The latest extraordinarily dull TrainerRoad podcast has what they call a ‘deep dive’ into combining endurance cycling and strength training. I lost the will to live part way through it, but it saves you from endless google mining I guess:

Ooh I really like their podcast but I am a bit of a geek. You should try “the triathlon show” if you want real boring attention to scientific detail!

Ooh I really like their podcast but I am a bit of a geek. You should try “the triathlon show” if you want real boring attention to scientific detail!

I don’t really dislike it, I quite enjoy the geeky training chat, but the ‘deep dives’ seem to consist mostly of Coach Chad using google and reporting back and leave me a bit cold. I enjoy the endless, obsessive agonising about stuff like whether saving 5g on a bidon will impact your performance. I think I’ll give the triathlon show a miss though 🙂

Lift hard, ride hard and your body will adapt to it. You’ll suffer for a period proportionate to your age + fitness but you’ll get there

Strongly suggest kettlebells for much of the lifting part, and add in a daily yin yoga session to prevent seizing up too much

I lift 5 times a week at lunch all year and ride 3-4 times a week in summer, 1-2 in winter. I also train MMA 3 times a week, that is the real limiting one as it means I’m constantly trying to rest some injury while at the same time trying to gain as much strength and cardio as possible. If I back off the training for a few weeks I really feel the different sessions overlapping: for example a ride the day after leg day will hurt and a BJJ session after core work is painful but once I’m back in line I don’t notice it anymore

If you want your body to be strong and resistant in any situation, just put it in as many different difficult situations as you can and let it figure it out. As long as you’re doing deadlifts, squats and presses to stimulate the growth you’ll adapt

“ Lift hard, ride hard and your body will adapt to it. You’ll suffer for a period proportionate to your age + fitness but you’ll get there”

This is true if “hard” is not “too hard”. Our bodies do not have infinite capacity for work.

BWD, yeah I sometimes love his theories too as if he has had a new Archimedes-style insight 🙂 He’s not too good when he gets distracted or interrupted either! At least they are trying to do proper science although the evidence is often pretty scanty. Their podcast also does full out and back commute which helps.

A few years ago I was dipping my toes in XC racing, commuting 5 days a week on the mtb – mixing road and off road and urban fun. Tried to get into bodyweight strength training and my wrists, elbows, and shoulders just couldn’t take it all. However since lockdown, WFH, and my commutes dropping to 3 times a week on a road bike (no MTB in working order) I’m making progress on bodyweight stuff. Using running for cardio and legs, bodyweight for upper strength, yoga for all round mobility/flexibility, and learning bicycle trials for bike skills (2-3 short sessions a week so quite slow progress there) – the commutes just about keep me ticking over at cycling I guess. It’s taken circumstance mainly to get me there, but it’s all reasonably well balanced. Probably not the balance looked for in this thread, and while I’m pushing myself to some degree, I’m still at beginner level in it all, and using it just for enjoyment and as a challenge to be better at something physical rather than some of my past hobbies being more for the mental challenge.

chiefgrooveguru
Free Member
“ Lift hard, ride hard and your body will adapt to it. You’ll suffer for a period proportionate to your age + fitness but you’ll get there”

This is true if “hard” is not “too hard”. Our bodies do not have infinite capacity for work.

There’s no such thing as ‘too hard’, just ‘insufficient commitment’ 🙂

Jokes aside though, fair point, I’ll add a caveat to my initial post: Listen to your body as well, sleep loads and eat healthily and plenty, it won’t work if you’re also on some stupid lose a stone a week starvation diet, sleeping 6hrs a night and/or drinking 7 pints every night

Oh yeah, there is “too hard” I do every lift to failure on the second set. If you’re not terrified of dropping them on the last lift then you could have done more or gone heavier.

Does anyone have a minimum effective dose strength session that they do 1 x per week when volume of riding doesn’t allow more time in the gym in the summer?
Ideally I’d like to fit in squats, dead lifts, bench press, bent over row and shoulder press 5×5 in one session but it’s going to be too much. Would alternating squats/deadlifts and only doing each one every second week be enough to maintain?

I intermittently do the MTB Fitness 12 week plan which gives me the focus to fit it all in. I have used the gym version and the home version and fair to say that both have their benefits. Currently back on the home version as I binned the gym membership.
Worth a look if you want something that actually makes a difference and keeps you on track. There is a 16 week version of you are already fit as f@ck
Linky to Plan

“ Would alternating squats/deadlifts and only doing each one every second week be enough to maintain?”

Yes, or just replacing them with trap bar deadlifts which is basically a hybrid of the two movements. What sort of % are you lifting for 5×5 of those? Seems a lot for one session, unless you’re young, short, light, well trained.

Great insights, cheers all.

So, my plan is:

Intro lifts / movement + base for next month.

Weight gain squats / trap + base for
8 weeks.

8 weight maintenance + FTP increase. Then see how I can progress / focus on outdoor off-road rides.

Am very lucky to be moving into new building for work with gym in the basement so should be able to fit lots in around lunch. Also have a Wattbike studio round the corner.

Going to pass it by the trainer in gym to make sure I don’t do anything stupid and fit in yoga while I can. Basically starting from nothing after some time off the bike seriously due to other commitments but let’s see how it goes.

@jpacey

Do those movements but 2 sets of each.
First set for 8-10 reps and second set 10-12 reps
Set 1 @ max weight
Set 2, take some weight off (drop squat weight by 10kg etc)

Do the biggest lifts (squats and deadlifts) first.

Should take about 35 minutes to do including warmup.

Note down weights and reps. Next workout do 1 more rep or a higher weight than last time (called progressive overload and is the key to weight lifting)

That’s my style and is a good mix of increasing strength and muscle mass and time efficiency.

And when I say max weight, I mean it. If you aren’t struggling to do the last rep, it wasn’t heavy enough. You should feel a small to medium amount of fear when you feel the weight on the bar for your first rep

Cheers

The TrainerRoad podcast was a long / tough slog but interesting.

Basically, don’t be a pussy, your body will adapt if you are well fuelled and hydrated.

Recovery from endurance cycle workout is hours vs a day or more for lifting. Essentially you can do both cycle and lift in a day if you start with the cycle and fuel properly in-between. Many other theories discussed but as semi time crunched person I like this one. Essentially 2x workouts per day, 3 days a week should nicely. They will be discussing it in more detail next week.