off season training (no weights?)

smnw10 said:

First off I wanted to let everyone know I looked through a good number of threads and couldn't find an answer to this question.

it is answered, or at least in parts in other questions. nonetheless, read on!

Quoted post said:

This was my first year road racing and I improved tremendously throughout the season simply by getting more and more miles in. It's offseason time so should I continue to ride outdoors and train that way til it's too cold and then hit an indoor trainer? Or do I do some riding but weight lifting as well?

excellent that you've improved. structured training and coaching, and well defined goals will help you improve further.

Quoted post said:

I read a few things arguing back and forth saying that weight training does help and others that it doesn't help at all.

while a few people do argue that it's beneficial, there's no evidence that it is in trained cyclists, and evidence and first principles that it isn't. it is highly unlikely to help you, and will mostly be detrimental to cycling performance (assuming you don't take up e.g., track sprinting)

Quoted post said:

I'm looking to be a good all around rider doing well in Crits as well as Road Races/Circuit Races.

I have an indoor trainer, a Tacx Excel I think it is, the one that will measure wattage among other things but not the really fancy VR one.
I also have a heart monitor.

With that said does someone know of a good 60min workout I could do on the trainer that could be done INSTEAD of weight training?

there are NO cycle training sessions that could replace weight training on a trainer. weight training increases strength, and this can't be done indoors on a bike unless you have a specially adapted ergometer with a huge flywheel so that you can replicate standing starts. the initial couple of seconds outdoors doing standing starts may increase strength (see starting efforts of 500-m and 1-km track TT riders).

there are lots of 60-min and longer indoor sessions that can be done to increase aerobic and anaerobic cycling performance

ric

thanks ric

i guess what i really am looking for is a "guide" or something to follow for workouts on a trainer other than simply riding on it and changing the resistance every now and then

the whole thing about not using weights cause it doesn't really help really intrigues me though

smnw10 said:

thanks ric

i guess what i really am looking for is a "guide" or something to follow for workouts on a trainer other than simply riding on it and changing the resistance every now and then

guides may not be useful... as they'd need to be adapted to each individual. some form of coaching would be much more useful, which we can offer.

Quoted post said:

the whole thing about not using weights cause it doesn't really help really intrigues me though

in the gym thread it goes into it. basically, though the forces in endurance cycle racing are so low to moderate that just about anyone can reach them. maintainting those forces however, is an issue to do with cardiovascular and metabolic functions which in the case of cycling can only be trained on the bike.

weight training increases strength. but we can already generate and exceed the strength requirements of e.g., elite TdF pros if you've not got certain medical conditions, a functional disability and you're approximately the same size as a TdF pro.

in other words elite cyclists are on average no stronger than age, gender, and mass matched, healthy, sedentary controls.

ric