Finish Strong: Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes

by Richard Boergers, Angelo Gingerelli

Whether training for a 5K or ultramarathon, all endurance athletes can benefit from some form of resistance training. This training manual, written by two leading US fitness authorities, outlines how endurance athletes can benefit from incorporating resistance training into their weekly schedule.

Finish Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes introduces the principles of resistance training to all forms of endurance athletes, such as runners, cyclists, swimmers and triathletes, in a way that will optimize their training and allow them to compete at a higher level. Most athletes realize that strength training is a vital part of a comprehensive training program, but many are unsure of where to start or how to integrate lifting weights into their already packed training schedule. This book not only gives them a starting point, but also a blueprint for how to structure training plans to maximize results and minimize injuries.

The book breaks down the importance of resistance training and strength development, and gives practical advice and training tips. Runners, swimmers, cyclists and triathletes now number in the millions, but the resources available to teach them how to integrate weight training into their programs are surprisingly limited. Finish Resistance Training for Endurance Athletes fills that void.

Genres: Health

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2021

Reviews

[Bill Squires]

I perform strength training fairly regularly (though not as systematically as I would like), and I learned a fair bit from this book about how to identify where I am weak and how to improve. I found the most interesting parts of of the book considered the foundational/general strength training for endurance activities rather than the sport specific sections - the discussions in these sections were often helpful but I didn't find the sport-specific mobility and strength exercises to be particularly insightful or complete (at least for swim-specific exercises). Also, many of the sport-specific exercises were also not specific to swimming, biking, or running at all but rather were foundational exercises that the authors shoehorned into the sport-specific chapters. This was a bit misleading and led to a somewhat poor organization of the book.

The book had a cut-and-dried style of presentation implying that their approach is unquestionably the right way to train. In a field where there have been few systematic studies performed and limited statistically significant data, this book should have been full of qualifying statements about their claims that in my opinion would have made the book stronger and more trustworthy. Instead the authors appeared to have cherry-picked anecdotes and sources to make things simple and leave no doubts in the readers mind about their way of thinking. This was a bit off-putting and what I found the most irksome was the continued discussion about imbalances being effectively the cause of all difficulties and injuries in endurance sports - I can imagine that imbalances are important and are often overlooked but the authors certainly took their arguments too far to the point of exaggeration in order to convince the reader.

Overall, the book is worth reading for endurance athletes - just be sure to read critically.

[Sara Cook]

I thought the book was helpful in giving some foundation exercises for all athletes. They are basic exercises that I think most people would agree are foundational for most people to master in any strength training program.
One thing I didn't like about this book was the inability to find exercises easily. I would look at the exercise routine chart, not know what something meant, go to the index to find what page it was on, couldn't find it, and then had to guess where it might be in the book and spend time searching for how to do the exercise. Half the time, I ended up Youtubing what an exercise was and how to do it because I couldn't find it in the book.
I'd say the sport-specific exercises are ok but definitely need to be catered to each athlete. For example, I am a runner with weak hips, and there weren't any hip-strengthening exercises in the "runners" sections even though having weak hips is a common cause of injury in runners. This book is a good starting place for most endurance athletes, but you definitely need to find which exercises are best for your situation and may need to supplement your routine with other exercises than those in the book. I will probably end up using the basic exercises and routines in this book but add on my own "sport-specific" exercises that I need like hip-strengthening exercises.

[Kartik Punnamaraju]

Most strength training books, programs, coaches focus mainly on strength and crossfit folks may add conditioning as well but I was looking for a book that helps to augment existing endurance training with strength training and this book fits that narrow category. Hopefully I can put this theory to practice this time in the next few months!

[Colin Thomas]

A bit long winded, but also I feel like I learned a lot about resistance training. Overall this book did exactly what I wanted—helped me to understand what residence training really is and gave me a simple plan with simple exercises to get started. All with running as my main sport in mind.

[Crystal Rhyno]

Lots of great tips & advice. I liked how the book was organized.

[Jan Becker]

A weightlifter standing at the door of a gym arguing with a runner to come in, by repeating the same words over and over again. Go watch a workout video on youtube instead...