HawkeyeCubs34

If yes, how much weight and reps?

TMonk

You know, there is a weight training thread farther down the page...

furiousferret

I've put a ton of time reading this and your question is too vague to answer. I'll give you what I know not from personal experience but my research.

Most studies have shown that there is no improvement in cycling with weight training however all those studies cover the endurance aspect. So if you are focused on going fast over 5 to 60 minutes, its probably a waste. Going fast under a minute is debatable. Weight training for short end sprinting may be beneficial, but there are also some very fast guys that don't use weights (Cav for example). Many sprinters (Boonen, Griepel, Kittel) do weight train though. The two things weights improve are your leg strength (which is obvious) but an added benefit is more fast twitch muscles which help for keeping a faster cadence in a sprint.

The other aspect that mucks this up even more is you can get a lot of the same benefits on the bike as you do in the gym if you train right (low cadence, high resistance for example).

This is a good read, its track, but much of it applies to the road:
https://www.ridethetrack.com/pdf/train_paulrogers.pdf

Ultimately, asking a forum of racers about this subject is not going to get you the right answer. Its just too broad a subject to make a decision based on one source, and its very specific to each individual...some may highly benefit from it, others may not.

gsteinb

one can also not under estimate the general value gained on health and fitness, particularly as one ages.

as in most questions asked on BF 'it depends.'

carpediemracing 

I did weights for a while, including some leg work, because I thought it'd help at the track. This is 2008-2009. I lifted a long time prior but don't really count that as I had no way of knowing if it helped or not.

I stopped all the leg stuff, still do some very minor upper body stuff. In the past 10 years my best years have been when I haven't done any leg work and basically stop upper body stuff in the season, 2010 and this year so far.

My only strength is sprinting, I only do crits, so I'm no climber or TT kind of guy.

mattm

The short answer is "no".

topflightpro

Weight training also has the benefit of increasing bone density. Road cycling is such a low impact sport, it can lead to bone density losses.

TMonk

The reasons why cyclists should weight lift have less to do with performance increases (with the exception of track sprinters) and more to do with general health

Hermes

I have been strength training since 1977 and now at racing age 66 compete effectively. I am in the gym 4 to 5 times per week but not always doing strength training per se.

I posted the info below in the 33 weight lifting thread. It is hard to find "expert" opinion with supporting credentials and any type of longitudinal studies that support the benefits, if any, of strength training for road cyclists. I think experimentation and racer preference is the way to go. Know oneself.

"Below are two article from USA Cycling's website on strength training for cyclists that I wanted to contribute to this thread. I agree with the analysis and program and follow it with some variation although I have been doing this for years before ever reading the articles. When I started racing I used a cycling coach that advocated strength training.

What strength training work to do, when to do it and how much is specific to me and I suspect varies a lot from athlete to athlete. I have experimented with different variations of the training routines advocated in the articles and have one that works. I have also used one of our team sponsors, a physical therapy company, and got advice from them and added some additional exercises.

For me, strength training is a zero sum game with respect to how much energy and mental focus I have available for training. Strength training can carry a heavy training load and can zap my strength and performance on the bike for short periods of time.

A Case for Strength Training for Cyclists: A Practical View from a Cycling Coach - USA Cycling

Strength Training for Cyclists: Part 2 - USA Cycling "

mattm

Cyclists are unhealthy?

Doge

I think it better to find a good coach/routine and go with it. Some cycling coaches do not use weights, and some do. Having observed this a while I'm not so sure it does much for long range endurance and mass can slow you down. But I am convinced it helps lots in the short power area and sprints.
You asked specifically about two exercises of the same type. If that is all there is to the routine, I'd guess to say it would not be worth it - and likely to increase injury chances. I used to do lots of squats and got no faster - just bigger. My 5 sec power was up, but I was rarely there to need it. My son trains with much more core work and he is much fitter. The power is useful to him when he doesn't have a mechanical.

TMonk

Nope, didn't mean to insinuate that at all. I'm just sayin' that there is more to health than riding a bike can provide.

EDIT: I also don't believe that was an honest question... you can be so difficult

TMonk

I do remember reading something from an ex director sportif saying that at the top level, cycling is quite unhealthy - with compromised immune systems and frail bones, they are frequently on the edge of sickness and injury to be in top fitness.

shermo

Extreme anything is unhealthy, because everything is sacrificed for the pursuit of excellence. I reckon amateur cyclists are much healthier than the general public, although that's not a very high bar.

TMonk

word.

Ygduf

Extremely healthy is not unhealthy.

TMonk

boom.

there has to be someway to rationalize that one, but I'm not enlightened enough to figure it out

TMonk

here's my shot:

some would argue that every thing has it's time and place, even unhealthiness! as fleeting as though it may be (time and place)

don't ask me to come up with an example, because I cant

spectastic

is this healthy?

mattm

Now now, let's not get excited!

TMonk

let's!

TMonk

exclamation marks!

spectastic

Get a room

spectastic

The Other Day I Randomly Looked At The nationAL collegiate crit and saw a guy from Iowa state. I'll be darned, I didn't even know we had a team.

globecanvas

I think the capital letters in the previous post are some sort of coded message to the Russians, but I can't quite work it out.