Hello all,
I am currently doing a weight lifting plan that is called PHUL (power, hypertrophy, upper lower) I’m aiming to cycle 3 days a week too following a plan on TR and then swap some training days or add some out on my road / mtb.
My question is I’m currently training my legs with weights twice a week with weights and doing a minimum of 3 days on the bike too. Would you think 1 day weights would be enough as I’m technically training my legs on all of the bike days?
Just wondering if anyone else combines the two sports and how you break up your training days.
I appreciate this isn’t optimal but I enjoy the weights as much as cycling so I would like to combine the two as much as possible.
Thanks in advance
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I think one day is enough but I don’t think riding fully takes the place of a second lifting day. You can definitely lift twice a week if you don’t try to destroy your legs in the gym and on the bike.
I try to ride 3-4 times per week, run 1-2, and lift 1-2. I definitely wouldn’t consider what I’m doing bodybuilding - more building/maintaining strength and muscle mass as I age. I almost always ride in the morning and on days I do legs, I’ll lift in the evening. Then, the next day is a complete rest day. I’ll occasionally do a leg workout one morning and ride the next morning, but that’s rough if it is anything more than endurance riding.
During periods where I’m training harder on the bike, I’ll cut back on the leg workouts (lighter weights/fewer sets), and when I’m going lighter on the bike, I go harder in the gym.
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How are your legs after your weight sessions right now? How long have you been performing resistance training?
I’d say overall that you can do what you’re aiming to do, but you’ll probably have to go pretty mellow on the rides. I know when I do a heavy leg day and I follow that up with intervals either that day or the next, I can have Doms for up to 4 days. Ultimately, you’ll find your limits when you put this into practice and ramp up intensity in either your lifting, cycling, or both.
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Hey thanks for the replies. I do go pretty hard in the gym so I think it would impact cycling performance and as I’m on a low volume TR plan most of the workouts are harder sessions. I’m not really looking to compete in weight lifting or cycling I just want to try and be in as good shape as possible whilst getting faster on the bike and stronger with weights. I will probably dial it down to one weights session on lower body and 2 upper body per week and then keep at the 3 bike sessions then I can have a full rest day once per week.
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Sounds like a good plan. Another piece of input from me - I feel like I can hit the muscles around the hips more frequently than I can do things that stress the quads & hamstrings. So, even if I only do a full leg workout once a week, in a second gym session I’ll do some single leg bridges, bowler squats, band work, etc. to give the glutes and hip flexors a little more volume.
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Hey, thanks for that. My new TR plan starts today, I did my ramp rest and I’m about 50 watts down on where I have been so I am looking forward to closing that gap and trying to surpass it. I can see myself getting hooked on cycling and end up binning weight lifting off completely like I did when I used to compete 
Also give some thought to when you schedule legs versus cycling. Right now I’m riding on my trainer 3-4 days a week (Tue Zone 2 60-90 min, Wed Zone 2 60 min, Thu VO2 or Threshold 60-90 min, Sat Zone 2 90-150 min). So I hit legs hard on Sundays and put in a lighter leg workout on Thursdays (Bike Morning or Afternoon, Weights Evening).
As someone who transitioned to cycling from a gym focussed background: I would say that in the offseason I can handle training legs but during my “cycling season” I struggle to recover adequately so reduce or drop leg training to maintenance volume at most.