Originally Posted by
DGlenday
Here we go again - same old argument.
Ask any professional cycling coach (you know - people who have
actually trained people to
actually win huge races) - and they swear by core-strength training and cross-training.
For just one example - read this book:
http://www.coach-hughes.com/text/book.html
Add to that - my personal experience tells me that they are right.
I'm primarily a triathlete, but during the Fall and Winter I stopped nearly all my cross-training and started cycling hard exclusively. Guess what happened? My FTP jumped 50 watts and I started riding Cat 2s off my wheel in group rides. Now I'm back to tri training and getting my ass kicked by the 3s in the local hammerfest.
If you want to ride better, you need to ride more and skip all the extra crap.