gym for 8 weeks..... why?
 

Hello, i read a few articles that recommend to train in the gym for some weeks. Mostly for 8 weeks for muscle growing.
Also some friends comfirm the teory of the 8 weeks , specially during december when the race season is off.

Here the questions:

• Why the gym training is only 8 weeks?
• How the muscle are not going to be defelated after a bunch of normal cycling activities? (whitout weight lifting the muscle will perish with a lot of cardio. Also for this reason i can't see why taking supplements too)
• How the strenght is going to last for an entire race season?
• Can anyone share a good training program (gym+bike) to grow strenght and a nice overall improvement?

I've never heard of this 8-week thing. I train year-round, in and out of the gym, but then again I'm not a racer, but I ride like one. :)

Probably because the 8 weeks is considered the minimum to get any decent results. I don't think they are telling you to do only 8 weeks. But if 8 weeks are all you do then you'll at least have some benefit that might last you the rest of year.

Maybe an 8 week strength training block during the strength and adaptation phase of a bicycle training periodization cycle. I am in the gym all year long.

It sounds like an 8 week build phase, which is usually then followed by an ongoing "maintenance" weight routine. The reason why they don't recommend more weight training is because it adds to your overall stress. If your priority is cycling performance then you need to focus more on riding during the season. If your focus is more on general fitness then you may decide to include more weight training and therefore less riding. You can only tolerate so much total stress.

I use one gym routine from October to Dec. 1, a rather general full-body routine. Then a more cycling-focused routine from there to April 1. Then a maintenance routine until August. A couple months w/o gym and back at it again. The first two routines are twice a week ~ 1 hour ea. The maintenance is once a week, ~45'.

Yes, the body needs rest and recovery. That's critical. Where I live I can only ride a few months out of the year. I have a gym in my basement so I do strength training all year round. As we age we lose muscle. It's very important to engage in some type of strength training to maintain as much muscle as possible. This helps to accomplish the daily tasks in our lives whereas cycling doesn't really.

8 weeks in the winter is how long the daily high is below freezing in places like Minnesota