Incidentally, I think I do it differently than most people, and truly don’t know if this is better for my goals or not, but this what It seems doable.
Nov - April = Mostly lifting + 3-4h/wk of cycling + Snow sports.
May - October = 8-12h/wk cycling
Surprisingly, strength gains carry over year to year even after the long summer layoff. I find high volume cycling AND lifting, specially when doing SST, THR, HIIT in the bike, not sustainable.
How bad ass is to have a killer squat/deadlift combined with >4wk FTP with a long TTE ?
I also would love to know Chad’s routine. As a 54 yo female I’m trying to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. What happened to the 5 rep recommendations I’ve been basing my training on? I guess I’ll be upping my reps.
It seems that the new common knowledge that has been out there for master’s athletes (see Joe Friel, Stacy Sims…) is that we need to “lift heavy” in order to maintain muscle mass, and that if we don’t “lift heavy”, we won’t be able to make as many cycling gains. I’m ok that a master’s lifting routine/recommendations wasn’t described, but I would have thought that it would have been at least acknowledged that the outline described here was more for the “young’uns”, especially since Chad mentioned that he’s turning 50 soon.
At age 67, I’ve been following Starting Strength/Barbell Medicine. One workout is squats followed by climbing stairs holding Dumbells. Followed by pullups, Overhead press, Dumbell Rows, and bench press. The other workout is same except Deadlifts instead of squats, and Bulgarian Split Squats instead of stair climbing. I lift once/week and do one core session/week. Each weight session, I raise the weight by 5 lbs for the major lifits until I can’t do 3 sets of 5 reps. This currently true for squats so I backed the weight off and upped the reps.
I’m on a low volume enduro plan and usually add a 60 min recovery/endurance workout (tues/thurs/sat/sun), with some alpine and backcountry skiing mixed in.
I also do the 5x5 Strong Lifts program 3x/week (mon/wed/fri). Although, I don’t increase weight as much or as often as the program recommends. I add 5-10lbs to any given lift when I feel the current weight is getting easy.
For rest days, I listen to my body and adjust as needed.
It is sort of amazing how they switched on a dime from recommending low reps to set of 20 reps without even batting an eye or offering an explanation. The below article literally has a section titled " 3. Transition to High Weight and Low Reps" that says " Using heavy weights and low reps is the way to build strength without increasing muscle mass…Once you are ready, you can increase the weight. A good middle ground is three sets of five repetitions of bilateral exercises like the back squat, deadlift, bench press, and military press.".
Good, that wasn’t just me. It seemed like they were in line with other things I’ve read about doing low reps to maximize neuro muscular adaptations, then suddenly they were talking about doing high reps and I was trying to figure out what I missed.
I want to get some kettlebells, nothing crazy, thinking 15-20kg.
OK if I go with some plastics ones? They cost a fraction of the steel/iron ones and I don’t really see the benefit of steel/iron.
speaking/typing of kettlebells - i was surprised the good ol kettlebell swing wasn’t a staple in the big 7 exercises highlighted in the podcast. i’m curious if kettlebell swing is in that ‘grey’ zone of maybe not quite strength work and not quite plyometric work? i use a lighter kb with more swings for something that has me breathing pretty hard (25lb for 30 swings) vs heavier kettlebell for fewer swings for (maybe??) more strength (35 lb or 45lb for 15-20 swings). i do not have plastic kbs - i was unaware of them.
No. Get good ones. You should be able to find good quality kettlebells for around $2/pound. Do not skimp on these and go plastic. You will regret it if you do. Remember the saying….buy nice or buy twice….
I think other strength coaches (i.e. Dan John etc) have stressed that the KB swing is a great hinge strength movement. Its part of the main movements Chad mentioned earlier on in the podcast. I think less attention was on it mostly because you need to buy a KB to do a swing when you could do other similar hinge movements (Romanian Dead lifts (single and double, good mornings, etc) with more typically available weights. But that’s speculation.
KB swings are great but IMO, its a bit of a technical lift. I think doing other movements first before going into swings would be a good idea.
I think it would be great to have the guys from Renaissance Periodisation to discuss strength training, concurrent training & recovery - it would complement this episode very well
The only possible explanation is that they were talking about ppl new to weights training and specifically about the first 2-3 weeks of training where you could benefit from a high rep scheme to get your technique down and build a bit of a “base” if you will.
I too was surprised to hear the lower weight/higher rep recommendation based on what I’ve been hearing and reading the past couple years, but I want to buy in since my limited equipment setup lends itself to that. I do 3x12 pull-ups, 3x25 push-ups, some core work, and a few lower body exercises with moderate to heavy kettlebells. Most of what I do is at least 8 reps if not far more. I feel like the pull-ups and push-ups go a long way to keeping my trunk and arms strong ENOUGH for anything I need to do on or off the bike. I’m 175 lbs so not a super light body I’m pulling and pushing. This podcast makes me feel somewhat validated, as I’ve low-key stressed about not having a barbell and heavy plates.
That is a possible explanation. Other possible explanations are: (1) the new guidance is more focused on on the specific use case of improving cycling performance (2) There past research/advice was not that sound, (3) they are now more risk adverse regarding injuries (4) there is a lot more unknowns and grey areas regarding all this research and their resulting advice. It could be a mix of all of these. The problem is they didn’t explain the change.
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