Originally Posted by MERTON
what if a person lifted in their upper body 2 times a week, lower once a week and rode their bike 300 miles a week. wouldn't they get quite a few benefits from both sides? i'm doing this now but with the milage only around 60 miles per week. i'm hoping someday to end up with at least 300 mpw at about 195 lbs to 225 lbs (i'll go with what feels best) at some point (like.. in a few years when i have the money for a road bike). wouldn't i still have good endurance but also be a bit faster than the guy that just rode 300 mpw with no weight training?
Merton your pretty spot on. Guys like Damiano Cunego (2004 Giro Italia Winner), Davide Rebellin (2004 World Cup Winner), Lance Armstrong (2004 Tour De France Winner)
ALL LIFT. I KNOW THIS FOR A FACT.
Originally Posted by Murrays
No one here has been able to present any evidence that lifting makes you faster.
Sorry, just have fella.
Guess what.
A STRONGER RIDER WILL ALWAYS BEAT A WEAKER RIDER. That is the bottom line. Lifting weights will give you make you a better cyclist ALL ROUND, an all rounder. Guys like Virenque who don't lift, yeah great in the mountains but nothing else, will never be an accomplished all rounder.
Originally Posted by Murrays
Let's take your current situation, lifting 3 days a week and riding 60 miles a week. I wouldn't have a hard time believing that replacing the 3 lifting days with 1 day of intervals, 1 day of hill repeats and 1 long day (> 60 miles) would make you a better rider. No one here has been able to present any evidence that lifting makes you faster. The one article I found states that weight training "does not improve cycle ENDURANCE performance".
http://www.cptips.com/weights.htm
FWIW, your plan of 3 days of lifting leaves only 4 days to get your 300 mpw with no rest days. I think such a plan would be very difficult to maintain for any length of time.
-murray
No this won't make him a better rider. If I was to follow this advice my legs would get weaker. ALOT WEAKER. In fact, you wouldn't believe how much weaker this type of training would make me. Your another who is behind the times. The old days are well gone. Cycling alone doesn't make your legs strong, the resitance is FAR, FAR TOO LIGHT.
Weights will make you a faster sprinter, faster long distance runner, faster soccer player etc etc etc...
Get with the times...
A STRONGER RIDER WILL ALWAYS BEAT A WEAKER RIDER.