What are the benefits of strength and conditioning for endurance athletes?

If you’re a runner, cyclist or swimmer, the idea of spending time in the gym probably doesn’t sound all that appealing. After all, we’d rather be outdoors doing the sport we love, right?

But strength and conditioning (S&C) is one of the best ways to keep you doing exactly that for years to come.

Building stronger muscles isn’t just about powering up hills or sprinting to the finish line – it’s also about preventing injuries, maintaining performance as you age and improving overall quality of life.

Strength and conditioning helps prevent injuries for endurance athletes

We don’t like it when we get injured and can’t train. In fact we often get quite grumpy. And often go out and continue training anyway. And then it hurts more. And then we get more grumpy. Sound familiar?

S&C can’t guarantee to banish the injuries away,  regular S&C can massively reduce your injury risk by addressing muscle imbalances and weaknesses caused by the repetitive nature of our sports.

For example

• Glute strengthening helps prevent knees collapsing inwards and keeps hips level (aka helps prevents knee injuries)

• Glute activation ensures those powerful muscles actually fire when you need them, reducing the load on your hamstrings and calves and allowing you to use the most fatigue resistant muscles in your body.

• Shoulder stability work improves posture and helps your arms move freely through each stroke.

• Hip mobility work basically solves all evils by helping to ease lower back pain, improve

  glute engagement and make it easier to hold an aerodynamic position on the bike.

  
  

And less injuries is not only a lot more fun but allows more consistent training, which means we get better at it!

Strength and conditioning fights the effects of aging

Another reason I’m so passionate about S&C is it helps us maintain our quality of life, especially as we get older and start to lose muscle, bone mass and balance.

With less muscle to support the body, injuries become more likely and everyday movement feels harder. Since muscle is also where we store energy and it burns more calories than fat, losing it can also contribute to weight gain and increase the risk of metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

And let’s not forget bone health. Cyclists and swimmers in particular are vulnerable to low bone density because our sports don’t involve much impact loading. Combine that with the loss of balance that comes with age, and falls can become more serious.

Here’s a sobering stat – around 10% of people with a hip fracture die within a month, and a third within a year. But the good news? Strength, balance and impact training can dramatically lower that risk.

So even if those issues feel far off right now, what you do today shapes your quality of life decades down the line. And it’s never too late to start.

And at a more immediate level who wouldn't like to reduce the aches and pains that seem to increase with each year? Just a few minutes mobility work can really improve how you feel right now.

Strength and conditioning is especially important for women

S&C is even more crucial for women. During perimenopause and menopause oestrogen levels drop. This hormonal shift accelerates the loss of muscle and bone, which makes it vital to actively rebuild both through resistance training.

For too long women have stayed away from the weights room, but once you get used to it, it can be really fun and empowering (and no you wont get bulky).

And whilst yoga and Pilates are fantastic, but they don’t load the muscles and bones enough to maintain strength and density on their own.

That all sounds very negative, but building strength not only supports your endurance training but also boosts confidence, energy and resilience through every stage of life.

Want to feel stronger and more resilient?

The right S&C routine doesn’t need to be complicated or time-consuming. A targeted session, focussed on the needs of runners, cyclists and triathletes, can make a huge difference to your performance and how you feel day to day.

My weekly Club Feel Fit classes are developed specifically for triathletes and cover all these areas, as well as breathing, mindset, pelvic floor work and more!

Choose between live coached sessions on Zoom or pre-recorded On Demand sessions to do at a time that suits you.

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>> Sign up now for free 2 week trial of Club Feel Fit on Demand to start feeling the benefits of strength and conditioning for endurance athletes today.

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