According to the traditional line of thinking, strength training builds muscles, leading to a bulky physique that can’t compete with slender endurance athletes. True or false? It’s false, as you probably guessed. While the example may be exaggerated, it illustrates deeply ingrained beliefs about the compatibility of strength and endurance training.

Strength training is important for all endurance athletes, including skiers, and through research and practical experience, we know that the benefits of strength training in endurance sports are significant. Now that we’ve got the point of the article out there let’s delve into why and what type of strength training actually works for endurance athletes. The first part introduces the types of strength training, and the second part will delve deeper into the physiology of strength training and provide guidance for readers on strength training.

Strength training is determined by the goal

As is usually the case in sports coaching, the goal in strength training determines the intensity, duration, load, and number of repetitions in a workout. In strength training, a specific exercise, such as the squat, is repeated a certain number of times in a row. The number of repetitions equals one set. Several sets are done after a few minutes of rest, depending on the goals.

For example, in a workout like “4 x 4 1RM / 3′”, an athlete performs four squats with the maximum load (1RM) with a three-minute rest between sets. This is repeated until all four sets are completed.

Strength training is divided into endurance, maximum, and speed strength. Maximum strength includes hypertrophic and neural training. The goal of hypertrophic training is muscle growth, while neural training, when successful, increases maximum strength and improves muscle coordination. Muscle size doesn’t change much in the latter form of strength training. Endurance strength, on the other hand, is achieved through activities like circuit training with low weights or no weights at all, without long breaks within the workout. Speed strength training is done with fast movements, and its effects are similar to those of maximum strength training.

No endurance strength for endurance athletes?

Endurance strength training is very sport-specific, loading the same systems as the sport-specific training itself. In the past, sport-specific strength training was considered the best choice for endurance athletes, but nowadays, it is known not to be the case. Why train the same qualities during strength training as in sport-specific training when you could focus on actually improving strength, not endurance, during strength workouts?

Hypertrophic training is done with moderate weights (50 – 75% of one-repetition maximum, 1RM) for about 6 – 12 repetitions (sets of 3 – 8) with moderate (1 – 3 min) rests. Since this type of training leads to muscle growth, it is not considered highly recommended for endurance athletes.

Maximum strength, on the other hand, is developed with heavy weights (85 – 100% of 1RM) for just a few repetitions (1-4) and sets (3 – 6), with longer breaks (3 – 5 min) between sets. In maximum strength training, muscle growth is minimal, but maximum force production and force production speed improve, which is very beneficial for endurance sports.

Speed strength, especially without weights, is probably familiar to most endurance athletes. Speed strength can be trained with plyometric jumps, such as various jumps and box jumps. The idea is to utilize the elastic structures of the legs and focus on a sharp and elastic push during ground contact. An example exercise would be drop jumps from a box, 2 x 20 reps from a height of 20 cm, 2 x 20 reps from 40 cm, and another 2 x 20 reps from a 60 cm high box. Because jumps and leaps, as good as they are, can cause injuries to the most sensitive, it’s advisable to incorporate them into training with caution.

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This is an original Maastohiihto.com article. The second part will provide more information on maximum strength training, the physiology of strength training, and explain why strength training is so effective in improving endurance performance.