Training & Nutrition - How should my body feel after strength training?

Hey, all!

Since this is my last year of school, my riding time has taken a bit of a step back since earlier this year. Because of this and the fact that my gym is free, I'm using the days I'm in school to get nice workouts in (two days a week). I use Mondays as riding days, since I can commute to and from work much on my bike much easier than I can to and from school, as well as Sundays (or any day past Friday, really).

Tuesdays are the days where I do strength work, which consists of low-weight, high-rep sets. While I definitely felt like I was approaching muscle failure during the exercises, I didn't feel the soreness that usually accompanies a good workout after I was done. Does this mean that I didn't go "hard" enough, or is it supposed to feel this way?

In case any specific references are needed, I did the following today:

25 minutes of light cycling (because the gym bikes suck major)
5 minute rest
SUPER SET 1: Chest press, 3 sets of 16, 40 pounds AND lateral flies (I think?), 3 sets of 16, 40 pounds
3 minute rest
SUPER SET 2: Ab crunches, 3 sets of 16, 10 pounds resistance AND reverse lateral flies (I really suck at machine names), 3 sets of 16, 70 pounds
3 minute rest
Assisted rows, 3 sets of 16, 55 pounds
3 minute stretch

As always, any advice is much appreciated!

If you want to gain strength, you do low reps with high weight, that's when you get soreness. And dont do circuits. Here's what my cycling team does:

First I warm up the muscles, using low weight 2 x 8, and then medium weight 2 x 6. And then I do 3 x 5 of heavy weight.
The weight should be heavy enough where you can barely finish the last set, heavy enough where you're struggling, but not too heavy where you can't do the exercise correctly.

Move on to the next exercise and do the same thing. Once you've done the exercise dont go back and do it again, that's circuit training, that wont gain strength.

To get more technical, when you do low weight with a lot of reps, that's using the slow twitch fibers, which doesnt help your strenght. By using heavy weight, you use your fast twitch fibers, which gains strength.

Here's the full workout we do, notice it covers the whole body:

Workout A:
Squat-3x5
Bench Press-3x5
Deadlift-1x5
*2x8 Dips

Workout B:
Squat-3x5
Standing Military Press-3x5
Bent Over Barbell Rows-3x5
*2x8 Chinups(palms facing you)

Your legs should feel pumped. You should not be sore if you are training regularly for cycling.

There are four areas of particular interest to cyclists: VO2max, endurance, sprinting, and power/weight ratio at LT. It is possible to improve some of these through weight training. It is also possible to make some of these markers worse through incorrect weight training.

Sounds to me like you're doing it about right, but have a look at this document:
http://www.sportsci.org/jour/04/cdp.doc

It should answer most of your questions about cycling-specific training.

I think that Caad 8 is on the right track. That is how you gain strength. Doing the high rep/low weight training is designed for endurance training, not strength training.

The best approach is to cycle through phases of strength and endurance weight training.

It is certain that strength training increases the weights that one can use in said strength training. It is less certain that becoming stronger in the gym results in increases in cycling performance. In some studies, traditional high-weight strength training resulted in decreases in cycling performance.

Cycling is, after all, an endurance sport, and one in which we move our legs very quickly. I've been weight training, using various training schemes and methods since 1965. It remains unclear to me that strength training increases cycling performance more than that same amount of time spent on the bike. It's definitely worse than the same amount of time spent on HIIT. For pros who already spend the maximum allowed time on the bike, and who by their nature recover quickly, strength training offers definite gains.

Besides the materials presented in the link in my previous comment, you might google "explosive resistance training cycling" for an overview of some current thinking.

I've been doing single sets of 30, done to failure, in a circuit, for several years now, and as far as I can tell this offers superior on-the-bike results to anything else one can do in a similar amount of time (25 minutes). I haven't tried explosive training with 80% of 1RM nor will I due to my age, but that does look promising.

OTOH, if you are weight training for overall fitness and good looks, then it doesn't matter all that much what you do in the gym. You want to get big, do what the bodybuilders are doing. You want to stay light, go more for the high rep stuff.

I didn't feel the soreness that usually accompanies a good workout after I was done. Does this mean that I didn't go "hard" enough, or is it supposed to feel this way?I guess you are asking is the phrase "no pain - no gain" is true?

