Originally Posted by
PeteHski
It sounds like an 8 week build phase, which is usually then followed by an ongoing "maintenance" weight routine. The reason why they don't recommend more weight training is because it adds to your overall stress. If your priority is cycling performance then you need to focus more on riding during the season. If your focus is more on general fitness then you may decide to include more weight training and therefore less riding. You can only tolerate so much total stress.
Yes, the body needs rest and recovery. That's critical. Where I live I can only ride a few months out of the year. I have a gym in my basement so I do strength training all year round. As we age we lose muscle. It's very important to engage in some type of strength training to maintain as much muscle as possible. This helps to accomplish the daily tasks in our lives whereas cycling doesn't really.