How do you guys plan -if you even do such kind of training- strength training (off the bike)? I mean most days I try to ride as much as I can and I am struggling to fit in strength training. Believe it or not but I ride 3 days in a row, 1 day rest and I always aim for at least 1 day in the weekend to ride. I max out on 1.5 hours per ride because of not wanting to be too selfish
Am I obligated to split strength training from riding or can I do both on one day? Does the length of my ride decrease if I do a strength training prior to the ride?
Last but not least, what exercises do you guys do? Iām guessing push ups, squats of course, sit ups maybeā¦ what else? What tips do you have to squeeze this type of training/workout in to less than 45 minutes?
I would advocate strength training as a year round activity for cyclists, especially those who are older/ masters athletes - the āhealthy humanā benefits are worthwhile.
If you are new to strength training, then you are going to experience DOMS in some capacity - this means you need to accept that your on bike workouts are going to be compromised in some capacity for a while and you need to work around this (eg. extra time off the bike, or not intervals/ riding easier than normal).
Like a good cycling plan, strength training should too in my eyes be periodised and align with your events and goals. For example, in the off season, you may want to strength train 2-3 times per week as you will be generally riding lower intensities and can accommodate the additional fatigue etc. This is a strength building phaseā¦
As you move into the season/ closer to your goals, your strength training needs to reflect this if cycling is your primary objective. This may mean dropping down to 1 time per week and adjusting the load, tempo and type of strength work. This is a strength maintenance phase.
In terms of when you should strength train, initially I would recommend you dedicate a day to it. As you get more advanced, or need to squeeze it in with other workouts then you can do it on the same day - I would recommend riding first and then strength training afterwards in an ideal world.
Regarding exercises, stealing from Derek Teal at Dialled Health, here are the Weight Lifting 101: Key Movement for Cyclists:
1. Knee Dominant - Knee extension is the primary force producer of a pedal stroke. Movements that target knee extension (such as lunges or step-ups) are great for cyclists looking to produce more power
2. Hip Dominant - Hip dominant movements like squats or deadlifts minimize leg and low back compensations
3. Core - Planks, Russian twists, and other core exercises give you a stable centre to transfer power and stablize your bike
4. Horizonal Push - Push movements help you hold your weight up and handle impact through the bars. Give movements like push ups or bench press a try
5. Horizontal Pull - Pulling the bars helps you push harder on the pedals during sprints. Dumbbell rows and inverted rows are great pull exercises for cyclists
6. Vertical Push - Build well rounded shoulders that are less prone to injury with vertical push movements like shoulder press or overhead plat carries
7. Vertical Pull - Pull ups and lat pull downs are excellent vertical pull movements that improve your overhead range of motion and grip strength
There are numerous resources out there that deal with some of the questions raised - here are a few to get you started, including a book which I recently picked up which might be of interestā¦
If you are like me and hate to spend time in the gym on long strength programs, have a look at āfull blown burpeesā.
Burpees can be anything from easy, to very challenging and are a great way to improve core, upper body and leg strength. They also have a cardio factor, improve flexibility and donāt take much time. I started building up 4 months ago for a number of reasons:
Iām an aging endurance guy, going on 60 this year. Muscle loss at my age is inevitable, I can only try to slow it down by doing some sort of strength training
When normally clothed, most people see me as ātoo skinnyā. Thatās mainly because my upper body is seriously underdeveloped compared to my legs, heavily muscled from al the running and cycling over the last 20+ years. Someone ones told me, when he saw me in my swimming short that I had some serious concrete pillars with a small camping tent on top of itā¦
I tried a couple of times to start a fitness/gym program, but itās just not my thing. Until I came across an article on the versatility of burpees.
You can start very easy with a squat followed by stepping out to a plank, stepping back in to squat and raise up again. Then you can make things more challenging by adding many different movements up to the full blown burpee workout. Squat, jump out to plank, push-up, jump in to squat, jump up to a pull-up bar and pull up, repeatā¦ from 3 * 5 to 3 * ???
It takes a couple of minutes to max 15 - 20 minutes and develops your whole body, drastically increasing core strength, improving flexibility/agility. Placing your hands wider apart for the push-ups, targets more the chest iso the triceps. Underhand-overhand grip or smaller wider grip, targets lats or biceps more or less during the pull ups. You can add a box jump for plyometricsā¦
The explosivity targets both strength and cardio. And you can do those simply at home because all you really need is a pull-up bar.
Iām now at 3 * 12, 3-5 times a week and my upper body is already looking a lot better then 4 months ago. I do feel stronger when climbing on the bike probably as a result of the stronger core. I donāt really care for doing them before or after a Z2 run/ride, but I will not do those burpees before a planned HIT cycling workout.
I take a similar approach to it as @Olly_Thomas , except that I lift before a ride, not after, because on those days lifting is the priority and I want to have the most energy for it. Riding later in the day is maybe an hour of zone 2 or so.
I do HIT on Saturday and a long day out on the mountainbike on Sunday (or the other way round depending on the weather) and rest on Monday. Tuesday to Thursday, I have one leg focused strength training session and one focused on the upper body and I ride once or twice without intensity. These rides can be zone 2 or at the most some tempo if I am feeling strong on my commute or just some fun on the mountainbike. If I am not to tired on Friday I have an additional upper body session. This really depends on the week so far because I want to be fresh for the weekend and when I have e.g. an after-work ride on some trails with my mates, chances are I need to rest on Friday.
Barbell squats and deadlift are great exercises, but initially they will probably lead to a lot of soreness for the next two days. It will get better with time. If you have the space you can get an olympic barbell, a power rack some plates and dumbbells. You donāt have to spend absurd amounts of money on it to have a nice basic setup that goes a long way. For chunks of metal, plates are surprisingly costly, but compared to cycling Iād still call it cheap because you buy the stuff once and it lasts forever.
Finally, as @Olly_Thomas also pointed out, think of strength training for quality of life and health with benefits for cycling and give it some priority.
I originally started with the strength program in The Cyclistās Training Bible, by Joe Friel. Iām not sure how well the periodicity methods he used are in vogue these days, but the training cycles worked well for me. As maintenance when I wasnāt riding, Iād often just rotate Anatomical Adaptation, Muscular Strength, and Muscular Power cycles.
Now, Iām primarily doing weightlifting, and when I do it, Iām lifting for overall strength as a Master and chronic joint/pain management tool, not for cycling purposes. I like Mark Rippetoeās Starting Strength program, and itās my first time doing all free weights instead of machines. Rip is a bit of a blowhard lol, but once you get past his strong opinions, itās a good program. Note that ānoviceā in his books refer to your bodyās ability to repair & adapt, not how smart you think you are. For Masters (Iām 54), check out The Barbell Prescription - same Starting Strength basis, but different authors - good info for adapting your training plan, though most of us can skip the āfor the severely detrained Masterā bits. I can go on more, but Iāll restrain myself
