"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Gym workouts, still?

Now that the racing season is in full swing, are y'all still hittin' the gym? I haven't been in three weeks.

I'm pretty much outside all the time. The only days I go to the gym is if it's raining cats and dogs and I need to do something other than ride on the trainer. Most of my gym days are in the winter when there are times when it is hard to ride outside...or I'm visiting family during the holiday season and I don't have my bike with me.

here's the thing, i have pterodactyl arms (and legs really), and i have been hitting the gym pretty much everday for upper body and back. (at the beggining of season, i was 6'2" and 144 = way too skinny) sometimes i will do calves, but that is rare. usually i do a sub 5:30 mile warmup, than upper body/back, than a 10 minute spin on a trainer to cool down. this doesn't replace my bike workout for the day though. the thing is, i am currently a senior in college, so i have a ton of extra time- i graduate in a week! normally, i don't think that i could afford to contribute 3-4 hours a day to training. but, to be honest, now that i have started lifting frequently, i really don't like only riding without some upper body stuff. it feels kinda...asymmetrical i guess. that is not to say that i am going to try to gain a ton of muscle mass, just get my arms and back stronger for climbing.

3x/wk I often hit some hills on the way to the gym so I get an hour workout sandiwiched between two one hour rides. Gotta keep the quads strong for the sprints!

I go to the gym 3 or 4 days a week at least to pop in and do some leg presses and a quick swim.

for me any leg work in season kills my legs for intense cycling work. I try to do a little core and upper body, butit doesn't seem to happen very often

what time do you guys lift relative to bike workouts? does the lifting replace the bike workout for the day? Dr.O: i think there was a thread in here a coupla months ago about "what makes a sprinter" in which there were some killer workouts for sprinters. single leg presses, plyo's, squats, deadlifts, etc. when you lift with legs, do you do single leg stuff, or both at once? i tried the single leg stuff, but found the squats really difficult to balance. sounds like your workout is killer though. i wish i wasn't in flat ohio sometimes.

what time do you guys lift relative to bike workouts? does the lifting replace the bike workout for the day? Dr.O: i think there was a thread in here a coupla months ago about "what makes a sprinter" in which there were some killer workouts for sprinters. single leg presses, plyo's, squats, deadlifts, etc. when you lift with legs, do you do single leg stuff, or both at once? i tried the single leg stuff, but found the squats really difficult to balance. sounds like your workout is killer though. i wish i wasn't in flat ohio sometimes.
bicycling like any sport is sport specific. You get faster by riding the bike not lifting weights. If you want to develop leg power, their are drills to do on the bike that are much more effective, i.e. muscle tension intervals, single leg pedals. If you want to have big muscles do squats , leg presses, if you want ot be faqst on the bike ride the bike. At most weightlifting for your legs is something to do offseason in the base building phase. Now is the time to translate your base into speed on the bike.

I doubt you will find hardly any pro cyclists that are doing any significant lifting for their legs at this time of year.

yeah, i definately stopped the leg portion of my workouts a couple of months ago. like i said in my earlier posts, i am doing core and upper body because i really need to get them stronger, and biking doesnt' really help that at all. for leg strength, i do hills (only about 200ft max around here) sitting in a really big gear. there was an article in bicycling three or four months ago that gave several schedules. i have been following the time trialer one with a few modifications to assist in sprinting (see other thread). no leg weights. i was asking primarily because it seems as though same muscle group twice a day might be too stressful.

what time do you guys lift relative to bike workouts? does the lifting replace the bike workout for the day? Dr.O: i think there was a thread in here a coupla months ago about "what makes a sprinter" in which there were some killer workouts for sprinters. single leg presses, plyo's, squats, deadlifts, etc. when you lift with legs, do you do single leg stuff, or both at once? i tried the single leg stuff, but found the squats really difficult to balance. sounds like your workout is killer though. i wish i wasn't in flat ohio sometimes.

