Originally Posted by Smoothie104
Thats true, but if you have 2 athletes, with equal aerobic systems, and one has more peak power, the more powerful rider can go faster when it matters most no? Are there any studies which would show a reduction in aerobic capability due to weight training?
weights *will* increase peak power (that's 5-sec all-out efforts), however, it will be at the expense of your aerobic system. additionally, for endurance riders (i.e., not 200-m, 500-m, 1-km, olympic sprint, etc on the track) peak power can be equally and possibly better trained via riding (i.e., doing sprint training).
as you increase muscle mass - hypertrophy (increased muscle cross sectional area) which occurs from weight training and provides a true increase in strength (as opposed to neuromuscular adaptations), there will be a decrease in muscle capillary density and muscle mitochondrial density, which will both mean a decrease in aerobic and anaerobic performance. you will also have more weight to lug uphill with no corresponding increase in power, and this will make you slower all-round
ric