{"id":15327,"date":"2026-06-28T11:02:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15327"},"modified":"2026-06-28T11:02:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:02:20","slug":"weight-room-lessons-from-top-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=15327","title":{"rendered":"Weight Room Lessons from Top Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>Everyone is emulating Norwegian threshold workouts. How does that apply in the weight room?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">Norway&#8217;s Johannes Hosflot Klaebo<!-- --> (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published June 28, 2026 03:14AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lessons we\u2019ve fixated on from Norway\u2019s world-beating endurance athletes mostly focus on, well, endurance training: double thresholds, lactate testing, VO2 max records, and so on. This is logical, but it\u2019s not the whole picture. What if there are other elements of the Norwegian approach that underlie their success? Has anyone studied the Norwegian diet? Maybe <i>f\u00e5rik\u00e5l<\/i> and <i>t\u00f8rrfisk<\/i> are the fuel of champions.<\/p>\n<p>Or maybe there are some more obvious candidates. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/42172297\/\">In the <i>Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/i><\/a>, a team of sports scientists led by Thomas Haugen of Kristiania University College in Oslo digs into how Norwegian endurance athletes incorporate strength and speed training into their preparation. The resulting insights aren\u2019t radical or revolutionary\u2014there\u2019s no \u201cdouble threshold squats\u201d workout or anything like that\u2014but they offer a valuable window into how some of the best athletes in the world manage the delicate balance between strength, speed, and endurance.<\/p>\n<h2>The Coach\u2019s-Eye Perspective<\/h2>\n<p>The researchers interviewed 12 Norwegian coaches who have worked with the best of the best athletes in the world. The coaches remain anonymous, but they work in long-distance running, cycling, triathlon, cross-country skiing, rowing, swimming, and biathlon. Collectively, athletes working with these coaches have won about 400 medals at major international championships.<\/p>\n<p>While we don\u2019t know who these athletes are, there are plenty of stars to choose from. At the last Ironman world championships, for example, Norwegian men swept the podium and Solveig L\u00f8vseth won the women\u2019s race. And then there\u2019s the cross-country ski team, led by Johannes H\u00f8sflot Kl\u00e6bo, whose <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/sports\/olympics\/winter\/cross-country-skiing\/johannes-hoesflot-klaebo-norway-cross-country-skier-9.7096111\">ridiculous uphill sprints<\/a> en route to six gold medals at this year\u2019s Olympics went viral. If there\u2019s a smoking gun for why we should be curious about Norwegian strength and speed training, it\u2019s Kl\u00e6bo.<\/p>\n<p>The coaches identified four key reasons for including strength and speed work in an endurance training plan:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Reduce injury risk<\/b>: there\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24100287\/\">reasonably strong evidence<\/a> that this can be effective, though the devil is in the details. Doing biceps curls isn\u2019t going to fix your shin splints.<\/li>\n<li><b>Improve efficiency<\/b>: for runners in particular, this is the most reliable benefit you can expect from lifting weights or doing plyometric exercises, well supported by research.<\/li>\n<li><b>Improve finishing kick<\/b>: it\u2019s logical to assume that sprint training will improve your ability to sprint, and the coaches felt this becomes increasingly important for endurance athletes logging huge volumes of endurance training, which can suppress natural speed.<\/li>\n<li><b>Improve bone health<\/b>: this was a minority take, but two running coaches emphasized bone health as a priority, particularly for young female athletes who may be at risk of low bone density due to heavy training.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>The Practical Details<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re convinced that strength and speed training are worthwhile, the next question is how you implement it in your regimen. There\u2019s no universal formula among the coaches, or even among different athletes within an individual coach\u2019s group.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because the single most important consideration is that it shouldn\u2019t interfere with the main endurance workouts. Different athletes respond to and recover from strength training in different ways, so the precise workout routine and scheduling are the most individualized part of the overall training program, often with the athletes themselves judging how much they can handle and when they can best handle it.<\/p>\n<p>The total amount of strength and speed training ranged from less than 50 hours per year (e.g. among triathletes, who are already training a billion hours a week) to as much as 200 hours per year among rowers. Runners and cyclists tended to be in the range of 50 to 100 hours per year. For the most part, strength training persisted throughout the year, but was reduced or eliminated during tapers and competition periods. Speed training tended to increase as competitions approached.<\/p>\n<p>A general overall pattern was workouts using free weights or machines, with four to eight exercises, two to four sets per exercise, five to ten reps per set. These sessions were often scheduled after hard endurance workouts, so that recovery on easy days wouldn\u2019t be compromised by the strength workout.<\/p>\n<h2>Sample Routines<\/h2>\n<p>Here\u2019s an example, provided in the paper, of a strength workout for a long-distance runner:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Squats to 90 degrees: 2-3 sets, 6-8 reps, load 50-100 percent of body mass<\/li>\n<li>Trap bar deadlift: 2-3 sets, 6-8 reps, load 50-100 percent of body mass<\/li>\n<li>Hip flexor: 2-3 sets, 10-15 reps, leaving 5-10 \u201creps in reserve\u201d (i.e. stopping at a point where you could probably do five to 10 more reps)<\/li>\n<li>Hip thrust: 2-3 sets, 8-12 reps, 0-5 reps in reserve<\/li>\n<li>Ankle hops: 2-3 sets, 10-15 reps<\/li>\n<li>Core\/lower back: 2-4 exercises, 4-8 sets, 10-20 reps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And here\u2019s the corresponding speed workouts, with two different options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strides: 6-10 x 60-100 meters at 90 to 95 percent intensity, with 1 to 2 minutes rest<\/li>\n<li>Strides: 3-6 x 150 meters at 90 to 100 percent intensity, with 3 to 5 minutes rest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is there anything uniquely Norwegian in these routines? Not that I can see. Instead, what seems most notable to me is the focus on fitting in strength and speed without disrupting the meat-and-potato endurance workouts. This, too, is not exactly a hidden secret that only Norwegians have figured out.<\/p>\n<p>But you could say the same thing about the broader Norwegian method: threshold workouts aren\u2019t new, and neither is the idea that you shouldn\u2019t push so hard in one workout that it compromises the next. What the Norwegian method does is transform this from one useful insight among many into the central commandment of the whole system.<\/p>\n<p>That shift really does seem to be having an impact\u2014see, for example, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.letsrun.com\/news\/2026\/06\/i-thought-it-wasnt-possible-frederik-ruppert-on-breaking-the-historic-8-minute-steeplechase-barrier\/\">this recent LetsRun interview<\/a> with Frederik Ruppert, the first European to break 8:00 for the steeplechase, who attributes his breakthrough, and the general rise in performance among his fellow Germans, to going Norwegian: \u201cThere has been a change in the training approach for everybody here, and this is why we see consistent progress.\u201d Getting in workouts without overdoing has been the key, he says. According to Norwegian coaches, the same advice applies in the weight room.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><i>For more Sweat Science, sign up for the <\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/sweatscience.substack.com\/\"><i>email newsletter<\/i><\/a><i> and check out my new book <\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harpercollins.com\/products\/endure-alex-hutchinson\">The Explorer\u2019s Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map<\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/health\/training-performance\/norwegian-training-method\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone is emulating Norwegian threshold workouts. How does that apply in the weight room? Norway&#8217;s Johannes Hosflot Klaebo (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO \/ AFP via Getty Images) Published June 28, 2026 03:14AM The lessons we\u2019ve fixated on from Norway\u2019s world-beating endurance athletes mostly focus on, well, endurance training: double thresholds, lactate testing, VO2 max records, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}