If you don’t strength train and you are thinking of what to do to up your game in 2026 then adding in a strength and conditioning (S&C) session 2 or 3 times a week should be top of your list.
One of the first things we lose as we age (from our 30s onwards) is lean muscle mass, so it’s really important in order to just maintain your strength that you don’t sacrifice S&C for the swim, bike and run.
Key movements to include in a S&C plan are:
- Posterior chain work eg. Deadlifts, hip thrusts. Strengthening the muscles on the back of the body (glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and calves) improves running efficiency, power, and stability. These exercises help counteract the common quad-dominant nature of cycling and running, leading to better overall athletic performance and reduced risk of injury.
- Single leg work eg. Single leg squats, split squats – for improved glute activation, hip stability, and balance. It can also mimic running mechanics and is great for spotting weaknesses as the dominant side can’t hide the weaker side!
- Vertical pulling exercises eg. Pull ups, lat pull downs – these help strengthen the pull phase of your swim stroke.
- Upper body pulling exercises eg. Bent over rows – really good for your mid to low back and rear shoulders – this will help with correct posture and scapular control.
- Plank to push ups – combining functional upper body strength with core control.
There are so many different exercises you can do that it can be daunting going into a gym and knowing what to do. But a S&C routine doesn’t need to be complicated, these are 6 key exercises to include that work on strengthening your legs, upper back and core:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Pull ups (or lat pull down/progressions as work towards a pull up)
- Shoulder press
- Bent over row
- Core routine
Squats – bodyweight, back squats, goblet squats, dumbbell squats, front squats – so many choices! The squat works your hip and knee joints along with the quads, hamstrings and glutes. Including full squats in S&C routine can improve muscular endurance and present the early onset of fatigue when you are on the run in your triathlon.
Deadlifts – single leg, Romanian, straight leg, trap bar – again you have lots of options. Deadlifts are great for the posterior chain (hamstrings and glutes) which often gets neglected with all the biking and running.
Pull ups – the front crawl swim stroke uses all the muscles worked in a pull up (traps, shoulders, pecs, lats and triceps). As you work towards a pull up you can use the lat pull down machine, also work on static hangs and use a resistance band to assist the pull up as you move towards doing a full unassisted pull up.
Shoulder press – strict press, push press, dumbbell shoulder press. Again these work the muscles used in the swim stroke and improve shoulder health but also work on lower back and core strength (which are used in cycling!)
Bent over row – single arm with dumbbells or bent over with a weight bar. Really good for your mid to low back and rear shoulders – this will help with correct posture and scapular control which is important across the swim, bike and run.
Core routine – Flutter kick/leg extension/side bends/planks (and plank to push up) – often triathletes have a weak core and core strength is needed on the bike, in the run and to maintain body position in the swim, so a strong core will help across all the aspects of tri.
An S&C routine does not need to take long, 20-30min is plenty of time and if you can incorporate this 2 or 3 times a week then it will be truly beneficial.
For more advice on how you could work this into a training plan or what to do in the gym just get in touch!
Happy training 🙂
Kat Berry Coaching 