Can you work on body building and triathlons at the same time?

Trooperboyo · 08-05-2011 01:48AM #1

Does one counteract the other or at least compromise the other. I'm thinking that a cardio workout (running/cycling/swimming) could burn up energy that could be used for body building? My plan would be something like doing a cardio in the morning and doing a weights/circuits session in the evening.

The reason I'm asking this is that I've heard of a few body builder that went to the French Foreign Legion and couldn't sick it because they needed a lot of carbs and there was a lot of cardio involved in it, not just strenght.

Not sure if this is a stupid question or not. In the past I've done a lot of cardio workouts and circuits (press ups/sit ups/squats/pull ups), this targets specifically endurance. I'm thinking of taking up some body building and I'm not sure if this will screw the system up.

Oh and has anyone ever heard or used material from "Skinny Vinny"? I've heard it's supposed to be good but I generally don't like buying stuff like this, I never have done so.

Any one got any advice on this?
Cheers.

Hanley · 08-05-2011 09:57AM

How serious are you about both?

You won't look like a bodybuilder and be as fit as a triathlete trying to do both.

But you can build muscle and get fitter, if that's what you're asking.

murphthesmurf · 08-05-2011 12:52PM

This will mostly come down to your diet. You must make sure that you consume enough callories to fuel your body for both workouts. You must also consume a minimum of 1gram of protien per pound of bodyweight, preferably 2 grams per lb. So if your 180lbs then ideally you would want to take in 360 grams of protien.
The 2nd thing is to not do any press ups etc in your cardio. This is because, say your working chest that night, if you do press ups in the morning, then train chest later in the day, your chest is being worked twice. This will be too much and will limit any benefits by overtraining the muscle.
If you plan your routine carefully, and get your diet nailed, then you should be fine doing both. But you'll need to eat like a horse

You wont gain as much from the bodybuilding as you would by concentrating only on this, and your circuit training wont be as good as it would done by itself. But you will acheive a perfectly good compromise if done properly.
As for foreign legion :eek:, 99.5% of the population couldn't hack that, bodybuilder or not.

squod · 08-05-2011 01:46PM

If you're serious about either than stick with one or the other IMO. Can't imagine gaining five or six stone in mass is gonna increase your competitiveness as a tri-athlete.

Remmy · 08-05-2011 01:53PM

The one triathalete I know is about 5:8 and 10/11 stone.He does quite well in them I believe but I doubt his times would remain the same if he was carrying around 2/3 stone extra muscle.

I'd say pick one you most enjoy and go for that inclusive of the other one.Once you have competed in a few tri's you might just want to pack it in and go on an eternal bulk:D

murphthesmurf · 08-05-2011 02:08PM

If your not planning on doing either competitively, then you should be ok though. But as others said, carrying extra muscle will slow you down, so if you have intentions of competing then not such a good idea.
If you just want to build up some nice muscle, while still doing the triathlon stuff to keep fit and as a hobbie, then go for it.

Degsy · 08-05-2011 03:10PM

Trooperboyo wrote: »

The reason I'm asking this is that I've heard of a few body builder that went to the French Foreign Legion and couldn't sick it because they needed a lot of carbs and there was a lot of cardio involved in it, not just strenght.

Well you could consider a 120km,3-day route march a "lot of cardio" and you dont get " a lot of carbs"..you basically get ****-all to eat,especially in the Basic Training stage.

If they were bodybuilders when they arrived they would be skeletons after 10 weeks and if they couldnt keep up with the marching(which most people cant),they'd be kicked out "Au revoir,espece de encule!":)

Remmy · 08-05-2011 03:22PM

Degsy wrote: »

"Au revoir,espece de encule!":)

What does that mean?March or die?

Kev M · 08-05-2011 05:49PM

I know a few triathletes who are fairly jacked, so of course it can be done. Depends how far you want to take it though.

Brian? · 08-05-2011 06:06PM

Kev M wrote: »

I know a few triathletes who are fairly jacked, so of course it can be done. Depends how far you want to take it though.

Define jacked? I've seen plenty of triathletes who are lean and muscular, none who are big enough to be described as bodybuilders.

My 2c is that you can have a decent physique, but you don't want to be properly big if you're doing triathlons.

DL Saint · 08-05-2011 06:29PM

Triathletes always seem to have massive shoulders

I would say you could achieve a muscular enough physique training both but it wouldn't be enough muscle to do bodybuilding. Also you wouldn't have the most symmetrical body doing triathalons imo.

Kev M · 08-05-2011 06:45PM

briankeating wrote: »

Define jacked? I've seen plenty of triathletes who are lean and muscular, none who are big enough to be described as bodybuilders.

My 2c is that you can have a decent physique, but you don't want to be properly big if you're doing triathlons.

Jacked as in look more like bodybuilders than 90% of people in gyms trying to look like bodybuilders. There's two guys I'm thinking of, and they could definitely be described as bodybuilders (of course natural ones, obviously not talking about 300lbs dudes here now, but 80ishkgs shredded at about 5'10/11)...

If the OP really has to ask this question, then do you think there's much risk of him/her getting 'properly' big any time soon?...

And the more important question is.. what does the OP consider jacked? I don't mean this to be funny, but Brad Pitt in fight club could probably do some triathlon training.

IMO, if the OP has an interest in both, then he/she should do both and see where they go.

