Increasing Strength

garetjax

Just curious if you do any specific work-outs to boost strength so that you can push higher gears.

I've seen some work-outs such as 10x 1 minute intervals in a high gear, or 3 x 4 minutes, pedalling as hard as you can in a gear where the highest cadence you can manage is 70rpm. Cycling Weekly had one where you pedalled up a hill that took 5 minutes to climb, but done in a higher gear than you would naturally choose, repeating as fitness improves.

I've tried a few such work-outs lately, adding them to my Sunday ride, and i certainly feel it the next day; however, it seems to go against all advice for avoiding knee injuries , and i'm wondering if gradually increasing gears over time is a better way.

What, if anything, do you do to boost strength?

doyler78

garetjax wrote:

Just curious if you do any specific work-outs to boost strength so that you can push higher gears.

I've seen some work-outs such as 10x 1 minute intervals in a high gear, or 3 x 4 minutes, pedalling as hard as you can in a gear where the highest cadence you can manage is 70rpm. Cycling Weekly had one where you pedalled up a hill that took 5 minutes to climb, but done in a higher gear than you would naturally choose, repeating as fitness improves.

I've tried a few such work-outs lately, adding them to my Sunday ride, and i certainly feel it the next day; however, it seems to go against all advice for avoiding knee injuries , and i'm wondering if gradually increasing gears over time is a better way.

What, if anything, do you do to boost strength?

Well that's a bone of contention. You have those that point out that mashers were predominant in the past they all aren't crocks now.

I guess whatever way you view it the fact is that the odd session (and these will be odd sessions as they are very hard) will not have too great an impact. The real problem would likely come from repeated grinding on very low gears, even on longer rides, however in short sections they probably have more benefits than weaknesses. As they say, moderation in all things.

Toks

garetjax wrote:

Just curious if you do any specific work-outs to boost strength so that you can push higher gears.

I've seen some work-outs such as 10x 1 minute intervals in a high gear, or 3 x 4 minutes, pedalling as hard as you can in a gear where the highest cadence you can manage is 70rpm. Cycling Weekly had one where you pedalled up a hill that took 5 minutes to climb, but done in a higher gear than you would naturally choose, repeating as fitness improves.

I've tried a few such work-outs lately, adding them to my Sunday ride, and i certainly feel it the next day; however, it seems to go against all advice for avoiding knee injuries , and i'm wondering if gradually increasing gears over time is a better way.

What, if anything, do you do to boost strength?

Endurance cycling is an aerobic sport and surprisingly strength is not the significant factor. What you need is a higher level of fitness - that usually means more training. Almost everyone has the strength to turn 53/12 on the flat at 30-50RPM's. The problem is most of us can't do it at 80-100RPM (unless there's a nice lorry to draft, or there's a tailwind). which means your putting out more power or riding faster. To turn gears faster you need to train - which may mean more intensity, frequency or endurance should be added to your current sessions.