What is lactic acid?

Fuel, Not Foe? The Truth About Lactic Acid

http://running.competitor.com/2014/01/training/six-lies-you-were-taught-about-lactic-acid_29432

If i thought I’d be pulling 80kg.
I’d do 5 x 20, 5 x 40 and 5 x 60 before doing my 5×5 at 80kg.

Hmm. I’d say otherwise. For 5×5 I’d be doing two lighter warm up sets then 5×5 at full working weight, maybe adding small increments of 2.5kg if I felt like it

For example, tonight I was on 4 x 6 snatch grip deadlifts. Two warm up sets of 8 at light then slightly heavier weights then into the full working sets of 4 x 6 @ 100kg and as a finisher I had 15 regular deadlifts at 100kg.

The only time I’d follow your suggestion is if I’m going for a heavy 2 reps where my sequence is 8,5,3,2,2,2 with the final 2 being my all out max and I’d have some fairly big jumps in weight on each set

It would be something like

8 @ 60kg
5 @ 80kg
3 @ 100kg
2 @ 120kg
2 @ 140kg
2 @ 160kg

Thought this article was interesting, quite similar to my experience to be honest but more objective and evidence based. Thought it was interesting that he also found that the improvement in core strength paid off in eliminating lower back pain in the Whitton and also the ‘real world’ stuff that most of us don’t have unlimited training time, so time spent in the gym tends to replace time spent on the bike.

I think I get more bang for my buck in performance terms from mixing HIIT with some dumbbell-based holistic core stuff, but I think everyone’s different. Anyway, might be worth a look.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/strength-training-for-cyclists-is-it-worth-it-125222

This time of year I tend to prioritise playing rugby over the bike and then swap over once the season has ended. There’s definitely some crossover between the two if you’re riding is off road based but there’s also some benefit to an easy road spin the day after a game for recovery.

If contact isn’t your thing then touch rugby is a really good alternative which I tend to pick up over the summer once the contact season ends or 5-a-side football. Certainly ring these forms of HIT cardio more interesting than a treadmill or hill sprints plus you’re also improving the mental aspect by having to try and maintain concentration as you fatigue.

Any tips for fitting strength training in a triathlon training schedule which already has 3 runs 3 bike sessions 2 swims and a Pilates class in it. In between Sept and Nov I did 5×5 and was going well but pulled my back not concentrating on a dead lift. I’m now up to full triathlon training, I can’t afford a day off due to sore legs. Plus the runs are high quality sessions I’ve stripped out the junk miles so they bloody hard work.

If you dont have the time then one of the things that might have to go is the strength and conditioning / resistance stuff
http://www.training4cyclists.com/don%E2%80%99t-fall-into-strength-training-trap/

But there can be gains to be had with off the bike training
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/training/article/izn20161128-Off-the-bike-Strength-training-for-winter-cycling-0
https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/preseason-strength-training-for-cyclists-gaining-power-off-the-bike

British Cycling and Team Sky physio Phil Burt

Interview: British Cycling and Team Sky physio Phil Burt

Wiggins, however, is a rider well-versed to Burt’s training routines and the requirements, also, of work off the bike.

And the changing attitudes towards training are typified by one of Burt’s anecdotes about one of Britain’s favourite cycling sons.

“He came to me in 2008 when he was with Team Colombia with a CD they had given him,” he explained. “His off the bike work wasn’t great then, and they had come up with 27 exercises for them to be doing.

“He showed it to me and said, if I do all of those I won’t have any time left to ride my bike!

“I think it comes down to what your goals are. If you just want to ride your bike and you have very little time for anything else then just ride your bike.

“Bradley does a lot of resistance training now and the build up to his world time trial win was part of that. All the evidence now is that endurance cyclists can benefit from a training programme – not big heavy weights, but some.”

