@Nate_Pearson would something like a squat wedge do the same for quad development and loading as you were describing with a hack squat if you dont have access to a machine?
I for one have found huge benefits to my mtbing from strength training.
The guys at Mindpumpmedia do a regular podcast. You can skip all the chat at the beginning and go straight to the listener questions.
They really do seem to have a great depth of knowledge, but more importantly experience, to draw on.
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Wouldn’t say it’s the same as a hack, but elevating your heels with a wedge is fantastic for emphasizing quad development when squatting. Your posture will shift compared to not using the wedge so take time to adjust your balance and get used to the movement.
However, compared to the hack squat, you simply cannot demand the same amount of force from your quads when squatting. You are inhibited not just by balance, but also by your lower back muscles. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a decent exercise, but machines just allow you to demand more from specific muscles.
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Nate’s recommended session for legs was 3 sets.
1 set of squat movement - quad focus
1 set of squat movement - glute and hamstring focus
1 set of leg extensions
I can see that being sufficient for a cyclist if done 2/3 times per week.
6 to 9 hard sets per week for quads. Dr Mike would approve, I reckon. 
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Good for you. Not everyone will have the same experience, though.
If you’re failing a deadlift at 100kg because your grip gives out, but you know you can do 120kg with straps, what’s the point in waiting months for your grip strength to catch up with your posterior chain? Do your warmup sets and as many hard sets as you can without them, then throw on straps and have at it.
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A lot of the disagreement here and elsewhere is about different use cases, demographics: “Start with why”.
I don’t think the podcast was aimed at any single use case, but a variety.
I don’t know who all these people are who are terrified of a barbell squat but I’ve never met one. Start with an empty bar 
but if they do exist, fine Nates advice was well reasoned even if not applicable to me…or my mum.
Getting “most of the benefit” from partials and single sets, and always going to failure, is interesting but it’s unclear how to apply it. As I’m in Speciality phase I only want maintenance kind of lifting, rather than maximal gains or bang for buck. Instead of one 5x3 session per week, three 5x1 sounds doable after each of my bike days without being taxing. And would free up a full day for rest/recovery.
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1 set per exercise is absurd unless you’re doing something similar to doggcrapp’s training philosophy which is more elaborate and intense than probably 90-95% of people are experienced enough to perform. It’s nothing like “just one set” all though it technically is. I did this program for about 6 months back in 2015? And had big improvements. Its definitely not for inexperienced lifters, though.
Another somewhat similar philosophy would be Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty principles. Again, focus on few (or one) set, but it is significantly more elaborate than your typical weight lifting set.
Straps should generally not be used unless there’s a big muscle imbalance, and if so, a ton of grip work should be prioritized (such as doing several sets of farmer’s carry a few times a week).
Machines work, but are inferior to free weights, except as in accessory exercises. Particularly machines that aren’t isolated per side. Using these alone is a great way to further and unknowingly accentuate muscle imbalances between both sides (and have virtually no improvement for stability muscles).
If anyone is serious about wanting to learn more about strength training and overall performance, the 6 part podcast series between Andrew Huberman and Andy Galpin is probably the best in existence. Each episode is around 3 hours. Episode 2 for build strength and grow muscle is particularly applicable to this thread.
I’m pretty new to endurance cycling - but have been lifting weights for over 20 years. We moved into our first home 4 years ago and knew exactly what I wanted for our home gym. It’s been phenomenal.
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I don’t think they go around announcing it but plenty of people do not do barbell squats for a variety of reasons including being nervous about having heavy weight on their back which in a worse case scenario they need to awkwardly dump off their back.
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It‘s probably based on the research by Dr. Pak who looked into minimum effective dose training for powerlifters. Seems like a well dones study, although it‘s somewhat limited duration wise.
I only do two heavy sets of squats and deadlifts each (per week) during my cycling season (rpe 8-9), which worked well for me to maintain strength with minimal fatigue. I also don‘t progressively overload from cycle to cycle during those months. I keep up my regular upper body training though, as it seems to interfere little with my cycling.
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To me that would be a lot. 5x5 at over 100% BW / 130% LBM would qualify as “heavy” but not to failure. And that would affect my aerobic hard days, so didn’t work out as feasible.
