I hate strength training!

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So boring! I am a triathlete for 5 years now. Just completed my first half Ironman distance this fall (70.3 total miles) but I am SO SLOW! I know that strength training is the answer but I cannot afford the fun ones like Crossfit and tho I have a modest weight bench, bands, etc. at home, I have a hard time making myself use them consistently. Same for speed work and/or hill sprints. They are just not enjoyable like my cardio. Any advice besides suck it up and get it done? lol. Thanks!
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  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Find a way of getting it in that IS fun. Suspension trainers? Sandbags? Kettlebells? I am the opposite. I love strength training and hate cardio but kept trying different ones until I found one I liked.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    My point of view:

    If you REALLY want to become faster and get better, you're going to have to suck it up and, and Nike likes to say, "Just do it!"

    Nothing is going to make strength training, hills, or intervals fun, but they are the only way you will get faster and be competitive. They aren't fun. Heck, they're completely mundane, uncomfortable, and you will often feel like **** while doing it (especially hills), but you gotta do what you gotta do! If you want to be at the top of the podium, you've got to pay your dues!
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
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    u know wuts boring... doing tons of cardio.
  • JasonDetwiler
    JasonDetwiler Posts: 364 Member
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    1 - Crossfit is NOT strength training. It's using strength training movements to do cardio.

    2 - I have yet to be bored with 350 over my neck waiting to crush my larynx.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    So boring! I am a triathlete for 5 years now. Just completed my first half Ironman distance this fall (70.3 total miles) but I am SO SLOW! I know that strength training is the answer but I cannot afford the fun ones like Crossfit and tho I have a modest weight bench, bands, etc. at home, I have a hard time making myself use them consistently. Same for speed work and/or hill sprints. They are just not enjoyable like my cardio. Any advice besides suck it up and get it done? lol. Thanks!

    See, I am odd...I hated cardio with a passion when I started. Now I get a little twitchy if I go more than 2-3 days without it. I started strength training 9 months ago and LOVE the muscles I am developing. I can now leg press more than my body weight.
  • Broadzilla007
    Broadzilla007 Posts: 20 Member
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    Not when ur outside, on a bike, dodging chicken trucks! lol
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I'm a big advocate of strength training but I have to admit..not a big fan of it. I just suck it up and do it because I know it's essential for my goals. Now that I'm becoming stronger there are certain exercises I'm digging....love working my back and doing dips! Pushups I'm starting to like too. But pull ups still make me wanna puke blahh. I agree with the poster who said crossfit and like workouts are really just cardio....you're using light weights, faster movements and muscle confusion, awesome workout!!..but cardio.

    My advice, just pick up the 'heavy' weights and do it!
  • petiteLady89
    petiteLady89 Posts: 198 Member
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    I'm the total opposite. Despise cardio. Love strength. It's done wonders for my body. My favorite is compound moves. Burns more calories and you get more bang for your buck. Jari Love is the one that started me on my love for strength training.
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
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    You know what I hate...indoor cardio training. Nothing as awful as moving and going nowhere. On a related note to this post though, I used to hate strength training. However, I always did it because I wanted to get faster. That did not last too long though, as doing something you don't like only means you will do it just long enough until you are fed up with it. So, I experimented with a lot of mind games. I tried watching movies that had really fit looking guys (my wife happily joined me in watching these, lol) and then I would tell myself...hey, I can look like that too. I tried many other things, but what finally worked for me was that I really just wanted to turn heads whenever I took off my shirt or walked on a beach or around a pool. Nothing like an ego booster to help motivate. Sadly, I still have a long way to go before I have that body...but I am still trying very hard to achieve it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    If you make a game of it or compete with someone, it will get better. If you want you can also look at www.bodyrock.tv for fun combos or other DVD combos. But if you want to get better, than you need strength training.
  • yallcallmedeb
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    You sound like a competitive person. How about competing against yourself, or joining an online group, or competing against a buddy to improve your strength? Make it into a game and reward yourself for your gains.

    It sounds too that you might do better at a gym where you have others around you and could silently compete against them.

    Or....how about you have to do x minutes of strength training BEFORE you are allowed to go out for a run or go biking or swimming!

    Good luck!
  • yallcallmedeb
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    Also track your cardio speeds to see how much gains you are making! Nothing motivates as much as success does!
  • Broadzilla007
    Broadzilla007 Posts: 20 Member
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    I'm the total opposite. Despise cardio. Love strength. It's done wonders for my body. My favorite is compound moves. Burns more calories and you get more bang for your buck. Jari Love is the one that started me on my love for strength training.
  • Broadzilla007
    Broadzilla007 Posts: 20 Member
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    I'm the total opposite. Despise cardio. Love strength. It's done wonders for my body. My favorite is compound moves. Burns more calories and you get more bang for your buck. Jari Love is the one that started me on my love for strength training.

    What is a compound move? Something like a burpee or jump squats?
  • Broadzilla007
    Broadzilla007 Posts: 20 Member
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    oooh! I just found some Jillian vids on YouTube!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    Suck it up and do it? Oh wait.. you didn't want that...
    Go to an actual gym? Install a mirror so you can check yourself out while you lift? Listen to music?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    oooh! I just found some Jillian vids on YouTube!

    Those are not strength training. They are cardio based.
  • Broadzilla007
    Broadzilla007 Posts: 20 Member
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    You sound like a competitive person. How about competing against yourself, or joining an online group, or competing against a buddy to improve your strength? Make it into a game and reward yourself for your gains.

    It sounds too that you might do better at a gym where you have others around you and could silently compete against them.

    Or....how about you have to do x minutes of strength training BEFORE you are allowed to go out for a run or go biking or swimming!

    Good luck!

    Ooooh! That last one sounds like it might actually work!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I'm the total opposite. Despise cardio. Love strength. It's done wonders for my body. My favorite is compound moves. Burns more calories and you get more bang for your buck. Jari Love is the one that started me on my love for strength training.

    What is a compound move? Something like a burpee or jump squats?

    Essentially, multi-muscle moves such as; squat and arm curl or lunge and overhead press or curl to press.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    I'm the total opposite. Despise cardio. Love strength. It's done wonders for my body. My favorite is compound moves. Burns more calories and you get more bang for your buck. Jari Love is the one that started me on my love for strength training.

    What is a compound move? Something like a burpee or jump squats?

    Like Squats, Benchpress, Deadlift, Lunges, etc. Exercises that use multiple muscles/muscle groups.

    Maybe start Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, New rules of Lifting, or any lifting program that focuses on compound movements.