Originally Posted by
goose70
Great thread! I increased my time with the weights again around August and have really noticed the results. I actually notice it most on steady, moderately hard efforts, such as a long tempo effort into the wind. But I also notice it when I stand and sprint. That was certainly a weakness and is starting to develop into a strength, even though I'm spending less hours on the bike. In addition to the usual leg exercises, I have also been doing a more well-rounded core routine via Tom Danielson's book.
My continuing issue with all of this lower body weight training centers on recovery. I had always been told that one should rest for 24-48hours the muscles that you just weight trained. This is the excuse many of my cycling friends use for not weight training, reasoning that it causes you to miss too much riding time. One sollution might be to lower the weight so that you're not taxing the muscles quite as much. That's what I have been doing, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Any advice/experience on this?
P.S.: Just noticed rkwaki's post about squatting 785 for reps, so I guess he won't be in the "less weight" crowd.
Weight training is all about resistance. You are getting plenty of reps when you ride. It is all about fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers. You want to train both. Stick with the weight and leave the high reps for the ride. As stated earlier, proper nutrition before and afterwords and spinning or some other type of cardio will help with the soreness. Also, consider the most power is generated in the down stroke, the stronger the hams and the glutes, the more power you can generate.. The hip flexors are small when compared to the glutes and hamstrings, therefore the biggest gain will come on the down stroke through strengthening of these muscles. Not trying to be a know it all, just years of personal training and bodybuilding.