It is easy to see that in endurance sports many people are still reluctant to do weight training throughout the sports season.
The small reminder concerning physiology, seems to prove them right. Indeed, one can understand certain reticence when it comes to associating two things that are apparently incompatible.
However, admittedly, there was very little information about the effect of well-designed strength training programmes that meet the specific needs of endurance athletes.
Benefit of off-season weight training
It should also be recognised that there was and still is a consensus, even among the naysayers, that off-season weight training can have certain benefits:
- Improved bone density and strengthening (reduced risk of osteoporosis).
- Strengthening of collagen fibres (less risk of injury).
- Prevention of trauma.
- Preservation of muscle mass (fight against sarcopenia).
- Strengthening of posture.
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Improvement of gestural efficiency and energy saving.
Unfortunately, the benefits of an off-season of strength training fade quickly and do not last for more than a few weeks. Therefore, it is not possible to maintain or even improve gains if one is unable to implement a specific and effective program
Programme throughout the season.
The lack of observations on the subject left room for all the usual fears: risk of hypertrophy, increase in body weight, loss of fluidity in movement, modification of cellular irrigation and risk of asphyxiation, loss of time, increase in the weight of training programmes, etc. !
A Norwegian study, published in The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sport (2002), was able to observe that a group of cross-country skiers improved their ability to sustain a VO2 max effort by more than a third after 2 months of heavy weight training. The second group, consisting of athletes who had continued their usual training (without weight training), did not obtain any improvement during this period. (1)
Another study, Australian this time and carried out in 2003 with runners, noted a clear improvement in their times over a distance of 3000m (less than 15 seconds on average), by adding plyometric exercises to their warm-up sessions only three times a week for one month.
Professor Izquierdo (University of Pamplona, Spain) has also seen the beneficial effects of strength training with the Spanish national canoeing team.
Professor Hausswirth of INSEP (France) also found improvement in triathletes with 3 strength training sessions per week for 5 weeks.
Professor Per Aagaard (Denmark), a leading specialist in adaptations produced by strength training, verified after a 16-week strength training programme with the Norwegian national team cyclists that there was a change in the distribution of fast fibres (type II fibres: IIa and IIx).
At the end of the cycle, the riders all had more IIa fibres and less IIx fibres (the fastest fibres of the fast fibres).
The former being less fatiguable, this could partly explain why all the athletes were able to improve their times as well as their maximum strength (+ 12%. )... and this, without the manifestation of hypertrophy so feared by the athletes and trainers.
Another observation, and not the least, is that the quality of the vascularisation (capillary network) has not been modified. . . so there is no risk of engorgement and asphyxia during the effort. (4)
The list could be longer, but this brief overview of studies from all over the world and in practically all endurance disciplines seriously challenges the fears and arguments of those who are convinced of the harmful effects of weight training in endurance sports.
Observations from the field suggest that strength training can be an asset in the physical preparation of endurance athletes, provided of course that one knows what to do and how to do it.
