Does resistance training improve cycling performance?

NorthCascades

I was going to phrase it "Is strength training good for cyclists?" but the answer to that is a clear yes, and what I'm asking is more nuanced and limited in scope. I'm asking whether you think weight training helps on-the-bike performance among people who already have great cardiovascular fitness.

I'm not asking for advice; I lift for general health reasons. I've been an avid recreational cyclist for most of my life. The road community has traditionally felt that leg strength isn't especially important in an aerobic endurance sport, and that added mass only hurts your power-to-weight ratio. I talk to a lot of cyclists (I love bikes), and the thinking is changing.

Love to hear everybody's thoughts.

sijomial

Pros and cons for me.

Strength training my core (strength endurance rather than outright strength) markedly improved my ability to maintain an efficient pedalling technique for longer. Also resulted in decreased fatigue / reduced discomfort. Having strong shoulders/arms does mean I'm well braced on the bike too ("you can't fire a canon from a canoe").

I rarely do leg strength sessions in the gym due to knee and back injuries but when I do I seem to have a better "connection" to my leg muscles and power seems to come easily for a few rides. Hard to explain or quantify but I pull higher gears for seemingly the same effort. Maybe just a feeling - who knows?

Downsides - I'm heavier than optimal for long distance cycling which impacts my power to weight ratio and have awful aerodynamics. I'm poor on hill climbs and apparently it's like drafting a truck to sit on my wheel. Makes group rides harder as I have to make up time on the flat and then tow the racing snakes along nicely. :grumble:

Not convinced low rep leg strength has much correlation to cycling power which is mostly CV related unless you are talking about sprinting - Chris Hoy style quads definitely help then.
A friend who pushes out 30% more power than me is weak as a kitten on a leg press.

CSARdiver

I resistance train to aid performance in obstacle course racing. There's a distinctly different challenge in comparison to multi-sport which requires me to increase endurance and short bursts of explosive strength.

I'm a long time mountain biker where the benefits of resistance training are obvious. You need that strength for climbing hills due to the dramatic change in terrain.

I'm relatively new to road biking and can see the point. I don't utilize the explosive strength in the same manner. Terrain changes are minimal and it's a matter of consistency.

You see the same difference in runners - comparing sprinters vs. marathoners. Resistance training is a necessity in any serious sprint program and avoided by distance runners.

jjpptt2

I think it depends on what you mean by weight training. This is probably a ridiculous example, but hopefully it illustrates my point.

Something like 5 minutes of lower weight leg presses probably has a lot more direct benefit than does 5x5 heavy squat work. It would kind of be like simulating LOBRO trainer intervals on weight/strength equipment.

Azdak

The benefits of resistance training for endurance sports are pretty well documented: increased strength can lead to increased power; increased endurance can help resist fatigue, increased strength and and endurance can help maintain form (which improves performance) and prevent injury.

It is possible to increase strength without adding significant bulk. There are different types of cycling performances so there is no one single answer for cycling. In my mind, the only possible scenario where strength training (and muscle gain) *might* be a negative for cycling is for elite-level stage race GC contenders. For longer mountain climbs, even small increases in weight can have a detrimental effect on climbing performance. However, I suspect one can work around that as well.

There is no negative effect on cardio training when resistance exercise is performed concurrently.

And, finally, there are innumerable ways to design resistance training to fit any training or performance goal.

canadianlbs

i'm not really in your niche group (average cardio fitness at best, fred-style cyclist). but i'll add my two cents and you can toss them if not applicable.

good:
- designated hamstring stuff to balance the quadfest that cycling can be.
- better side-to-side stability and strength when standing up and mashing the pedals
- all-around better awareness and ability to settle and stack my joints. you can't lift much if your joints are sloppy, and if found that carried over to biking especially for shoulders and upper back. more an awareness thing than an automatic win.

bad:
- logy legs on the morning after the night before
- repetitive strain type risks. ymmv there, of course.

joshuak30

My anecdotal evidence would point to there being a strong positive correlation between consistent heavy weight training and cycling performance.

