No doubt riding more will make me faster, but it won't make me stronger as efficiently as lifting will. A rider benefits from strong posterior chain and core, both of which are not optimally strengthened on the bike.

Then again each person's goals are different.

One further comment, muscle mass (or bulk) is made in the kitchen, not in the gym. Lifting does not make you bigger without a significant calorie surplus.

1) I agree about core strength. My first post I said the only resistence training that will really help you on the bike is working your core.

2) Muscle strength does not equal speed on the bike. With the possible exception of track sprinting, how "strong" your muscles are does not determine how fast you can ride.

3) Peoples goals vary. There are legitimate reasons to do weight training. Winning bike races however is not one of them.

Considering the overwhelming majority of this forum are weekend warriors and club riders, i don't understand the aversion to weights. If you're trying to break into the top CATs or something and need the extra edge then fine, but for everyone else, the puny upper body might make you slightly faster on Wednesday nights, but it's a liability the rest of the time. Besides, having some definition in the upper body is not going to slow you down that much. You really need to top out elsewhere before you need to start worrying about cutting upper body muscles for a better power/weight ratio, and i would venture a guess that most of us here haven't done that.

I lift twice a week, hitting every major muscle group and using free weights where i can to activate some of the stabilizing muscles. Then again, i'm primarily a triathlete and an upper body is beneficial, plus i find a moderate lifting routine keeps injuries away.

I'm not adverse to weight lifting. What I think a number of people, including myself, try to dispel is the idea that doing a lot of intense work for your legs is going to make you faster on the bike.

Personally, I try to do core all year long. I also try to do a limited upper body workout a couple of times a week all year.

But I'm doing the upper body workout more out of vanity, and general fitness considerations than to be fast on the bike. And for me I have enough weight to lose that I'm not sure that adding a little upper body muscle mass isn't about a wash to the extent it burns fat.

I do strongly believe, based on my personal experience, and all the coaching I've got, lifting for your legs past the base phase will hurt your cycling.

Agreed.

This should be filed under Pandora's box.

There will always be two opposing sides in this debate.

Always.

And the truth, as I see it, is both sides are right.

Some people respond better with weight work.

Others respond better without.

Personally, I'm in the former group. My preference is sprinting, so that has alot to do with it.

Some tips:

1) be careful on leg extensions; they place a great deal of shearing forces on the knee and the only movement they replicate is that of kicking

2) trainers are like people in any other profession: some are good, some not so good, and some should be castrated; do NOT be afraid to raise doubts and do some research on your own

3) old school can often be the best school; the push up, chin up, pull up, and dips are still some of the best type of training out there for strength to weight events; avoid the traditional sit up as it places an unholy amount of stress on your lower back (we get enough of that in the saddle)

4) ANY and I do mean ANY program is only effective UNTIL you adapt. This varies with each person. Generally speaking, you want to change some aspect of your routine every two to three weeks.

5) Most people who diss weights follow the bodybuilding protocol - which is rarely conducive to an athlete.

6) Most people who diss weights use a combination of too much weight/bad technique/wrong exercise selection for their particular needs

****************************************

I use weights for the following reasons:

1) to gain power - which, with correct neural-adaptive work, translates into faster speed; this transition stage is where most trainees AND trainers drop the ball (the endurance and power endurance work is done on the bike)

2) prehab to work on areas which have the potential for injury

3) isolation work to train around injuries or areas that are very close to that fine line (as a matter of fact, I'm going to hit the gym after this post to work my hamstrings, hip flexors, abductors/adductors, rectus femoris ALL IN SUCH A MANNER THAT MY PATELAR TENDON GETS A DAY OFF)

4) overall health and well being

****************************************

To the OP: there's nothing wrong with your question but it's simply too open-ended; how about you focus your line of questioning (ie certain exercises, rep scheme, etc)

i do core and upper body once a week. in the winter, i do lunges, squats, leg press, calve lifts and lots of upper body.

that is more or less because i used to lift a lot before i got into cycling. now i just do it to keep my lady happy. core is really the only beneficial thing. i find doing some leg workouts make my legs feel great a few days later on the bike, but have never actually been able to find any differences in my stats after a few weeks of lifting or not lifting.

that said, ive only been logging my stats for about 7 months now, so i dont have a long trackrecord to go by.

Yesterday at the gym, I ran for 30 min on a treadmill at 5.5 mph. I am trying to do endurance workouts for long periods of time. Afterwards, I worked a lot on core, sit ups, plank, 8lb ball to left/right.

I'm definitely in the minority here in that I'm a more serious weight-lifter than cyclist. In fact I do the opposite of what you're asking: I ride to improve my lifting strength.

You can't build lean, healthy muscle and make continual strength gains without mixing in solid cardio, so I use cycling to get my cardio to help me in the weight room. I don't think it works the other way around, i.e., I don't think lifting is gonna help your cardio shape very much at all.

Circuit training can actually get the heart rate up quite a bit.

I lift a lot in the winter and only legs. Cycling goes to hell as soon as I start but I make sure I keep riding throughout the winter as well.

Starting March 1st I shift from heavy max loads (not much for me!) to lighter weights with higher reps while at the same time start a more aggressive cycling schedule with a lot of climbing. By April 1st I'll be done with the gym until November.

