Single Leg Strength For Endurance Athletes

Aug 5, 2011

Get a Leg Up on the Competition

By Tim Crowley BS, CSCS, PES

Published in Tri Digest 

Strength training is a hot topic among endurance athletes and coaches these days. Internet websites and forums constantly debate the merits and value of weight training for endurance athletes. Addressing this issue entirely is beyond the scope of this article, but I will demonstrate how and why you should incorporate single leg strength (SLS) training into a year-round training plan.

All strength training is not created equal. It is important to think of strength training as a spectrum, rather than just sitting on weight stack machines marking time until spring. Big gear, low rpm cycling or swimming with paddles are not suitable substitutes for proper weight training. Body building type training will not lead to better endurance performances, and can be detrimental due to the creation of muscle imbalances and increased body mass.

Endurance athletes need to think beyond the value of strong powerful muscles. A well- designed strength plan will fortify tendons, ligaments and connective tissues which are often the source of overuse injuries in many endurance athletes.

Laying the Groundwork

As a coach and athlete, with two kids, I live in the real world where available training time is your biggest opponent. You may be thinking about how to incorporate strength work while juggling swim, bike and run training. Training time is valuable, so your time in the weight room needs to be productive on several levels. Below are some criteria that need to be considered when developing a lower body strength plan.

1. Specific- the muscles, tendons, joint angles and movement patterns of the exercises need to be specific to those encountered in cycling and running. Training movement is more effective than training individual muscles. This is reason why leg extension and leg curl exercises less effective for cycling and running performance.
2. Individual Legs- we all have a dominant leg, single leg exercises helps to create muscle balance, and offers a training effect not possible with double leg exercises.
3. High degree of stabilization- an unstable environment requires the stabilizers of the lower leg, hip and core to be recruited. This is important for reducing overuse injuries and improving running economy (increased run velocity for the same energy cost). Every running step, regardless of the surface, requires the body to stabilize over it’s center of gravity to prevent falling.
4. Time and energy effective- training time is valuable, an exercises needs to accomplish several things while taking little time and energy which could be spent swimming, cycling and running.

Programming

If I can get an athlete into the weight room two time per week for 30 minutes, a lot can be accomplished. During these sessions we want to include the following:

• Dynamic warm up to include proper movement skills
• Ankle band walking drill for the glute medius
• Core work to include med. balls and cables
• Lower body single leg pushing and pulling
• Upper body pressing and pulling

The goal of training each leg individually is to build balanced strength, muscle endurance and power to compliment you other training. During the season, the goal is to maintain strength and stability through short focused workouts, and to avoid common overuse injuries brought on through pattern overload.

WARM UP	Foam Roll Medball	Big circles	5 in each direction
		Chops	10
		Squat to press	10
	10 yds each	Walking knee to chest
		Back walking lunge
		Inchworm
		Back walking lunge
	Ankle Bands	Monster walk forward/back	2 x 5 yds each
		Lateral squat walk	2 x 5 yds each

DAY 1

Single leg squat on slide	3 x 6
1 arm cable chest press	3 x 6
X over lat pull standing	3 x 8
DB SLDL	3 x 8
Kneeling cable lift	2 x 10
Cable reverse flyes	2 x 10

Day 2

1 Leg box squat	3 x 6
Stab ball push ups	3 x 6
1 Arm / 1 Leg cable rows	3 x 8
Slide board leg curl	3 x 8
Kneeling rotational pulls	2 x 10
Cable reverse flyes	2 x 10

Foam Roll

For strength coaches, working with endurance athletes opens up a whole new group of athletes that are motivated and eager improve performance.

Conclusion

As endurance sports such as triathlon become more popular, Strength and conditioning programs in these sports will open new opportunities for strength and conditioning coaches. Training efficiency and injury reduction will keep then training, and racing faster.