When I quit the drink, I turned to Half Ironman Training to give me something else to focus on.  Essentially I replaced one addiction with another initially, but it did the job. However, I still remember the first Charles Poliquin nutrition conference I ever went to, where he called me out for it.  In his mind, running was not conducive to being strong – and his first question to me was, “so, what are you running away from?”  Turns out I was trying to run away from my boyfriend, but hey that’s a whole other story.

Strength training is one of the most underestimated and under-utilised aspects of a sports specific program, and while it doesn’t need to form the foundation of your training, you shouldn’t avoid using weights to prepare your body adequately for pounding the pavement or playing ball. Outside of improving your performance, weight training has so many more benefits: