terrymorse 

So what kind of Winter strength training do Bike Forums old guys (all genders) do?

Since it's the time of year we spend more time indoors than outdoors, I've been thinking about doing some full body strength training. Because:

1. to maintain some of that mid-season fitness
2. to do something about this "98 pound weakling" cyclist physique
3. health experts say resistance training is important for us olds to maintain strength
4. I've never done it before, might as well try something new

I started doing some at-home exercises: squats, planks, bicycle crunches (love that name), dumbbells, ballerina jumping jacks (don't laugh, they're hard). Feels pretty good, so far. And it's surprising good aerobic exercise.

What are others doing?

BTW, here's a bicycle crunch:


Image credit: Amy White, amybcrandall@gmail.com

And ballerina jumping jacks:

79pmooney

I'm light, skinny, long and have cyclist's many times wrecked shoulders. I do a very simple round of 6 exercises specifically for my shoulders that 1) give me useful strength and far lessen the chances of dislocating my left shoulder that is missing most of its soft tissue. Those are bench press with seat inclined (for me, very hard), free standing curls (they help me with just my arms and posture), "rows" - pulling the barbell thighs to shoulder high, near straight arm lifts if dumbbells from both in front and the sides and finish with regular bench presses. Quick routine but it helps a lot in general life, in the yard and garage and climbing, especially on the fix gear. Also keeps my injury free save the minor ones from less than fully attentive lifts.

I've been struggling with low level ongoing issues on the bike (I really need to ride all winter to have injury free fix gear experiences at Cycle Oregon) and burnout. So I've started walking. I clearly need weight bearing exercises and probably need to focus on that the rest of my life as I am clearly paying for basically just riding for 50 years.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes. A good introduction to the subject can be found here: Introduction to strength training for the endurance athlete

The thread includes PDFs for all the different workouts I do, starting in fall and going into the competition season. I started strength training for cycling over 20 years ago and by 2016 I'd become a little more sophisticated about it. My wife and I still use those same workouts now. I'm most of the way through the Gethin Momentum workouts. Last week, I did my 4th squat set with 107% of bodyweight. I started with 40% back in October. I'm frankly amazed at how light the pedals feel now, watts are up at the same low HRs I'm having to use.

Those PDFs have columns for me and my wife, hence the letter labels for them. Going to the gym with your SO is more fun. Their set gives you just enough recovery time to do your next one and it's best if you both stay strong.

gobicycling

Yes, at 83 I do a regular series of strength training using a variety of resistance items. I put together my own set that I do every two to three days. This includes dips on a dip bar, some weights, heavy bands, push-ups, 1.5 to 3 minute planks, unweighted squats, etc. I lost my Pull-Ups due to a shoulder injury 3 years ago but I'm slowly working on getting them back. I also do 20 minutes of daily stretching, primarily of my lower body and back, due to having a cantankerous back. Add in swimming 40 minutes four times a week, indoor trainer 30 minutes daily, and walking.

caloso

I do a TRX workout twice a week. There's a seemingly infinite variety of exercises you can do, and they will kick your butt. https://stack52.com/periodic-table-o...ion-exercises/

gobicycling

Thanks for the reminder. I used to do TRX and have stopped. I need to start it again.
,

Thulsadoom

Squats. Bench presses and/or push-ups..Occasionally incline dumbell presses. Lat pull-downs. Cable rows. Tricep press-downs. Barbell curls. Done.

terrymorse 

Wow. Just wow.

sam21fire

Yep, I go to the gym 2-3x/week, and have a personal trainer show me new exercises every other week using a variety of weights and body weight events. Gotta keep the bones strong and the belly off.
Sam

MoAlpha

Squats, deads, split squats, pull-ups, dips, overhead presses, inverted rows, and various ab things, in some combination, twice a week during the off season. I do as much standing work as possible and with as much weight as I can safely lift, in order to increase the loading on the crunchy old bones.

I have this place to play in at work and I usually have it to myself.

BTinNYC

45 minutes twice a week, upper body, core and legs. My cycling training plan has a simple guideline for strength training; avoid the "no pain, no gain" mindset, if the workout hurts cycling the next day it's too much.

Carbonfiberboy 

I've read that the stress needs to be about 10% of the breaking strength of the bone to get results. I have no idea how much that is, though. Many recommend using plyo instead of weights to get enough G loading, but I'm nervous about plyo because it's hard to say how much is enough until one discovers that through injury. Skiing moguls might work, I don't know. They say running doesn't work, not enough impact. I know, many recommend walking or running, but I don't think there's any research to back that up. Ultra runners get bone loss similar to cyclists. I've read research showing that taking 1g of calcium before a sweaty workout helps, but others say that's BS.

Inusuit

I'm 78. Have a basic home gym that's not as elaborate as Gobicycling's setup. I'm jealous. Basic adjustable weight bench and a set of dumbbells. I alternate sets for chest/shoulders and arms/back. When the Wyoming weather allows, I alternate strength training says with rides. This month, when the high for tomorrow is forecast to 10 below, I alternate weights session with yoga/stretching and pray for better weather.

freeranger

I'm 72 years young but have always strength trained in one form or another. Always been on the thin side, but athletic, and trying my best to keep in shape. Just starting to resume working a bit on my left wrist/arm since breaking the wrist 6 months ago. Working it out, but not so hard as to set progress back. Don't have rollers or a bike trainer at home but belong to a gym with plenty of machines and weights for a workout. Plus have a Soloflex, hand weights, and a nice treadmill, at home. Never gave it much thought, guess it all just became part of a routine.

MoAlpha

I read that with interest when you posted it before, but I've also seen clinical data suggesting big gains even in inexperienced people with very moderate weight-bearing resistance training. It's on my list of things to read up on.

In any case, I have, pan-spinal disc disease, a cervical fusion with two prosthetic discs, an old L3 herniation, residual spinal cord damage, and a left vastus medialis that's still fasculating. I have no expert opinion to support this, but I think my days of shock loading (beyond walking downstairs at work) are done.

rumrunn6

circuit training at the gym 2-3 times a week at lunchtime w/ 15 stations
I like it because it is safe, predictable & helps me focus instead of wandering trying to keep track of what I'm doing or have done
one can establish a base routine of sets & reps & weights for each station
one can adjust as the weeks progress
then after more weeks or months, one can make gradual increases in the weights where appropriate
this was very helpful for recovering from an A/C joint sprain last February. I'm in a good place now & am progressively increasing some weights where I want
lunchtime during the week is good because no one expects anything from me, it's my time
on days where I may be dragging I'm at least getting my reps in
on days where I'm feeling better, I can perform better or make a small increase somewhere

not my gym just an example of a "circuit"

rumrunn6

reminds me of something our phys ed coach said in college. something to the effect of: "you're going to learn lifelong techniques to stay in shape"

yannisg

I use to go to the gym twice a week even though I had a bench, various weights and TRX in my basement.
I stopped going to the gym since Covid, and use my basement equipment once a week.
I do quite a lot of heavy land work which keeps my upper body, arms and waist in shape.
The weather here is great, and I can almost ride every day if I chose to. I haven't used my trainer for over 2 years.

wolfchild

Who is this we that you speak off ??....As for what are others doing ?...I ride outdoors all year round.

terrymorse 

Good for you.

davester

At my age (68) I have to. Losing muscle mass is deadly to seniors so I do strength training using both a Total Gym and a TRX. Also, I ski fairly regularly in addition to keeping up the cycling when it's not raining. I not only enjoy these activities (not so much the Total Gym) but consider them a case of life (i.e. continued good health) or death (i.e. rapid health decline and susceptibility to age-related diseases).

Carbonfiberboy 

If you mean bone mass, I'd love to see that data.

pdlamb

That sounds awfully high. Good bones are so strong that I'd expect joint damage if you tried to load them at 90% of bone strength.

I'd think ultra runners lose bone mass like long distance cyclists -- they sweat so much they end up losing calcium. Probably not applicable to casual walkers or runners.

bblair

I have had shoulder and back problems through the years, so mainly what the physical therapists have taught me. A combo of elastic bands, dumbells and a weight machine, but nothing exceptionally heavy. I just don't want to be a blob as I get older.

But I'd much rather ride my bike. Even if it's on a trainer.

Carbonfiberboy 

Unfortunately, the calcium loss theory isn't reality. That's what I used to think, too. The amount of calcium lost in sweat is miniscule, easily more than replaced by any decent electrolyte combo. When we exercise hard, our bodies pull calcium out of our bones. Then when we quit, it's supposed to be put back. That last step doesn't always happen. AFAIK, medical science is clueless about the why. Maybe it's the duration? We are endurance hunters, but maybe today's athletes are pushing the length of time at high effort beyond what our DNA allows?

The only thing I can suggest to try is to take 1g of calcium 1 hour before exercise. OTOH, that's also associated with heart issues, but IDK if that's with athletes or just the relatively sedentary. In my case, some of the calcium pulled out of my bones wound up in my coronary arteries. That's not unknown among endurance athletes, oddly enough is mostly harmless, and happened long before I discovered that I had an osteoporosis problem and started taking calcium.

IDK about the joint damage theory either. Plyo is supposed to load a person's bones with as much as 4G. Thinking about evolution and how good that is at optimization, my guess is that's a pretty high bone loading. Bones need to be as light as they can be and not break. That 10% of breaking strength should be pretty easy to hit. That said, plyo is known to have a high injury potential. And that said, among cyclists broken bones seem to happen a lot more frequently than torn connective tissue.

This is a really complicated subject and amazingly, one that's little studied. Probably no money in it. For further info, I recommend googling "osteogenic loading", "bone loading during exercise", and "breaking strength of human bones" (engineers only),