I am currently planning which training programs I am going to use in 2005 and just thought that I would see what you thought and get some advice if you think I am heading down the wrong path.
I have a couple of goals I want to achieve through my training for next year. They are:
Increase strength significantly.
Maintain a good physique, although this doesn’t mean I necessarily want to get huge. I’m 5’11" and 93kg (just above 200lb), which I think is fairly solid, but probably have about 20% fat, so I would like to replace this with muscle. The other reason for not getting too much bigger are because of goals 3 & 4.
Compete in a few amateur triathalons over the approaching summer here in Australia. Plus I have like going for long bike rides, beach runs and bodysurfing in the warmer weather and don’t want to be obsessed with worrying about losing a bit of muscle. I’ve done a fair bit of this in the past and haven’t really lost much weight so i might have a body type where I can combine long distance cardio and weights and still maintain muscle mass.
Compete in the annual Sydney City to Surf fun run (14km) in August. I ran it for the first time this year and am fired up to do even better next year. (Running with 60,000 other people is not something you get to do every day!)
After reading a heap of info here at T-nation I’ve come up with the following 12 month plan starting in the New Year:
Pendulum Training for Athletes (to compliment triathalon training and maintain strength) for two cycles = 10 weeks
Recovery period with light weights plus competing in one or two triathalons I want to enter in March = 2 weeks
Total Body Training = 8 weeks
Outlaw Strength & Conditioning plus start serious running training under a separate 10 week plan for the fun run = 6 weeks
Do the last four weeks of the running training plan leading up to the fun run. I don’t know what to do for weights at this time yet. Some advice would be aprreciated. I was thinking of only 2 days/week doing 5x5 to maintain strength. Is this a good idea?
Compete in City to Surf
Start CT’s Shoulders Overhaul program = 8 weeks
Recovery period, hopefully going on an overseas holiday! = 2 weeks
CW’s Strength Focused Mesocycle = 4 weeks
EDT to get conditioned for triathalon training and lose body fat = 4 weeks
Start plan for 2006 (Whatever that will be!)
Now before people start tellling me I shouldn’t mix up a heap of cardio and weights I know that I will probably lose a bit of muscle mass, especially during the running training mid year. I don’t mind too much, it will just create a bit of a challenge to get back to where I was before. It is also why I put TBT in between doing triathalons and the running, so that I could bulk up a bit and put back on any muscle I lose over summer so that when I finish the running i won’t have gone backwards too much.
That’s it! What do you guys think? Any advice? I’m looking forward to your replies.
wow that sounds really ambitious. I always think it would be cool to do a triathlon and/or a marathon. It would be fun to DO it, just not train for it, haha. I don’t know how many suggestions you’ll get here, since we mostly seem to be focused on weights, but lemme make two observations:
I had a friend who trained for and ran two marathons. He wasnt a big guy, but good news is, he didnt lose any size, so hopefully you wont worry abou that.
Personally, I feel MUCH more comfortable my second time around on a program. So I dont know if you plan on doing each program only once (sorry I didnt check to see how long each program was, so I cant figure out if youre doing one macrocycle each or two) but you might want to repeat some just so you have better idea of what to expect/weights to use.
Sorry, this probably isnt too helpful, but good luck!
[quote]KBCThird wrote:
wow that sounds really ambitious. I always think it would be cool to do a triathlon and/or a marathon. It would be fun to DO it, just not train for it, haha. I don’t know how many suggestions you’ll get here, since we mostly seem to be focused on weights, but lemme make two observations:
I had a friend who trained for and ran two marathons. He wasnt a big guy, but good news is, he didnt lose any size, so hopefully you wont worry abou that.
Personally, I feel MUCH more comfortable my second time around on a program. So I dont know if you plan on doing each program only once (sorry I didnt check to see how long each program was, so I cant figure out if youre doing one macrocycle each or two) but you might want to repeat some just so you have better idea of what to expect/weights to use.
Sorry, this probably isnt too helpful, but good luck![/quote]
KBC,
Thanks for the reply.
I’m not being too ambitious (I hope!). They are only amateur triathalons where people of all ability levels can enter and the main focus is on getting to the end!
It’s good to hear that your marathon friend (Now training for a marathon is ambitious!) didn’t lose any size whilst training. As I said in my post I seem to be able to do a fair bit of cardio and not lose size. Actually the last few years I have hardly done any weights and mostly did cycling and the rowing machine, and my weight didn’t go down at all! The triathalons should only take about an hour so they don’t require “super’endurance”.
As for repeating programs, I am going to do two cycles of pendulum training. I am currently doing TBT so it won’t be a totally foreign workout to me when I repeat it next year. The other workouts such as Outlaw S&C, Shoulders Overhaul and SFM I read as being a once only workout to kickstart your conditioning, strength or correct a weakness before moving into more regular training. I think the variety will help me as well.
Well, you are ambitous indeed. But it seems that your Ambitions have you running (no pun intended) in many different directions. First you can get strong and increase endurance at the same time, but you will reach a point when you can not continue to make the desired gains in both departments.
Without delving too much into physiology, I’ll give you some practical thoughts. The hypertrophy associated with bodybuilding will not be conducive for a Triathlon, since more muscle needs more energy and more oxygen. Second, you cannot train with enough energy to derive the benifits from both types of training that you’d you would like.
