To be a faster cyclist, you need to be a strong cyclist. Strength limitations are too commonly a performance limiter whether riders recognize it or not. These limitations also correlate strongly with bone deficiency and muscle atrophy in the lesser-used, ‘non-cycling’ muscles, so strength training should not be neglected.
We’ve created a set of strength benchmarks that we feel should serve as strength goals for three different groups of cyclists. Rather than a strength training plan, remember, these are goals to strive for.
To get started check out our article, Strength Training Basics for Cyclists, and use our Strength Training for Cyclists Weight Calculator to find out what weight you would need to use.
Strength That Makes You Faster
We’ve assigned three levels to endurance athletes ascending from Level One (Basic strength requirements) to Level Two (Intermediate strength requirements) to Level Three (Advanced strength requirements). These requirements are based on our perception of the differing strength demands of particular cycling disciplines.
Careful consideration has been given to the mass:benefit ratio, i.e., the performance benefit of added muscle mass related to the amount of work necessary to carry the added body weight. For example, the benefit of one added pound of mass seen by a criterium racer is likely to be greater than that seen by a pure climber. Consideration has also been given to the need for greater strength requirements during longer, multi-hour events.
A custom training plan, automatically built for your goals.
Try Plan BuilderLevel Three (Sprinter)
Criterium Racers, Short Track Cross-Country Mountain Bikers, Gravity-Oriented Mountain Bikers, Enduro Racers, Cyclocross Racers, Track Sprinters
Level Three – Men
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (175lb/80kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 150% BW | 260 lbs / 120 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 125% BW | 220 lbs / 100 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 90% BW | 165 lbs / 75 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 90% BW | 165 lbs / 75 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 15 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 55% BW | 100 lbs / 45 kg |
Level Three – Women
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (135lb/60kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 105% BW | 140 lbs / 65 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 87% BW | 120 lbs / 55 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 65% BW | 90 lbs / 40 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 65% BW | 90 lbs / 40 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 5 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 40% BW | 55 lbs / 25 kg |
Level Two (All-Rounder)
Cross-Country Mountain Bikers, Time Trialists, Rolling Road Racers, Cross-Country Marathon Mountain Bikers, Full-Distance Triathletes, Endurance Track Cyclists
Level Two – Men
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (175lb/80kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 100% BW | 175 lbs / 80 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 75% BW | 130 lbs / 60 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 55% BW | 100 lbs / 45 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 55% BW | 100 lbs / 45 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 10 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 35% BW | 60 lbs / 30 kg |
Level Two – Women
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (135lb/60kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 70% BW | 95 lbs / 45 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 50% BW | 70 lbs / 30 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 40% BW | 55 lbs / 25 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 40% BW | 55 lbs / 25 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 3 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 20% BW | 30 lbs / 15 kg |
Level One (Climber)
Climbing Road Racers, Sprint Triathletes, Olympic Distance Triathletes, Half-Distance Triathletes, Gravel Racers, Gran Fondo Riders
Level One – Men
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (175lb/80kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 75% BW | 130 lbs / 60 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 50% BW | 90 lbs / 40 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 40% BW | 70 lbs / 30 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 40% BW | 70 lbs / 30 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 5 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 20% BW | 40 lbs / 20 kg |
Level One – Women
| Exercise | Prescription | Example Prescription (135lb/60kg) |
| Deadlift | 5 Reps 50% BW | 70 lbs / 30 kg |
| Back Squat | 5 Reps 35% BW | 50 lbs / 20 kg |
| Bench Press | 5 Reps 25% BW | 35 lbs / 15 kg |
| Barbell Row | 5 Reps 25% BW | 35 lbs / 15 kg |
| Pull/Chin-Ups | Number of Reps | 1 Reps |
| Military Press | 5 Reps 15% BW | 20 lbs / 10 kg |
How to Use These Benchmarks
Firstly, please remember these are subjective benchmarks that, if reached, we feel will qualify you as a sufficiently strong athlete.
All benchmarks are relative to body weight. To remove the guesswork, use our Strength Training for Cyclists Weight Calculator. Pull-Up/Chin-Up recommendations are based on our personal views. When necessary, round the specific weight recommendations to the nearest five pound increment for practical purposes.
Women’s benchmarks are based on 70% of men’s recommendations for lower body lifts. If you feel the need to adjust these further, please do! We want you to be training at the right intensity.
All of these benchmarks are aimed solely at endurance athletes concerned with enhancing their endurance capabilities, improving their basic quality of movement in day-to-day life, decreasing their likelihood on crash-related injuries, and decreasing their odds of bone mass loss and related diseases as well as decreasing the rate of muscle loss that takes place with aging and/or disuse–these standards won’t stand up when leveled at dedicated strength athletes.
