Strength / Weight Training

Yep back for more. After 4 days of 50 miles cycling a day ;)

Well, you have the weather for 50 miles today! Unfortunately, I am working and still suffering from a ridiculous cough!

Richard

Actually had poor weather in The Netherlands...we arrived soaking wet a few days O_o

Oh well. No tired quads after all the squats :P

And I thought we were the only place to get winter weather in July and August - good to know Ballymena is not alone!!!!

I am getting really annoyed by my lack of squats and other exercise and now the sun is out to annoy me even more! If I find the culprit who gave me this mad cough, I will ...... severely!

Richard

I went back to the gym this morning for the first time in 5 months. It was lovely, welcoming punch to the hamstrings (started again with legs, of course).

I did 5x5 a few years ago, made decent gains on everything lower body and back. I also put on a lot of weight (without a massive uplift in calories) which I am trying to avoid this time around. Current % body fat is 10%. Think I will probably do it again as I am too lazy to put together something specific for improving my 1m and 5m max power.

I lose a whole lbs cycling a lot for 5 days and tracking calories...result: Weak.

Tested taking BCAA in drink during training last few months and they work for me. Yay! Also good for fasted training, don't know if they work for cycling.
Back to trying Creatine it never did anything for me when i tried it twice before, third time lucky?

Back to trying Creatine it never did anything for me when i tried it twice before, third time lucky?

Monohydrate? How are you taking it?

Yep monohydrate.

Got myprotein one in for now. I had another good brand before. All it did was make me nauseous and I didn't feel pump or lift more.

But some people don't respond to it, I will do a loading phase and try again.

I can definitely recommend BCAA...I cut some calories and felt piss weak and the BCAA got me through. I drink them during training, just 5 grams a day but some people load on BCAA and get great results. They seem to work well when you cut.

No experience of the myprotein one. I've used ON 's and Creapure. Didn't bother with loading, just 5g a day.
I found it best with my morning shake. Taking it before gym didn't sit well, apparently it initially draws water from the gut and combined with getting hot it causes discomfort.
Avoid citric acids before / after taking creatine, and apparently a little sugar can help it get transported around the body.
I find, without preloaded, it's fully in my system in about a week.

Cool, tx.

Was going to take it in post workout shake with whey and dextrose :)

On non training days I'll take it with a carb meal then.

Creatine Monohydrate is not very soluable so you should fully dissolve it for a couple of minutes in warm water . It's not a good idea to take it with your cold shake .

Tx. OK I need to take it at home then, no hot water tap in gym.

I tried taking it in tea years ago to make it dissolve better but it wasn't having it ;)

How often do you guys gym with cycling? Since i started cycling again 3 weeks ive got 40 mile commute each day and tbh only been once. Aint feeling it, worth continuing or cancelling my membership for a while?

Currently squat is 80kg, DL 110kg and bench is 75kg - 27, 6ft2, 88kg

Been doing 5,3,1 for the last month not been going to the gym quite as regularly but still seeing progress, especially in my 1RM.

Squat is now 95kg, DL 125kg and bench 80kg and I am now Novice, Novice, Intermediate in terms of 1RM according to strength standards

Thats a serious commute, I would deffo be reducing my gym time if I had to do that

Or at least up the calories/protein on gym days...it's hard to "feel it" after 40 miles :)

Do you have any off cycling days?

Yes its reduced on its own accord. With the children (1 now, 1 due shortly) even more so.

I try to eat even more now. So brekkie before i leave. Then another in the office with bananas apples pears plum on the side (fruit box at work). I burn circa 1000 cals. So aim.to have a good lunch then dinner if possible.
Im doing the 5x5 routine which if i go once a week will provide ineffective as i will we asked to deload 10%. My max is 110kg squats (5×5) with 1rm 140. DL 102.5kg OH 42.5kg bench 70kg - 5x5 numbers. Im 73kg last time I checked

My off days tend to be one weekend. So today im off (tired and thighs feel tight) and sunday club run which im yet to join lol

If you're increasing general workload (cycling more), I'd be tempted to lower volume of weight training but keep or possibly increase intensity. 5x5 is a fair bit of tonnage and if you're hitting accessories on top of that, you'll really struggle to balance fatigue.

But whats a good alternative to 5x5? Im too lazy to look for something specific. 5 3 1 increasing weight? Or hold back from gym for 3 months then restart? Fatigue and time are the 2 biggest areas

Similar training but with 5x3 or 3x5 would both lower training stress whilst keeping intensity and decent volume. Tonnage will be lower but I think that's probably a fact of life right now. 5/3/1 is decent, if you run it keep accessories fairly stripped back but I wouldn't bin them entirely. Twice/week version might suit you well.

I have a home gym so can run small, frequent sessions without wasting too much time. If you need to cut back days at the gym to keep motivation high then do that.

5x3 or 3x5 sounds a good compromise. Question is whether time is there to go gym? Maybe 3 months off then go back. Which will allow my body to adapt the intensive cycling. Does that sound plausible? Or am I waffling?

My commutes only 16 miles each way but essentially you have to make a decision about priorities. You're going to struggle to build any meaningful strength whilst also adapting to spending 2-3 hours a day cycling. One gym session a week will help limit losses but if your heart's not in it or there are more important things in life, then why go at all? It's balancing personal priorities.

I've come to the conclusion that if you really want to become faster on the bike, you're better off buying a car and using the saved commuting and recovery time for targeted turbo work. Or for smashing up the gym. Or both. Either way, I don't think commuting is an effective training strategy (lots of other reasons to cycle commute though, enough that I still do it)

Yeah I totally get that. I got rid of the car, well not rid, left it for the mrs once the lil one has popped out to carry 2 kids around. I do 20 or so mile each way and extra before or after. So friday i did swains and 3 laps of regents thinking that may help. Not sure what your thoughts are on that?

I think gym ideally in my head is the only way ill gain strength especially upper body (and get faster) as i wont be able to get a turbo in our small flat with kids. Then again i have a secure car park

Can you get to the gym at lunch?

I could do yeah