I started training with weights about six months after I started fencing. I blame the movie Aliens. Specifically the scene where the marines come out of stasis and started doing pullups.

I had a friend at the time who introduced me to the whole thing. gave me my first program and well I've never looked back. I took a long break from fencing (most of my 20's) but still continued to lift weights and play various sports.

The first book I bought on weight training was a second hand copy of Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men. You may have heard of the author a little known Austrian chap called Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It revolutionized the way I trained. I went from following a fairly basic routine two to three days per week to following a highly complicated one six days per week. I became obsessed with the minutiae of lifting weight. I changed my diet, I lived in the gym, I read muscle mags and slurped back protein shakes. And little of what I did helped me as an athlete!

What I didn't realize then is that weightlifting is a set of tools. You need to use the right tool to achieve the correct effect. And the routines of the bodybuilding stars certainly aren't the routines a fencer should be following.

Since then I've learned a little more and read a few more books and changed my approach to training. I think a good library for a fencer or coach interested in strength and conditioning for fencing should contain a few of the following:

Core Performance by Mark Verstegen. Aimed at the athlete and covering most topics and the Core Performance website is a great resource as well.

Functional Training for Sports by Michael Boyle. Another excellent resource.

Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook. Includes his introduction to "the movement screen" which is useful for identifying and correcting functional weaknesses.

Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. Everything you need to master the basic weight training exercises.

Don't want to give Amazon money.

From The Ground Up by Dan John. A free 96 page PDF that covers may aspects of strength training. While focused more on throwing sports it does have general application and the sections on recovery and monitoring training stress are excellent.

Read a few of these and then take a critical look at your strength training program. Is it helping you as a fencer?