[Closed] Training to Increase Strength & Power

is it for mtb?

have you thought about actually riding your bike and learning to use your upper body more? pumping, jumping, hopping, manualling and lifting/placing the bike through sections as you ride can be just as rewarding as charging up hills and will ultimately make you a better rider. I'd be using recovery time to improve technical skills and have some fun instead of going crazy with high intensity intervals trying to build up strength too quickly with an already ****ed knee. And consider a support brace if it's really bad.

After 5 surgeries I would not want to risk screwing up the surgeons good work. I would be chatting with my physio as to exactly what the best way forward is.

Think about getting to your local sports centre & get involved in spinning classes. I go twice a week & sessions are geared towards all round fitness with Endurance, Strength & Interval sessions. Whilst also improving your general cardio fitness.

It has certainly helped my cycling improve since i have been going for the last 6 months or so.

Work on your core in the gym, have a look at http://www.bikejames.com/ for some ideas for core strength stuff.

Think about getting to your local sports centre & get involved in spinning classes.

I'd avoid spinning as it f***d my recently recovered from 1 op knee, let alone 5 ops!

I found a turbo trainer and lots of paitience was the best solution. Forget getting as fit as you were in a hurry and concentrate on something else. I took up swimming to shed some of the weight I'd gained and did 10-20 easy minutes on the tubo each morning to keep my legs ticking over.

About the only strengthening excercises I could do were things like walking up/down stairs very slowly forewards/backwards/left/right (so 4 trips up, 4 down). Repeat that keeping your legs as aligned as possible.

4 years on I regulalry ride singlespeed, but for the first 2 years any attempt at getting fit just resulted in 1 step forewards, 2 setps back as it agrivated the injury.

GW - Yes for mtb but also aiming to get back to skiing, climbing hillwalking etc. The riding you describe certainly sound like a lot more fun but I'm looking to build strength to allow returning other sports. I always believed it needed be high intensity to do this. I've already got a knee brace too.

After 5 surgeries I would not want to risk screwing up the surgeons good work. I would be chatting with my physio as to exactly what the best way forward is.

Point taken but I've seen a lot of sports physios but very few have much experience of my injuries and have not proven much use. My current physio not particularly clued up on cycling specific training either. I'll end up discussing any potential training program with the physio anyway.

Have a look here...[url= http://www.tacx.com/en/tacx-coach/trainingsprogrammas/index.dot ]Tacx website[/url] It might give you an idea for a starting point at least.

I'd definitely recommend a look at Bike James' blog.

He has some interesting things to say on pedaling dynamics and using your core and hips to improve power at the pedal rather than building bigger and faster quads, which can lead to imbalances at the knees.

I think this also echoes the 'doesn't ss shag your knees' question - answer - not if your standing up to pedal and have a strong core to utilse your biggest assets - your butt muscles (which is what we're designed to use after millions of years as runners not pedallers)..

you don't need to go to a gym to develop "core" strength.
simply lower your seatpost right out the way and ride your mtb as you would a BMX.

pedalling aint all that. 😉

6 knee ops here (3 ACLs, 2 cart and 1 tidy up) and a biker/skier.

Physios advice was good for getting back general fitness but bike specific has been harder and i waited until i had decent general fitness back before looking to bike specific.

You did not mention what injury it was and i note you said that you could not do lunges etc. However unfortuantely I find weight training better for building strength/power rather than interval training. I did have to start off from nothing, just body weight resistance or less if gym allows, it was a case of being patient (even when holding 1kg pink dumbells) if it is an option it is worth asking about it.

There are still some things i can not do e.g. squats with free weights but i can do squats on the Smith machine which because the bar is fixed for horiontal movement means less wobble and better positioning, i started off with no weights just the bar and 3sets of 12 and have built up to 50kg on the bar, which is not much but has been of benefit to my cycling.

Deadlifts i found good for the back/core and hamstrings without impact on the knees.

Road cycling and Turbo both help as does the cross trainer and treadmill hill profile.

Good luck

EDIT - I believe Yoga and Pilates (sp?) are good for rehab as well but have not tried either

Thanks for the replies so far. I realise the core is important but I think I already have plenty of core & stability exercises within my program. I'm looking to address the deficiencies in strength and power in the legs themselves.

ijs445ra - Good to hear from someone else with a bit of knee history. I've done ACL, PCL and Shattered Kneecap. The real problem is the kneecap as its a bit of a cheese grater when under heavy loads. Heavy weights just cause swelling/pain and is something that won't go away. Pushing through the pain is not an option as the knee were wear out prematurely. Like yourself I've had to work up from very little weight to reasonable levels. I have reasonable muscle mass now but am struggling to progress further without using heavy weights and thats why I'm interested in interval training as an alternative.

I've had knee problems on and off for about 5 years including an ACL repair 3 or 4 years ago now.

My advice is that if you want a stable knee, you need to start from scratch in the gym, preferably with support from a physio. Extended periods of injury lead to all kinds of imbalances and you aren't going to eliminate them on a bike, in fact it is easy to make them worse.

Training for outright power/strength is very difficult to combine with rehab on an unstable knee. Everything you do needs to be done with a decent posture and range of motion. If you are patient then your leg and core strength will improve and you will find you are significantly stronger and more balanced on the bike.

Weights stuff that works for me.

Light squats, big ROM
Deadlifts
Poliquin/Peterson step-ups
Single-leg deadlifts
Split Squats

Core training is always beneficial, and things like skipping, shuttle runs, step-ups, lunges, squats done in a circuit can be helpful.

It is a very good time to start, if you get into the gym twice a week, make sure you are patient with progression and mix up your exercises you could make a lot of headway before the clocks go forward again.

If you are getting a "cheese grater" effect on the back of your kneecap you might get some benefit out of a foam roller. A bit of stretching and foam roller will take a lot of the tightness out of your legs. You may end up close to tears the first couple of times you use it but it is worth persevering with.