Third, long bouts of aerobic work is taxing on your body. Hard weight training is difficult on your body as well. Add those together and it equals one hell of a CNS and muscular stressor. You wont be able to recover.
I AM Not saying that you cannot accomplish your goals. INFACT, I wish you well. Its just that I have been in your position and tried to accomplish everything, while in the end accomplishing nothing. Dont spin your wheels. GOOD LUCK
Sounds great, but the only caution i would give you is to take care of your feet, and to buy a good pair of running shoes. Other than that I dont know much about running, the only running i do is some HIIT.
Good luck and stay away from the hard surfaces when running.
Will42
With regards to your strength and development goals, I think it is vital that your goals be expressed in hard data, ie, " I will squat 300 lbs for ten reps in near perfect form by 12/25/2005" rather than in just saying, “i want to get stronger”, you have to have a standard, remember “WHATEVER CAN BE MEASURED CAN BE IMPROVED”
[quote]Mako1983 wrote:
Well, you are ambitous indeed. But it seems that your Ambitions have you running (no pun intended) in many different directions. First you can get strong and increase endurance at the same time, but you will reach a point when you can not continue to make the desired gains in both departments.
Without delving too much into physiology, I’ll give you some practical thoughts. The hypertrophy associated with bodybuilding will not be conducive for a Triathlon, since more muscle needs more energy and more oxygen. Second, you cannot train with enough energy to derive the benifits from both types of training that you’d you would like.
Third, long bouts of aerobic work is taxing on your body. Hard weight training is difficult on your body as well. Add those together and it equals one hell of a CNS and muscular stressor. You wont be able to recover.
I AM Not saying that you cannot accomplish your goals. INFACT, I wish you well. Its just that I have been in your position and tried to accomplish everything, while in the end accomplishing nothing. Dont spin your wheels. GOOD LUCK
[/quote]
Mako1983,
Thanks for the advice. I have thought a lot about how to train for two different goals during the year and trying not to confuse the CNS etc etc and I hope that this thought is reflected in my training plan. I probably should have given more details to make things a bit clearer which would have answered some of your concerns, so here goes:
I’m only doing two “bodybuilding” training periods ie TBT and Shoulders Overhaul throughout the year. During these periods I will be cutting back the cardio to a minimum as they are in between training for triathalons and for the running race. I did mention that I didn’t really wish to add on a heap of size because this would affect my performance in these events. I am more focused on developing strength, which according to some of the articles I’ve read here doesn’t necessarily mean bulking up too much.
The other programs are all driven towards improving strength and athletic performance eg Pendulum Training. From my understanding you should be able to perform these programs and train for your given sport on the “off” days and still make some gains. Obviously the Strength Focused Mesocycle does not allow me to do much cardio except for that specified in the program and the EDT for fat loss has a cardio component “built-in” due to the nature of the the workout, so during these times I plan to be careful with what I do outside of weight training eg practice my swimming technique by doing drills which do not necessarily burn up a heap of energy.
I’m not going to be TOO serious about the triathalons or the running. They are just a bit of a challenge to prepare for and help to break up the monotony of doing the same thing each week for the whole year. I have competed in both events in the past year with very basic cardio work as training and got through OK. I just want to improve on my times by following a proper training program for once rather than just “going for a jog” whenever I felt like it! I’m also starting to follow proper nutrition guidelines correctly for the first time such as using protein shakes and timing the meals corrrectly. I feel that this will help in my recovery from training when in the past i wouldn’t have been doing this.
I hope this has cleared up a few things for you. Let me know what you think.
Well, I’ve been doing a bit more thinking following the advice that I received and have decided to revise the training program. I’ve decided to only have one “bodybuilding” phase instead of two, and this will be the Shoulder’s Overhaul because I really want to get my shoulders in shape and ready for the heavy strength work to follow later in the yeat. I’ve decided to focus more on strength and developing athletic qualities which will help in the triathalons a bit more and also stop me bulking up too much which will further hinder my performance in these events. So here is the revised program:
Pendulum Training for Athletes (to compliment triathalon training and maintain strength) for two cycles = 10 weeks
Recovery period with light weights plus competing in one or two triathalons I want to enter in March = 2 weeks
Shoulders Overhaul = 8 weeks
Outlaw Strength & Conditioning plus start serious running training under a separate 10 week plan for the fun run = 6 weeks
Do the last four weeks of the running training plan leading up to the fun run. I don’t know what to do for weights at this time yet. Some advice would be apreciated. I was thinking of only 2 days/week doing 5x5 to maintain strength. Is this a good idea?
Compete in City to Surf
CW’s Strength Focused Mesocycle = 4 weeks. This is probably the best time to do this because it doesn’t allow much cardio and I won’t feel like doing much after all the running! It will also serve as a kickstart into more strength-oriented workouts.
EDT For Fat Loss to get conditioned for triathalon training and lose body fat whilst maintaining strength = 4 weeks
Recovery period, hopefully going on an overseas holiday! = 2 weeks
Pendulum Training for Athletes (to compliment triathalon training and maintain strength) for two cycles = 10 weeks
Move into more intense triathalon training.
Because I have been getting back into lifting only since July I haven’t been able to time my training for the triathalons this summer coming up, so I will only be doing a couple. I am hoping that the program above will help me get a better-prepared run into the 2005/2006 season where I can attempt them fully prepared for once and compete in more than two or three events.
Any advice would be appreciated, especially in regards to point no. 5 for the weight training I should be doing during this time.