Reducing cycling volume a little to incorporate more resistance training

Training
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If I could pick your collective brains a little…

Quick background: 41, 203cm, 100kg, back on the bike since April 22 and I’ve trained religiously since then. Raced a bit as a kid, didn’t touch the bike for 15 years, did competitive taekwondo and serious strength training at times.

2025 was a very good season for me. Qualified in 3rd place in my UCI Gravel Worlds Qualifier (first ever mass start race) and came 83rd out of 260 in my age group at the finals (inexperience and a mechanical lost me a lot of places).

Ended the season well, with a brief, acute sciatic pain episode, but then adding a lot (on paper) to my FTP, taking it to 445w, so pretty much 4.5w/kg.

For the last three weeks, I’ve had some pretty unpleasant chronic sciatic discomfort. With the acute episode, I was crippled for a couple of days, hardly able to move, and just as quickly as it came, it went. 6 weeks elapsed, and it returned but in a completely different form.

As soon as it manifested for the second time, I hit the gym pretty hard. Lots and lots of hip mobility work (I have really tight hips and hyperflexible hamstrings) coupled with squats, deadlifts, glute specific work, core work and some upper body work.

This has reduced the sciatic discomfort to maybe 5-10% of what it was, and after a week off the bike, I’ve started again this week with minimal discomfort.

I need to galvanise myself against this happening again. I have a good strength training background, but I’m really weak in my glutes. Always have been, unless I do lots of squats.

The problem is that reintroducing a reasonable amount of strength training adds fatigue that will mean a reduction in cycling volume is required.

This past year, I’ve averaged 12.5hrs a week on the bike. I have my FTP to a point now that I don’t think that I really need to focus on it - I have a very strong aerobic engine, especially in the 5-15 minute range.

I am however a terrible sprinter, with me having broken 1500w only once (1300-1350w is my usual upper limit).

I think that focusing on strength work for a little while will bring that sprint up (it should be 1700w really, at my weight, size and FTP) and hopefully reduce any further sciatic issues.

How would you structure the strength training to balance with cycling and avoiding fitness loss? I have my own squat rack and free weights in the basement alongside lots of resistance bands. I don’t have any machines though.

Essentially, I just want to be a little more robust, edge my sprint up but not lose aerobic fitness.

Any help is really appreciated.

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Hi, congratulations on such a high level in terms of power numbers and race results.

Assuming you are limited in some way with either time or fatigue isn’t the standard answer to this to periodise your season? I would think that committing the time necessary to resistance train and build injury resistance is a priority now (or maybe you have already done it) at the expense of some time on the bike but after some time you can put resistance training on maintainence and commit your resources to the bike again.

The question would be how little resistance training is reasonable to maintain? That could be as little as one working set per week per exercise but honestly I’m not qualified to say. If I had the money in your position I might consider a one off consultation with a coach like Kolie Moore for ideas or just validation of what you are doing.

Last thing - do you need a strong sprint? Building muscle, fitness and skill for a massive sprint must have a higher opportunity cost than building the strength to be resilient on the bike so decide how high up the priority list it needs to be with your type of competition.

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I used to be a pure aerobic climber with high-for-a-masters output in my FTP and 5min range, but I was a horrendously bad sprinter. About 6 weeks ago I started doing sprints at least once a week in a session, but usually twice. My peak has increased 120W in this short time, and I’m still trending up.

I have one day a week where I do sprints then squats. Mostly easy riding sprinkled with sprints, and unstructured. Sometimes my focus is ~5sec peak power, and sometimes it’s 10-20sec. I don’t try to get both in the same sprint, but usually do both in the same session. Typical for me is 4-5 ish peak power, then one or two longer sprints. I also play around with cadence… some days I’ll intentionally spin it up to 130rpm while sprinting, and some days I’ll force high torque sprints.

I’ll try to find some other day in which I can do sprints while having the legs. Quality matters, so don’t push it on a sluggish day.

