Strength Training Tips for Cyclists

An increasing number of cyclists are coming to understand the importance of adding strength training to their training plans. Effective strength training improves neuromuscular coordination which improves cycling economy. The stronger you are, the more force you can put into the pedals which enables better sprinting and climbing. Stronger fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers are more fatigue resistant and critical for endurance training. Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of a strength training program.

Progression

To get stronger you must gradually do more work over the course of time. You can add work by lifting more weight and/or doing more reps or sets.There is no perfect way to prescribe how much weight or how many reps to add but a starting point might be to add 10 lbs. to bilateral lower-body exercises and 5 lbs. to unilateral lower-body exercises and upper-body exercises. (Bilateral exercises are performed on two legs. Unilateral exercises are done on one leg.) When adding reps, you might add anywhere from one to five reps. Use the exertion vs. exhaustion rule discussed below as a guide.

Exertion vs. Exhaustion

When lifting, you should work to exertion but you should stop short of total exhaustion. For example, if you’re lifting for eight reps then you should feel like you might be able to get nine or ten reps. This is known as “leaving a couple of reps in the tank.” Avoiding exhaustion is important to keep you from overtraining, burning out, and getting injured.

Maximal Intent. Maximal Effort.

Strength training should make you more powerful (not just stronger). Part of this process involves training your nervous system to fire as many muscle fibers as possible. Thus, it’s important that once you learn to lift correctly that you lift with maximal intent and effort. At some point, the weights will be heavy enough that you must use max effort to get them to move at all. Lifting with max effort doesn’t mean losing control of the weight. Always use excellent technique! If you are new to lifting, professional instruction via a strength coach or personal trainer can be an excellent investment. A trainer can shorten the learning curve, teach you proper exercise technique, and make corrections to your program as needed.

Workout Frequency

It takes a minimum of two strength workouts every 7-10 days to get stronger. Maintaining strength can be done with one workout per week. It’s easy to build strength workouts into your Reddiyo plan. You select the days you want to ride when building your cycling plan. Try to complete your strength workouts on your off days.

Scheduling Your Strength Training Sessions

The physiology of developing strength is different from the physiology of endurance so don't try to fit them into the same session. Research suggests that you should separate your lifting from your riding by at least several hours. You’ll probably need to experiment with different schedules to see what works best for you. Here are a few ways to structure lifting and riding:

Off-day lifting: Ideally, you can do your strength work on days you are not scheduled to ride. Lifting weights on your rest day may sound like a contradiction, but remember, strength training is very different from cycling. You’re stimulating different energy systems and muscle fibers. Keeping your lifting sessions short and stopping your sets a few reps short of failure should leave you ready to ride the next day.

Replace an easy ride with weights: If you’re following a high-volume cycling plan then you can replace an easy recovery ride with a lifting session. Your endurance won’t suffer and you’ll get stronger.

Morning ride, afternoon lifting session: If you must ride and lift on the same day then you should ride first then lift about six hours later.

Fit it in where you can get it in: You may find that life throws obstacles in your way and you can’t always be perfect with your ride/lift schedule. Do your best and don’t skip the weights!

Plan Phases

A periodized plan consists of training variables (volume and intensity) that change over the course of time. Specifically, volume decreases as intensity increases. Different phases will consist of different configurations of reps and sets depending on the goal.

• Hypertrophy Phase - 70-80% of 1RM - 8-12 reps x 2 sets, 2 minutes rest between sets: The hypertrophy phase will cause both muscle and tendon growth. Bigger muscles are bigger engines so some hypertrophy will aid your cycling abilities while tendon growth will aid in injury prevention. This phase will prepare you for more intense lifting. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll get “too big.” It takes an enormous amount of heavy lifting and calorie consumption to accomplish that. It does not happen by accident. That said, if you find that you’re adding more muscle than you want, then cut it down to one main set of 8-12 reps instead of two sets.

• Strength Phase - 85-93% of 1RM - 3-6 reps x 3-5 sets, 3 minutes rest between sets: You’ll be lifting heavy weights for fewer reps in the strength phase. Heavy lifting affects both the muscle fibers and the nervous system, leading to greater muscular efficiency and fatigue resistance.

• Power Phase - 50-70% or less of 1RM- 2-5 reps x 3-5 sets, 3 minutes rest between sets: The power phase transitions your strength to cycling-specific power. You’ll use lighter loads than the strength phase but you’ll move the weight much faster. Power training targets the nervous system, increasing the coordination both within and among the muscles. Fatigue should be minimal when working on power.

