Training this winter

i'm currently reading base building for cyclists by thomas chapple. it has good ideas on using the winter as a reboot time.. the strength section focuses a lot on not pushing your muscles to fatigue, ( which it says increases size ) but focusing on a range of leg exercises to increase strength. Also he suggests doing leg presses over squats as there is less chance that you will injure yourself through bad form..

that all sounds mostly wrong

the key is to not use bad form, and to not pig out for days after your heavy sessions(like me), limit the calories to prevent mass gain

if youre not fatigued you might as well be doing a weekly sowing class, at least with that you'll learn good technique for repair tubs

There's far more potential for injury on a leg press machine for many reasons

However, I'd like to develop good habits and form for weight work going forward - what is my best option in terms of this? Should I get a PT for a couple of sessions in the gym to show me how to do things properly - or do I need a cycling-specific coach? Or would it be enough to have a friend who is experienced with this kind of work and has good technique to take me throughit?

Also very interested in this. What kind of gym work do people do other than leg presses and squats?

power cleans, starting them this year myself

step ups, box jumps

Front squats , deadlifts off a deficit , I do pretty much a powerlifting routine .

Front squats , deadlifts** off a deficit** , I do pretty much a powerlifting routine .

why?

They are a good alternate to regular deads and carry a greater range of motion and thus making you use the hamstrings more . They will improve your deadlift much more than rack pulls which a lot of people favour and when you switch back to conventional style the weight will fly off the floor which for most people is the sticking point .

It might not be the best advice for solely all out sprinters, but it is still very relevent to many track cyclists.
The ultimate goal is to improve your ability to get oxygen and energy to the muscles and sustain that optimum for longer periods of time.

My work outs have gone to lower weights but higher reps with a concentration on core and emphasis on all leg and involved muscles. Gym twice a week and a spinning on the track once a week to maintain cardio.
This changes in 12 weeks with the weights going up but the number of sessions going down as I continue to focus on building my cardio at the start of the year.

Sounds abit counter intuitive I know but I trained hard all last winter and plateaued fairly early in the year, hopefully this schedule will help me avoid that this time round.

that all sounds mostly wrong

the key is to not use bad form, and to not pig out for days after your heavy sessions(like me), limit the calories to prevent mass gain

if youre not fatigued you might as well be doing a weekly sowing class, at least with that you'll learn good technique for repair tubs

These are very good

step ups, box jumps

power cleans, starting them this year myself

I started them earlier in the year. My main issue is getting my fingers under the bar and elbows up when I catch it on my shoulders. Which turned out to be tight lats, so get stretching regularly (daily). I do forearm, lat and shoulder flex stretches.

If you've never cleaned before, book a few sessions with an Olympic lifting coach, they are really technical. I did even after years of 'proper' weightlifting.