Are you doing a standard two or three hard bike days per week with that?
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I vary the exact reps depending on the week of the cycle, but they are in the range of 2-5 @ 85-95% trainings max. For deadlifts that‘s about 170-190% BW, Squats 110-130%. After Squats I take a day completely off and the next is usually a easy day.
I do two hard days and usually one long day. The rest are endurance days, no longer than 2h, often shorter.
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The bit about only doing one set reminded of Mike Mentzer and his training philosophy.
Back in my teens I read Super Squat where the general rule was to one set of 20 squats but to add on a couple of kg each set, and then do this 20 about 3 times a week. Obviously sounds like a very light bar initially but it was amazing how big the difference felt when you go from 80kg to 82kg 
There’s a discussion about minimum effective dose based on research in the ‘Inside exercise’ podcast, the timestamp is at 40 minutes.
Here is the research paper the guest co-wrote, called ‘no time to lift’.
The conclusion is that 3-4 working sets per muscle per week can get good gains. Not close to optimisation, that would take more sets, but good gains.
This is a game changer for me as I’m massively time crunched with a job and two children. I can now do a reasonable full body routine (for general health mainly) in 30 minutes at home three times a week and feel confident that I’m not wasting my time, while leaving more training time to cycle. For each exercise I do one set to failure or try to get within 1-2 reps of failure.
That is a really nice gym. I’ve seen professional gyms that looked less nice.
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One of the things I like about triathlon is the range of society we see - some pain caves look like they have a subs fee and waiting list, some are disused toilet space in a mouldy hellhole. We all toe the line together and reach out when someone is struggling in the water, caught a mechanical or heaving it up on the side of the run course.
Triathlon rocks.
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When squatting with db’s the movement is more of a front squat, with the back squat with a barbell we have the benefit of being able to use our posterior chain to lift more weight. With the other movements you are find with using dbs.
I didn’t have time to listen to 2.5hrs even at 2x speed so threw it through a transcript generator and LLM to create brief summary and key takeaway - if others want it;
The podcast provides a practical example of what a minimum effective dose (MED) training plan might look like for powerlifters, particularly in terms of strength gains:
-
Weekly Sets & Reps: The example suggests performing three to six working sets of one to five repetitions each week, with the sets distributed over one to three sessions per week for each main lift (e.g., squat, bench press, deadlift).
-
Intensity: The lifts should be done with loads above 80% of the 1RM (one-rep max), with an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) between 7.5 to 9.5. This should be done over a span of 6 to 12 weeks to expect strength improvements.
-
Singles and Back-Off Sets: For a more minimal approach, one can perform one to three single reps per lift per week. However, adding two to three back-off sets at 80% 1RM (after completing the singles) greatly increases the likelihood of making meaningful strength gains【20:19†source】.
This example demonstrates how MED can be applied in real-life scenarios, especially for those looking to optimize time and recovery.
The podcast provides a practical example of what a minimum effective dose (MED) training plan might look like for powerlifters, particularly in terms of strength gains:
-
Weekly Sets & Reps: The example suggests performing three to six working sets of one to five repetitions each week, with the sets distributed over one to three sessions per week for each main lift (e.g., squat, bench press, deadlift).
-
Intensity: The lifts should be done with loads above 80% of the 1RM (one-rep max), with an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) between 7.5 to 9.5. This should be done over a span of 6 to 12 weeks to expect strength improvements.
-
Singles and Back-Off Sets: For a more minimal approach, one can perform one to three single reps per lift per week. However, adding two to three back-off sets at 80% 1RM (after completing the singles) greatly increases the likelihood of making meaningful strength gains【20:19†source】.
This example demonstrates how MED can be applied in real-life scenarios, especially for those looking to optimize time and recovery.
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As you’ve not listened to the original content, how are you verifying the transcript generated or the interpretation of the LLM?
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The transcript is from YouTube, that part is easy to verify. The interpretation aligns closely to Nate’s comments which kicked this whole discussion off so it’s not as if it’s wildly different.
If it was then you just need to ask for sources and timestamps so can listen yourself.