424 – Strength Meets Stamina: Dr. James Fisher on Transforming Endurance Athletes

Can you train your clients (or yourself) to maximize strength while being a high-performance endurance athlete? How can you design an optimal strength training program for a client involved in athletic events?

Dr. James Fisher ( james [dot] fisher @ solent [dot] ac [dot] uk) is a Course Leader and Senior Lecturer for the School of Sport, Health, and Social Sciences at Southampton Solent University in the UK. He specializes in exercise physiology, biomechanics, and resistance training. James is an active researcher publishing numerous peer-reviewed articles relating to health and fitness. Plus, he is also quite the endurance athlete himself, so he brings insight from both sides of the coin!

In this previously members-only episode, James and I dive into the world of transforming endurance athletes through high-intensity resistance training — we talk about consultative approaches, exercise selection, frequency and volume, as well as how proper strength training benefits endurance athletes, facilitating improved flexibility, injury prevention, and enhanced performance, among other things.

If you want your fitness studio to stand out above the rest and attract high-ticket, high-performance athletes as clients, this episode is for you!

📩 Download a FREE step-by-step guide on how to build a referral machine

📈 Create Unbeatable Training Programs That Attract High-Quality Clients

***

This podcast episode is brought to you by Imagine Strength.

Grow a successful High-Intensity Training business with the best workout equipment, intelligently designed to fit the unique needs of your strength studio.

Imagine Strength lives and breathes HIT, designing innovative equipment that’s of the highest quality at affordable prices.

Visit ImagineStrength.com and discuss your specific needs with the team, and choose the equipment that will propel your fitness business to the next level.

Start today ➡ ImagineStrength.com

• Listen to it on Apple Podcasts
• Stream by clicking here
• Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”

---

Show Notes

• 5:05 – How should personal trainers design programs for athletes? What questions should they ask?

• 15:56 – How athletes can benefit from strength training and how trainers should think about and discuss this with potential athletic clients

• 24:48 – Key benefits for endurance athletes: physiological changes, health benefits, glucose sensitivity for body composition and endurance, combating excessive sugar intake

• 26:40 – Thinking about strength training pros and cons in the context of cycling

• 31:58 – How to develop a workout program for a specific athlete, his/her sport, and specific needs

• 34:09 – On being purposeful and structure-oriented in designing programs and measuring performance

• 40:31 – How to think about and measure recovery (and how much it matters)

• 45:03 – Endurance athletes need to push harder; coaching helps.

• 49:28 – Thinking about training strategies on a big-picture level

James’s Upper/Lower Split 2-3 Workouts per Week For Endurance Athletes

Upper:

• Vertical push
• Vertical pull
• Horizontal press
• Horizontal pull
• Lateral raises
• Pec flyes
• DB Romanian deadlift
• Shrugs
• Bicep curl
• Tricep extension

Lower:

• Leg press
• Knee extension
• Leg curl
• Calf raises
• Hanging knee raises
• Plank
• Side bends
• Roman Chair
• Note: Consider supplementing/replacing with unilateral movements like split squats and/or negative only exercises to identify any imbalances.

As James gets a week out to race events, it changes to abbreviated upper body only to allow legs and trunk to be fully recovered:

• Vertical push
• Vertical pull
• Horizontal press
• Horizontal pull
• Bicep curl

People Mentioned & Selected Links from the Episode

• Dr. James Fisher | ResearchGate | Solent University Southampton
• Previous HIB podcast episodes with Dr. James Fisher