Lack of strength?

Pross

Something I've noticed since I've started cycling again is my apparent lack of strength compared to when I rode previously. I know that the biggest problem is that I'm now 90kg rather than 70kg but what I'm finding is that other than on the steepest of hills I am unable to push hard enough over any length of time to get out of breathe. I don't know my power figures other than riding recently on a gym bike, which I know is likely to be inaccurate, I was getting around 190 - 200w at a sustainable rate.

Can someone give me some advice on improving my strength (I'm already working at getting the weight down)? My cycling has been sporadic at best over the last few months so obviously that's likely to be the biggest issue but with winter coming some tips for turbo sessions would be gratefully received! Thank you.

danowat

Do you do any specific leg strenghening exercises off the bike?, are you mashing a too higher gear?

Pross

I don't do any leg work off the bike. Gear wise I tend to ride at a cadence of around 80-85 so not super fast but not grinding.

danowat

In that case then, doing some squats, lunges etc and other leg strengh exercises would help, probably be wise to chuck some core work in aswell.

amaferanga

Why not push harder then so you do get out of breath? Maybe your problem is in your head?

Barteos

Your problem has got nothing to do with strength.

20kg extra weigth will simply require lower gears, so you can climb with the same cadence and power output, just slower. You just have to accept that extra weight will make you slower on climbs.

Pross

amaferanga wrote:

Why not push harder then so you do get out of breath? Maybe your problem is in your head?

Possibly it is and it's something I've thought myself but I just find my legs struggling to put the pressure on the pedals. Even if it's in my head I could still use some tips on improving leg strength and power as my past training used to be based pretty much on "getting the miles in" with a chain gang and racing in the summer so not exactly scientific and not something that's as easy to fit in now I'm all grown up lol

Alex_Simmons/RST

Pross wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Why not push harder then so you do get out of breath? Maybe your problem is in your head?

Possibly it is and it's something I've thought myself but I just find my legs struggling to put the pressure on the pedals. Even if it's in my head I could still use some tips on improving leg strength and power as my past training used to be based pretty much on "getting the miles in" with a chain gang and racing in the summer so not exactly scientific and not something that's as easy to fit in now I'm all grown up lol

Your limiter is not strength, it's aerobic metabolism.

That means in order to ride faster, you'll need to do the training on your bike. And eat better.

Pross

Thanks Alex, can you put that into layman's terms for me please? Is there specific types of training that will be better than others or is it just a case of riding more regularly until I get some improvement in the first instance? I find I really struggle to ride out of the saddle for long as well which is why I assume it was a strength problem, the area around my knees feels like it wants to give up at times :oops: I suspect you are right on the eat better front and I'm hoping I'm addressing that at the same time as trying to shed some of the excess weight.

Team Banana Spokesman

if you can walk up stairs, strength is not the limiter. the forces there are the same as a hard sprint on the bike.

increasing strength/forces will make a pedal stroke easier but to increase power, you want to make not just one stroke easier, all of them easier.

so I think the limiter is how many times you can apply that force again and again. core work and other bs wont help you there. the only thing you can do is cycle more to do that.

no point increasing strength to get up one step 'better' when theres a whole flight of stairs to think about.

keef66

Just climb out of the saddle at every opportunity. It uses different muscles, and they do tire quicker. When I climb out of the saddle my HR rockets compared with the same climb spinning and seated, presumably cos I suddenly start using muscles that I don't normally use.

freehub

Team Banana Spokesman wrote:

if you can walk up stairs, strength is not the limiter. the forces there are the same as a hard sprint on the bike.

increasing strength/forces will make a pedal stroke easier but to increase power, you want to make not just one stroke easier, all of them easier.

so I think the limiter is how many times you can apply that force again and again. core work and other bs wont help you there. the only thing you can do is cycle more to do that.

no point increasing strength to get up one step 'better' when theres a whole flight of stairs to think about.

I cycling strength must have a certain factor, I bet trying to sprint up a very steep hill would require strength, or accelerating very quickly.

You get an obese person who can walk up the stairs fine, put them on a bike and I bet they can't sprint for ****, or even ride a bike faster than 10mph.

Toks

Pross wrote:

Something I've noticed since I've started cycling again is my apparent lack of strength compared to when I rode previously.
.

That's all it is an "apparent" lack of strength. As someone once said, [cycling] is an aerobic sport goddam it!. All those recommending gym workouts for better endurance climbing are well off the mark.

You probably need to train either more intensively, more consistently, for a greater duration or you may indeed need to rest more. If cycling required strength ("the maximum force that can be developed in a muscle or group of muscles during a single maximal contraction") this best ENDURANCE cyclist on the planet who climb very fast would have legs like this rather than this

Alex_Simmons/RST

Pross wrote:

Thanks Alex, can you put that into layman's terms for me please?

It's not my place to give specific advice, since I have no information on you.

In general:

- Ride consistently and frequently (4-6 times/week)

- Progressively introduce some higher intensity into your riding (through more challenging routes and/or intervals, and/or increasing the general effort level of some rides)

- Progressively increase the total workload (through a combination of duration and intensity) in a sustainable manner (many attempt to do too much too quickly)

Recover as necessary

Eat well.

Have patience. Good fitness is an integral of effort over the longer term, not the result of a few week's work.

Pross

Thanks Alex, I think it's that lack of consistency in my riding frequency that's the issue. Hopefully other things will calm down a bit through winter and I can build a base. It's frustrating at the moment to go on club runs and either get dropped or slow everyone else down.