Originally Posted by Sprocket Man
Weightlifting, in my experience, is a poor substitute for swimming. The exercises that provide the most benefit are lat pull downs and tricep push downs. However, I've found that even when I've been lifting weights religiously while taking a break from swimming, when I get a chance to get back into the pool, the first couple times are pretty pathetic. There may be a little carryover benefit to weightlifting, but it's very marginal, in my experience.
i have no problem getting to a pool and have been swimming three times a week for the last several months. now that i've decided to do a tri i'll probably cut that back to 2 days a week to make room for running in my schedule. my question is, how useful/necessary is it to supplement swimming workouts (and running/riding for that matter) with weights? i can't increase my workout time all that much due to job/school schedules, so should i spend that time swimming/running/riding as much as i can, or should i throw some weights in too?
this is my first tri, so i'm not aiming for some awesome finish, but i definitely want to finish and would like to do relatively well without having to become obessive (yet).