Background: I've always enjoyed cycling, did it when I was a kid and in college, but never seriously and never long duration. I've been a lifter since I was 13, though, and most of those years trained heavy legs and stuff. I love leg training. However I always maintained decently high reps in things like the squat, so my work capacity has always remained a bit on the higher end.

In 2016 I got serious about road cycling, began training and pushing myself to do long-duration rides. I went from dying on a flat 30-mile ride, to successfully completing a 75-mile mountain ride in three months. I chalk this rapid improvement up to having the leg muscles from years of weight lifting there ready to adapt to the new loading scenarios. What I had to build was the cardiovascular fitness and recovery capacity required by spending hours in the saddle.

One more anecdote. In 2017 I decided I wanted to be a better climber. Living in Colorado and not enjoying climbing on a bike is...silly. Just silly. In the winter I did RPT-style weight lifting, focusing hard on the squat, and as the weather improved in Spring I began hard mountain climbing. Within a month I went from utterly destroyed on a popular 30-minute climb (link: https://www.strava.com/segments/609371) to completing that same climb 4 minutes faster, and still having the capacity to continue on and do another hard climb immediately after. Again, I chalk this up to having the leg strength there ready to be adapted to this new use case.

All that to say, I believe heavy weight training for legs is very beneficial to cycling performance. Using it well is the assumption, but if you've built it in the weight room, you stand to benefit on the mountainside.

Wheelhouse15

I used to work with a sprint cyclists that was top 5 in the world and on Team EAS. If I recall correctly he was using some type of leg routine but unfortunately I've lost touch and can't get more information on this. There has also been buzz around an elite sprint cyclists who has massive legs so it would seem to me that lower body strength gain can outweigh the disadvantage of an extra few pounds. Remember, it wasn't long ago that people didn't think steroids were helpful in things like endurance biking, sprinting or boxing but then champions where caught using these drugs and blew those misconceptions out of the water.

ClayBengal

Unless you want to ride mountainous roads lifting will help especially if you are working muscle groups that get neglected by cycling; can help an imbalance. If you want to ride up Mount Ventoux then you want to stay away from lifting. Chris Froome not rocking guns but best cyclist in the world.

Motorsheen

NorthCascades wrote: »

I was going to phrase it "Is strength training good for cyclists?" but the answer to that is a clear yes, and what I'm asking is more nuanced and limited in scope. I'm asking whether you think weight training helps on-the-bike performance among people who already have great cardiovascular fitness.

I'm not asking for advice; I lift for general health reasons. I've been an avid recreational cyclist for most of my life. The road community has traditionally felt that leg strength isn't especially important in an aerobic endurance sport, and that added mass only hurts your power-to-weight ratio. I talk to a lot of cyclists (I love bikes), and the thinking is changing.

Love to hear everybody's thoughts.

I've ridden more miles than I care to admit and really enjoy lifting weights. I also agree that the added muscle mass is a detriment to going fast or climbing fast.

That being said, I'm not about to give up either cycling or lifting. So I'm a little slower? When I lift, I feel better and look better and when I'm on my road bike.... I'm in heaven.

MeanderingMammal

ClayBengal wrote: »

If you want to ride up Mount Ventoux then you want to stay away from lifting. Chris Froome not rocking guns but best cyclist in the world.

Yet both Team Sky and British Cycling have their riders lift heavy.

joshuak30

ClayBengal wrote: »

Unless you want to ride mountainous roads lifting will help especially if you are working muscle groups that get neglected by cycling; can help an imbalance. If you want to ride up Mount Ventoux then you want to stay away from lifting. Chris Froome not rocking guns but best cyclist in the world.

Chris Froome isn't an exceptional climber in his class. He won the Tour due to being a brilliant time trialist.

The act of cycling many miles will prevent your muscles from ever getting truly huge and negatively impacting your speed, climbing included. The energy demands of distance cycling preclude significant extraneous muscle growth. Lift heavy, it helps you go faster.

