Finding the balance between weight training and aerobic training
 

Hi everyone, weather's getting cold and I think many of us are starting to hit the gym more. We want that focus on our core and leg muscles, but how often should we incorporate weight training into our routine?

I had been doing only one weight training leg day/general upper body day and all other days were cycling days. Now I think I may try 3 days a week and approach my weight training more seriously. I'm afraid if I go to the gym and hit the weights too much my aerobic base will decline.

What kind of weekly schedule should I create for myself to prevent aerobic decline while focusing on building that lean muscle.

A typical leg work out day for me in the gym is:
- 10 minute core exercises, sit-ups, crunches, bicycle crunches, supermans, planks
- 1 mile run
- Back Extensions 3x10
- Leg Press 3x10
- Reverse Lunges 3x20
- Hamstring Curls 3x10
- Abductor/Adductor Machine 3x10
- Calf Raises 3x10
- Plyometric box jumps 3x10

Should I change anything about my routine?

Looking back at this past (successful) season of riding, I spent ~2% of my time weight training. Most of that time was November-February when cycling time was lower, so the percentage was a good bit higher, but never more than ~15%. I limit my weight sessions to ~30 minutes, once or twice/week. More is not necessary and counterproductive unless one is a track sprinter.

I'm not a track sprinter, how is it counter productive though? That was my fear.

excess muscle isnt good for endurance riding basically. It is however good for sprinting in a big gear.

look at different types of plyometric workouts, not just box jumps, theyre pretty 1 dimensional. Single leg exercises are very applicable as you use 1 leg at a time on a bike lol

I comment from a perspective of wanting to be the strongest road rider I can be, or at least within a few percent of that rider. I don't put on protein very well, so I was never worried about excess muscle. My lol. My experience is that if time were not a factor, everyone's real limiter is recovery. So when you're recovering from gym work, you're not riding, or at least not riding as effectively as you might, plus you lose the time you spend at the gym. It takes a heckuva lot of time to push one's aerobic ability. That's one of the problems with cycling and one of the advantages of being a runner instead. For most folks, getting within that few percent involves ~10+ hours of riding/week, including long rides and hard intervals.

That said, you probably could do that workout in 30 minutes if you move right along instead of hanging and talking like some gym rats do. Do that twice a week between now and when you start interval training in the early spring, and you'll see results. Not to miss my aerobic work, I do weights after my bike ride, not instead of. Surprisingly, that doesn't affect hitting my numbers. Different systems. Plus, it's kind of like an end of ride sprint. Sometimes I'll finish a ride at the gym and then do some sprints on the way home. In the winter, I'll take a spin class and lift after. It doesn't affect my interval work because I don't do any in the winter, when I'll just do one long hard ride/week and the rest moderate.

I don't run because that also takes away from cycling and doesn't add anything back.

I don't count core work in with weight work because it doesn't stress one hormonally, the way weight work does, or at least it doesn't if one is reasonable about it, so I'll do core work year 'round. In the spring, I'll back off the weight work a bit and then cut it out during the high season.

Thanks for the tips, lifting after cycling and single leg exercises are great things to take from this.