transition from strength training > bike gains

[cmcdonnell]

I intend to start weight training again this winter. Didn't do any last winter and I'm sure I'm feeling it. My FTP is higher than this time last year but I have lost my kick big time. I've been convinced for many years that correct weight training benefits smaller riders more than bigger riders because a small rider has less absolute power but needs to almost match a bigger rider when riding on the flat (where I now live). I never noticed this before when I lived in a hilly area but now I do. The big guys need to work on their weight as best they can and the smaller riders need to be able to increase their muscle mass and power.
To Put it into perspective for me, I weigh 56 kg and have an FTP of 280 at the moment but I have a friend who weighs 82 Kg and has an FTP of 350. He kills me on the flat to the point that if there is a blip in the road I've been dropped even though my power to weight is 5 Watts/Kg compared to his 4.3 Watts/Kg. I think it's because I'm working at a much higher Watts/Kg for most of the ride. On Tuesday when I was dropped I averaged 230 watts (82%FTP) and he averaged 241 watts (69%FTP) for our 25 mile chaingang. I was OK riding through and off but on this one blip about 3 miles from the end I could not stay with it and lost about 10M which I just could not claw back. Last year I never got dropped. I may be talking crap but it's my current theory!

[McNamara]

Makes sense to me. I was in the opposite position a couple of years ago with a guy in my club. He was probably 15kg heavier and had much better power, which generally benefited him unless we were on a very hilly course. He out-sprinted me in the state RR final thanks to absolute power but I often dropped him on climbs due to a (likely) higher W/kg. This season I don't mind gaining some weight to increase my power as I've always had more of a sprinter-like build (was a track sprinter in high school - athletics, not velodrome, mind you).

I just got my hands on a great book regarding strength training for cycling. It's called "Cycling Anatomy" by Sovndal, and goes way in depth on how the body's entire musculature works together to produce an efficient pedal stroke. Looks like an excellent resource if you're trying to figure out what exercises to do for your gym sessions, both for injury prevention and improving strength and power.

[User Name]

The more reading I do, the more I see that coaches tend to either fall into the traditional/conservative camp (strength training is useless or detrimental for endurance athletes), or those who are more open minded to strength and cross training. I had the latter kind in track & cross country, but I've never dealt with a professional cycling coach.

As with nutrition, I think most of us lean toward the studies that support what we wanted to hear in the first place. Ha.
It'll be interesting to see if there's a scientific consensus on weights for roadies in the future. I definitely have an open mind about it, but I don't want to do leg weights these days, so....

Like many Aussies, I ride a fair bit all year because of the mild climate, so there's no real off-season where I could spend a month or two smashing weights. I guess I could find the time in Winter, but I don't want to, and as others have said, I also find it difficult to fit a leg weights workout into a regular week of bike training. Being not young any more doesn't help.

Mini-rant:

One thing that bugs me a teeny bit is the use of the term "power" and "powermeters", because it gives plenty of people the incorrect impression that cyclists have to be very powerFUL, which isn't true. Alex Simmons (coach) said on that Cycling News Forum link:

"The average effective pedal force for both legs, even when riding at 400 watts, at 100rpm, with 175mm cranks, is equivalent to ~22kg (218 N). "

That's obviously not much. Picture all the skinny pros with stick legs who can pump out 350W for ages.
It's more like efficient than powerful. I bet if "efficient" and "efficiency meters" were used instead of "power", people would think they had to be so beastly and strong

[McNamara]

Cyclists do have to be powerful. Perhaps you're conflating power with size. For a meaningful comparison to weight lifting, consider this:

"In a separate study, the power output of a 100kg male was recorded. The recorded power output of the bench press was 300 watts. The power output of the back squat and deadlift were at 1100 watts."
Source: Garhammer, John. “Power Output of Olympic Weightlifters”. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 12.1 (1980).

1100 watts is in the ballpark for a sprint; top guys are probably closer to 2000. My point is that weight lifting isn't massively different in power output from a hard cycling effort.

My suggestion, if you ever get over your loathing of leg weights, is to plan them the day before an easy ride. I don't have any problems going for a low effort ride even if I did deadlifts or squats the day before. I've noticed a definite improvement in my cycling since I started enjoying "leg days" in the gym.