Strength Conditioning

As the leaves begin to turn, and the daylight starts to fade away, fall is the time many cyclists start to think about getting back into the weight room. Maybe you go because you've always gone. Maybe you've never gone, and are thinking about starting. Maybe you've wondered if it is really paying off. We go with the intent of adding strength. The obvious goal is to be stronger on the bike, not to win a weight lifting competition.

I think every book on training I have ever read always has a section on weights...seems most agree it's important. But, there are many trainers and professional cyclists that feel the weight room is not the best place to develop the ideal strength you need to improve your cycling performance.

Before I share my personal experiences on the issue, you first must define your needs and challenges as a cyclist. Every decision you make regarding training needs to be specific to you. So, a decision on the best way to approach strength conditioning needs to address your unique challenges. What do you want to excel at...long RR or crits?...is strength a limiter....is it maximal strength (8-12 sec efforts), muscle endurance (10min+ efforts), or power endurance (5min efforts). Can you climb well, but get shelled in a 30mph break?....or, can you pull at 30mph, but get dropped on every rise.

One of the very unique aspects of racing a road bike, as compared to distance running or triathalons, is the fact the deciding moments in races are almost always very short, very intense bursts of speed..it's about massive changes in pace. It's the ability to produce extremely high power, repeatedly, that often leads to one winning a race, or being in a position to win. You needs legs and lungs....and strength conditioning is the part focusing on the legs.

So, in 2000, I found myself with a fresh copy of Joe Friels training bible, and ready to begin my first ever real season of training....real training...not just riding a bike. I've decided to go from my previous decade of mtb racing to give RR a try. Now, 95% of my time on a mtb has been in my middle ring (34T)....so turning over a 53T ring on my road bike seems rather impossible, unless I am going downhill with a tail wind. I find myself riding in my little ring on my road bike 90% of the time...it's the age of "Lance Armstrong spin your brains out"....so, running around spinning 105rpm all the time seems OK...it's the only way I can produce much power anyway. Remember, power is the product of the torque applied to the pedals times the rate at which you spin them....if you have low torque, you just spin more to compensate.

So, I hit the gym, just as in Friels book....all the phases....adaptation, muscle endurance, power endurance, maximum strength, and maintenance....I think that's pretty close...I got pretty strong (in the weight room). My knees didn't much like the maximal strength phase....but, no pain no gain. It just makes all the sense in the world that when you see you are lifting alot more weight at the end of 12 weeks, you must be stronger....I mean, the extra four 45lb plates I'm pushing on the sled don't lie...& I'm gettting 20-25 reps...a lot more than when I came in the gym....OK, it's obvious, I'm stronger. But, am I a stronger cyclist?...must be.

After about 3 years of this, my knees came to the conclusion they don't like lifting any weight I can't get at least 20 reps with. The use of power meters has surged, and there is substantial data that is showing the maximum steady state force required by the Worlds best TT guys is minimal to what we are doing in the weight room. So, I modify my winter weight workout to focus on the 20-25 rep area, then the 40-50rep area, as new data is showing the high rep area most important to cycling. The high weight/low rep workouts don't seem to transfer well to the bike. Our bodies detrain as soon as we stop lifting, because nothing we are doing on the bike is mimicing this much force.

I hesistate to even go down this road, with as many MD's as we have on the team, BUT, here goes...enlargement of the muscles causes decreased mitochondrial density...the mitochondria are the energy producing parts of our cells (OK doc's, I'm sure I haven't explained this exactly right, so fire away)....we have the same number of power plants in our bodies, but the city just added 4 huge subdivisions they have to feed...no big deal if all you have to do is push a huge weight a few times....not so good if you want to sprint after 100miles. Adding alot of bulk is not really what you want to be a successful cyclist.

By 2002, I had also started supplementing my weight workouts with on the bike strength workouts. big gear/low cadence workouts, done at varying RPM's and watts, along with a sprint workout....I had started making the selection in races, but was tired of coming in last in the sprints.

Fast forward to 2005: I hated lifting with a passion, I just knew I was force limited, and gaining strength was important, so I suffered through the weight workouts....2-3 times a week. I had to do it first thing in the morning, or I wouldn't do it. But, my daughter was now 1yr old, and I was spending the mornings with her....she was rested and pleasant..it was fun...night time?...not so much. I made a decision I would try to focus solely on "on the bike strength workouts". They would be done at least three times a week, not just as a supplement to the weights. I dusted off the rarely used 11T cog I had, and put it on the everyday wheels. This would add some resistance.

I was most worried about climbing....but, I kept improving.

For me, I have found, the best place to develop cycling specific strength, is on the bike.

OK, here are some clarifications I need to make:

1. Cycling tends to focus on a limited group of muscles, and we tend to not be very balanced. Going to the gym to work on balancing out your muscles is a good thing....but, this can be done at home, using some pilates also.

2. If you simply don't have time to get on your bike in the winter, because you're stuck at work, lifting is an option to maintain/build some strength....I would just not recommend doing anything you can't lift 20 times. And, there is alot of data showing 40-50 rep sets yields the most benefit for cyclists.

3. Your core is critically important, and needs strengthening...but this can be done at home, and doesn't have to involve machines and weights. Try riding with no hands, then seeing how hard you can push the pedals...not very hard....that's because we counteract the downward force to the pedals by holding the bar....but, the link between our hands/arms and our legs is our stomach and back....this link has got to be strong, in order to remain rigid during periods of high force.

Here are the three basic strength workouts I do:

1. Muscle Tension: 50-55rpm, Wattage = 10 to 25 W less then threshold, done on a hill that takes 4-10minutes, reps = 4 to 10. start off with 4 reps, increasing to 7-8, then increase watts

2. Tempo: zn3 wattage, 60-70rpm, 20 minutes to 1hr

3. Sprint w/o: 1 set = 1 powerstart, 1 stomp, 1 sprint...entire workout is 3-5 sets

powerstart: dead stop, 53x12, base of short hill (5-7%, 15-20sec), jump out of the saddle to the top, standing the whole way, as hard as you can go

stomp: dead stop, 53x13, base of same hill, seated, as hard as you can go

sprint: at bottom of downhill, with speed high, sprint for 100m...winter time, focus on high cadence

Variations: if you're somewhere with a long hill (mountains), you can do the tempo workout on the hill. If you get stuck on a very slow group ride, put it in your 11T, and ride all day.

Most of the above is out of Lances book.

Lastly, on easier days, during the winter, I make a good effort at spinning a light gear. You need to complement all the big gear/low cadence work, with speed work. Going fast on a bike is pushing a big gear fast....what we are doing in the winter is seperating the two pieces.

Clarke

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