I’ve been on a structured weight training program for about 12 weeks now through MarkAllenOnline, and it has made a tremendous difference in the amount of power I am able to produce for a prolonged period of time on the bike. I am also a faster runner now, despite gaining about 1.5-2 pounds in muscle weight over the last 2 months.

I used to be of the opinion that too much structured weight training would make me inflexible and “slow” due to a pound or two of weight gain. I also used to think that if I simply put enough aerobic time in on the bike or during the run…especially pounding up hills, than I would never have to spend time in the weight room. Contrary to this belief, weight lifting has actually reduced my need for “padding” my training log with additional hours of moderate aerobic training….just to make myself feel better. In fact, I have been able to comfortably handle the aerobic workload Mark has laid out for me, while becoming stonger each week. I am now convinced that a structured weight program consisting of about 10-12 key exercises specific to triathlon is essential to increasing muscular endurance, power, and ultimately speed. All of this….in exchange for a reduction in overall training volume. It’s a pretty good trade off, if you ask me. For a minimal investment of time per week (I average about 1.5 hours/week in the weight room), I am stronger than I was with about 15-20% more training volume 2 years ago. This isn’t rocket science….it’s just plain common sense.