I wouldn't know about you, but my perspective suggests that using muscle soreness as a means to rate successful training sessions is a crap shoot. I use numbers.

I have found strength training to be of value for my riding because it allows me to focus on the upper body. The cycling develops the legs automatically although I still do squats and other leg exercises. Also I have found running helpful for me. Most likely each person could have an individualized conditioning format to compensate for individual differences, like lack of natural upper body development and strength.

The only time my muscles feel sore immediately after a workout, or the next day, is if I lay off for a week or more then go back to the same weights I was using when I laid off. Otherwise they just feel good after a workout. If you get sore I would interpret that as overdoing it and adjust accordingly.

It is certain that strength training increases the weights that one can use in said strength training. It is less certain that becoming stronger in the gym results in increases in cycling performance. In some studies, traditional high-weight strength training resulted in decreases in cycling performance.

Cycling is, after all, an endurance sport, and one in which we move our legs very quickly. I've been weight training, using various training schemes and methods since 1965. It remains unclear to me that strength training increases cycling performance more than that same amount of time spent on the bike. It's definitely worse than the same amount of time spent on HIIT. For pros who already spend the maximum allowed time on the bike, and who by their nature recover quickly, strength training offers definite gains.

Besides the materials presented in the link in my previous comment, you might google "explosive resistance training cycling" for an overview of some current thinking.

I've been doing single sets of 30, done to failure, in a circuit, for several years now, and as far as I can tell this offers superior on-the-bike results to anything else one can do in a similar amount of time (25 minutes). I haven't tried explosive training with 80% of 1RM nor will I due to my age, but that does look promising.

OTOH, if you are weight training for overall fitness and good looks, then it doesn't matter all that much what you do in the gym. You want to get big, do what the bodybuilders are doing. You want to stay light, go more for the high rep stuff.

I'm weight training for overall fitness and some slight gains in definition. I think the regimen described here is more appropriate for those that are racing or training to race, which is not part of my goal at the moment. I'll give CAAD-8's suggestion a try, as it seems more in line with other advice I've received regarding the type of training I'm looking to do.

Thanks very much!

Does weight training help cycling performance? I think it depends on who you are, and what type of training you do. One rule of training is specificity, which means that to apply to your sport the activity must be, in some way, relevant to your activity.

To develop real-world strength, and strength on the bike, I think you need to be doing some power work in the gym and on the bike, as well as the typical slower reps. This will translate strength gains from weights into being able to turn the gears faster for better acceleration.

Getting stronger also lets one perform an activity at a lower perceived exertion. This, in theory, should let you turn a bigger gear with less effort.

Like I said, the effects of weight training also depend on who you are; I probably believe in weights because a) it makes scientific sense and b) it makes a big difference for me. I am naturally very lean, and have a high aerobic capability, but my major limiting factor is muscular strength. For someone with a less ectomorphic build, I would imagine that strength training may have less of an impact on cycling performance, and time spent on the bike may be more worthwhile.

your strength training should be as intense as possible without doing any harm. you should feel as though you can't do another set in good form. your body should feel good and not painful. no joints should be hurting. no muscles should be strained. there should be little resting during the session and your heart rate should be raised for at least an hour. be sure to eat a meal before hand and some simple carb like a small box of raisins immediately before. afterward eat or drink protein and some more simple carbs. sips of water during is OK too

I've been very happy with a 5x5 program. that's 5 sets of only 5 reps with the highest weight I can manage over the 25 reps. I make a couple of exceptions such as elevated pushups - I'll do sets of 10 instead of 5. but if I replace them with elevated chest press then I do just 5 with a really heavy weight.

The part about good form is by far the most important. If your sets are getting sloppy then take a break, call it quits, or lower your weight a bit. If you are just trying to get stronger, add some weight, and get in shape, then do sets of 5-10, with minimal, but adequate rest between each set. There are a ton of good overall strength programs on line, one of which is a 8-10 week program called starting strength. There is a lot of O and power lifting, but I added about 6 pounds and all of my lifts went up by at least 10 kilos. I would put in circuits once in a while for the metabolic conditioning and endurance work, but keep the weight light or do body weight exercises. If you want to add some strength to your core and lower body, start doing some dead lifts and thrusters. They did the trick for me.