Building leg mass

[Rubik]

If you want to ride a bike faster, you have to work on riding a bike.

Weight room is going to be a waste of time if you're doing that instead of riding or if it impacts your training.

Not sure why you'd ever want to add mass to your body for cycling. Muscle is heavy and slows you down.

[bm0p700f]

would not climbing in a tall gear have a similar effect to the suggestions above.

[WinterRider]

If you want to ride a bike faster, you have to work on riding a bike.

Weight room is going to be a waste of time if you're doing that instead of riding or if it impacts your training.

Not sure why you'd ever want to add mass to your body for cycling. Muscle is heavy and slows you down.

Resistance training helps I find when the hair gets a 'lighter' color. While not actually using wts per sey.. I push the sled in the gym sans adding wt to it. 10 laps.. 200' each... best time under 14 minutes . The cardio workout is excellent... depending on what angle you attack the sled it works different leg/lower back muscles. Then I go to the leg press unit... a horizontal unit which allows a full range of motion. Using just under/over my body wt I go 20 reps... to 5 sets. Definitely increases my power on the bike... at my birthday number not adding much if any bulk. Hard 1 minute intervals also boost my "power'.. such as it is.

Just DOING IT is most important.

[AJS914]

Weight room is going to be a waste of time if you're doing that instead of riding or if it impacts your training.

I'm going to try hitting the gym big this winter. I'm going to have 4 months of snow on the ground and I don't see myself spending 8 to 10 hours a week on the trainer. If fact, I know I'm only good for 30-40 minutes on the trainer before my mind goes numb.

[Hellgate]

Mix in some plyometrics too. Weight lifting is great, but plyos add quickness and mass. I've found plyos once a week is plenty when in a winter lifting cycle.

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[Rubik]

Doing something is always better than doing nothing, and will certainly help build general fitness versus not.

But cycling is an aerobic sport, and an extremely specific one at that. Absolute strength is almost never a limiter, especially the non-specific strength training you'd do in the weight room. Unless you have some functional issue, putting that weight room effort into an on-the-bike effort is going to give you a greater return.

That's not to say that you won't improve by hitting weights instead of the bike (again, general fitness up to a point), but you're not going to improve as much as you would with specific bike work.

There are many reasons to incorporate a weight routine, however, but I'll stand by the assertion that you'll actually get more from being on the bike if you have the choice and your actual goal is cycling performance.

[WinterRider]

Doing something is always better than doing nothing, and will certainly help build general fitness versus not.

But cycling is an aerobic sport, and an extremely specific one at that. Absolute strength is almost never a limiter, especially the non-specific strength training you'd do in the weight room. Unless you have some functional issue, putting that weight room effort into an on-the-bike effort is going to give you a greater return.

That's not to say that you won't improve by hitting weights instead of the bike (again, general fitness up to a point), but you're not going to improve as much as you would with specific bike work.

There are many reasons to incorporate a weight routine, however, but I'll stand by the assertion that you'll actually get more from being on the bike if you have the choice and your actual goal is cycling performance.

Can agree. I like wts... for me seems to boost T and metabolism. Highest mileage yr for me was near 7K miles w no wts... 1K month... raring to go each morn once the legs adapted. DIET a big part of training for sure.

[Ltyarbro42]

Squats and normal strength training have their place but it's not entirely applicable to the power needed in sprints. Strength can be helpful don't get me wrong, but plyometrics is exactly what most cyclists need and is very overlooked in terms of training. A good plyo regimen helped me pick up a few sprints this season.

[Ghost234]

Squats and normal strength training have their place but it's not entirely applicable to the power needed in sprints. Strength can be helpful don't get me wrong, but plyometrics is exactly what most cyclists need and is very overlooked in terms of training. A good plyo regimen helped me pick up a few sprints this season.

This is very wrong. Studies have shown benefits to weight and resistance training in cyclists. Heck, track sprinters spend considerable time with weights along with plyometric work to better their sprints. I personally can attest to my sprint increasing significantly after a winter of heavy leg + core training. Additionally, riders over 30 and especially women should be doing weight training as it aids in the prevention of loss of muscle and bone density with age. It is applicable and can be very beneficial.

