistance training.  Training for power not only increases your muscles’ strength and speed, it simultaneously forces your body to be more efficient. Efficiency delay’s the production of “waste,” and allows you push back that “wall” that haunts you during the PPP.

If you would like to learn more, contact Jessie Aufderheide, Certified Personal Trainer, or check out her website, tetontraining.net.

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