Strength and Conditioning is important for anyones training program. It is especially important and sometimes neglected by endurance athletes. This is because they can become more focus on running, cycling or swimming and not give enough time needed to develop their strength. A good strength and conditioning program can help reduce the risk of getting injured. It is also important for people looking to improve general health and wellness. There are a few bits of kit needed in order for you to achieve this. Here are the bits of kit that I would recommend using for a strength and conditioning program.
A squat rack is an essential bit of kit for strength and conditioning programming. The squat is one of the most important exercises for any goals, whether it’s a health and wellness goal or an endurance goal. The squat rack can be used for many other exercises as well, such as chest press, shoulder press, tricep dips and pull ups to name a few. This squat rack is suitable for all of these exercises.
A men's Olympic bar is a metal bar at 2.2m long and weighs 20kg. Where as a women's Olympic bar is a little smaller at 2.01m and lighter at 15kg. The grip diameter is 28mm for men and 25mm for woman. The Olympic barbell is I used for all of the Olympic lifts such as the deadlift, squat, clean and jerk.
Bumper plates are coated in solid rubber as they need to be able to be safely dropped from above head height. This is important because when the weight becomes too heaver the safest thing to do is to just drop the weights.
A plyometric box is a great platform to perform plyometric exercises on. It is a fantastic way to build muscular power and muscular elasticity. Jumping and landing are key skills to develop for running. Step ups are also great exercises to develop muscular endurance for mountain Ultra marathons. It can also be used as bench when bench pressing.
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Slacklining is a fun way to develop skills needed for trail running. It can improve your balance, strengthen of your feet, ankles and legs. It also involves using your core and arms for balance. These skills transfer to staying balanced when running downhill or on difficult technical trails.
Gym matting is essential when proforming Olympic lifts as there is a lot of dropping weights from overhead. If the floor is not properly protected then there is a high risk that it will become damaged. Having 12mm of rubber matting should protect your floor from weights being dropped at these heights.
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Rowing is a fantastic way of conditioning your aerobic and anaerobic systems. The movement of rowing is very similar to the movement of a clean. Rowing can help build muscular endurance of your posterior chain (muscles done the back of you). It is also a great alternative to running when you want to reduce the impact of your feet. The Concept 2 rower is by far the best rowing machine for achieving this.
The assault bike also know as the killer bike became very popular through Crossfit. It is a great way of getting the heart rate up very quickly. This is because the assault bike stressors your upper and lower body simultaneously.
The WATT bike is great way to build muscular endurance for cycling but also to work on cycling technique. WATT bike sessions can be easily be progressed through increasing the WATT output of each session. It can also be a fantastic tool for recovery. A light cycle will increase blood flow to areas of the body that needs recovering and it is low impact on joints.