Good studies in this area do not pass off untrained subjects as trained, use time to exhaustion tests, or categorize on-bike interval workouts as resistance training. That basically eliminates the few outlier studies that conclude that there are any benefits to resistance training for cyclists. This study falls in line with all other good studies on the subject.


High Resistance/Low Repetition vs. Low Resistance/High Repetition Training: Effects on Performance of Trained Cyclists.

* Jackson NP,
* Hickey MS,
* Reiser RF.

Jackson, N.P., M.S. Hickey, and R.F. Reiser II. High resistance/low repetition vs. low resistance/high repetition training: Effects on performance of trained cyclists. J. Strength Cond. Res. 21(1):289-295. 2007.-In order to investigate the effects of a resistance training modality on cycling performance, 23 trained club-level cyclists were placed into high resistance/low repetition (H-Res), low resistance/high repetition (H-Rep), or cycling-only groups for a 10-week program. All 3 groups followed the same cycling plan, but the H-Res and H-Rep groups added resistance training. Testing pre and post consisted of a graded incremental lactate profile test on an ergometer, with blood lactate being sampled. Vo(2) values were measured to determine economy. Maximum strength testing of 4 strength exercises targeting the lower extremity musculature was conducted with the H-Res and H-Rep groups. There were significant gains in all 4 resistance training exercises (p < 0.05) for both H-Res and H-Rep, with the H-Res group having significantly greater gains than the H-Rep group had in the leg press exercise (p < 0.05). There were, however, no significant group x training differences (p > 0.05) found between the 3 training groups on the cycling test in lactate values or economy. It appears that for this population of cyclists, neither H-Res nor H-Rep resistance training provided any additional performance benefit in a graded incremental cycling test when compared with cycling alone over a training time of this length. It is possible that with this population, various factors such as acute fatigue, strength, and aerobic gains from the cycling training, in addition to well-developed bases of strength and conditioning from previous training, reduced differences between groups in both strength gains and cycling performance.

PMID: 17313261 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]