Get Stronger | Perform Better
Strength training pays off like no other component of fitness. No other fitness component displays on the human body at any age as well as strength does: you look leaner and fitter, you move with grace and power in any activity, you recover quicker from training, you get more from every workout. Strength training is the fountain of youth. But it takes work and guidance.
Cyclists, runners, swimmers, and endurance athletes in general should focus heavily on functional strength training in the off season for a variety of reasons. Let’s explore a few. First off, as a competitive athlete craving for challenge, functional strength training gives you something challenging and ultimately rewarding to pursue during the dark and rainy months. Second, functional strength training can be be done anywhere, really: at home in the bathroom to hallway doorway on a TRX with stretchy bands (my personal favourite); or in any gym, big or small with the right guidance to set you on your way. Third, the payoffs from off-season functional strength training are huge come the following season. For instance, expect your anaerobic threshold to be pushed that much further along than the previous year. You’ll get more power at less cost to your aerobic metabolism. Fourth, strength training can be surgically structured to minimize workout time while maximizing the engagement of muscles and joints per movement to yield benefits thoroughly transferrable to all your athletic endeavours. Below are some options I offer for mastering functional strength training for a better next-season:
Functional Strength Training Options:
Personal Training
Athletic Endeavours Personal Training sessions are always customized to suit your needs. Chose one-to-one, partner or small group training; in your gym, my gym, your home or an outdoor setting. Every session has a strong emphasis on getting you stronger through functional, full-body, core-centric movements to engage and challenge you, and a programming structure to ensure the best workout you can get in an hour.
The Hour Of Power Workouts
Have you heard of The Hour Of Power? Do you know someone who has survived? OK, kidding about the last bit but it did get your attention, right? Athletic Endeavours has come up with this rather effective, fun, social and challenging small group functional HIIT workout. It’s a mix-up of cool fitness training techniques using functional training tools and is held twice per week, outdoors but undercover on Monday evenings from 6:00-7:00pm outside Charles Dickens School 1010 East 17th Ave (at Windsor), and indoors on Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:30am at Cadence Fitness Studio, located 1644 West 6th Avenue, on the south side of 6th Ave between Fir and Pine Street. Accessible, enjoyable, welcoming to all levels of fitness. Expect personal attention from a seasoned trainer who really cares about you getting the most from every minute you spend with him as a trainer.
Suspension Training
Suspension training devices have been around since the first Iraq war. For this trainer, that’s 30 years of evolving and developing into the best training tool since body weight. Hey, wait: it is about body weight, creativity and simple physics. And it’s beyond great. Think about it: it’s a tool you can use anywhere any time, and with it, perform any move you can think of. For any free-spirited fitness buff, suspension training is here for you. It’s the simplest of fitness training tools. Consisting of nothing more than adjustable straps and handles, but the number of configurations of pushing and pulling with this tool are endless.