How to incorporate gym days with riding?
 

If you guys do legs at the gym, do you ride the same/next day or give your legs a day off to recover? If you do ride, is it low intensity or high? Just looking for some pointers!

if you haven't lifted before and if you get a good lift session you'll probably get really bad DOMS. so a recovery ride would be great the next day. you said you have a team coach you should ask him what to do since be should know what you need.

Is that implying the DOMS will eventually stop/become less severe?

I'm about 3 weeks into lifting seriously, and now I look at stairs differently.

It's supposed to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed...uscle_soreness
"Repeated Bout Effect"

Doms does eventually almost go away. I just did a couple PBs yesterday and can't feel a thing today.

As far as training goes, I do gym and bike training both hard on the same day, then follow that with a recovery day. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm in the same boat. On some of the harder leg days there's almost no way I could ride the same day. But I do try to at least get in a lower intensity ride to keep the legs moving. Once the season gets underway my thought is to cut back on the more intense lifting. Problem is sometimes I don't listen to myself.

You will always be in a constant state of fatigue of some level, but the pain should go away after the 2 week "transition" period. As long as you keep the gas pedal down on your training, you won't be sore anymore...just tired :)

I assume when the season starts most people will taper off the weights so they'll be ready to go on race days?

Generally, sprinters lift 3x a week during the off season and 2x a week during the season. Basically trading a lifting day for a race day. Most people race 1x a week.

Enduros that lift, generally lift 1-2x a week in the off season and 0-1x/week when the season starts for the same reason.

Remember, there is no "ready to go" during the weekly races. Wednesday night racing (DLV's weekly race night) was simply part of training. Most competitive racers are only fresh for big races like Nationals or some other big race. Many (like me) only peak once a season. Any other racing (Pro Races, Regionals, other big events) I train straight through them.

I know guys who try to peak 4-5 times a year for every big-ish event in their calendar. But, expressing it that way shows that they aren't familiar with Periodization.

Perfect. So Mon/Wed/Fri lift, and when the season starts I'll probably trade wed lifting for wed racing. We also have Friday races, I may or may not do those too.

I just started lifting and it's really hard to get a decent ride in, even a day after my lift day. I was told by some teammates/our coach to maybe not be so intense with the weights so DOMS isn't last like 3 days... ahhaha.

Your comment regarding the weekly races is very interesting to me, but makes sense. They're every week, if you were trying to "prep" for them, you'd just be in prep mode all the time. I never thought of them as just another training night.

I'm going to try and represent my team or our track's team (if I'm selected to) in pursuit nationals... they make selections in June... I don't think I'll be fast enough though.

Do you know the track's selection process?

You may want to schedule a rest (or recovery ride) day after the race day. We tend to push the limits when racing, so that day off to rest (and eat lots) is nice.

DLV's weekly races are literally called "Training Races". DLV only has 4 "real" races per season: 3 Pro Races (which pay money) + Regional Championships (pays medals/jerseys). The rest are simply organized training races. Most other tracks (Frisco, Rock Hill, etc...) have a similar system.

So, think of your weekly racing as no different than a gym day, training ride, group ride. It's simply very-specific training of your legs and race skills. But, it's still just training.

You'll only race a handful of times of the year (likely less than 5). Basically, any event with money, medals, or jerseys on the line is a real race :) anything else is training.

I don't, I think they just try and get the fastest dudes in the age group. I'm likely not fast enough lol, but I'll try my best to be.

Makes sense. If I look at it that way, Hellyer only has a few real races a season too. (Although there's a small cash pot every Friday)

Thanks for the tips, this makes me a TON less nervous about the end of March (start of the season).

Also remember that every one will be coming into the start of the season with the same lack of race legs. This means less pressure, but it also means more danger. People are not used to being on the track, and definetly not used to the tight quarters that a race entails. If you can get some on track training days before the season starts. Better if it is with your team or some buddies, but solo is better than nothing.

