What does strength training look like for all of you?
I enjoy strength training, having taken it up seriously as an injured runner a couple of years ago, and I do it for the general health benefits, rather than pure performance. I keep it simple: heavy loads, compound exercises, full-body sessions twice a week. I also add plyometrics and lower limb strength for running. As a recreational athlete balancing life stress and a few sports, I’ve been able to make good progress in general strength with this approach and without complex periodisation.
I’ve finally started doing more strength training in the last 18mos or so, primarily in winter, for cross-training and because I have a hard time staying entertained on the trainer for more than 75min. It’s nice not feeling like a little sickly weak boi during dark months here in the north, and I do feel like it’s helping my road power.
Simple routine of low weight/high rep:
Weighted lunges
Renegade rows
Squat
Arnold’s
Deadlift
Dumbbell reverse fly
And some core if I’m feeling ambitious
Squats and Deadlifts (heavier: 6-10 reps, 3x sets, 1-2 reps in reserve) - to build strength
Split Squats, Step Ups [onto a bench] and Single-Leg Glute Bridges (lighter: aim at 20-30 reps per side, 2x sets) - more strength/endurance, balance, coordination
Core generally looks after itself with the exercises above, provided they are performed well. However, I do enjoy doing hanging leg raises, kettlebell swings, and the ab wheel (when I travel).
I did a plan from a Joe Friel book a few years ago that included a bunch of squats, deadlifts and what have you. I don’t think it made me faster on the bike but I definitely liked having an overall more functional body and it’s surprisingly fun to lift and put down a heavy thing.
When kids came along I found it harder to make time to get to the gym and I don’t have space for the kit at home. These days I’ll do 15 mins of yoga most days, mixing in sessions that focus on core strength a few times a week. I do a couple of sets of pull ups or press ups a night to keep the upper body moving a bit too.
I’m sure I’m not getting the same GAINZ with my current routine but it feels pretty good and is nice and easy to keep some consistency.
Keeping up with my kid as he grows.
At the moment mainly upper body work for carrying him and his things that are both increasing in weight.
And trying to stave of sarcopenia as long as possible so I don’t hate my life in 30yrs time.
I’m a sucker for the Stronglifts 5x5 routine, with combos of squats, bench press, deadlifts, rows and overhead presses. Luckily we have a nice gym in my apartment building…if I tried to hog the barbell as long as I do in a commercial gym, I’d get thrown out
Thanks for sharing all. I’ve found it difficult to find good information online. Most resources are geared towards hypertrophy, and it’s even harder to find good information on building strength alongside endurance training.
How do people balance stress or periodise strength especially around periods of increased load from endurance training? I’m progressing duration at high-end aerobic power at the moment and finding it quite difficult to progress strength at the same time. Yesterday, I did a hard bike session in morning and I couldn’t get the hex-bar off the ground in the afternoon at a weight I was lifting a couple of weeks ago. Seems hard to progress across the board at once, but don’t want to neglect anything either.
That’s been a challenge for me as well. When I lift legs I’m pretty much crippled the next day. Multiple sources have been stating that heavy sets, 3-5 reps with 1 in reserve, is best for strength. When you increase the volume to 8-15 reps you optimize more for hypertrophy. I really like Andy Galpin’s explanation
I’ve been on a three day rotation
Hard + lifting
Rest/easy
Easy
Hard + lifting
Rest/easy
Easy
Keeping the hard days hard by lifting after my efforts. Anytime I lift I need two days to recover before a hard effort, so stacking them is the most efficient
It hasn’t been perfect, as I said, I’m pretty wrecked after the hard days, I’ve been able to keep it up for 6 months, sometimes it’s too much. Particularly if recovery gets interrupted because of other life challenges…and being 43
Easily my biggest training gain, that I recommend to anyone who will care to listen! Compound lifts are your friends.
That said I listened to a good podcast with Art O’Connor recently (he trains a load of the pro gravel racers in the USA). I’m paraphrasing but the gist of what he said was - he uses the gym to do the exercises that cycling doesn’t give them - so lots of jumps, carries, twists, lateral movements.
We as cyclists do already tend to have strong legs (deadlift, squats are still great to do though) but are lacking in other areas. So by taking a wider more diverse approach it may help us utilise those primary muscle groups more effectively and avoid injury. Will probably take this approach over the winter.
I’ve probably never been in better shape in my life than when I worked in a place right opposite a budget gym where I could go pretty much every lunchtime to do strength and conditioning (in the days when you went to the office every day, remember those?). I can definitely track the increase in minor injuries, aches and issues with the gradual reduction in my dedication to this sort of work after I changed jobs.
These days I mostly stick with “light” weights at home when I’m disciplined enough to do it before work, just to keep the movement going. Deadlifts seem to help with keeping my lower back moving without too much trouble. Common lat lifts and leg squats etc with either the bar or dumbbells, some arm curls, and bent over dumbbell rows just to"use" other muscles. Plus a few stretches to keep things in order with my back and glutes.
Plan for this winter, after a terrible summer of mostly carrying an injury, is to get back to the gym proper to see if I can’t get some of that form back. I think the motivation of actually going somewhere else outside of the house helps to make me actually do it. Plus using machines puts me at less risk of injuring myself through poor form.
That’s pretty much my weekly structure as well. I’ve just found it hard to compete strength workouts after increasing load in endurance workouts. Physical but also mental fatigue I think.
Strong legs from cycling but there’s still a lot of strength to be gained in gym that won’t come from cycling alone. I’ve heard people recommending squatting 1.5 x bodyweight as a strength standard for endurance athletes. Good goal for most of us starting in gym.
Yep I agree, I’m not saying don’t do leg weights - do them, but do other stuff to supplement them as well. I’ve heard a similar bodyweight number as well from a mate who’s a bio-mechanics researcher.
I would agree that life just feels better doing a bit of strength work, even if it doesn’t all directly benefit me on the bike.
Does anyone have strong opinions or data on doing just the ‘big’ lifts vs more dynamic stuff? I have only ever focussed on just big lifts (squat/deadlift/overhead press/pull up/bench press) but could understand that more lunges, box jumps, and dynamic moves would be very different to (and possibly beneficial for) cycling.
I’d say there’s different interpretations of what dynamic means here. Heavy lifts are good for building max strength, but explosive work builds power and coordination. Jumping is good for bone density too. Strength and power together improve endurance performance.
I think the motivation of actually going somewhere else outside of the house helps to make me actually do it. Plus using machines puts me at less risk of injuring myself through poor form.