Strength Training & the Endurance Athlete

I'm very fortunate to work with a diverse group of professional athletes on a daily basis. More often than not when it comes to pushing through a strength threshold I hear athletes use phrases such as “I don't want to get too bulky”, “I don't want to be too sore tomorrow” or  “When I lifted heavy in the past it decreased my performance”. Now, I'm not one to say that there is one single way to train or tell a high level athlete that strength training is the one single method to training for their body's needs or sport. Every athlete is unique and creating balance within the body based on their own individual needs attributes to performance gains, strength training being one modality. I will say that strength training gets this bad rap mainly in endurance sports largely due to some of the stereotypes and misinformation that is out in the world. Though, with the right implementation strength training can improve athletic performance without taking away quality time or performance from the sport itself. 

A well formulated strength training regime can improve athletic performance by developing attributes such as muscular development, neuromuscular acuteness & energy system efficiency. Along with the proper training principles and guidelines such as frequency, periodization, exercise selection, and proper recovery modalities there is every reason to add a strength training regimen into your routine despite the fact that some sports can prioritize different athletic characteristics.

The Physiological & Biomechanical Adaptations of Strength Training: 

1. Structural Balance: A balance of strength, mobility, and neuromuscular control helps create full muscle recruitment while addressing system imbalances. It’s important to create specific strength, while also addressing mobility & neuromuscular control in order to make the proper performance gains. (Massie C, Malcolm MP, Greene D, Thaut M, 2009).

2. Increased muscle economy: Economy is your ability to sustain a given velocity or power output with a certain VO2 value. The athlete with the lower VO2 value at a given power/velocity will be the more successful athlete, because a lower VO2 value means a lower energy cost and less fatigue. Strength training will teach your body to recruit your muscles more synchronously. All of the muscle fibers will learn to work in unison. Your body will also learn to send stronger signals to your muscles, resulting in greater force production. Done properly, this new ability will transfer over to your sport and teach your muscles to work together and improve your economy. (Beattie, K., Kenny, I.C., Lyons, M., 2014)

3. Improved anaerobic capacity: Although anaerobic factors are considered less vital in endurance sports, strength training improves Glycolysis, PCr stores & utilization and the buffering capacity of lactic acid. These factors all contribute to an improved lactate threshold, a key performance marker in endurance athletes (Beattie, Kenny, Luons, & Carson, 2014).

4. Injury Resistance: Strength training is a very effective tool for injury prevention for a variety of reasons. Strength training improves the strength of the muscles, tendons, and even the ligaments and bones. Stronger muscles and tendons help hold the body in proper alignment and protect the bones and joints when moving or under impact. (Owen AL, Wong del P, Dellal A, Paul DJ, Orhant E, Collie S., 2013).

5. Increased peak velocity: By having stronger and more powerful muscles, athletes are able to increase their peak velocity/movement speed (Sedano, 2013). The ability to exert peak power outputs is a balance between high amounts of force output and velocity. Finding the sweet spot between those inversely related variables will result in a great potential for strength and performance

6.  Enhanced neuromuscular function: There is an improvement of motor unit recruitment and muscular coordination (Beattie, 2014). Another way to explain this is that the correct muscles can be activated faster, more powerfully & efficiently and are able to work more harmoniously within the kinetic chain of the movement.

7. An Increase of Type IIA muscle fibers: These muscle fibers are more resistant to fatigue, can produce a higher maximal force (resulting in increased muscle strength) and can elevate the rate of force development in muscles. (Aagaard & Andersen, 2010).

8. Longevity: Maintaining a high level of performance late into the career as an athlete is no easy task. Implementing proper strength training protocols along with some of the other methods mentioned above can help combat some of the wear and tear you may be susceptible to as you age and go deeper into your career. (Suchomel, T.J., Nimphius, S. & Stone, M.H, 2016)

So, what's the bottom line?

There is quality evidence that with the right implementation endurance athletes benefit from integrating strength training into their training programs. The word strength should not be synonymous with size or bulk, but rather muscle economy, functionality, and structural integrity. Strength training not only bolsters the structural elements of the body (bones, joints, tendons, and connective tissues), but it also increases an athlete’s physiological ceiling. This means that, at a given pace or power output, the stronger athlete, who has been including heavy strength training in their plan, will operate at a lesser percentage of their max than the weaker athlete who has avoided heavy weights. 

The importance of strength training in endurance athletes should not be overlooked when creating an extensive performance-based training plan. A properly designed program is  central for longevity and health both in sport-specific performance, as well as years to follow after competition.