Triathletes can get a lot of benefits from doing structured strength training at home or in the gym. The TRX is a great tool for triathletes to use if they are looking to make their at home training more challenging and effective. This article will provide you with advice on which exercises you should include in your TRX training sessions.
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Triathletes have a hell of a lot on their plate. Training three sports is no easy feet as it is, let alone doing strength and conditioning work on the side. Strength training or resistance training should be used as a supplement to sport specific training, never as a replacement. Triathletes need a balanced strength routine that develops the body as an entire system, this will mean putting emphasis on full body resistance training for a frequency of 1-2 times a week depending on your triathlon training regime.
The TRX will allow you to gain strength and stability in some muscles which are key to performance metrics in running, which will in-turn improve your triathlon performance. The exercises that help the hamstrings and glutes will be particularly useful for achieving these aims.
Triathlon is a very demanding sport, it requires a huge training volume and can put a lot of pressure on the body. Having a durable, resilient body through training the muscles and tendons through resistance training, you can make your body more durable, less susceptible to injury.
Performance and injury mitigation are great, but outside of triathlon, resistance training offers many benefits that cardiovascular training simply doesn’t provide, making it worth while for everyone to add into their weekly routine.
Having a strong core is very beneficial for triathletes performance and general health. The TRX has a wide variety of core exercises , that can all be performed from your own home.
The TRX Archer Row is an excellent horizontal pulling variation that triathletes can use you gain or maintain strength in the upper back. It is not a beginners exercises, but those who are competent triathletes shouldn’t struggle too much with adding this exercise into their training regime.
The TRX Glute Bridge Hold is a great way to build strength and stability in the glutes for triathletes. This exercise will cause very little muscular soreness so wont have an effect on other training sessions. Ensure you’re focusing on tensing the muscle as much as possible.
The TRX Hamstring Pull In is an important exercise for triathletes and runners a like. Hamstring strength and stability will help improve performance but also allow for injury mitigation. Hamstrings are an essential muscle to train so give this exercise a try. Again, this exercise isn’t for beginners as it will put a lot of pressure on the hamstring, but if your a seasoned triathlete you can give it a try and assess if your capable of performing it for multiple repetitions.
The TRX Press Up to Pike is a challenging core and horizontal press movement that can be excellent way to get a lot of work into one exercise. This exercise needs to be performed with precision and control, if the pike movement is rushed, it takes away from its effectiveness drastically.
The TRX Single Row with Rotation is a great way to get horizontal pull work in along with some rotation. This exercise should be done slowly with control, especially as all the weight of your body is placed onto the single shoulder. Try and not use any momentum from the supporting arm, use the muscles of the shoulder and the back to pull yourself forward.
Complete 3 rounds
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This resource was written by Sean Klein. Sean Richard Klein has thousands of hours of coaching experience and a BSc in Sports Science with Management from Loughborough University. He owns a gym in Bayonne France, CrossFit Essor, which runs group classes and a Personal training studio.