Within a week of stopping the weights, I feel much better on the bike - faster and stronger.

Being 55 years old, can't help thinking the lifting has some benefits away from just a way to get stronger through the winter.

you should be a coach! i used to do periodized training for rock climbing and the whole neuro-adaptive propreoceptive (sp?) aspect is so interesting. endurance, power, resistance (power endurance) were all weeks on the calender.
i only got it right a couple times, but when a comprehensive periodized plan peaks, it's incredible how much performance can improve.

relevantcycling said it, YOGA is the way forward. because of the restricted movements of our legs the muscles become quite stiff - which is why if you ever try to play soccer mid season you`ll more than likely pull a hamstring. yoga loosens muscle, refreshes them and makes them stronger. there`s no added bulk gain. also fantastic to keep upper body firm.

I would suggest push-ups, pull-ups, and dips about 3/week. You need upper body strength to overall general health and to help you on big hills (imho). For leg work riding should take most out of you but I strongly suggest squats, romanian deadlifts, and calf raises at least twice a month with a few leg extensions for the tear drop.

I already work out. I am in the gym daily whith my own routine I have adapted. I asked the question of your guys work out because being new to cycling I was wondering if what I was doing in the gym was going to help me on the road. Also I was wondering what specific exercises ppl were doing if it would help you go faster.


After hearing all the responses which I appreciate verry informative, thank you. How do you get faster (without changing components) if speed does not = muscle development?

Join a club and ride with faster people.

Typically it's one's cardio/aerobic system that is the limiting factor - improvements in this system will come with riding. Lifting contributes to cardio fitness, but it's generally anaerobic, which as endurance athletes we try and avoid until absolutely necessary. Lifting will contribute to general fitness, and prehab making you less prone to injury. It also aides in flexibility - routinely doing deadlifts will increase flexibility in the hams and glutes. But it won't necessarily make you faster, with the exception of anaerobic efforts like sprints or climbing.

Data?

Most of the studies do not support lifting for your legs.

https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bike-racing/272611-new-weight-lifting-study.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-6919.html


https://www.sportsci.org/news/traingain/resistance.html

And if you want to hedge your bets, there is always on bike resistent traning (stomps, power starts, and muscle tensions) which have the benefit of being sport specific.

The only thing inherently wrong(if anything at all) about weight lifting for legs is that it doesn't exactly simulate the bike motion.

However, if it did, going heavy and working on muscle strength DOES have a positive impact on biking performance on both sprints and distance. On the other hand, though, this should be supplementary rather than primary in your focus....a ton of riding should be your main focus.

Here's what I've learned from friends of mine who race professionaly (their results speak volumes and I would really consider their advice incredibly valuable) This is, in general, what I've learned from them:

1. Most people who don't know what they're talking about don't like lifting weights because it temporarily slows them down or makes them feel slower. Results are not immediate.
2. Lift in the off season, while you're doing base training.
3. Do a lot of core (lower back, abdominals, obliques) training year-round.
4. Don't get a huge upper body, but don't neglect it. It's good to have some muscular balance for the sake of preventing injury, too.

Like I said, my opinion isn't worth sh*t, I'm a nobody with no results worth speaking of. I'm only passing on what I've learned from going to the gym with guys who's opinions are worth a lot.

It's hard to go fast when you can't turn the pedals because the tendons in your knees are trashed. Weight work helps strengthen more than just muscles.

lance did a lot of weight training. mostly core, but legs too, and especially off-season.

muscle balance and flexibility are key to avoiding injury and being comfortable and powerful on the bike. cycling is like factory work: one motion repeated ad infinitum. the body was not designed for that and it will lead to imbalance and injury unless you're physiologically lucky.

swimming is the best cross-training for me, as it seems to put me "back into balance" for some reason.

my routine:

cardio routine:
30 minutes of running with about half a lap of hard running (or sprinting on straightaways)
3 laps low walking

weight routine:
30 min running for warmup
70lbs, 5 reps each leg, 4 sets of lunges
120lbs, 50 reps, 4-5 sets of calf raises (may have to up my weight)
1-2 laps low walking

low walking is where you get your butt as close as you can to your heels while walking forward. I say 3 laps is what I do because I do it on an indoor track, which is substantially smaller than a typical outdoor one. Nevertheless, low walking is an incredible way to build up leg endurance, I've found.

For running, I've found that a weird mix of lynyrd skynyrd and russian choral music works best for me.

I won't disagree with your statement, but just to play semantics with this part I'd like to say that there is perhaps no other exercise that the human body was better designed for. Cycling exploits the most powerful muscles in the body in a way that's sustainable for hours, doesn't waste energy with the braking forces and damaging tears of eccentric loading, and has no violent jarring or impact problems.

An example: I ran 20 miles Thursday to help get into shape and because I'm stupid. I'm so sore I still can't climb the stairs right, but I rode a stationary bike at the gym last night and just finished a bike race where I had no undue discomfort or soreness affecting me.

The human body was made for the bike.

squat, front squat, romanian deadlifts, high pulls, leg press, leg curl, core work, chins, pushups...done. 2-3 times a week.