Cycling-Related Strength & Conditioning

Since I stopped training and racing in August. I have never felt better :)

If you guys are not lifting as a regular thing, you should remember that cycling doesnt really involve much eccentric leg strength. But you do challenge concentric leg strength daily. There is not much scientific explanation for DOMS about, but it is pretty well agreed that it occurs when the muscle has elongated under load.

So when you hit the squats & deadlifts, you are able to "lift" a fair amount from you regular bike based leg strength, but the other stabiliy & eccentric elements can overwhelm you muscles somewhat leaving you with EPIC DOMS.

Need to ease in weight training, and do the movements regular. Incorporate light days at the gym, if you want to stay fresh for cycling rather than only one heavy weights day per week.

I never get DOMS from squats, because I squat 3-4 times a week.

I do however get DOMS in my back from deadlifts, but I only do those once every week or fortnight.

Combined training is also a very good idea, for transfer of barbell strength to athletic ability and for reducing stiffness & soreness. After deadlifts, go do some sprints on spinning bike at the gym. And stretch afterwards.

I've got labyrinthitis, it's fuckin horrible.

Labyrinthitis is awful! All the vestibulum disorders (inner ear bit for spacial orientation) are nasty.
Sorry to hear that, I hope it clears up soon.

Got a little bit slack with my stretching last week for one reason or another. Did PNF last night after some maintenance weights, and despite the week off, still had good range of motion compared to this time last year e.g. palms virtually flat on floor for standing hamstring stretch.

Happy with this in itself, but also in a functional on-the-bike way. Went out early Saturday for solo 90min tempo ride, 95% in the drops, and came away from it with no pain the lower back/hip area.

Result :)

Just got to stay disciplined now…

I have tendonitis (lateral epicondyles) in both arms from not warming up with light weights before a deadlift session last week.
My legs were prepped - my arms not. Should have used the rower as warm up.
I really reccommend warming up all joints before ploughing into the weights my friends, i cant hold my coffee without wincing.
Just thought i'd share that as a training tip.

Interesting.

I usually warm up arms and upper body as well as lower, just force of habit I suppose.

In coaching, we learn that a warm up should be structured to be appropriate for the exercises we are doing in the session, so if you are using upper body then you must warm it up! Preferably with something dynamic which covers the range of motion you will be using.

I couldn't agree more, and as a coach myself, I guess i'm failing to practice what i preach.

This sounds highly unusual I must say. Isn't tendinitis something that builds up over a longer period, through overuse and repetitive movement etc?

Due to the nature of a deadlift, lifting a heavy weight dangling at the end of your arms but not pulling with your arms, this sounds more like some sort of strain due to going too heavy too soon (joints/tendons not used to it), lifting with elbows bent or a similar technique flaw. Or even a underlying pre-existing problem with your elbows.

Warming up doesnt sound like it would've made that much difference. You shouldn't need a warm up to dangle a weight on the end of your arm. Elbow injuries, even for competition deadlifts are bloody rare/non existent. Bicep tears, rotator cuff tears, wrist sprains, spinal ruptures, pulled/torn hamstrings, knee problems are all much more likely than elbow problems.

Deadlifts and squats are great warm ups by themselves as they use all of your body, especially the largest most powerful muscles. This gets the blood flowing, and also your CNS fired up. Even if you tried to hit a PR cold, your elbows are the last thing I would expect to get hurt. More likely your back or hamstrings.

[/sorryIamaknowitallpillock]

Maybe that's my problem? I'm just dangling weights off
my arms.
I'm such a fool.
All I was stating was that I have tendon inflammation because I have launched into weight training without preparing my joints properly. It's failure on my part.

Different STI/Ergo positioning on bars? That what Andy Pruitt says. Never tried it though.

Different STI/Ergo positioning on bars? That what Andy Pruitt says. Never tried it though.

Talking about arms...

^surely you've not missed JC's scintillating play on words?

lord, I completely missed that! guapo says I'm missing the sarcasm gene.

Maybe that's my problem? I'm just dangling weights off
my arms.
I'm such a fool.
All I was stating was that I have tendon inflammation because I have launched into weight training without preparing my joints properly. It's failure on my part.

How was your grip on the lifts that hurt you? It sounds silly, but with a mixed grip it is possible to lift with a not-so-tight grip. The tight grip, forces the muscles around the elbows to clamp the joint together hard. A slightly relaxed grip may have allowed the joint to be strained due to insufficient tightness.

You can borrow a good book off me if you promise not to look after it (was a bit expensive).

So anyway, I'm just completing a little 8-week cycle to regain some core stability; aimed at life in general, but I do notice subtle improvements on the bike. I don't have any racing demands at the moment, but do enjoy the waxing and waning of cycling strength over the course of a year; and now's the time to wax.

At ~66kg, power-to-weight is a big deal, and 'whole body cycling' is one way I can eke out a little bit extra. This doesn't mean riding like some kind of awful hyper-nodder, BTW.

I've not been doing grrrrrr weight lifting or anything. Only front squats and bent over rows on Monday, and deadlifts and shoulder presses on Wednesday. 3 sets of 5 for the first 4 weeks, and 3 sets of 3 for the final 4 weeks. 2.5kg increments on all exercises each week, starting easy, and building up to roughly 85% bodyweight for deads, 70% bw for front squats, and 55% bw for rows/presses.

The first thing I noticed was how much more stable I felt when giving my 4.5-year-old son a piggyback for any length of time :D

I think I'll repeat the entire 8 week cycle during Aug/Sep. I'm also managing to maintain a stretching regime, and hope that I'll persist with these 2 activities for the foreseeable. Quality of life, blah blah blah.

Out of interest BMMF, do you swim?

