New goals; Cycling endurance AND fat loss/strength

charlatte987
charlatte987 Posts: 27 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone! I originally introduced myself as a half marathon runner, and I was doing it because I had literally nothing else to do this summer. Now, I have a full time, fairly active job (athletics camp counselor), and a week long bike excursion in mid august, where i'll be doing 30-ish miles per day. I also re-discovered my love for lifting, and I'd like to lift 4 times per week (Wendler's 5/3/1, or an upper/lower split). I also don't want to lose the running speed and endurance that i've worked so hard for the past two years in XC and track. If someone from the team asks me to go on an easy 4 miler, I don't want to say no because i'm not in shape.

So basically, I'm looking to gain strength and lose fat, gain cycling endurance, and just keep the ability to run 3-6 miles with ease.

S) Long Run (6-ish miles)
M) Weights (Upper) & Spinning
T) Weights (Lower) & Easy Run (4-ish miles)
W) Off
T) Weights (Upper) & Interval Run Workout (5-6 miles with 400 or 800 repeats, or a fartlek)
F) Weights & Bike (60 minutes)
S) Long Bike (2 hrs)

I'd also do my best to bike to the gym whenever possible. I realize this schedule probably isn't ideal, so if anybody could give me some tips as to make it better, and more conducive to my goals, i'd really appreciate it. Thank you!!!

Replies

  • charlatte987
    charlatte987 Posts: 27 Member
    Bump?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    We have some similarities in that I have to balance my strength training goals with my long distance bicycling goal.
    But a big difference is that I'm three times older than you (!!!) so my recovery is going to be far worse.

    Generally I'm not keen on doing cardio and strength on the same day / in the same session (the first compromises the second). The most mixing I do is a warm up on the rowing machine if I'm not doing warm up sets.

    Last year my routine was 3 full body workouts and 3 cardio sessions a week with one rest day. One cardio session would be a long or hard cycle ride. That got me good strength gains for almost a year before I stalled out and big cardio improvements (speed and endurance). Downside was I was having to make the third weights session light for my legs or my cycling was affected.

    This year I've still been doing 3 and 3 but strength is now one full body, one push, one pull. I do it in that order so my quads are fresher ahead of weekend rides. So far so good.

    Your Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon routine looks really tough to me. You don't mention duration of your workouts but I'm guessing that's a really high volume to try and maintain in a calorie deficit.
  • charlatte987
    charlatte987 Posts: 27 Member
    Thank you very much for your reply!! My cardio sessions will probably be about 1-2 hrs for cycling (2 60-ish min rides). I'll probably do a sorta long run (1hr), and the other two about 45 min or so (one will be an interval session). Lifting would probably last 45 minutes too. I realize that the volume is very high, but I dont see how else I can make gains regarding all my goals, unless its possible I could run twice a week, bike twice a week, and lift 4 times a week. I'm not sure if i'd make gains that way in both though.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    I'm not an expert by any means, but I've been cycling for years and have focused on improving strength and endurance in the past couple of years. In the spring I took up running again and discovered that running on hilly terrain worked wonders for my hill climbing on the bike. If I were you I'd cut out one of the bike workouts.

    Keep the long Saturday ride; if you have time, work up to 4 or 5 hours, which will make your 30-mile days in August a piece of cake. Keep most of it moderate intensity. Use the long rides to figure out your nutritional needs on the bike, too: I discovered that beyond 40-45 miles I have to eat during the ride or I will bonk; sooner if I'm approaching lactate threshold.

    The other workout can be spinning (a class on a stationary bike) or on the bike with a mix of hills and speedwork.

    I've maintained about 5-10 hours a week (more like 10 during summer, and more like 5-6 during the academic year) of cardio on a calorie deficit of 300-500/day for 17 months. But my strength training has been fairly minimal, just enough to preserve most of my muscle mass. Most serious cyclists and triathletes do minimal strength training during the competitive season, and do more during the off season. You might find Joe Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible to be useful for thinking about combining several goals; I've learned a lot from his book for cyclists.
  • charlatte987
    charlatte987 Posts: 27 Member
    Thank you all so much for the help! I made a new "plan" that will probably be less taxing physically. However, i'm worried it won't be enough to maintain/ increase my cardiovascular endurance for biking. Opinions?

    M) Wendler's &Spin
    T) Wendler's & Easy Run
    W) OFF
    R) Wendler's & Hill Sprints
    F) Wendler's & Intervals
    S) Long Bike
    S) OFF

    OR

    M) 60 min Run & Weights
    T) 60 min Bike
    W) 60 min Run & Weights
    R) 60 min Bike
    F) Weights
    S) Long Run
    S) Long Bike

    ^ this one I am fairly confident i'd be able to maintain cardiovasvular endurance. It'dreally put my weight training on the back burner, and i'd be focusing primarily on upper body (i'd throw in Deads and Squats too but thats about it). I'm leaning towards this. I know it probably isnt as good for fat loss, but I love my endurance . Also, I would probably make 2 sessions interval workouts geared toward fat loss

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