I’m currently doing 2 x cross country sking per week and one trainer road session, plus 3 x weights sessions using 5×5 but deadlier ingredients twice and week and squatting once.

basically I can’t cycle here until April is so will stick with this combo then drop one weights session for the bike when the weather changes

http://velomotion.today/why-cross-country-skiing-will-make-you-a-better-cyclist/

http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/boasson_hagen_spent_more_time_in_the_gym_this_offseason/

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/edvald-boasson-hagen-begins-new-chapter-sky-157613

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/13/edvald-boasson-hagen-seals-win-while-bradley-wiggins-may-ride-after-rio

deadlifts not ‘deadlier ingredients’ !

I’m struggling to find the right balance for a combination of road riding, MTB, triathlon and general aesthetics but my current schedule is 3 weights sessions, ABA split.

Weights all follow Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program so warmups plus relatively small working sets:

A is squat 3×5, bench 3×5, power cleans 5×3, dips 3×8
B is squat 3×5, overhead press 3×5, deadlift 1×5, chin-ups 3×8

Full program atm with cardio is:
Mon: weights, easy 5k run
T: hilly 10k run, tech swim
W: weights, easy 5k
T: track run session
F: weights, easy 5k
S: long run, long swim
S: long bike

I’m a keeping an eye on the number of “heavy” sessions (basically every weekday!) but at the moment I’m still managing to keep the quality there. But def need to add another easy bike and swim in there somewhere…

Anyway – it all seems to be working so far, only hing is I’m *hungry* a lot of the time, and I need a good 8 hours rest every night to recover properly!

Samb I would struggle with squatting 3 times a week and no rest day, but each to their own!

squatting 3 times a week

From my perspective and for what it’s worth. I don’t think I quite realised just how much a full on strength training session can take it out of you and the recovery required post workout. As cyclists we are very much focused on CV and as a result a hard gym workout that is not CV can be viewed as not as taxing. This is a mistake and I think that I have been pushing myself into the ground without realising it, by going too hard at the gym and then still expecting to go and do a 3+ hr ride the next day. On one stupid occasion over Christmas, I hit the gym for 45 mins of strength training and then went on a 4 hour ride 3 hours later. In hindsight, very stupid.

Yeah I get that 3x a week for squats is pretty heavy, but that’s what the “Starting Strength” programme prescribes, so that’s what I’m going to start with. I’ll make changes from there if anything starts to suffer unduly.

Key thing I’m sticking to is making sure the “easy” sessions are definitely easy. I had a bit of a wobble last weekend: weights on Friday, pacey 10k run on Saturday then an 85k road ride on Sunday… On the Sunday ride, I bonked massively around 65k or so and had to yum down a load of fruit & nut to get home!

Working pretty well this week though, 3x weights, 7 runs, 2 swims. No bike sessions – legs were feeling tired this morning, so I took the morning off and did a gentle 4k run and 1k swim in the evening. Still a little sore but should be fine for squats before work tomorrow morning 😈

I think I meant more that you are not recovering from squatting 3x per week. the day after you are running or cycling or some kind of CV. if it was me that would catch up with me in the end, either through tiredness, illness or injury, but if it works for you all good!

Sigh… this all makes me wistfully nostalgic for the days when the Southern Yeti would strut the forum flaunting his compulsive exercise disorder and boasting about how he combined brutal weights sessions with multi-marathon endurance runs on the same day. And then there were the food fights… oh yes…

I can’t believe no-one’s mentioned six-packs yet either.

@SamB – I don’t think your weekly schedule is sustainable. At the very least you ought to slot in a single proper recovery day. Are you the Southern Yeti in disguise? Do you have easy weeks?

@BWD I’m actually taking an easy week this week – I’m away for a friend’s birthday this weekend so taking it a little bit easier.

But yeah I’m a little worried about the lack of a recovery day, but am going to press on and see how it goes. Definitely making sure I keep an eye on recovery though, I was pretty burnt out Sunday and today but should be back on the gym tomorrow AM.

Definitely no six packs here though! And definitely taking it very easy outside of the weight sessions 8)