Apologies for referencing Chris Boardman without checking with some of the guys who worked with Peter Keen back in the day.
Chris allegedly did do some weights as an Amateur and one year as a Professional although he claimed it didn't help and he stopped.
Had a discussion with one of my riders about strength training and I deemed my reply blog worthy and I submit to the debate here...
[FONT=calibri]I have always been of two minds over strength training and even the oxymoronic [/FONT]strength endurance[FONT=calibri] training as strength (as defined the maximal amount of force one can generate) doesn't play a role in cycling. Even in a Match Sprint on the track the riders are operating at 80-85% of their maximal power. Although the research indicates their optimal cadence is lower than we originally thought so they now run MASSIVE gears so maximum strength is a part of their training.[/FONT]
[FONT=calibri]For endurance sport we are talking very long periods at 20-40% of maximal power and maximal power is way below peak strength that is achieved in the gym. Maximal torque on the bike is a third of the torque at the knee joint while doing a 1 rep max squat and probably a 5th from a power exercise like the clean or [censored]. So the priority for any cyclist is sustained power over any duration from 10sec, to 60min in a crit, 3 hours in a road race and 21 days in the Tour de France. The strength demands in the sport are very easily met.[/FONT]
[FONT=calibri]Gym training in the 8-12 rep range where you fail after 3-5 sets is the optimal stimulus for muscle growth and while a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle the penalty is a decrease in power to weight. This type of training also tends to leave the legs trashed for days (as it should if hypertrophy is the goal).[/FONT]
[FONT=calibri]Training in the 15+ rep range is to train muscular endurance. This is where I play the specificity card. I have some of my endurance riders do some strength training as feeling stronger in themselves adds to their motivation. But having studied neurophysiology I know the message from the brain to the muscle is very specific to the action being performed (riding a bike verses running or swimming), the orientation (road bike verses recumbent), the cadence (different levels of stress while riding 400watts uphill, tailwind, headwind, Velodrome, off-road), nature of riding (maintaining 300 watts in a TT and a normalised power of 300 in a Criterium) and many other factors.[/FONT]
[FONT=calibri]So, if feeling strong from the gym is a positive then keep doing it. My concern is any gym session that leaves you sore. I would rather you trash your legs in a race or doing high intensity intervals. So my suggestion would be to perform true strength training in the 1-3 rep range. This can either mean very heavy weights and the risks associated with that or 30% loads performed very fast. One of my claims to fame is that I have personal trained a World Champion All Black. I was Ben Franks personal trainer when he was a little weedy 14 year old boy, his brother Owen was too young to train with him. These guys do lots of strongman type efforts lifting and throwing things as they do in the game. I am reluctant to say Crossfit but the concept is similar although they push the rep range into the extreme and the training becomes the focus rather than actual true competition.[/FONT]