Is your FTP going to go up simply because of weight training? No. Should you sacrifice on the bike work for weight training? It depends. You do not need much work to see great benefits, and it can significantly impact your riding for the better.


Hell look at the current road and XC world champions. They do not look like stick figures. Both are very lean and have muscle definition. Unless you are living in an extremely hilly area or going for GC, its beneficial to incorporate some kind of weight training in your schedule.

[Rubik]

This is very wrong. Studies have shown benefits to weight and resistance training in cyclists. Heck, track sprinters spend considerable time with weights along with plyometric work to better their sprints. I personally can attest to my sprint increasing significantly after a winter of heavy leg + core training.

The best sprint in the world doesn't matter a bit if you're off the back.

Again, aerobic sport.

And road racing isn't track racing.

[Ghost234]

It doesn't change the fact that studies have shown that there are muscular and skeletal benefits to weight training. That means it has benefits to all efforts. Which was my first point, but you focused solely on my track comment.

[Vermu]

As most of us aren't in GC competition I would say the extra gym workout won't harm.
Besides getting into gym also helps with other areas. Not only legs, but core is something that should be trained to keep that pedaling force going into cranks instead of keeping your upper body in check.
And as the aero trend is going even further, keeping that low position requires upper body and core training. Otherwise it will be just wasted.

And on that gym training. For fact some of the WT riders keep going to the gym even in the midst of season just to keep their training different.
Doing same kind of training leads to muscle adaptation. And varying training with occasional gym helps You keeping the progression going forward.

[Ltyarbro42]

Squats and normal strength training have their place but it's not entirely applicable to the power needed in sprints. Strength can be helpful don't get me wrong, but plyometrics is exactly what most cyclists need and is very overlooked in terms of training. A good plyo regimen helped me pick up a few sprints this season.

This is very wrong. Studies have shown benefits to weight and resistance training in cyclists. Heck, track sprinters spend considerable time with weights along with plyometric work to better their sprints. I personally can attest to my sprint increasing significantly after a winter of heavy leg + core training. Additionally, riders over 30 and especially women should be doing weight training as it aids in the prevention of loss of muscle and bone density with age. It is applicable and can be very beneficial.

Is your FTP going to go up simply because of weight training? No. Should you sacrifice on the bike work for weight training? It depends. You do not need much work to see great benefits, and it can significantly impact your riding for the better.


Hell look at the current road and XC world champions. They do not look like stick figures. Both are very lean and have muscle definition. Unless you are living in an extremely hilly area or going for GC, it's beneficial to incorporate some kind of weight training in your schedule.

I didn't imply they are useless. It does allow muscle growth and everyone should do at least some form of strength, but that isn't directly beneficial. I suspect most of the studies have just looked at the results in a vacuum (as they should have). Yes, it did benefit the riders but those same riders could have seen more outright power gains focusing in much the same way but with a better routine.

A bit of pure strength work with a heavier focus on form sprints, core, and plyo would lead to the best results. Track sprinters operate in a different world by the way. You almost never see them winning road sprints. I --and really most every amateur-- don't even get the opportunity to hit their max power in a sprint. The sprints I've won this season I was at least 200 watts below my normal power best.

[Rubik]

It doesn't change the fact that studies have shown that there are muscular and skeletal benefits to weight training. That means it has benefits to all efforts. Which was my first point, but you focused solely on my track comment.

No, the track comment was an afterthought. I addressed your initial point, which is flawed. It's an aerobic sport. Over and over. Strength is not going to be your limiter.

Your aerobic abilities are.

[Rubik]

You almost never see them winning road sprints. I --and really most every amateur-- don't even get the opportunity to hit their max power in a sprint. The sprints I've won this season I was at least 200 watts below my normal power best.

Indeed.

And you could, if you focused more on that aerobic work. All of my top sprints this year have been at the end of crits, usually at the end of a minute plus at well over 500 watts.

And that took a lot of years of on-the-bike training to accomplish. Funny enough, my highest sprint numbers have been this year along with my highest 5, 10, 15, and 20 min power. And that's after 8 years of structured training... Yet I haven't touched a weight in nearly a decade. I sure have upped my threshold intervals, though.