How big are you? In absolute terms, that's not very much weight at all.

Squat strength isn't going to improve your ability to sustain steady speed on a bike for long periods of time.

Assuming 0% grade and no wind, it takes 52% more power to go from 20 mph to 23 mph. On level ground, with no wind, power to overcome aerodynamic drag is proportional to speed cubed. At those speeds, aerodynamic drag is by far the largest force to overcome.

I wouldn't assume that. Squats develop anaerobic fast-twitch muscle fibers that burn pretty much nothing but glycogen - in an inefficient way, too. To sustain speed aerobically you need to develop slow-twitch fibers that can burn fat also, and do so much more efficiently. You also have to hope you actually HAVE enough slow-twitch muscle fibers to be good at this.

Yep. Long rides at moderate effort levels - NOT at levels of effort where you're constantly trying to go as fast as you can.

I mentioned in a previous post that I am about 5'10 175. I am not huge and never said I had the strongest legs out there. I have decent strength for my size and I have been weight training for over a decade. My point was simply that I am an experienced weightlifter and I strength train regularly (3x per week usually, sometimes 4x) in addition to cycling and running.

I think the consensus is that I need to continue to add distance rides at a moderate pace and add in some interval work to improve my TT/duathlon leg pace. Again, I appreciate the input and I am hoping to put it to good use.

corrected for proper bike forums spelling.









Hint: use the search function for Ryanf

Do you strength train legs 3x to 4x a week? Regardless it sounds like some good recovery time might help. Like above, train hard, rest hard. Easy to say, hard to do.

Shave legs, lose the luggage, drink espresso.

Wanna try something that might help your cycling?

Squats: 4x12, < 10 second rest between sets.

Four sets, twelve reps, under 10 seconds rest between sets.

Oh, yeah. First time you try that? Pick a LIGHT weight. Like 135 lbs.

That won't help your aerobic power, but it sure will help your anaerobic capacity and your ability to tolerate lactate buildup.

And FWIW, back in my competitive powerlifting days, I'd do legs once a week and bench twice a week. That's it. The rest of my gym time was for beach lifting.

I dunno how active Waterrockets is around here anymore, but he's been known to weigh in on weightlifting and how it helps cyclists every now and then. You might want to see what's posted over in the "Training and Nutrition" and the various racing forums.

Yeah, I'd say once or twice a week with the interval work, 2-4 times a week doing two to four hour rides at a moderate pace, and maybe a hard group ride every week or two would be good.

Interval work is high intensity - 2x20 or 3x15 workouts should be hard, and take couple of days to recover from. They're not going to feel like you feel after killing yourself in a hard squat workout, so you'll probably be tempted to try riding hard more than that. But in some ways, those kind of cycling workouts will take more out of you than a hard squat workout. You'll burn a whole lot more calories on the bike, for one thing.

Yes, see this bike speed calculator for a rough estimate of power needed. It's not like lifting, where 45% more power takes you from 350 lbs to 507 lbs. On a bike, it's "just" a few mph faster. Riding in a more aero position can help, and drafting a group of riders can require perhaps 30% less power.

Taking the calculator's default settings:

On the drops:
20 mph is 176 watts
23 mph is 257 watts. 46% more power to go 15% faster.

An aero tri bike:
20 mph is 151 watts
23 mph is 219 watts. 45% more power.

Definitely not! I strength train legs once per week usually in the middle of the week. I typically run a 3 day split hitting every body part once per week (sometimes I'll throw in an extra full body workout depending on my training schedule). More than that would clearly affect recovery and I take at least one full rest day (from both lifting and running/cycling) every week.

I am very careful to allow recovery time and avoid overtraining. I lift mainly to maintain my muscle mass through all of my aerobic endeavors (and because I do enjoy it as well). I balance cycling, running, and lifting throughout the week. Right now it is 2-3 days of cycling, 3-4 days of running, and the 3 lifting sessions each week. I have been biking to work 1 or 2 days weekly (20+ mi each way) and getting a long ride in on the weekend. I am maintaining about 20 mpw of running as well with a mix of speed and distance work. Since the duathlon is the current goal, a mix of the different types of training is necessary. I actually find the altering of workout types to help recovery since different muscles are used (ie alternating running and biking days).

A good rule of thumb is 3x the increase in speed. So to go from 20 to 22, i.e. 10%, will require approx 30% more power. 30% is a huge increase in FTP for someone who has been riding for a few years. You're much more likely to get those gains in speed by changing your position than a raw increase in power.