I used to, competitively, until I was 12. Then I got into it for a couple of years after a 21 year hiatus.

I really don't enjoy it, and never did. The only reason I was so fast (particularly breaststroke), was out of desperation to get out of the fucking water. I can live without it because:

a) I get more cardiovascular benefit from cycling (and enjoy it)
b) I get more strength gains / core benefit from a simple weights regime (and enjoy it)
c) I get more range of movement benefits from stretching (and enjoy it)
d) I save all my breaststroking energy for my wife (and enjoy it)

ah, but does your wife enjoy it?

I don't have much money, and can be 'difficult', so I'd say 18 years together spells 'yes'.

BMMF:
Some tips (stuff you probably know already, but ill share it for everybody)

When using the weightroom for brief cycles of strength work like this it is good to train with the basics, that is because you are detrained strength-wise and equivalent to a rank beginner.

So you will easily be able to train for 8 weeks, adding weight 3 times week on squats (do back squats!) and once a week for deadlifts. Towards the end of the 8 weeks you may need to drop to progression to two times a week, but im pretty sure you can handle 3xweek increments all the way up to the 8th week.

Forget the rows, they can be useful for a weightroom-strength-junkie who has trained for two years or so with no gaps, and is looking for something in addition to pull ups, power cleans, deadlifts and bench press they are already doing to provide more work for the back etc... It is also very difficult to use correct technique for a barbell row unless you are also (currently) strong at bench press, deadlift, pull ups, powercleans etc

For either a beginner, or someone (be them experienced in the past) doing a brief strength cycle after a break from the weightroom. Stick to Back squats, deadlifts, overhead press (barbell not dumb bell, more weight=more ab work). No extra ab work, as "the lifts" will be plenty enough, and more will interfere with recovery. For most general fitness and sports, bench press is highly valuable as it so quickly adds a ton of meat & functional strength to the upper body. But for power to weight concerns it is terrible, and the strength is unecessary for cycling anyway.

Deadlifts in particular are probably the best power-to-weight type exercise out there. They load every muscle in your body intensley, demanding massive input/stress on your nervous system. So much so, that most beginners will get pretty light-headed and come close to blacking out on heavy deadlift attempts. This is not muscular adaptation in the form of hypertrophy (bad for your power to weight) but nervous system training, teaching your body to recruit every muscle simultaneously in a massive power output attempt. They are not usually done very often, once a week for a beginner and perhaps once a month for someone more advanced because of the intensity of the stress. (this makes them perfect for power to weight) They are effective done at low reps and cause little in the way of unecessary bulk. Makue sure you do them strictly from a deadstop each rep, as the nature of the "dead" lift is what makes it intense and suitable for power-to-weight/nervous sytem training.

^ much of this is not relevant to a cyclist who is doing off-the-bike gym work to augment an on-the-bike strength phase.

So anyway, I'm just completing a little 8-week cycle to regain some core stability; aimed at life in general, but I do notice subtle improvements on the bike. I don't have any racing demands at the moment, but do enjoy the waxing and waning of cycling strength over the course of a year; and now's the time to wax.

At ~66kg, power-to-weight is a big deal, and 'whole body cycling' is one way I can eke out a little bit extra. This doesn't mean riding like some kind of awful hyper-nodder, BTW.

I've not been doing grrrrrr weight lifting or anything. Only front squats and bent over rows on Monday, and deadlifts and shoulder presses on Wednesday. 3 sets of 5 for the first 4 weeks, and 3 sets of 3 for the final 4 weeks. 2.5kg increments on all exercises each week, starting easy, and building up to roughly 85% bodyweight for deads, 70% bw for front squats, and 55% bw for rows/presses.

The first thing I noticed was how much more stable I felt when giving my 4.5-year-old son a piggyback for any length of time :D

I think I'll repeat the entire 8 week cycle during Aug/Sep. I'm also managing to maintain a stretching regime, and hope that I'll persist with these 2 activities for the foreseeable. Quality of life, blah blah blah.

Where does cheesecake scoffing fit in to this regime?

BMMF

You rank beginner you.

Just noticed you (bmmf) were intending to train 2 days not 3 (misread earlier). Even more reason to focus on the most all encompassing/demanding weightroom movments. Back squats & deadlifts FTW.

BMMF

You rank beginner you.

Novice Nodder

@DFP - thanks for the input. Here's my rationale for the choice of (4) lifts:

• not bench press, due to the reasons you mentioned.

• not (back) squats, because I'm powercleaning (well, more a sort of dead followed by hang clean) to rack the weight, and going over and behind my head is an unnecessary risk element in my bedroom without a spotter etc; also I feel the deadlift is doing enough for my posterior chain.

• deadlifts, see above, plus grip strength (useful for climbing)

• front squats, safety mentioned above, (also lower weight needed compared to back squats), more focus on anterior chain, particularly quads and abs (most of my power comes from the posterior chain, so doing these to redress whole body balance to some extent).

• shoulder presses, for upper body stability on bike (seated & standing at high power), and for lifting 4-year-olds plus crates at work.

• rows, for out of saddle upper body/lower back strength, more closely mimics biodynamics of this bike position than other weight room exercises, good stabilising use of arms when bent (again, not targeted by deadlifts).

This regime has left me recovered enough to get 30-60 miles done at tempo on Tuesday nights, plus half an hour done above threshold on Thursday evenings, as well as coping with whatever Sunday throws up (could be endurance / track / hills / whatever).

Also, as you've suggested, the restricted number of reps has avoided undesirable hypertrophy - my weight's stayed near enough constant throughout the 8 week period (well, I'm about to do the 8th). My posture has also improved - I'm walking taller :)