I think even if it doesn’t make us faster, there are some fairly obvious health benefits, and I for one would benefit from some more core strength to hold an aero position better and be more comfortable on longer rides.
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an oldie but goodie, Coach Joe Friel blog post from November 2007:
http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2007/11/concurrent-strength-and-endurance.html
“So it really isn’t the research that causes me to come down on the side of strength for endurance athletes, it’s my experience from 20 years of working with athletes of all abilities. But I do agree with the positive-finding research that the main reason for this benefit is improved economy.”
great concluding paragraph.
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'tis funny how no one ever has to justify riding a bike to get faster at riding a bike - why is that?
Yeah and what about pro cyclists, why do they bother lifting weights? Sagan is just showing off on Twitter and Instagram.
‘it’s funny how some try to justify NOT strength training with false arguments, emotion, and light hearted teasing.
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Not to mention that not everyone here is a road cyclist. I’d argue the benefits of strength training with regards to being faster on the bike are even more pronounced off-road.
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Nope. I don’t agree. Sorry.
The correct sentencing is: “That’s what THESE studies show.”
It is quite amusing to follow the links and then in the “Similar Articles” section finding a good bunch of them with the title stating the very opposite notion.
Experimental science is not always 100% aligned even in very well designed studies. It is very easy to cherry pick to support a biased opinion.
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Strange comment. Obviously I was referring to the studies I had posted.
I do agree, though, that the literature is quite muddled.
Most important is that none of the studies have used an appropriate control group.
Don’t get me wrong please.
I am 54 and my main concern at this beautiful age is to sustain the unavoidable loss of muscle mass which, I think we all agree, will sooner or later impair my cycling performance.
Since strength training coupled with care in protein dosage is by far the best non drug related mechanisms known to preserve muscle mass, even without any very direct study, I am 99% convinced pumping some iron is a good idea.
Even if a couple of very well designed studies done in collegiate students point to some neutrality and there was no evidence at all of a relationship between strength training an cycling performance, my context is a bit different
A domingo, 15/11/2020, 12:53, old_but_not_dead_yet via TrainerRoad Forum <trainerroad@discoursemail.com> escreveu:
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That’s is all very true. Having great form with things such as squats, will give you great core strength which in turn will allow you to be aero for longer.
But also bone density will also improve. No one wants to be like that NTT rider who got is arm broke by the SA police. Because our bone density is so weak.
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Compared to cycling (indoor OR outdoor) I don’t particularly ‘enjoy’ strength training. However, I built up a programme at start of March lockdown and, using Chad’s strength benchmarks, I’ve continued twice a week. 45 to 50min TOTAL. Once I’m warmed up and into the session I find it quite relaxing.
I found Chad’s benchmarks really useful in giving me ‘permission’ to stop going heavier and heavier (the endurance mentality). Chasing numbers with weights was leading me straight towards injury. With his benchmarks, I’ve kept things heavy enough to challenge me, but light enough to ensure good form - and crucially - stop me getting injured. Good enough has kinda been my mantra.
The reason I’ll continue with strength is more about having an overall strong body, rather than pushing pedals harder. For instance, clearing the gutters last week I performed a magnificent (version of) muscle up onto the roof. And, with control, down again!
I can’t overstate how satisfied it made this 46yr old feel.
Real world functional strength.
For me, strength training is like eating spinach.
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I lucked out and got a set of 3 kettlebells. I’m still surprised supply hasn’t caught up to demand.
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It’s because companies are struggling to get the raw materials they need to make things. So it’s not necessarily that they haven’t realized they need to make more but they just physically can’t. And with lockdowns the demand for home gym equipment grew so much that companies like Rogue had to move production for certain products to new foundries because their current production locations just couldn’t handle it.
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By coincidence a good friend of mine who happens to be a climbing rocket (4.5w/kg) at 56 yo, had a low speed crash last Saturday in which he broke his femur. His training does not include any kind of resistance work.
Specially at these ages it should be included in every program
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quite a good study in the video.
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Before folks get too carried away, it’s probably worth brushing up on the science. Here’s a review from just last year.
"Clinical Bottom Line: The findings indicate that strength training has a significant positive influence on BMD in older women (ie, postmenopausal) with osteoporosis or osteopenia. [. . .] Generalization of the findings to older men with reduced BMD should be done with caution due to the lack of studies.
Strength of Recommendation: There is grade B"
Also note that genetics accounts for about 75% of the variation between individuals in BMD.
Interesting…from your link…
"The longitudinal analysis showed the significant effect of muscle strength on the loss of femoral neck BMD from normal to osteopenia or osteoporosis both in men (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.36-2.48, p < 0.0001) and in women (OR 1.29, 95 % CI 1.002-1.65, p < 0.05), as well as on the loss of spinal BMD from normal or osteopenia to osteoporosis only in men (OR 2.97, 95 % CI 1.07-8.23, p < 0.05). The results suggest the importance of knee extension strength to maintain the bone health of the proximal femur and spine in aging particularly in men. "
Good thing that the authors know better than to cherry pick results when forming their conclusions.
In particular, kudos to them for recognizing the difference between association (i.e., between strength and BMD across individuals) and causation (i.e., the effect of resistance training on BMD within a given individual).
Just to add a bit more perspective.
Physical inactivity is a known risk factor for CV disease. In fact, it has a bigger effect than other better known risk factors like smoking, hypertension, obesity, etc.
OTOH, physical inactivity, per se, is not a recognized risk factor for osteoporosis. Only if you’re completely immobilized by, say, a stroke are you clearly at greater risk.
I will leave it up to those reading this to decide for themselves what they think that means. In the interim, though, I would recommend not feeling too smug as you fling your kettlebells around in your garage-turned-gym and your skinny marathon-running neighbor trots by.
that’s an interesting bit of info. I’m not quite sure it makes 100% sense to me that relationship should exist but it is interesting. Knee extensor strength and spinal bone density…hmmm.
“Cross-sectional analysis showed a statistically significant relation between knee extensor muscle strength and BMD at both the lumbar spine (p = 0.02) and the femoral neck (p < 0.0001) only in men.”
It’s probably just true that generally being sedentary is associated with weak knee extensors and poor BMD.