Burkatron · 08-05-2011 06:45PM

Trooperboyo wrote: »

Does one counteract the other or at least compromise the other. I'm thinking that a cardio workout (running/cycling/swimming) could burn up energy that could be used for body building? My plan would be something like doing a cardio in the morning and doing a weights/circuits session in the evening.

It'll be a while before you can do a 2 a day protocol. It's Tri season now so IMO thats what you should be focusing on. Then switch your focus when the season ends in September & focus on bulking up! Christmas always helps with this

Tri Season doesn't really begin til the end of April early May so you can start slowly introducing 2 a day sessions in Feb. If you work it this way you'll have a better chance of succeeding in hitting your goals then just jumping in straight away now.
I'll probably get slated for this but you could have a look at Crossfit Endurance & look into building up to, as it has everything you're looking for. I was using it up until a few weeks ago but have had to cut back with ankle issues. Fecking swimming!! :mad:

Kev M · 08-05-2011 06:49PM

DL Saint wrote: »

I would say you could achieve a muscular enough physique training both but it wouldn't be enough muscle to do bodybuilding.

Most bodybuilders aren't muscular enough to be competitive, but ARE STILL bodybuilders.... As I said, it depends how far you want to take it.. but the majority don't need to worry about this at all.

Hanley · 08-05-2011 11:14PM

Kev M wrote: »

Jacked as in look more like bodybuilders than 90% of people in gyms trying to look like bodybuilders.

I LOL'd a lot. I can think of one like that too. Probs the same one that trained in TF?

Kev M · 09-05-2011 01:33AM

Hanley wrote: »

I LOL'd a lot. I can think of one like that too. Probs the same one that trained in TF?

Yup, BL, has some quality size for a triathlete, and serrrious gunz

.

Maybe I was throwing around 'jacked' a bit loosely, but the point was you can do both...

Nwm2 · 09-05-2011 10:46AM

Trooperboyo wrote: »

Does one counteract the other or at least compromise the other. I'm thinking that a cardio workout (running/cycling/swimming) could burn up energy that could be used for body building? My plan would be something like doing a cardio in the morning and doing a weights/circuits session in the evening.

The reason I'm asking this is that I've heard of a few body builder that went to the French Foreign Legion and couldn't sick it because they needed a lot of carbs and there was a lot of cardio involved in it, not just strength.

Not sure if this is a stupid question or not. In the past I've done a lot of cardio workouts and circuits (press ups/sit ups/squats/pull ups), this targets specifically endurance. I'm thinking of taking up some body building and I'm not sure if this will screw the system up.

Oh and has anyone ever heard or used material from "Skinny Vinny"? I've heard it's supposed to be good but I generally don't like buying stuff like this, I never have done so.

Any one got any advice on this?
Cheers.

You can't be a 'good' triathlete and look anything like a body builder.

Here's a quote which should illustrate why; "the trick is to keep losing weight until your friends and family ask you if you've been sick. then you know you're within 10 pounds. If they start whispering to each other, wondering if you've got cancer or aids, you're within 5. When they actually do an intervention, you're at race weight." (Dan Empfield)

So if triathlon is your focus, all that excess muscle is going to slow you down terribly and consume vital O2 and energy. And all that resistance training takes time away from swim/bike/run training.

Are there bodybuilders that do triathlons? Sure. Where do they come? Right at the bottom. I saw a very heavily muscled guy turn up at an event recently. I knew instantly he'd come in the bottom few %, which he did.

I thought that it was great that he was competing, but he had the wrong body shape, and had been clearly doing the wrong training, to do well.

On the other hand, triathletes are typically more heavily muscled than cyclists and long distance runners. This is because they swim, and also there is more of a tradition of doing weight training as triathletes.

And as noted earlier, this (together with being very lean) means that good triathletes often appear more muscled than 90% of the average recreational gym-going crowd.

Degsy · 09-05-2011 11:17AM

Remmy wrote: »

What does that mean?March or die?

Nah..thats "Marche ou crève"...what i said loosley means "Seeya later poppet,thanks for trying"

Trooperboyo · 11-05-2011 09:18PM

Sorry haven't been on this for awhile.

I should have picked better words. I haven't entered any competitions for either, but I have thought about entering a triathlon since I do a lot of running, cycling and swimming. As for body building I guess I'm just after a good physique, nothing too serious.

The thing is that I used to be under weight a year ago (11 stone and I'm 6'3). I started doing some serious bit of running, circuits and suplementary weights and now weight just under 13 stone. This is mostly core muscle, with that I thought it would be perfect to go on and do weight lifting. I hear a lot of people go off and do weights without much core muscle and can cause problems down the line.

My routine used to be:

Morning: a 4-5mile run, 12-24 mile cycle, an hour of swimming. Or most of the time I'd just combine the cycling and running.

Evening:
Circuit 1 2 3
Royal Marine pressups 25 +5 -5
Crunches 30
Diamond press 10 " "
Sit ups 30
Wide arm press 25
Hanging knees to chest 30
Squats 30
Lunges 30
under hand pull ups 5
over hand pull ups 5

I'm out injured at the moment and going to start this routine again. However I've been thinking of doing one circuit in the morning with the cardio. In the evening use the two circuits as a warm up/cool down for a weights session.

I was thinking that this might conteract gains made in either, I'll just have to watch wha I eat.

Can you work on body building and triathlons at the same time?

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