Definitely.

I've been to two of the mens pursuit training sessions this year and I try to make it to the weekly beginner sessions if there isn't any other event. Unfortunately our "open training" is only open to cat 3+ :C Clearly I just need to get to cat 3.

you don't need to be CAT 3. I go to the open trainings and I'm CAT 6 =) Just get cleared by the supervisor doing the session.

you just have to know what you are doing out there and most importantly being safe!

Damn, I need to try and come out then. I don't want to get there just to get turned away though. Are you ever turned away?

Silly question, but the 3 lift days are leg days right? HAHA Just making sure.

Do you guys do upper body at all? I feel that sprinting uses more upper body than I think it does.

That's every race for us. :)

Squats every day...then a mix of other stuff.

You have to have decent, but not max, upper body strength. Need to be strong enough (especially in the fingers) to not have your legs pull your hands off the bike.

Jaytron, I'm cat 5 and probably always will be as I only do sprint events. The cat 3 rule is not necessarily hard and fast.

So, how do you know if your lifting is accomplishing anything if it no longer hurts? I kinda used that as a benchmark, haha.

If the weight you can lift goes up. Soreness is a poor indicator of development, because as you get better at lifting, soreness tends to go down. Not to mention its exact causes are still unknown.

There was a mention to enduros that lift, wouldn't this be the reverse of developing their efficient and typically weaker muscles?
Sorry if it's obvious, I'm only about to start my first season in track and don't know many people at my track.
I consider myself middle-ground, I can sprint, but not as well as the guys who dedicate to it and I can hold my own in stuff like points/devil events, and I don't lift on a regular basis.

The damn barbells are always taken when I want to do squats. Are there any cons to doing dumbbell squats instead? I've tried non-weighted squats on one of the little balance balls too (no idea what the hell they're called). I always do on leg presses (for some reason I thought one leg> two leg.. maybe to practice stability), and lunges (with dumbbells)

Wellllll, I need to get out there it seems. Jeebus.

Weight training shouldn't have a negative impact on enduro guys if done correctly (i.e. in moderation). We don't have weaker/efficient and stronger/inefficient muscles, they are all capable of being strong or efficient. Muscle fiber type plays a big role, Type 1s or so-called slow-twitch fibers generally being more efficient at exerting a small force over a longer period of time. Type 2s or fast twitch are better at exerting a lot of force quite quickly. More sprinty enduro guys might like to have both muscle fiber types well-trained and conditioned. Muscle contains 'intermediate' fibers that are capable of doing both of these tasks reasonably well, and evidence suggests that sometimes focusing more on one type of training has them shift over to be better at that task, for example long distance rides would make these fibers more endurance-orientated.

Long story short, weight training can't really hurt an enduro's training, unless it's so intense that it hampers all the other training they need to do. I like to think of having quite a bit of strength as just another tool I can use to be successful in races.

Don't listen to this guy :)

He has state and national medals. He just hasn't applied for his upgrades. He can easily be a 3 and good enough to hang with 2s :)

Last season I didn't do squats. Only leg press and single leg press. My back was happy about that :)

I say back squat, front squat, leg press, and/or single leg press. Your choice. Just commit to progressing every week.

Re enduros lifting:

I've seen some racers with HUGE legs racing NRC crits. Huge. Those guys lift.

The #1 complaint is from traditional road racers who don't want to add mass that they have to carry up hills/mountains. Endurance track and road crit racers lift.

I believe the biggest reason enduros like myself don't lift is benefit vs time. Easy enough for a sprinter to fit in weights sessions is that they aren't riding alot of hours as it isn't neccessary.

I train comparatively low km compared to other road / enduro track riders I know due to many factors - work, family etc. So choosing between a specific on bike interval session or lifting weights is an easy one.

Having said that I am contemplating some additional upper body work and weight bearing exercise for general health as I age on top of core work.