Strength Training Reduces Overuse Injury Risk
Because strength training improves joint health and decreases the effort required for mountain sports, it can protect you from developing overuse injuries. Overuse injuries occur as a response to repeated stress and trauma to specific tissues and bones over time without adequate rest. So, if you are training the same movements day in and day out – on your road bike or trail run, for example – then the same tissues are being stressed over and over.
Research has shown that regular strength training for cyclists can reduce overuse injuries such as lower back pain or knee pain by over 50%! How? When exercising, your body recruits only the tissues needed to complete the specific task based on the direction, force required, and speed of movement. Essentially, strength training varies the movement planes and tissues you train, preventing overuse and preventing imbalances that can lead to injury.
Additionally, strength training improves the force production and absorption capabilities of tissue. This means that your tissues become more resilient, so each stride, pedal, etc. out in the mountains induces less repeated stress over time.
That said, training with poor technique, too heavy of weights, or excessive rep counts will not do your joints any favors. A random workout you might find in a blog or magazine probably isn’t optimized for you or your sport (even if the author claims it is).
By the way, if you’re struggling with back pain on the bike, check out A Cyclists Guide To Back Pain: Why Stretching Won’t Work And What To Do Instead by OTM’s Ben Van Treese. Spoiler: strength training is part of the solution.
Links:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-198603010-00006
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsif.2006.0113
About the Author
Alex Wetmore is the director of online coaching for Off The Mountain and earned his Ph.D. in sport physiology & performance from East Tennessee State University. Alex has worked with athletes at all levels from youth to Olympians. Alex uses his understanding of physiology to help others thrive, on and off the mountain.
