Athletes understand they need to incorporate strength training into their endurance programs, but are often at an impasse on how to execute.

Is sport-specific strength like swimming with paddles, and doing big gear work and hill repeats enough to “check the box”? Or, should an athlete carve out time for gym-specific work like deadlifts and squats? If so, when and how much?

To piece together the puzzle of combining strength training with endurance training, Sara Gross welcomes performance coach, Marilyn Chychota, to the Women’s Performance Podcast.

Marilyn has an exemplary career as both a professional athlete and coach. She's an Ironman winner, state champion in cycling and powerlifting, and also a competitive crossfitter. She develops personalized coaching and training plans for athletes through her business, Marilyn Chychota Coaching, and was instrumental in helping Sara Gross win two Ironmans.

Today, Sara and Marilyn unpack the mixed messages that are prevalent when it comes to combining strength training and endurance training. 

They discuss:

• Knowing the strength needs for different sports and matching those to the goals of the athlete
• Some of the outdated myths of strength training - it will make you slower, bigger, etc.
• Different categories of strength training and knowing which moves and styles are best for personal goals
• How every plan should be athlete-specific; there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to strength training
• Accounting for overall Training Stress (TSS) when it comes to developing a strength training routine so that it enhances performance, and doesn’t inhibit progression
• Importance of strength training as we age
• How natural strength, body type, and past training experience affect a strength program
• The differences between open-chain and closed-chain exercises and how they relate to an athlete’s goals.
• Understanding the impact of strength training on endurance athletes' nervous system and hormones, impacting recovery
• Putting it all together on the schedule — how and when to schedule strength around a busy endurance training schedule. 

A well-planned and well-executed strength plan will optimize an athlete’s performance in their sport, but it needs to be comprehensive and highly individualized based on the athlete’s goals, recovery, and balance between other sports.