Hey guys, i am a complete newb so please excuse my utter confusion and annoying questions Now, I have been weight lifting/running for the past three years and the past three months, i have been concentrating on just "bulking" meaning NO cardio. I have gained about 14lbs total and am now 146 at 5'10. I recently discovered cycling and am now in love with it! Got myself a nice new bike by selling ALL of my "lazy" belongings such as video games. I am currently on a weight lifting schedule: 4 day split for hypertrophy. I want to become an avid and competitive cyclist and I figured this was a good age to get serious since I'm going to college this fall! (gonna join the cycling club ) Now, what do you all suggest I do? Should I just "get out there and ride" or should I have a set training regimen. Also, I STILL want to implement significant weight training in my week as well. I consider myself fit but not trained or "built to cycle"... I want to develop a very strong base for the rest of my life! So please any advice from you all on training would be greatly appreciated! My schedule for the next month before college starts is: wed-sun is work 10am-7pm and off mon+tues.

P.S I already know HOW to weight lift and how to establish proper nutrition for specific goals, I just dont know anything about starting this sport off on the right foot. Thanks so much guys (and gals ) for the help!

Hi,

If you are keen on cycling, then 146lbs or less and 5'10" is a good frame - you don't want to be bulking up for cycling ("I'm too fat for this sport" is a common refrain).

At this stage, ride lots is probably good advice - you need to build your base endurance capability which intervals, power lifting, anaerobic hill repeats etc will not help you with at all.

So - purely from a cycling perspective if you could ride 10+hours a week would be good. Losing the 16lbs you put on and getting back to 130lbs (again - purely from a cycling perspective) would be good as you don't need to carry that extra weight up hills.

You don't need to bulk up. Do the TdF leaders look "bulked up"?

Since you are completely new to cycling it might be beneficial to just get out and put some miles on your bike. I'd ride with your biking group and focus on having FUN! When you are at the point where you need that "something else" in your riding, then you can focus on actually "training."

If you want to race, I'd ride out the rest of the year getting comfortable with biking in all aspects. (I.E. Maintenance, changing tubes, cleaning/oiling chain etc...) Then you can train all winter and be ready to hit next year hard. I use Training Peaks for all my training needs. You can also higher a personal coach which will use Training Peaks to help you if you find yourself lost.

Sounds like you're into the routine and do well with structured workouts.

+1 to just go ride. Hills, flats, groups, solo, weeknights, weekends. Try it all.

If you do that for 6-12 months and really like it, think about getting a copy of "Base Building for Cyclists." It'll give you lots of structure while focusing on the foundational skills of endurance and efficiency.

Thanks for all the help guys! yeah, I am done bulking, I simply wanted to have some good body strength, I am still "skinny" at around 7-9% body fat... at 130 I felt very weak and tired all the time. If cycling tells my body to lose some fat, it will happen :-)

So for now I think I am going to "just ride" for as much as possible and do 3 days of weight training... just not "bulking" style training anymore!

I will prob be following a simple three day full body routine from Mens Health Magazine (love that magazine) and spend the rest of my available time putting miles on my body and bike. We'll see where things take me from there :-)

@ RonH:

Yes, I totally agree that it is "power:weight" that is the most important ratio in cycling so I know that gaining weight is not ideal for cycling. Let me tell you something, I dont know if you have ever tried bulking... but LOSING weight is SO much easier than gaining weight the correct way hahaha...

I was down to 125lbs at one point from 192lbs! I joined the wrestling team at my school and learned to live a healthy active lifestyle, I am so much happier now! I will now be focusing on CYCLING and STRENGTH training and i will be cutting about 250 calories from my daily consumption to keep from gaining anymore weight (Yes, I keep a workout AND nutrition journal!)

P.S I checked out your bikes... very nice website you have and even nicer bicycles! That is another reason I love cycling, you can do it for your entire life!

Don't cut out so much that you feel weak or tired when riding. And be sure to carry plenty of water and/or sports drink and a few Hammer gels or whatever you prefer.

OK, i am going for a ride tomorrow morning! I really need to get myself a bottle cage! How far do you recommend my rides should be (distance and time wise). Thanks so much for all the help, I really appreciate it!

They should be as long as you enjoy - you could roll around all day or do a much shorter time. As mentioned, make sure you have something to eat on the bike if going out for more than 1.5 hours and you will need that bottle cage too.

Build up to the distance, and look for group rides - there you can modulate your efforts a fair bit (by sticking in the pack and moving to the front) and it can also be quite a bit of fun. Also, skills you learn on group rides (how to ride in a bunch) will be invaluable if you decide to ride competitively in the future.

I like cycling and I like weight training. I find it hard to do both at the same time without one taking a back seat.

Which is not going to be a problem for you for a while. Worry about it over the winter.


Just ride.

Riding is fun, and you will get tons of aerobic exercise just funnin' around.
You also need to get your body used to riding before you get serious about training.

If you race, you will lose some of that upper body development.

You should start reading about training for competitive cyclists soon.

For your weight training I'd stick to compound, core exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pullups, ab work) and skip the isolation exercises.

Okay, For now I don't see myself doing any racing or competitive stuff for a long time... so weight lifting will still be a priority Yeah, I am not going to waste my time with isolation exercises, just the compounds!

If you do want to race, you could start riding now and you'd be ready for collegiate racing next spring.

I'm too old and my school didn't compete in much other than dope smoking, but I'm told that collegiate racing is a lot of fun and a bit lower pressure than USAC racing. Racing isn't required to be a serious cyclist or to have fun but if you are interested in racing, college is a good place to start.