I do mostly "single leg stuff" when I am taking care of legs. As to balance, I have always worked on balance with wobble boards, physioball, bosu, swiss disc, etc, so I have never had any trouble with balance doing one legged squats. And yes, the workout is rough, mostly because you are working every aspect of the core and legs in doing the ride with the weights.


bicycling like any sport is sport specific. You get faster by riding the bike not lifting weights. If you want to develop leg power, their are drills to do on the bike that are much more effective, i.e. muscle tension intervals, single leg pedals. If you want to have big muscles do squats , leg presses, if you want ot be faqst on the bike ride the bike. At most weightlifting for your legs is something to do offseason in the base building phase. Now is the time to translate your base into speed on the bike.

I doubt you will find hardly any pro cyclists that are doing any significant lifting for their legs at this time of year.

Merlin, I am sorry but I have to address this. There is a common misconception among the cycling community that lifting weights is not going to help, with many people thinking it will actually hurt performance. While there is truth that it CAN cause injuries if you are not smart, it is ridiculous to imply that the only thing that is necessary to be a good bike rider is to ride the bike. Therefore, football players should just play football, basketball players should just play basketball, and soccer players should just play soccer. The advances in sports today would not be possible without the tremendous advances in weight training (with regards to knowledge) and sadly too many in cycling ignore this fact.

Weight lifting does not mean you must gain weight with strength. Powerlifters often build tremendous strength at very light bodyweights. So do gymnasts and dancers. Yes they lift weights too. The bicycle inherently leads to deficiencies in muscle balance due primarily to positioning, but also from people not addressing appropriate form. These imbalances can improve with weight training which does improve performance on the bike. Are there going to be the Lawrence Taylors of the world who are just naturals? Sure. Is that most people? Of course not. And who can't help but wonder how much better he could have been HAD he lifted weights.

The reason pro cyclists don't lift wieghts during the season. Twofold. One is superstition. Read Lance Armstrong's war to get a small sampling of the ridiculous superstitions that cyclists hold on to. In addtion, many believe you have to get big (heavy) muscles when you work out (a fallacy). The other reason is because many pro cyclists are racing constantly during the season, and lifting requires a certain amount of recovery that can be gotten if you are training, but not when you are racing balls to the wall 3 days or more per week. At that point, most of them will end up with overtraining injuries. Also, if not carefully done, weights can destroy a knee and end a cycling career. Smart training avoids this.

Finally, I know that I will continue to improve. I push out 350 watts during a TT but I am 76 Kg. My sprint is a paltry 1000watts. Not that impressive in the grand scheme of things. I will continue to lift and continue to develop strength even during the racing season, because I know that regardless of how many wins I get now, it is all training for the future and the important ones are the wins yet to come.

Sorry for the rant.

Finally, I know that I will continue to improve. I push out 350 watts during a TT but I am 76 Kg. My sprint is a paltry 1000watts. Not that impressive in the grand scheme of things. I will continue to lift and continue to develop strength even during the racing season, because I know that regardless of how many wins I get now, it is all training for the future and the important ones are the wins yet to come.

man. i gotta get a powermeter. too cool.

i'm still gonna try to get into the gym at least once a week. i need the core strength to improve if i expect to do a fast dbl century in july. but not on race day or interval day. that should spread the load during the week.

Just for core.

I commute year round, and am racing regular now that the season is here. I don't do any leg work at the gym as it seriously hurts my ability to handle my lengthy commute, but I do workout 5 days a week.