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Thanks for the reply!

It feels like I need a bit of a building phase to regain some of my past strength. I used to be 30kg heavier than I am now, and a lot stronger. The issue is that I am (and always have been) quite injury prone, so I have to be really careful with weight training so as not to strain anything.

In terms of whether I need a big sprint or not - it’s less about sprinting for the line and more about having the ability to gap people. I am strong enough on the flat that I can usually ride away from people, but if they can hold my wheel, I’ll just tow them along. I recall doing a long, slight incline climb with my training partner on my wheel. He’s the same height and weight as me - I did about 430w for 12 minutes. He did 330w. My slipstream is epic!

So it’s really just to be able to gap people.

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Good thinking on combining both squats and sprints on the same day. Deadlifts can be done elsewhere in the week as they aren’t so taxing on the legs.

Sprinting is a little tricky at the moment here in Sweden at this time of year - I’m riding on snow roads, for the most part. I don’t ride indoors either.

I do have a well equipped gym at home though, so I have no excuse not to use it.

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It’s more than strength, it’s functionality. Yes, functionality and strength should be non negotiables, especially as a masters athlete, and doubly so because you’re already experiencing injuries. If it requires taking some time off your weekly riding, ok. :+1:

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I imagine what will benefit you more is really increasing your ~5min power than purely sprint numbers, you’re always going to have to do ~30% more than someone on the wheel. With such big aerobic numbers, pushing something like 600w for 5m will probably open a gap if that’s what you want, riding someone off your wheel isn’t easy.

I am however a terrible sprinter, with me having broken 1500w only once (1300-1350w is my usual upper limit).

I think that focusing on strength work for a little while will bring that sprint up (it should be 1700w really, at my weight, size and FTP) and hopefully reduce any further sciatic issues.

Not all strength translates too, sprinting is about how quickly you can create force just as much as it is putting out the most force. I’m not at my ‘gym strongest’ but my sprint numbers are as high as ever, partially through unilateral lifting being more of a focus along with moving weight more quickly. Not sure how well some of that would go with back issues but it’s worth a look into, otherwise sprints in too small of a gear should help the force production

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Since you’re in Sweden, now is the wrong time to work on sprint power. Sprint power is quick to come and quick to be lost. A decent chunk of it is about form and neural drive (mind-muscle connection), which has to be constantly maintained.

I also agree that what you really need is high 3-5 minute power to get your gap. That and good technique (look up sprinter’s gap).

So I would prioritize gym work now, phasing in more and more cycling focused on FTP and TTE, while reducing gym work to maintenance levels. Then 8+ weeks out from your first race, you do a VO2max block to work on your sprints.

Also, make sure that you are doing single leg exercises on top of the double leg exercises. They aren’t the same stimulus. If you have hip issues then look into internal hip rotation. Many times hip issues are related to that.

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Hey Jon

Ive always struggled with the balance of weights v’s cycling but i have had a much better time of balancing both over the last year. My sprint and anaerobic power made huge improvements last year and was way better than I ever imagined it would be. I can’t wait to start working on it again!

A few things that have worked for me

  1. Remember you are not training to be a powerlifter again. As said above, it’s functionality. Although it is important to work close to your current max, it is also important to remember that your muscle memory is not the same as a standard cyclist who has never lifted to the level you were 20 years ago. You need to come back into it slower and focus on balance and functionality, not just brute strength. The strength will come back so quickly with consistency, and too quickly for your current body to handle if you aren’t careful.

