Weightlifting – Part II

Last week I published a post titled “Triathlon Training and Weightlifting” where I ran through one of my typical leg-day workouts. I really do think weightlifting can easily get ignored when all you want to do is get out on your bike. But weightlifting is important for so many reasons, including: finding and correcting imbalances, strengthening stabilizer muscles, recruiting the core muscles in different ways, and generally creating well-rounded athletes. I wanted to follow that post up with a Part II, running through my Tuesday – Arms workout. It’s below; let me know what you think! 

Tuesday – Arms

Super set: Shoulder press, front/lateral raises

Shoulder press, dumbbells – 5 sets: 8 reps

Front/lateral raises alternating between shoulder press sets – 5 sets: 10 reps and/or until failure

Super set: Arnold press, front/lateral raises

Arnold press, dumbbells – 5 sets: 8 reps, or until failure

Front/Lateral raises alternating between Arnold press – 5 sets: until failure

Bicep Curls – 4 sets: 10 reps, when failing on last reps, do negatives

Super set: Hammer Curls and Tricep Extensions

Hammer Curls – 4 sets: 10 reps, when failing on last reps, do negatives

Bent Over Tricep Extensions – 4 sets: 10 reps each side

Tricep Cable Pull-Down – 4 sets: 8 or 6 reps

Finish with 20-30 minutes of Stairmaster intervals

You’ll notice I do a lot of shoulder lifts in the beginning when my arms are fresh, and that’s because I think shoulders are important for a few reasons. 1) They’re one of the major muscles utilized during the swim, and, 2) I think that, when people lift arms, they frequently ignore the shoulders for the showier biceps muscles. Curls for the girls, am I right?? Anyways, I won’t bro out too much, but I do love lifting shoulders. I realized they were a weak spot for me, and I actively am trying to change that.

You can see in this picture of me (and my baby) that my shoulders are finally starting to put on some size. Also, lifting will not make you big or bulky, so if you’re worried about putting on weight that you’d have to drag around a race, don’t worry.