Weight training

[Citius]

In conclusion:

• Strength training during the preparation phase can improve performance more than just endurance training.
• Maintenance strength training during the competition phase can improve performance further whilst endurance training does not.
• Strength training can improve time trial performance and also longer distance oxygen economy.
• Strength training can improve the power output in a sprint finish at the end of a longer distance.
• There is benefit in performing a mixture of explosive and high intensity training.
• As usual, if you are not used to resistance training, do start gently and seek some professional advice before starting.

Taken From that quotes various scientific research http://breakingmuscle.com/cycling/why-serious-cyclists-should-consider-strength-training

All those referenced studies have produced equivocal results, like I said. Show me one study that proves - unequivocally - that leg strength training offers a performance benefit.

 

[Citius]

In spite of what I said earlier you still insist that the only performance benefit that can ever be achieved is going faster and this is where we part ways. Riding without pain in calves hips knees (and this is just the legs) would be an immense improvement for the many who post here with problems in that area. Cycling shortens the hamstrings and more cycling will shorten them more and without any compensatory measures this will invariably lead to injury, stretching and weight training specifically for the hamstring muscles might (happy?) make a difference. At this point I would like to say that I believe any activity that uses limited muscle groups without at least some attention to the body as a whole is heading for trouble.

Like I said before, if you have some kind of diagnosed deficiency, then weights could be beneficial. But - like I said before - for those with nominal leg function and with no diagnosed weakness or deficiencies, the benefits are unfounded.

 

[Drago]

Perhaps we could ask join the same question from the opposite perspective - how do you think weaker legs improves cycling performance?

 

[ayceejay]

Like I said before, if you have some kind of diagnosed deficiency, then weights could be beneficial. But - like I said before - for those with nominal leg function and with no diagnosed weakness or deficiencies, the benefits are unfounded.

I think it is safe to say that any activity that uses limited muscle groups without at least some attention to the body as a whole is heading for trouble as I do above and knowing this it is wise to work on prevention rather than wait for a deficiency to have you off the bike for a month or two surely?

 

[Citius]

Perhaps we could ask join the same question from the opposite perspective - how do you think weaker legs improves cycling performance?

Weaker than what? Given that pedal forces when riding up Alpe d'Huez average no more than about 20kg per side, and that if we hop on one leg, we are already propelling upwards the entirety of our own body weight (which presumably weighs more than 20kg), then how much more - or less - strength do you think is required? I can already push 70kg while hopping on one leg - so why do I need more strength than that when trying to repeatedly push 20kg with each leg??

 

[Drago]

20kg per side, eh? Ok, if you Can produce, say, 40kg per side within the same time period, you can pull a higher gear and thus go faster. The maths that govern the relationship between power, time and output are very simple.

Do you not understand the relationship between the 3, and how more power applied within the same time period produces more performance?

 

[Andrew_P]

There are hundreds, nay 1000's of websites advocating leg training off the bike but to enhance ones experience of riding the bike, how many do you want me to post up? From Team GB Cycling to Training Peaks to Joe Bloggs "The Coach" off the internet.

 

[Citius]

20kg per side, eh? Ok, if you Can produce, say, 40kg per side within the same time period, you can pull a higher gear and thus go faster. The maths that govern the relationship between power, time and output are very simple.

But I can already push 70kg per side, so what is stopping me from doing that?

 

[Citius]

There are hundreds, nay 1000's of websites advocating leg training off the bike but to enhance ones experience of riding the bike, how many do you want me to post up? From Team GB Cycling to Training Peaks to Joe Bloggs "The Coach" off the internet.

I'm not asking you to produce evidence of advocacy. I'm asking you to produce evidence of efficacy.

 

[Andrew_P]

You don't have to though, so why should anyone else? I would rather follow Training peaks or GB Cycling than a coach off of a cycling forum

 

[Citius]

You don't have to though, so why should anyone else? I would rather follow Training peaks or GB Cycling than a coach off of a cycling forum

I'm not offering you advice mate. I'm simply telling you that the evidence for performance improvement through leg strength training is not out there. If you think it is, then you have mis-read the studies. Riding fast/hard for a long time is all about sustainable power (hopefully we can agree on that). The typical leg forces required for endurance cycling are already well within the capability of most people with normal leg function. The hard bit is not pushing the pedals, it is pushing the pedals hard for 20 minutes, 40 minutes, one hour, three hours or six hours, depending on what you are doing. To do that requires aerobic fitness, not leg strength.

 

[adscrim]

British cycling and Team Sky physio Phil Burt
"Bradley does a lot of resistance training now and the build up to his world time trial win was part of that. All the evidence now is that endurance cyclists can benefit from a training programme – not big heavy weights, but some."

 

[Citius]

British cycling and Team Sky physio Phil Burt
"Bradley does a lot of resistance training now and the build up to his world time trial win was part of that. All the evidence now is that endurance cyclists can benefit from a training programme – not big heavy weights, but some."

Like I said before - if it's not 'big heavy weights' then it's not strength training. Does Phil say what the intended outcome of his resistance programe was? As has been mentioned many times, there are lots of reasons to go to the gym. Was this work even on the legs, not the arms or core? The other question is "Do Bradley's legs really look that strong?"

 

[ayceejay]

I can remember this very same argument being espoused by yellow and black and dusty bin with the same inability to listen and the same propensity to segue a question about weight training into big heavy weights' and strength training and the assumption that strength and muscle size are one and the same.

 

[Andrew_P]

I can remember this very same argument being espoused by yellow and black and dusty bin with the same inability to listen and the same propensity to segue a question about weight training into big heavy weights' and strength training and the assumption that strength and muscle size are one and the same.

I had already made the yellow n black connection, forgot about Dusty Bin