I concentrate on chest/back/arms. Unlike the winter when I was trying to put on new muscle, now it's just about maintenance and strength gains. If I didn't have a demanding commute, I'd probably do at least 1 day of leg work a week, early in the week so I would have full recovery before the weekend. Doing squats and deadlifts a day or two before a race would definitely be a no-no. :D

Doc,
obviously different programs work for different people. But for me, I'm strickiong with no leg lifting during the season, based upon my own experience, and my coache's advice. From the CTS website: "Strength training can certainly be incorporated into your Foundation and Preparation Periods of training, and often decreases or stops altogether during the Specialization Period because it can interfere with the intense intervals called for during the Specialization Period. The key to successful strength training is to find the exercises that will compliment your endurance training appropriately. Look at what areas of your endurance sport you are looking to improve through strength training. Finding the areas of your endurance sport that you want to improve upon is a great way to determine the specific strength training exercises to participate in. One vital area of importance is building a strong core. We often recommend that our athletes focus on the core as opposed to focusing on power and strength in the weight room."
The recovery reason you give for pro cyclists, applies as much or more to amateurs who are training racing and working a job. Doing a hard sesaion of lifting with your legs is equivalent in training load to doing an interval session. So with 2 hard group rides or races during a typical week, and 2 days of intervals, there isn't enough time to add leg lifting and still have adequate recovery.

My perspective on this may be a little different form yours because I put out plenty of power, but just have too muchweight to haul around with it.

My coach still has me going once a week for easy workouts. This is due mostly to my age (44) to help keep my strength up. I don't do anything heavy and more than half of the workout is core.

I do mostly "single leg stuff" when I am taking care of legs. As to balance, I have always worked on balance with wobble boards, physioball, bosu, swiss disc, etc, so I have never had any trouble with balance doing one legged squats. And yes, the workout is rough, mostly because you are working every aspect of the core and legs in doing the ride with the weights.



Merlin, I am sorry but I have to address this. There is a common misconception among the cycling community that lifting weights is not going to help, with many people thinking it will actually hurt performance. While there is truth that it CAN cause injuries if you are not smart, it is ridiculous to imply that the only thing that is necessary to be a good bike rider is to ride the bike. Therefore, football players should just play football, basketball players should just play basketball, and soccer players should just play soccer. The advances in sports today would not be possible without the tremendous advances in weight training (with regards to knowledge) and sadly too many in cycling ignore this fact.

Weight lifting does not mean you must gain weight with strength. Powerlifters often build tremendous strength at very light bodyweights. So do gymnasts and dancers. Yes they lift weights too. The bicycle inherently leads to deficiencies in muscle balance due primarily to positioning, but also from people not addressing appropriate form. These imbalances can improve with weight training which does improve performance on the bike. Are there going to be the Lawrence Taylors of the world who are just naturals? Sure. Is that most people? Of course not. And who can't help but wonder how much better he could have been HAD he lifted weights.

The reason pro cyclists don't lift wieghts during the season. Twofold. One is superstition. Read Lance Armstrong's war to get a small sampling of the ridiculous superstitions that cyclists hold on to. In addtion, many believe you have to get big (heavy) muscles when you work out (a fallacy). The other reason is because many pro cyclists are racing constantly during the season, and lifting requires a certain amount of recovery that can be gotten if you are training, but not when you are racing balls to the wall 3 days or more per week. At that point, most of them will end up with overtraining injuries. Also, if not carefully done, weights can destroy a knee and end a cycling career. Smart training avoids this.

Finally, I know that I will continue to improve. I push out 350 watts during a TT but I am 76 Kg. My sprint is a paltry 1000watts. Not that impressive in the grand scheme of things. I will continue to lift and continue to develop strength even during the racing season, because I know that regardless of how many wins I get now, it is all training for the future and the important ones are the wins yet to come.

Sorry for the rant.


I have to agree with your first comments about weight training. All types of training can be beneficial including swimming for getting toned muscle structure as opposed to just bulk. This also alllows you to work on stamina. I have found it invaluable during the winter and am a stronger cyclist for it even after a few months off.

My gym membership ends pretty soon, so I'm still going on days when the weather isn't great or whatever. However, I stopped doing weight exercises for my legs a couple of weeks ago, since that's what you're supposed to do... I do exercises for my back, arms, abs, and some cardio. But like i said, my membership expires soon and I'll be riding most of the time anyways.