Strength Training Method

[vorsprung]

Here is something from Road Bike Rider a charming US based online magazine.  This isn't new of course but given that I've read other places that cycling isn't to do with strength and strength training is a waste of time, why is it still touted by trainers etc?

  In a recent issue of Cycle Sport America magazine, Italy's  Aldo Sassi, called one of the founding fathers of modern coaching, describes a key workout all of his riders do. One of them is Cadel Evans, the reigning road world championship.

 

In Sassi's view, muscle strength is almost as important as aerobic fitness for cyclists.

 

His on-bike method for building strength involves low-cadence uphill pedaling in big gears. He explains that this "places a high tension in the muscles for a long duration, but their contractions are supported by the aerobic system.

 

"This builds specific strength because the strength limiter in endurance cycling isn't just neuro-muscular. More important is the extent of blood perfusion into the muscles."

 

Sassi has his riders do the following interval workout twice a week in the off-season and once a week between races. It's called SFR for an Italian term that translates to "strength endurance climbs." It could also be called KDW for "knee-destroying workout," so be careful if you try it.

    *

      Use a long hill with a 6-8% grade.
       
    *

      Warm up well, then shift to 53x13, 14 or 15 (gearing the pros use).
       
    *

      Ride up the hill for 5 minutes seated, turning the crank at a 35-40 rpm. Keep your upper body quiet.
       
    *

      Repeat 8 times with 2-3 minutes of freewheeling down the hill between reps.

When done correctly, heart rate should be at 90% of your lactate threshold during each repetition. If you don't know your LT heart rate, judge it by your breathing: Lactate threshold is the level of exertion where even a slight increase in effort will turn heavy deep breathing into shallow panting. This training should not take you to that point, but close.

[andygates]

There are as many definitions of strength and forms of strength training as there are trainers, perhaps?

[Seineseeker]

I have a mate who swears by such methods, in fact he has a 58 big ring on his training bike for this very purpose. I worry about the state of his knees after a few years of this, I've tried it and apart from being very unpleasant it doesn't feel like it's doing you good.

[токамак]

If you want to go fast on a bike, and maintain that speed over a given distance, then strength is important, and it's something that needs specific training to develop - to believe otherwise is just plain old-fashioned. Look at today's pro's, are there any who don't work on their strength? Whether it's hill reps or exercises with weights, strength training gives you the ability to push that big gear and keep the pace high.

[mattc]

Rate these Winter training schedules:

A - 30 mins gentle spinning followed by 30 mins of big-ring hill repeats every Sunday, or
B - Watching DVDs of Spring Classics all weekend.

Riders who follow A consistently outperform the B riders. QED


Hmmm ...

[andygates]

Common Method C: Squats in the gym.  Problem with that is that it's not cycling-specific and most gymfolk fall into the bodybuilding modus operandi.  Non-cycling-specific bulk isn't too relevant compared to actual heavy pedalling.

There's an oldschool method where you start off doing bulk-making stuff, then go to speed and power, then to bike-specific.  For example: squats, then cleans, then fixie hill attacks. 

But even "cycling-specific" is too broad.  Are we talking audax or TT?  Triathlon or velodrome? 

[clarion]

Sounds like a great way to mess your knees up.
EDIT: The original suggestion, not andy's.

[Hummers]

Here is something from Road Bike Rider a charming US based online magazine.  This isn't new of course but given that I've read other places that cycling isn't to do with strength and strength training is a waste of time, why is it still touted by trainers etc?

  In a recent issue of Cycle Sport America magazine, Italy's  Aldo Sassi, called one of the founding fathers of modern coaching, describes a key workout all of his riders do. One of them is Cadel Evans, the reigning road world championship.

 

In Sassi's view, muscle strength is almost as important as aerobic fitness for cyclists.

 

His on-bike method for building strength involves low-cadence uphill pedaling in big gears. He explains that this "places a high tension in the muscles for a long duration, but their contractions are supported by the aerobic system.

 

"This builds specific strength because the strength limiter in endurance cycling isn't just neuro-muscular. More important is the extent of blood perfusion into the muscles."

 

Sassi has his riders do the following interval workout twice a week in the off-season and once a week between races. It's called SFR for an Italian term that translates to "strength endurance climbs." It could also be called KDW for "knee-destroying workout," so be careful if you try it.

    *

      Use a long hill with a 6-8% grade.
       
    *

      Warm up well, then shift to 53x13, 14 or 15 (gearing the pros use).
       
    *

      Ride up the hill for 5 minutes seated, turning the crank at a 35-40 rpm. Keep your upper body quiet.
       
    *

      Repeat 8 times with 2-3 minutes of freewheeling down the hill between reps.

When done correctly, heart rate should be at 90% of your lactate threshold during each repetition. If you don't know your LT heart rate, judge it by your breathing: Lactate threshold is the level of exertion where even a slight increase in effort will turn heavy deep breathing into shallow panting. This training should not take you to that point, but close.

