Strength Training for Triathletes Over 40: The Two-Session Program

TL;DR: Strength training for triathletes over 40 is two 30 to 40 minute sessions a week built on five movements: a squat, a hinge, single-leg work, a calf raise and a pull. Lift moderately heavy with good form, keep it in all year, drop to one session a week in race build, and stop 7 to 10 days before an A race. It is the session most age groupers skip and the one that keeps them racing.

Ask a triathlete over 40 what they would cut if they were short on time.

It is always the strength session.

Swim, bike and run feel like training. Lifting feels like an optional extra.

For a 25-year-old, maybe.

For you, it is the foundation.

Why strength training matters more after 40

Muscle mass declines slowly from the mid-thirties unless you load it. Endurance work does not provide that load.

A review by Rønnestad and Mujika found heavy strength training improved running economy and cycling efficiency in endurance athletes, without adding unwanted bulk.

And the injury data points the same way. A 2022 review of long-distance triathletes found overuse injuries were the most common type, mostly at the knee and lower back.

Your action: book your two strength sessions before you plan anything else in the week.

The five movements

• Squat: goblet squat or back squat. 3 sets of 5 to 8.
• Hinge: Romanian deadlift or trap-bar deadlift. 3 sets of 5 to 8.
• Single leg: split squat or step-up. 3 sets of 6 to 10 each side.
• Calf raise: straight-knee and bent-knee. 3 sets of 10 to 15. Runners over 40 need this more than anything.
• Pull: row or chin-up. 3 sets of 6 to 10. Your swim shoulders will thank you.

Finish with a short trunk exercise: a side plank or a pallof press.

Your action: pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than you do. Not light, not to failure.

How to fit it around swim, bike and run

• Put strength on the same day as a hard session, after it or later that day. Keep easy days easy.
• Never the day before your key run.
• Thirty to forty minutes is enough. This is not a bodybuilding session.

Your action: pair strength with your hard bike day, the lowest-impact hard day of most weeks.

How to periodise it through the season

• Off-season and base: two sessions a week, building load gradually.
• Race build: one session a week, same movements, slightly fewer sets.
• Taper: last session 7 to 10 days before your A race.
• After the race: back to two sessions once your recovery block is done. See triathlon recovery over 40.

Your action: put "strength" in your season plan as its own line, not a footnote.

Feeding the tissue you are loading

Strength work loads tendons and connective tissue as well as muscle. Daily nutrition matters for both.

Protein first: aim for a decent serve at every meal. Then consider Complete Joint Care, our daily joint formula. This multi-ingredient formula provides nutrients involved in cartilage structure, connective tissue integrity and normal joint function, making it suitable for daily joint support.

What to look for in one is in joint supplements for triathletes.

Your action: have your protein and joint scoop within an hour of lifting.

If you are on medication, carrying an injury or have a medical condition, speak with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.

Grant Jenkins is an ESSA Accredited Exercise Physiologist and high-performance athletic development coach with almost 30 years of coaching behind him, including national academy and professional athletes. He is a co-founder of Propel Health Australia.

References

1. Rønnestad BR, Mujika I. Optimizing strength training for running and cycling endurance performance: a review. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2014;24(4):603-612.
2. Rhind JH, Dass D, Barnett A, Carmont M. A Systematic Review of Long-Distance Triathlon Musculoskeletal Injuries. Journal of Human Kinetics. 2022;81:123-134. doi:10.2478/hukin-2022-0011