is weight training wise

pbriggsmbr
pbriggsmbr Posts: 16
edited February 2014 in Training, fitness and health
Hi all
im looking for some advice regards weight training especially the legs. I do race crits during the race seasonbut during the winter I do a lot of gym work. My question is, is it best to cease weights now and just ride the bike or to continue doing weights. My fear is that my legs are tired on ride days so impeading a good training ride.
Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Cheers
pato

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Your fears could be correct. What is the purpose of the weight training, may I ask?
  • calbelfield
    calbelfield Posts: 59
    I've been doing some work this winter on the leg press just to work on some extra strength, while doing plenty of riding, and I don't really see any major disadvantages as long as you aren't building up too much muscle and putting extra weight on, although for crit racing even this shouldn't be too much of a problem :)
    YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/cyclistcallum
  • TakeTurns
    TakeTurns Posts: 1,075
    Nothing beats cycling if you want to be better at cycling.
    Having said that, a weight training workout could work well beside a cycling training plan.

    However, this time of year is when you want to start to slowly pick up the intensity and lower volume, so you'll need as much energy as possible to exert yourself to those limits in order to get the gains.

    If you're in the gym working your legs, you're essentially reducing the effectiveness of your legs to work during training. (Been there, done that, seen the results from power tests.)

    So the answer is to drop the weights and work on the core instead.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    calbelfield wrote:
    I've been doing some work this winter on the leg press just to work on some extra strength, while doing plenty of riding, and I don't really see any major disadvantages as long as you aren't building up too much muscle and putting extra weight on, although for crit racing even this shouldn't be too much of a problem :)

    As you say, there isn't any real harm in it, provided you can avoid building bulk. Leg weights will give you very little in the way of advantage from a cycling perspective though. The disadvantages, as already pointed out, are that pushing weights could actually be detrimental to cycle training, if the session leaves you too fatigued to train effectively on the bike.

    If the OP is pushing weights in the hope of seeing some cycling benefit, then my suggestion would be to focus on cycling instead.
  • pbriggsmbr
    pbriggsmbr Posts: 16
    Many thanks for the replys.
    My intention was to get stronger legs so to gain output power for crits, however my legs having been feeling very sore when out on the bike if I try to put power down. I just feel as though im doing something very wrong.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    pbriggsmbr wrote:
    Many thanks for the replys.
    My intention was to get stronger legs so to gain output power for crits, however my legs having been feeling very sore when out on the bike if I try to put power down. I just feel as though im doing something very wrong.

    It's probably worth having a read of some of the many 'leg strength' threads on here. It's quite possible that you are indeed doing something very wrong.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    I figure that I live pretty much in the real world of cycling and not in some pro fantasy thing. I belong to a local club which holds club races weekly April thru September. These are guys who simply enjoy a bit of friendly competion and comradeship. They may do a club race on Thursday and maybe a local or regional U.S. Cycling Federation race on the weekends. They train, race, and ride when the restraints of work, family, and home permit it. Some, pretty much, strictly ride, others have been known to do all manner of things like running, weights, swimming, etc. No matter how they train none of them has a real lock on the winners circle. They all have their ups and downs and DNF's. If the training you're doing feels good to you and you find yourself making progress then most likely you're doing something right. If you've done a ton of squats and leg work over the winter and find that your sprinting has improved I don't know how anyone can say you wasted your time. Asking people on a forum whether or not this or that type of training will help you is pretty much a waste of time because everyone has a differing opinion and will tell you one of two things(in about a 50 / 50 balance). One, that it's great stuff or two, that it's not. You must find out what's good for you. A good coach can help steer you in the right direction(wherever it may lead). A bad coach(most people on forums) will try to cram their ideas down your throat.

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