VS.

There seems to be much debate in the forums, books and studies about the effectiveness of lifting weights and strength training for cyclists or endurance athletes in general. I think one key point that is always ignored is that we are all built differently and everyone has unique strengths and weaknesses that we’re born with and we should  train in a way that is unique to the way we’re built. Also the length of the event we are intending on competing in should have a bearing on how much and what types of strength training you do as well. So both the type and length of events and also your genetics both should play a role in how your unique training plan. It seems like most people want to make things simple black and white, should I lift or should I not lift weights? But the truth is much more complex then that, but yet I see the same question asked over and over online in the forums etc. Do you think that Chris Carmichael would have Lance doing all the strength training they do in the off season if it didn’t work? And I can tell you from documented first hand experience that for me it has made a huge difference in my riding, weight loss, and overall fitness and well being! You have to make an honest assessment of your strengths and weakness and train to improve your weaknesses and further improve your strengths.

Extreme examples of two possible types of riders Rambo rider, and Gates rider and some things to think about

1. If you’re naturally strong and have powerful muscles, then making them stronger probably won’t help much with cycling unless your focus is short distance events where you can never have enough leg strength. Now on the other hand if you’re built like a sprinter, but want to race in long events like centuries etc. you’ll probably want to focus more on endurance training to help build up your ability to ride for many hours at a time. But I still think that everyone no matter how they’re built should strength train for cycling, you’ll just need to do less of it. Think of the 80/20 rule, you should be riding lots of easy to moderate miles but still having a day or two a week dedicated to intervals and or weight training etc.
2. A skinny weak legged cyclist that may have plenty of endurance but not much strength or power will want to do the opposite and spend 80% of his time building up the raw strength and power in his or her legs to meet the demands of riding fast, esp. if you’re intending on riding fast for shorter distances where emphasis is on the muscular system.

It’s very surprising that so many “experts” bad mouth strength training for cycling saying it’s not effective, or even that it will slow you down or injury etc. Lifting weights is discredited by many, probably because the “research” that was done was only conducted on trained athletes for a couple months, which is too short a time span to see any major improvement in fact negative improvement probably is what happens in the first weeks of any weight training program as your body is adjusting and you feel sore most of the time. I found that for myself that I was slightly stronger the first month and a bit more a month later, but after a good rest over the Christmas week I was fully recovered and was stronger then ever, and now after another month, now 3 months later I hardly feel sore anymore after lifting weights and I’ve added about 160watts average to my previous average on my 10 minute TT test I do at the beginning and end of each monthly cycle. That’s a huge improvement, but I think that for me having weak legs and realizing it and making it a key point in my training focus is paying off big.

Here are the improvements I’ve noticed for myself from weight and strength training, I say “strength training” as you can strength your legs with body movements and on bike exercises etc.

1. My recovery time is much faster now, before I’d have sore muscles for days after a hard ride, now I only get sore only if I have a particularly grueling weight session with heavy weights and or high reps or a new exercise.
2. My running speed is faster, I feel like I have a much stronger stride now when I run, and that I can run faster.
3. My endurance has improved I don’t tired as easy, and most important my power endurance has improved.
4. My metabolism is higher, I’m losing weight faster now then just cycling or running alone.
5. I feel stronger, esp. from squats as they make your whole support system feel strong you can hold yourself up easier you feel more athletic
6. I also ski in the off season and I’ve noticed that I feel much stronger and have better muscular endurance and don’t have to stop in the middle of the run now, my legs don’t burn as bad.
7. Injury prevention, by having strong muscles, tendons and ligaments it helps reduce your change of injury
8. I think that by having legs that are strong and match the strength of your cardio system, your legs can drive your cardio system even harder so that your cardio system can improve even more. If your legs are weak and fail before your cardio system does then you won’t get as good a cardio workout. I notice now that I can feel my heart muscle really working where before it was more like my legs just burned up and I’d have burning legs and an overall feeling of fatigue but not really out of breath, it just seemed to start with the legs and then my whole body was in distress. Now with my stronger legs I can pedal big gears for much longer times and I get the intuition that my cardio system is getting stronger too in an effort to match what my legs can dish out.
9. They do say that your legs act as a second heart helping blood move around during the contraction of your legs. If that’s the case that would also reinforce perhaps the theoretical advantage of having a high RPM pedaling style of a rider like Lance Armstrong. Perhaps having stronger legs helps push the blood out of your legs better?
10. I think that from strength training my legs are more powerful meaning the motor units i.e the nerves can fire more synchronize and deliver more force in a shorter time.
11. I also think that from strength training I’m able to know spin much faster then before, I can get up to 150RPM now where 130RPM was about limit, I felt like my legs where going to just fly off if I went any faster.
12. I’m sure my sprint has improved now, we’ll see once I start riding outside.

Anyway, it just blows my mind that so many cycling “coaches” tell their riders to avoid weights, here are some common myths I hear

1. Weight training will make you get huge muscles and add extra weight then that will cause you slow down.
2. Studies have proven that strength training has no benefit in endurance tests.
3. Look how skinny pro rider John Doe is
4. It will make you’re pedaling stroke bad
5. It will make you rider slower and weaker
6. There is no benefit from strength training
7. I’m sure there’s more I haven’ heard or I forget about too