  2. Single leg work is great for a number of reasons. It keeps the focus on balance, highlights any unbalance, and cannot be done well without good glute activation. In addition, once it became part of my routine, I’ve been able to slowly progress it alongside the cycling with no adverse affect on my riding. Its made a HUGEEEEE difference to my anaerobic and sprint power. I do a lot of single legged box squats (the box is still needed to ensure I hit depth on my right leg which is far weaker than my left. Ideally id like to be able to pistol squat fully at some point but that may be a dream. I also do band assist single leg squats to increase the load whilst keeping the depth, once I have exhausted the unassisted box squat option. I started just doing single legged squats to the weight bench which is probably 6 inches higher than the box I am now using that puts me just below parallel…..that was a real eye opener as I struggled to even do those on my right leg, even though I have maintained front squats for a number of years.

  3. Short regular sessions are much better than one big session once a week. Be strict and try to keep the sessions around 30 fo 40 minutes (it’s no longer Sunday squat day :wink: ) and establish a routine as the priority, max strength will follow. I tend toward 3 sessions that look similar to this, but do vary it up alot with the exercises. I guess overall it’s one leg day, one upper body day and one mixed day

A) Lower Body. Plyometrics as warm up, single leg squat work, stationary heavy dumbbell lunge, v-sits for core work. This i tend to do on the same day as threshold work

B) Upper body (overhead). Warm up with strict press single arm standing or kneeling work either with a dumbell or, if I have access, an upside down kettle bell (good for grip strength and neuromuscular conditioning) then heavy push press. Heavy dumbell bent over rows. Hanging leg raises for core. This can be done on any day that fits, it wont affect the riding, but it’s good to not do it on an established rest day and keep rest days for rest.

C) Mixed day. Once in build phase this one is good for the vo2 max/anaerobic day. Warm up. Deadlifts at much less than my max and once past 60 kg I do them as sets of singles if you know what I mean. So reset between each rep rather than pull 5 on the bounce. I quite often do straight legged deads as it keeps my form, and, takes the focus off my quads. Sometimes I swap them out for front squats if my dodgy hamstring is a bit tight. Bench press. Pull ups.

  1. Sometimes I do the weights first, sometimes the riding. I don’t always have control because of work. I find doing the leg day first is great as it activates my system and often I feel really strong on the bike, which is always surprising, however, if i get carried away with the weights it can obviously have an adverse affect. I think mixing it up is good to keep the body guessing but you may find differently.
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It does sort of feel like I’m getting towards the top of my natural ability for 5 minute power (540w in December) and that my sprint is somewhat lagging behind. But point definitely taken.

I did find that at the World Championships (and the qualifiers) that I was gaining a lot of time on the climbs, and generally holding, or losing a few places on the flats. And also gaining loads of places on the descents.

It doesn’t really make sense for someone my size to gain places on hills, but that’s how it seems to go.

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I hadn’t really thought that sprinting power would be so transient, but then it does track with my experience. I did a short, sprint focused block of about 6 weeks last year, coupled with some squatting. About 4 weeks all in. It took my sprint from 1395w to 1506w.

I absolutely love VO2 max training, and we have loads of great little hills here, so I’ll definitely start that prior to the first race.

Point noted on unilateral leg training and internal hip rotation work.

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Lovely to hear from you Jo, and thanks for the detailed reply! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

You are right in that one of the pitfalls of returning to strength training as someone who’s done it fairly seriously is that the muscular strength comes back so much more quickly than the ligament and tendon strength. I really did a number on my patella tendons (on the right especially) in 2020 with 20 rep squatting 3 times a week. I just really enjoyed it, got really strong, really fast and had 3-4 years of tendon discomfort.

I will try some unilateral leg work, as balance is something that I would like to work on as well. I am a little height limited in my basement, so I can’t do standing overhead work.

At the moment, I am training 3-4 times a week, and I don’t usually go past 40 minutes. I deadlift on one session and squat on the other, with the rest of the time being given over to upper body. I do mobility, glute specific work and core every day now.

I’ll give you a shout at Easter - it’d be lovely to meet up for a ride in your neck of the woods. You’ll find no finer slipstream than the one behind me! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Amazing, I can definitely give you a mini tour here! :grin:

Good luck with the training.

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