Past Level Three requirements, we don’t see the benefit of added strength outweighing the penalty of added body mass and excess time spent training strength over endurance. In other words, the endurance performance returns diminish too far when strength training is emphasized too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this a strength training plan?
No. These are merely benchmarks. We recommend working with a competent strength training coach that is familiar with training endurance athletes in order to reach these goals. - How do I figure out how much weight I need?
Use our Strength Training for Cyclists Weight Calculator! - When should I incorporate strength training during my training week?
Getting stronger and getting faster both require adequate recovery, so scheduling your strength training on recovery days is seldom a good idea. Performing your strength work later in the same day as your tougher endurance work allows you to reap better training benefits thanks to higher-quality recovery. Ideally, separate your strength training from your endurance training as much as possible within the same day. For example, perform an endurance workout in the morning, then perform your strength training as late in the day as possible (or vice versa) without negatively impacting your sleep. - Do I have to wait until the off-season to start strength training?
No. Strength training is a year-round necessity if you want to maintain any strength gains you’ve established. Typically, the Base phase is the best time to maximize the volume of strength training (2-3x/week), the Build phase is a good time to transition into heavier lifting (2x/week), and the Specialty phase is the proper time to enter into maintenance training (1-2x/week). - How much rest between sets?
In the interest of furthering strength with no concern for metabolic conditioning (you’ll get that on the bike), recovery between exercises should be thorough. Recovering for at least 3 minutes before repeating an exercise is sufficient when pursuing improvements in strength since it’s the minimum time necessary to adequately restore your anaerobic energy stores for another round of work. - What if I’m stronger than these goals?
Then you’re already as strong as we deem necessary to perform well as an endurance athlete. This probably means that strength deficiency isn’t one of your performance limiters. Further gains are always at your discretion, but we strongly feel that they’re not likely to further enhance your endurance capabilities. - I’m very bad at pull-ups, any tips?
The use of rubber bands like Rogue’s Monster Bands is a great option for anyone training alone. Another option for those training solo is the use of eccentric reps (negatives) or holds. Eccentric reps mean you’ll start with your chin above the bar and slowly descend to the bottom of the movement over the course of a few or several seconds. Holds start with your chin above the bar as well, but this time you simply hang there and resist gravity as long as possible. The use of a spotter to assist your pull-ups is another option. - Should I split my exercise into different days? (Upper vs Lower, etc.)
Split routines are an excellent way to break up strength training, and they’re definitely an option, but they add another workout to your calendar and potentially absorb another possibility for recovery. But if your schedule accommodates a split routine, you can separate your exercises into pushing days & pulling days or upper body & lower body days. - Can I do variations of any of these exercises? For example dumbbell bench press instead of barbell bench press?
Variations are always welcome and encouraged, especially if your gains have plateaued below your goal weights or reps. But if you’re looking to adhere to our particular movement/weight recommendations, variations should be used supplementally rather than as replacements for the exercises we’ve specified. - Do I have to do all the exercises in the same session in order for it to count?
No. You can achieve all of your goal weights/reps on different days as long as they aren’t separated by an unreasonable length of time. Ideally, you’ll complete all of your goal weight/reps within the same week.
For more cycling training knowledge, listen to The Ask a Cycling Coach — the only podcast dedicated to making you a faster cyclist. New episodes are released weekly.
Share this Post
Did I miss it, or is there not a number of sets listed?
Hey Bud,
So the suggestions listed in the article are benchmarks rather than prescriptive exercises. They exist to show you how strong you _should_ be to perform optimally in your chosen discipline. We are going to work on some re-wording to make that more clear 🙂
If you fall short of your benchmark, integrating strength workouts once per week can be a great way to build up to your optimal level of strength, however, we do not have a detailed strength training plan at this time. Much of strength training is individual, and working with a strength and conditioning coach could be helpful in you reaching your goals.
I’ve always thought that you wanted to do your strength training at the beginning of the season while you are building your base and then let your sport and discipline-specific training take over. I’ve tried to do both in season and find it really hard to optimize my training and performance on the bike if I’m putting out even maintenance strength training effort. Any pros and cons to strength training during the season? Thanks
Hey Steve!
We touch on this in the FAQ, but I’ve dropped it here for convenience:
“Strength training is a year-round necessity if you want to maintain any strength gains you’ve established. Typically, the Base phase is the best time to maximize the volume of strength training (2-3x/week), the Build phase is a good time to transition into heavier lifting (2x/week), and the Specialty phase is the proper time to enter into maintenance training (1-2x/week).”
