My triathlon training schedule...is it any good?

[Ollie]

Hi all - first post

I've been training for about 3 years now. I'm more of a runner than a weightlifter but am very lean and strong for my size (5'10, weigh 65kg and bench press 85kg) and intend to make a transition to the triathlon. However, since I typically train 5 days a week I don't want to cut down to a typical 3 day push/pull/legs triathlon split.

This is what I've come up with in addition to my morning cardio sessions...how does it sound? Some of the exercises are new to me - in particular I'm not sure about behind neck shoulder presses due to the risk of injury, but let me know what you think and what you'd change, if anything. Cheers guys

Monday - Behind neck shoulder press 16/10/8/8, superset with...Upright row 16/10/8/8
- Incline dumbbell press 16/10/8/8
- Bench press 16/10/8/8
- Weighted sit ups 20/16/12/10

Tuesday - Close grip lateral pulldown 16/10/8/8, superset with...Close grip seated pulley row 16/10/8/8
- Seated Calf Raise 16/12/10/10
- Reverse Wrist Curl 16/10/8/8

Wednesday - Squats 16/12/10/10
- Leg press 16/12/10/10
- Leg curl 16/12/10/10

Thursday - Close grip bench press 16/10/8/8
- Tricep dip 16/10/8/8, superset with...Dumbbell shrug 16/10/8/8
- Standing calf raise 16/10/8/8

Friday - Pull up
- EZ bar curl
- Hammer curl
- Weighted crunches

[Karlos02]

i take ur aims arent to build alot of size or strength then? yes for shoulder press i would jus use dumbells or use a barbell infront of the head. other than that it looks ok in my opinion

[Ollie]

I'd like to build strength rather than size, possibly to gain about 5lbs but I shouldn't think I'd like to gain much more than that

[Karlos02]

well, if ur looking to build on ur explosive strength, use 4-6 rep range or i wud use rep range 12-15 for strength endurance which wud work well for trialthalon training i wud think. but usually size and strength do come together

[Ollie]

My body's never really responded very well to low-rep sets. To be honest most of my growth has come from a phase I spent doing 3 sets of 8-10 reps for each exercise, particularly on smaller muscles. I've found my chest, lats and back to respond best to an 8/8/6 set pattern, but I'm aiming for endurance now I'm close to what I perceive as my ideal physique in sporting and aesthetic terms.

That first set is to within 1 rep of failure for each exercise, so hopefully it'll improve endurance. I get a unique burn with 12+ reps...probably lactic acid...that I don't feel with fewer reps. That's especially true of leg exercises and emulates the feeling on the bike so hopefully it'll help that aspect in particular.