Rest Between Sets

Adequate rest periods are critical! Proper rest allows you to come back and get another set of high-quality reps. High-quality reps lead to greater strength and power. If you aren’t rested then you won’t be able to generate adequate levels of muscular force and you won’t get what you want from your strength session. The muscle fibers and energy systems that drive your strength training are different from the endurance fibers and systems. They’re strong but they don’t last long and they need time to recharge. Resting may seem boring but so what? You want to be a better cyclist? Then take your between-set rest seriously!  

2-Week Bodyweight Intro

If you’re new to lifting then you need to do a little bit of preparatory work to get your body and nervous system ready for more challenging work. Try out this bodyweight routine for a few weeks before lifting any additional weight.

1. Bodyweight squats

   • Week 1: 10-15 reps x 2 sets
   • Week 2: 15-20 reps x 2 sets

2. 3D lunge matrix (anterior, lateral, rotational, curtsy): Continue using this lunge matrix as part of your warm-up for strength training.

   • Week 1: 5-8 reps each leg x 2 sets for each lunge
   • Week 2: 8-10 reps each leg x 2 sets for each lunge

3. Push-ups: Keep abs engaged with a flat back. Don’t allow the trunk to sag. Push up fully. Put hands on a higher surface for an easier push-up.

   • Week 1: 8-10 reps x 2 sets
   • Week 2: 10-15 reps x 2 sets

4. Dead bug: Lower the limbs as far as you can while keeping the low-back flat to the ground.

   • Week 1: 10-15 reps x 2 sets
   • Week 2: 15-20 reps x 2 sets

Determining Load

Many strength training plans prescribe loads based on a percentage of your 1-rep max (1 RM). Your 1 RM is the maximum weight that you can lift for one rep. One RM testing is stressful, challenging, and should only be done by experienced lifters. Instead you can estimate your 1 RM with the following test:

Warm up: Move around. Use a cardio machine or skip rope for several minutes. Do some mobility work. Then move to the exercise you want to test. Maintain good lifting technique as the weight gets heavier. Take sufficient rest between sets.

1. 10 reps with an unloaded bar
2. Rest 2-3 min
3. 8 reps with a light weight
4. Rest 2-3 min
5. 6 reps with a moderately heavy weight
6. Rest 2-3 min
7. 5 reps with a heavier weight
8. Rest 2-3 min
9. 5 reps with a heavy weight
10. Rest 2-3 min
11. 5 reps with the heaviest weight you can lift with good technique
12. Done

Now you have a 5-rep max. Use this training load chart from NSCA to find your estimated 1 RM. Find the 5-rep, 87% column. Look down the column to find your 5 RM (Round up or down as needed. If in doubt, round down.) Then look to the left under the 1-rep, 100% column and find your estimated 1 RM. For example, you might test the squat and finish with a 5 RM of 160 lbs. In the 5-rep column you see that 156.6 lbs. is the closest to 160 lbs. without going over. Look to the left under the 1 RM column to find your estimated 1 RM of 180 lbs.

Experience is the best teacher and the more familiar you are with lifting, the better you’ll be able to gauge the load you should be using for a given rep range.

Age & Recovery

Many training plans use four-week cycles in which workouts become more difficult for three weeks followed by a fourth recovery (deload) week. If you’re a masters athlete or if you know you recover slowly then you may want to adjust the plan so that you build up for two weeks and rest in the third week.

Consistency is Key

Day-in-day-out bread-and-butter workouts done over the course of years are the “secret” to athletic success. Steady, lasting progress comes from consistent hard work. The strongest, most durable athletes put in the time for a long time. Epic workouts consisting of complicated social-media-worthy circus tricks aren’t worth very much and they should not be your focus. Lifting is like cycling: one big ride doesn’t do much when compared to years of steady riding. The writer Brad Stulberg puts it well when he says, “Don’t aim to be consistently great; aim to be great at being consistent.”

Conclusion

The best way to learn to lift is to start lifting. The most important points are 1) work to exertion, and 2) be consistent. Even if you just do one exercise (a squat for example) and you work to exertion then you’ll start getting stronger. If you have more questions or want more detailed instruction, contact our strength coach, Kyle Norman.

To learn more about how Reddiyo's dynamic cycling training plans can help you achieve your cycling goals, visit reddiyo.com.