That being said, if you feel that your mid-season strength training is seriously degrading the quality of your cycling workouts, then going down to one low-intensity strength workout per week could be a good option.
I hope that makes sense!
I definitely second that! Strength training needs to be year round. To keep maintaining strength research suggests 1/3 of the volume is sufficient so yes at least once per week in season. If in doubt consult a specialist strength coach for specific programming.
In the most recent podcast, I believe Jonathan mentions that these have to be run through 5 times.
Hi! Yeah, I miss the recommeded sets, too.
The values in the charts are not meant to be prescriptive workouts, but rather a benchmark that demonstrates proficient strength for your specific discipline. If you fall short of your benchmarks, then integrating some strength training would likely boost your race performance.
While we do not have a specific workout plan, we typically recommend maximizing strength training volume in the Base phase (2-3x/week). During the Build phase, we recommend transitioning into heavier lifting (2x/week), and during the Specialty phase, we recommend entering into maintenance training (1-2x/week).
For specific plans and workouts, a strength and conditioning coach could be a very valuable resource in helping you reach your benchmark goals.
Just wonder how accurate people think this is? I consider myself to be pretty weak, yet I can easily hit the Level 2 standards.
I would like to mention that it would be good to possibly be more specific about the type of pull-up that is good for a cyclist to be able to do..
From my knowledge I might suggest that the only true pull-up is one where hands are placed slightly further than shoulder width apart.. and you alternate between the bar going behind the head and in front of the head.. Those must be the most difficult type..
They are certainly much more difficult than the type where hands are close together on the bar with palms/fingers pointing towards you (rather than away as they are when hands are further apart than shoulder width).
I switched to functional patterns and the one thing that I feel like functional patterns pretty much completely ignore is the ability to do a pull-up
How many sets per body part?
Hey Peter,
The values outlined in this article are designed to be benchmarks rather than prescriptive workouts. What that means is that if you fall short of the recommended benchmark, you have cycling performance to gain through strength training. On the other hand, if you’re as strong or stronger than the benchmark, then your primary focus should be put on maintenance rather than strength building.
I hope that clears things up!
The benchmarks are great. I am limited, however, by how much my doctor will let me deadlift and back squat. I had a compression fracture of my L3 from a bicycle accident several years ago. It has healed well and has been stable for the last three years. Are there recommended ways to strengthen my legs and core without putting a lot of stress on my spine?
These benchmarks are really helpful and unique across the training sphere—most programs and models are far less specific. Did coach Chad outline anywhere how he came to these conclusions (eg the science and data). In the podcasts he always provides the evidence he uses to draw his conclusions, and I think this is one of the reasons his method is so effective and collectively admired.
There are no specific sources used for Chad’s Strength Recommendations. The recommendations are based on Chad’s experience as a strength training coach prior to his time as a cycling coach, his experience providing strength training recommendations to cyclists as their coach, and the massive amount of research Chad has devoted to human performance and strength training.
My goals with strength work are to correct imbalances, help my body take on the stress of regular training, and stave off the ravages of old age (I’m only 40, but it’s never too early). Question is, if I can hit some of the level 2 and level 3 benchmarks, do I simply not do those exercises? Or do my repeats at the benchmark numbers?
Would love to see a version of these benchmarks for bodyweight only movements. Trickier to determine I accept but would be great for people like me who don’t have access to a gym but have gymnastic rings in my garage.
What level should folks looking to train for ultra-distance (Tour Divide, Paris-Brest-Paris, RAAM, etc.) target? I’d assume that it’d be Level 3 since weight isn’t as important as resiliency, but then Gran Fondos are at a Level 1.
Hey Erin,
Long-distance/ ultra-distance strength requirements would be at Level 1. You need strength to hold your position, but not much more due to the low-intensity nature of the event.
Level 3 is more for high-intensity racers since for them, strength helps to achieve a higher max power and “punch”.
I hope that clears things up!
If one wanted to buy some basic weights for their garage – the minimum to be able to do strength work through the season – what would you buy? A 45lb bar and some weights? Kettle Bell?
I chatted with Chad on his recommendations, and he had this to say:
“Probably the most user-friendly (and space/cost-conscious) strength training solution available is an adjustable set of dumbbells. The Bowflex SelectTech are a good option, and are sufficiently heavy for most endurance athletes.
Maybe the next step beyond that: squat rack, barbell, set of weight plates, probably a flat bench.
