Is there any consensus on whether it’s good, bad or neither to stick to one’s usual leg strength training routine during recovery weeks?
I’d say it depends on the experience of the person doing the strength training and the extent of the training itself. If someone is following a common cycling plan of 3 weeks hard, 1 week recovery, I find it nice to also use that week to cut back my strength training. Be it 70% volume, cutting back the reps, etc.
I’ve just started my off season so I’m picking up the weights again hard. I’ll aim for two hard sessions a week, about 2 hrs total, compared to the cumulative 55 hrs I’ve spent weight training thus far this year. Even though it’s “off season” I still intend to have a recovery week every 4th week with nothing more than Z2, and will also take it easier on the weights, mostly to help all my joints and stuff that take a beating.
If i miss leg day for a week or 10 days i get into severe doms again. i dont missed it, just do some light exercises.
It all depends, of course, on how hard you’re pushing in the gym and how close you are to racing, but If riding is your priority, consider keeping sets and reps the same while reducing the weight to 70% in the first half of the week and 50% in the second half.
Lighter strength work in recovery weeks.
I continue my usual routine for the week, but drop from 3 sets to 2. I also reduce the weight by 20%.
+1 with others here, mirroring your cycling de-load in your lifting is probably a good practice.
For me, I’ve found that the last hard week on the bike is really hard with lifting as well. So I just off set my deloading weeks. My last hard week on the bike is when I decrease my lifting (decrease weight but try to keep frequency), then increase it again during my bike recovery week. My understanding of the science is that since they are different stimuli (more or less), increasing lifting during the bike recovery week shouldn’t impact the following first hard week on the bike or the recovery week itself.
Try and few different things and see what works for you. But as others have mentioned, just don’t stop lifting all together as restarting and the DOMS is worth avoiding.