Originally Posted by
Daniel4
Here are some thoughts from the top of my head.
Low weight high reps are for hypertrophy. They bulk up your muscles. But endurance athletes like swimmers, marathon runners and cyclists aren't looking for bulk.
To endure, you need strong cardio. The weight bearing exercises that really put stress on cardio are squats, DL and the leg press machine at high rep (go deep so you use your glutes instead of just your quads).
But having said all that, do a lot of hamstring and leg press exercises for cycling. DL training helps you maintain form when climbing (you use your arms to pull on the handlebars). And I do believe high reps help contrary to what I first stated.
When I do strength training I don't worry about including any cardio. I figure that cycling is more than enough cardio and so I focus my limited strength training on improving muscle strength, flexibility and balance.