But I wouldn’t add this equipment unless I first had a set of dumbbells since you can do a lot of things with dumbbells at any skill level where the barbell + plates combo isn’t as versatile unless you’re a reasonably experienced, well-educated lifter.
https://www.bowflex.com/selecttech/552/100131.html?adID=DOFG2DFEED1&psearch=1&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1261912&ds_rl=1273623&gclid=Cj0KCQjwv8nqBRDGARIsAHfR9wBkAZOJ2njpcpRbd2DMZdprhRFKhhawNS9eoBn_iHARSSLNYHmj1O0aAgp4EALw_wcB”
Hope this helps!
Hey guy’s, would you not train core specifically at any time?
Also a separate question. I came to triathlon from a crossfit background and consider myself reasonably strong. I started using the level 2 as a guide but found them (relatively) easy. Would you recomend staying at these weights and reps? Or could I increase the number of reps or sets without detrimenting my triathlon/cycling performance? I’m 27, 6ft 1, and around 87kg. My main target is time trials 10/25/50 miles. I completed ironman Wales last year, but sticking more to 70.3s this and next season.
Cheers
Patrick
Each of the benchmark exercises foster core strength and stability. It can get a little tricky because endurance athletes may have the leg strength to squat a heavy load, but they don’t have the structural integrity (spine, shoulders, hips) to support the load safely. By gradually increasing your loading, you will ensure that your core strengthens along with the rest of your body, and if you are already meeting the benchmarks with proper form, this means that you have adequate core stability as well.
And to clarify, the suggestions listed in the article are benchmarks rather than prescriptive exercises. They exist to show you how strong you _should_ be to perform optimally in your chosen discipline. They don’t necessarily instruct how many sets and reps you should complete when training these exercises.
The idea of these benchmarks is that once you meet the strength requirement for your discipline, there is little performance to gain from further strength building. So while you can increase the sets and reps if you would like to become stronger, it would likely serve to increase your mass rather than to improve your performance on the bike. Rather, once you meet the benchmark, we recommend switching to a maintenance type strength program.
Hi I’ve seen other posters ask this same question but can’t see a reply listed (I understand that these are benchmarks and so on) but should we aim for just 1 set (with 5 reps) of each exercise or multiple sets? Many thanks, Will
These benchmarks are for a single set 🙂
Quite frankly I don’t understand these benchmarks. All are very lowish, even the level 3 is not much.
Level 1 is a bit like one for disabled people. All good climbers that I know are 2xBW raw squatters and deadlifters. If we think about keeping up 400W for an half an hour it is very demanding for leg muscles. Regardless of max vo2 the static muscle fatique will be a challenge and this is where the strength comes in. Better strength, lower tension at certain work load level.
Hi Guys,
Are you aware of any academic datasets or papers that provide normative values for these exercises for cyclists (male and female)?
I’ve been looking for some (which is how I ended up on this blog), but it seems like there aren’t really any that are robust with any decent sample sizes over different ages and riding abilities.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
These recommendations are based on Coach Chad’s observations from 7 years experience strength training endurance athletes. These are just his recommendations and are not based on a particular academic source.
hello is hevier weights and low reps better than high reps low weight for crit racers and why?
hello are low reps and high weights better than high reps and low weights for crit racers?
It depends on what you’re after. If a stronger body/better power transfer/less wasted motion/better bike handling capabilities/etc. are among your goals, higher rep schemes and more muscle mass is a great way to go. If greater fiber recruitment/more raw strength/minimal additional muscle mass is the aim, heavy lifts are the way to go. But if the latter is the case, it can be a bit risky to jump straight into heavy lifts without some of the foundational strength and movement patterning that comes with lower loads + higher reps.
Hello. not sure if i missed it…. when should I do strength training? I’m starting the mid lvl 2 block this week with M/F being off days. Thanks
This article is designed to show you strength benchmarks, but we do not have strength training programs at the moment. If you fall short of your benchmark, we recommend working with a personal trainer to help build a structured strength training program to fit in with your cycling goals.
What does BW mean?
BW is body weight.
Great article and a good guide for those looking to commence ST. I am interested though as to how you came to these numbers? Are they based off what these level of athletes are capable of or some specific research?
These numbers are based on Coach Chad’s experience strength training high-level cycling athletes for 7 years. While not peer-reviewed studies, they are very well-informed guidelines that can help to direct your strength training as an endurance athlete.
As a sports scientist I’m very surprised at the recommendations and benchmarks especially for climbers.
Given that sprinters need more raw power than a full-distance triathlete (opposite ends of the scale) I would have thought half distance triathletes would be in the middle, not lower than full-distance. Or have I mis-read that
Thank you Jonathan/Chad
I’m reading lately a single set of strength exercises is sufficient. I do find 3 sets leave me tired for 4-5 days. Do you have a take on the 1 set advice?
Thank you for the info, can one use a 45lb kettle bell instead, and get a sufficient workout in?