This is encouraging stuff.

He is describing my preferred riding style after a Wednesday night Pompey pub ride back up over Portsdown Hill.

Now, did you miss the first bit off where Aldi advocates drinking 3-6 pints of Fullers London Pride beforehand?

Hmmmmmmmmm???

H

[kcass]

Rate these Winter training schedules:

A - 30 mins gentle spinning followed by 30 mins of big-ring hill repeats every Sunday, or
B - Watching DVDs of Spring Classics all weekend.

Riders who follow A consistently outperform the B riders. QED


Hmmm ...

Visualisation works

Those that do B outperform those that do  nothing

[simonp]

I've been commuting on fixed this past year. Not quite the same as these guys have been doing but I think it's made a difference. Whether I would ride seated in a big gear at 35-40 rpm is another question! 

[andygates]

Visualisation works

Those that do B outperform those that do  nothing

It's been my primary training method for most of my life.  Buy the kit then sit around thinking about it. 

I perform at the middle to back of the pack in open triathlon (MOP bike, BOP the rest).

It works but it doesn't win. 

[MSeries]

Graeme Obree trained for the World Hour Record in a big gear up hills in the saddle. Allegedly.

I am faster up hill in the saddle than I am standing in the same gear ~70". I put it down to my core strength training.

[токамак]

..."cycling-specific" is too broad.  Are we talking audax or TT?  Triathlon or velodrome? 

I'm mainly focusing on TT'ing for next year. Bulk is not the objective, maintaining power is, so high reps - 20, repeated 4 times. I've borrowed a good book from my dad, 'Training With Weights For Cycling', it was printed in 1982. One point it makes is that by using weights you also work out the supporting muscles, which come into play when the main muscles used in turning the pedals over start to tire. Obviously TT is high intensity cycling, mainly over relatively short distances. Such weight training probably wouldn't be of much benefit to long distance cyclists.

[vorsprung]

Ok, so there are some who are convinced that some forms of strength training for the legs works.

Here's another comment on the issue

Let's imagine a cyclist on a flat course doing a time trial.  On a particular day and under particular circumstances his time will be X minutes and Y seconds

Let's imagine the same cyclist, the same circumstances as far as wind speed, training, what he had for breakfast etc.  But this time he only has one leg.  We will assume that for the sake of this thought experiment that the lack of one leg gives no significant aerodynamic advantage.   

I put it to you that in both cases the time is X minutes and Y seconds because the bottleneck in moving a bike around is in the aerobic power generation not in the leg strength

[токамак]

It's pretty simple really. Compare an athlete who also trains for strength to one who focuses exclusively on aerobic performance, and see who wins the race.

[mattc]

Does anyone know the peak force applied by Wiggins, B during a sub-20min 10mile time trial?

[I am a sceptical agnostic on this topic. I don't believe you will get measurable performance gain over any 'distance' event (and 10 miles probably fits this category). But I am keener to believe there might be injury-prevention benefits - improving muscle balance, building the support muscles, who knows? ]

[andygates]

And this is where definitions get wooly!  You're leading towards training at lactate threshold, yes?  To increase the level of power that the muscles can produce without going kablooey?  

That is indeed not the same as the amount you could, say, leg press, which is limit strength.  Limit strength (over a certain amount) is not necessary except in specialised circumstances (I'd argue that it's useful to put down some monstrous kaboom to get the 'jump' competitively; jump isn't a feature of TTs, tri or distance riding, but it is in velodrome and pack racing).

The hill grind sounds like a great way to build LT power.  

Bike-only workouts are a great way to build muscle imbalance too.  The traditional "mighty quads = kneecap tracking woe" is resolved by doing free-weight leg work, which hits the medial glutes and inner thighs as well as the power muscles, and keeps things together.  Up to about bodyweight, there's a role here for weights -- and there's that youtube of Lance doing just this.

[scherrit]

Current thinking in coaching is that all and any strength training (particularly off the bike) is a waste for the purposes of any endurance cycling endeavour. This particularly when compared to spending the same amount of time training in some way on your bike.

Some obvious exceptions/variations are: sprint cyclists (not an endurance event, really) and when you start thinking about the person rather than the athlete and their performance per se. I coach many masters athletes and I feel that it's crucial that I consider their long term development and health, including postural health- so "my" athletes lift at least for some of the year and stretch (another activity that current coaching orthodoxy has run broadly "anti"), do pilates or yoga etc etc. I would like them to still be riding (and lifting!) at 50, 60, 70!

I am a sprinter so I lift furiously and do low rev drills at some times of the year, as well as standing starts fairly consistently through the summer. I feel that I can see both points of view but come down mostly on the "it's more complex than that" side most of the time when I hear- "ride yer bike, anything else is a waste".
YMMV.
Scherrit.