Originally Posted by merlinextraligh

Neither of the 2 coaches I've had has been in favor of cross training. I asked my first coach, a domestic pro racer, with a Masters in Exercise Physiology, about whether I should be doing resistance training. His response was I can make you a faster cyclist, or I can make you able to lift weights, which one do you want?

Personally, I try to do some core, stretching and light upper body work a couple of times a week, more for general fitness, than specifically for cycling.

Cross training in the off season may help with boredom and burn out, but it's not going to make you faster on the bike.

And in season, cross training is going to take time, and energy, away from cycling specific training. If you're training hard enough on the bike, anything else for your legs is going to limit what you can do on the bike.

That SAID, Gsteinb SAID, all that needed to be SAID in the second post, but I thought it could be SAID again.

specific adaptation to imposed demands