✅ Improved cycling economy and efficiency. Stronger muscles allow you to produce the same power output at a lower percentage of your maximum capacity, reducing fatigue over long distances. This improves cycling economy and efficiency.
✅ Enhanced endurance and ability to resist fatigue. Studies show strength training can improve the ability to produce maximal power outputs after several hours of riding. This is crucial for performance in long events.
✅ Increased force production and peak power output. Strength work increases maximum force production capabilities, leading to higher peak power outputs for attacks, sprints, and hill climbing.
✅ Injury prevention. Strength training improves tendon and bone strength, core stability, and muscle balance – all of which help prevent overuse injuries common in cycling.
✅ Maintained muscle mass and bone density. Resistance training counters the loss of muscle and bone density that can occur from high volumes of endurance training alone.
The key is implementing an appropriate, cycling-specific strength program focused on multi-joint exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and planks that target the core, hips, and legs.
This builds functional strength without adding excessive muscle mass that could impair cycling economy.
Here are some tips for strength training around your cycling training as a road cyclist:
1️⃣ Prioritise cycling workouts over strength training. Do your cycling workouts first when combining them on the same day and separate the two by at least 6 hours.
2️⃣ During the base training period, do 2-3 strength training sessions per week focusing on full body exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and upper body rows/presses. Don’t forget to add in some rotational trunk exercises too! This builds general strength.
3️⃣ In the build and specialty periods leading up to key events, reduce strength training to 1-2 sessions per week emphasising core, hip, and knee stability with exercises like planks, lunges, and split squats.
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