Olympic Lifting for Strength

[hoffman900]

I lift 3x a week at a USA Weightlifting team gym and coached by someone who does some track racers who also go the gym. Here is part of what I wrote in another thread:

@hoffman900

I perform my lifts on the same day as my TR interval days, so that is T, R, and Sat. I do my TR workouts on my lunch break (WFH) and lift in the evening after work. This gives me Wednesday to do an active recovery day and Sunday to do low stress but a long ride. Monday and Fridays are completely off. I use the low volume plan, and insert rides of my choosing for Wednesday and Sunday (outside preferably). This works out to be about 85-100 miles / week. So think of it this way: 3 hard days, 2 easy riding days, 2 days completely off, per week.

I have no problem completing my workouts and I feel very strong on the bike, with no pain. Since most of my work is leg, glute, core focused, you would stand to believe it would be too much, but having real recovery days / rest days is absolutely how you do this. Diet plays a big role and I suggest you keep a food journal as well. More so during the build phase, where after ride nutrition is really important.

The track racers lift 4x a week where I only do 3x, as I am looking more for crit power and short 10 mile TT power. I do feel very strong and painfree on the bike.

Here is what a week may look like for me:

T:
Back squat 3 x 5 (lower RPE)
Superset:
a) One legged hip thrust 3 x 10
b) Banded hip thrust 3 x 20
One legged RDL 3 x 10

R:
Banded rack pulls 3 x 5 (RPE varies)
Pause back squat 3 x 5 (RPE varies)
Plyo box jumps 3 x 10

Sat:
Back squat 3x5 (RPE varies)
Single leg box squat 3x5
Single leg good morning 3x10
Shoulder press: 3 x 10

The recipe is usually pretty similar and changes every 4 weeks. Start with an Olympic lift (back squat, snatch, deadlift, clean, rack pull (not technically a oly lift, but you get the idea, etc.), then throw in some work like hip thrusts (barbell, banded (if I do banded alone and not in a superset, I’ll do like 1x200 breaking it up however)), single leg box squats, single leg box jumps, etc. then finish with a bi-lateral plyo exercise (you want to be fresher for a single leg) like box jumps, vertical jumps, etc. or something like a single leg RDL, single leg good morning, etc.

IMO: cycling is very quad dominate, so it’s easy to be over dominate in them. I never do quad exercises like front squats, it’s all ham, glute, and core focused. Most cyclists are weak in the glutes anyway and isolating the quads are going to create imbalances as well as cause you struggle to complete your bike workouts.

Also rotate in some shoulder presses and upper back work from time to time. The goal with them isn’t to be massive but to be strong. You want some muscle on your shoulders for the inevitable crashes as well.