Weight training

[scouserinlondon]

So I broke my duck and rode to work finally. And while I was knackered from a cardio point of view, the extra strength and weight loss did feel pretty good. I powered up brixton hill faster than I have for a long while. I can totally see that getting ripped at the gym just adds mass to be shifted. But in terms of explosive power, I've never felt stronger.

 

[Citius]

Nothing to do with the weight loss then?

 

[ayceejay]

the extra strength and weight loss did feel pretty good
writes scouser
Nothing to do with the weight loss then?
writes citius

 

[Citius]

the extra strength and weight loss did feel pretty good
writes scouser
Nothing to do with the weight loss then?
writes citius

Congrats sherlock. The point I'm making is that it is going to be very difficult to pin down which of those exercises has had the most (or indeed any) effect.

If I conducted a training regime which consisted of riding my bike and then eating a bag of donuts every day, perhaps I could ascribe my performance improvements to the donuts?

 

[scouserinlondon]

I don't know what it's to do with, but getting back on the bike, having lost some timber and been in the gym a bit felt pretty good. Given that this isn't a scientific test it would be futile to draw conclusions.

 

[poynedexter]

So I broke my duck and rode to work finally. And while I was knackered from a cardio point of view, the extra strength and weight loss did feel pretty good. I powered up brixton hill faster than I have for a long while. I can totally see that getting ripped at the gym just adds mass to be shifted. But in terms of explosive power, I've never felt stronger.

knackered from a cardio point of view
explosive power never felt stronger

cycling is an endurance cardio sport, explosive power is handy over about a few meters. keep working on the first bit.

 

[Andywinds]

I read/watched I cannot remember which now as it was two days ago that Mark Cavendish started using weights in the gym to help improve his sprinting ability as others had caught him up on the aerodynamic front. Not sure if this was just leg training but he did say that gym/weights did help.
Just from my experience on the MTB, I am pretty crap when it comes to climbing as my mates can usually overtake me, but when there are short steep climbs I can power past them. The trouble is they will always catch me up. So in the end it makes sense that for endurance if you can maintain some sort of speed on the flat and also climb then that is all you need.
I train weights in the gym because I have done so for over 20 years, but if I wanted to be a serious endurance rider and a coach said drop the weight training I would. But I am not an endurance rider, I'm not even a very good rider and I like training with weights.

Going off topic slightly, I used to train in an Amateur boxing gym and the coach used to go bonkers if he caught the smaller guys using the weights as he would say that it slow them down, not sure if this is still the case, but modern day methods do involve more full body workouts eg TRX etc. I remember seeing a 9 stone fighter sparing spar with a real muscled 12 stone with less experience, the lighter boxer was quicker, stronger and was hitting harder, and all he did was hit the bag, skip and ultimately spared three times a week!

 

[Citius]

I read/watched I cannot remember which now as it was two days ago that Mark Cavendish started using weights in the gym to help improve his sprinting ability as others had caught him up on the aerodynamic front. Not sure if this was just leg training but he did say that gym/weights did help.

There are a couple of interviews with Cav which can be found on the web, as I recall. In one he says he uses weights - in the other says he doesn't.

 

[Andywinds]

And that's the problem, the interest is sometimes seen as the oracle of all knowledge, when in reality it becomes a point of view and open to interpretation.

I was always advised that if I wanted to become a better mountain biker I should just ride my mountain bike. The pros started to post videos of gym training and now everyone is looking at joining the gym.

There are a couple of interviews with Cav which can be found on the web, as I recall. In one he says he uses weights - in the other says he doesn't.

 

[vickster]

Do what floats your boat. Personally, I hate the gym and would rather ride my bikes. I'm not a pro athlete so I'd never base what I do on what they do, their goals are rather different. And they are paid to do things they may not enjoy, I would have to pay to join a gym and do things I don't enjoy. I've had gym memberships before but decided that the £500+ a year would be better spent on bikes

 

[earlestownflya]

i agree with citius,,you'll get strong legs just riding...and in the right area.big calves are'nt an advantage it's what's at the top that counts..just eat the right food...and do the stretches

 

[huwsparky]

It's not for the fun of it pro riders ride hundreds of miles per week when not racing.

Unless your doing 20k+ miles per year on the bike I think it's pretty safe to say the best training you could do is riding your bike if your soul aim is to improve on a bike.



This is of course my opinion.

 

[poynedexter]

i'd love to hear a report from a regular cyclist who adds weights to their routine, and measures their power figures over say a 4 month period to put a figure to how much benefit there is from weights.

by not using weights, but doing structured road and turbo work, i've added almost 40 watts to my sweet spot power, over about 5 months. helping to achieve this has been adding an extra rest day per week in, and eating more grub. what this has meant is that at 260 watts, my heart rate is 15 bpm lower than before. without lifting.

purely based on my own version of reality.

 

[Drago]

My heart rate dropped from the mid 60s to the low 50s after I started lifting. I'm not quite sure of the mechanism behind it, but I got the print of my annual work medical going back 2 decades and the correlation is exact.

 

[symon_r]

I started reading this thread as I have a similar question (I will struggle to get out on my bike over the winter as much as I'd like because of my working hours. I will be joining a gym and wondered if in addition to cardio work and fitness classes anyone had any suggested weight programs as I know that for me variety in my program is important).

Given the back and forth though I thought I would contribute an article that may be of interest.

http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/EJSES-vol1-iss3/EJSES-2012-1-3-90-102.pdf

It looks at highly trained cyclists (so not me) and determines that lower body strength training does give a benefit but identifying the physiological mechanism is beyond the scope of this study. It suggests that high loads with few repetitions are best - focussing on muscle memory rather than muscle size. It also points out that the benefits may be greatest where high intensity training isn't possible due to environmental factors.