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With summer just beginning we tend to become more active and with longer days, the temperature rising and, if you live in the northern states, so too the humidity which can have a great impact on your day to day health and performance.

For most endurance athletes the pre-season or early base phases consists of lower intensity and/or duration of endurance training which provides a great opportunity to improve maximal strength through regular strength training sessions. Strength training is safe and effective for most athletes and should be included as part of any comprehensive training program.

A warm-up should be progressive in intensity and move from general activities to sports specific exercises or movements. It should be around 10min duration depending on the desired intensity of the training session

Exercise Right Week 22-28 May 2017 is an initiative to raise awareness of the role of regular exercise in the health and well-being of all Australians and spread the message that appropriately prescribed exercise is as effective as many medicines for a range of chronic health conditions.

As a non-strength athlete, ie. not the primary goal of the sport (eg. triathlon, cycling, running, swimming, paddling, soccer, AFL etc), strength training should be used in addition to endurance training and has many health benefits along with performance benefits including creating a stronger, more powerful and resilient athlete

With no strength training experience Max has now become a regular in the gym and is making some great improvements in strength, power and mobility. He has achieved 2 recent PB’s this season taking 18 seconds off his 3km time and another 10 seconds off his 1500m time, both since commencing regular strength training

Following his debut pro race at Geelong 70.3, I had a few questions for Lindsey to get his perspective on why strength training is an important part of his triathlon training. With a 6minute run split PB at Geelong, his training and racing is heading in the right direction… stay tuned for some great results in the near future.

I recently caught up with Kriss Hendy, strength coach, mentor and founder of the Strength for Endurance Network. We talked all things strength training and I gave him my top tips for athletes who are new to strength training.

The benefits come from the fact that you are completing a greater workload in a set time compared to lower intensity or steady state exercises. The recovery intervals allow the individual to exercise at a higher overall intensity

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions placed around strength training. This may be a result of your stereotypical gym junkie throwing weights around in the gym and drinking protein shakes like they are going out of fashion or the many unfounded reasons why a lot of women and elderly people shy away from lifting weights.

The role of the EP is ever increasing in today’s current society with physical inactivity one of the major causes of death and disease across the world. Exercise is one of the cheapest ‘medicines’ available to help combat the rise of chronic disease and obesity.