Off Season Weight Training
There seems to be a lot of discussion this time of the year as to the value of hitting the gym in the off season. I'd like to know how others feel about this and what they do.
As for myself I lift weights all year round. During the riding season I don't lift my legs much but always try and do some core and upper body conditioning. Now the big question is does it help my riding? I have no idea, I've always done it so I have no way to compare results. I can tell you this, I feel stronger from lifting and I know weight training is the best way to combat the negative affects long distance riding has on our bone density.
The best advice I've heard on this subject came from Brian at VCR Chicago, "If you want to feel good, do cardio. If you want to look good, lift weights. If you want to be good, do both." I couldn't agree more.
As for myself I lift weights all year round. During the riding season I don't lift my legs much but always try and do some core and upper body conditioning. Now the big question is does it help my riding? I have no idea, I've always done it so I have no way to compare results. I can tell you this, I feel stronger from lifting and I know weight training is the best way to combat the negative affects long distance riding has on our bone density.
The best advice I've heard on this subject came from Brian at VCR Chicago, "If you want to feel good, do cardio. If you want to look good, lift weights. If you want to be good, do both." I couldn't agree more.
Tags: conditioning, training, weight
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Justin Gorson on
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I am a supporter of weight training. I know with swimming, as soon as I put that into my training when I was the right age. You can see the power increase for sure. It is important to keep at it with your training! Now in the offseason I do high reps, low rest set before I start my cardio workout, and so far, its working well.
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Permalink Reply by Vitaly on -
If your question is whether weight training helps your riding, the answe is "it depends." There are a multitude of ways to train, and one of the most important parts is listening to your body to find out what works for you. While you are right, and weight training definitely helps with bone strength and density, it has other effects on your body. For example, as you gain muscle mass, you may gain weight, which would not necessarily be good for your ride. Depending on what kind of training you do, you could be developing your white muscle fibers moreso than the red, or vice versa. There are also a plethora of ways to train "sport specific," so you can actually weight train to ride. The bottom line is this, if you want weight training to help you bike, design a program that will do that for you; otherwise, just going to the gym and lifting weights, while a great thing to do in general and I am a strong supporter and a long time practitioner, I'm doubt it does much for your biking.
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Permalink Reply by Rodman on -
This is the workout I used to do before my bike wreck. I will be starting it up again this Wednesday. Glad I saw this post.
The workout is designed to strengthen your core and develop lean muscle mass. As a racer I feel that you need to develop a program, such as this one that creates a good power to weight ratio. I came up with this program talking with professional cyclist and a personal trainer. The gym days take about one hour and fifteen minutes. I try not to be in the gym to much because I don't really like it. So this workout gets me max results in little time. When the summer arrives I cut one day out of the gym or sometimes two days once in awhile. This is fine because of how much more I ride in the summer. So my increased bike time helps keep the base I developed at the gym.
A minor disclaimer to the whole workout. I am single at the moment so I do have plenty of time.
My workout.
BODY AREA EXERCISE SETS REPS.
warm up 5 min.
chest incline dumbell press 2 30
abdominals knee - ups 2 50
shoulder DB shrugs 2 50
abdominals Med. Ball twist 2 50
leg side steps 2 30
back seated rows 2 30
arm seated push downs 2 30
abdominals situps 2 100
low back supermans 2 30
leg leg press 2 30
back front pull down 2 30
arm reverse curls 2 30
This workout is a three day a week workout. Say Monday, Wednesday, & Friday or what ever works for you. On three of the remaining four days you are on the bike. Do one day of interval training and two days of endurance training on the road. Each exercise is done in one set then move on to the next exercise. Do not rest between sets, except to drink water. Repeat this workout in order 2 times in one session. Be sure to do the 5 Min. warm up in between each completed round of lifting. This is your cardio. When done with set 2 do 25 more minutes of cardio med intensity to cool down.
Include a high protein and vegetable diet. Five meals a day. Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, & Dinner.
When doing this workout for me the results come quickly.
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Before starting any workout program consult your physician or health professional. A session with a certified personal trainer will be beneficial also.
Tribe503.com takes no personal responsibility for the outcome of this workout.
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