Azdak

ClayBengal wrote: »

Unless you want to ride mountainous roads lifting will help especially if you are working muscle groups that get neglected by cycling; can help an imbalance. If you want to ride up Mount Ventoux then you want to stay away from lifting. Chris Froome not rocking guns but best cyclist in the world.

Chris Froome is at an elite level and participates in events that require the ability to sustain a high power:weight watt ratio for extended periods of time on long mountain climbs. On these climbs any excess weight can have a negative effect when competing against other elites.

That's a specialized set of conditions that aren't as relevant to a recreational cyclist.

In addition, it could be argued that Peter Sagan, current world champion, is the "best cyclist in the world". He certainly is one of the most versatile. And he is much more muscular and I'm sure he lifts a lot of weights.

icemom011

I like to go in bigger gears to increase resistance while I ride. I know it's not anywhere near lifting, but still something?

sijomial

icemom011 wrote: »

I like to go in bigger gears to increase resistance while I ride. I know it's not anywhere near lifting, but still something?

@icemom011

Overgearing is a very valid training technique to increase strength. I do some indoors but tend to simply head for the hills outdoors.
Undergearing on the other hand is a way to increase cadence and improve pedalling efficiency.

And hopefully when you put the results together you have more power and a higher cadence.

icemom011

sijomial wrote: »

icemom011 wrote: »

I like to go in bigger gears to increase resistance while I ride. I know it's not anywhere near lifting, but still something?

@icemom011

Overgearing is a very valid training technique to increase strength. I do some indoors but tend to simply head for the hills outdoors.
Undergearing on the other hand is a way to increase cadence and improve pedalling efficiency.

And hopefully when you put the results together you have more power and a higher cadence.

@sijomial , thank you. I need to do more of undergearing training, but it's my least favorite thing.

NorthCascades

Somebody on another forum made what seems like a compelling argument:

Many professional road racers do not lift. These are people who spend weeks at altitude camps and sometimes sleep in hyperbaric chambers for a temporary benefit of a few percent. If lifting benefited road performance, they'd all be doing it.

cwolfman13

I do my "heavy" lifting cycles in the winter when I'm on my bike less...I don't really do heavy cycles during the cycling season...my coach has me do higher rep, lower weight work during the cycling season and I do a lot more plyo stuff, speed hurdles, etc.

Where I've found it most beneficial as a recreational road cyclist is first and foremost just a solid way to cross train and avoid muscular imbalances...plus I think it's really important from an all around fitness perspective.

In regards to actual cycling performance, I see it most when I do cyclocross...I haven't done a criterium yet, but I could see it translating well to that as well. I usually do a 3 race 12K time trial series in the summer and I think it helps my performance there as well. I don't really think it does much for me in regards to long distance endurance rides where I'm just slogging out the miles...mostly just the short and fast stuff.

sijomial

@NorthCascades

It all depends on type of pro cycling of course but I do agree with you about the typical long distance / TdF rider / time trialist.
Weight (lack of it) and aero are paramount. Chris Froome didn't rise to success through generating extra power - he got a lot lighter while maintaining the same power he had when he was an emerging but heavier and bulkier rider.

Wiggins even gave up track cycling in his preparation to win the TdF in his quest to minimise his weight - track riders develop a little upper body muscle just from bracing hard while pulling a fixed gear.

OTOH someone sprinting at 2000 watts for a short duration needs a completely different training regime and will have a different body shape.

I disagree with Azdak's comment "In my mind, the only possible scenario where strength training (and muscle gain) *might* be a negative for cycling is for elite-level stage race GC contenders. For longer mountain climbs, even small increases in weight can have a detrimental effect on climbing performance. However, I suspect one can work around that as well."

The comparison between elite and amateur but competitive rider still holds true but is a matter of degree, when you do an event such as a Sportive the riders (at the front!) are very much peas in a pod with a few gifted outliers
My superfluous for cycling upper body muscle is a negative for this old plodder and makes my rides harder - especially group rides. I can't work round gravity!
The difference is that I don't rely on my cycling to put bread on my family's table, it only hurts my pride.