Since you started lifting I bet those cushions don’t stand a change against you!
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OK, ok… You guys have convinced me and I’ll edit the post on mattress flipping.
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I don’t do strength work to go faster on the bike. Like you I also ensure to do enough walking to get impact for bone health. The strength work is for a mix of resilience, not losing muscle, and aging well.
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I picked up cycling 2 years ago and had already been lifting for some years before, so I can’t say much about how it affects cycling.
I was really into yoga (5 days a week) when I first bought my bike. I got a bike fit by a PT and he measured my ROM, the hamstring in particular. Right around the same time, I dropped yoga and went back into the gym. Deadlift variations were the foundation of my routine to counteract all the quad work I was now doing on the bike. Went to the same PT about a year later for a new fit on a new bike - my hamstring ROM had increased compared to my yoga days.
Proper ROM under load does the body good it seems. So yeah, I suppose there’s more than strength to strength training!
As for mattress flipping, that sample is heavily biased. As a non-flipper I’m now completely embarrassed to manifest myself.
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Hey.
I was previously doing back squats and hex bar dead lifts plus lots of zwift racing. Then my right knee started acting during and after really intensive races, and heavy squats. I completely stopped the leg weights and replaced those with weighted isometrics- bar bell lunges 3 X 30 second holds on each leg. I did this every other day consistently for about 3 - 4 weeks, I found that I could quickly build the weight I was holding up.
What the Jacked Athlete podcast suggested , and what I found, was that when you get knee pain like this it is really important to keep exercising, but dial down the intensity and use Isometrics which give immediate pain relief and build up the tendon strength around the knee.
After four weeks I had no knee pain and was able to start building in intensity again on the bike and restart leg weights.
Possibly off topic, but I also replaced back squats with front squats after reading that front squats tend to place less pressure on the knee due to the different location of the bar when you’re squatting.
I’ve suffered absolutely no knee pain since then so would absolutely recommend trying isometrics.
Cheers
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Yup I found the same thing. Lots of pre lifting stretching as well as heavy RDL’s made me much more flexible.
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Exactly.
Yes. From what I’ve read RICE is only good for the first couple days post injury, then you need to gradually load tendons and ligaments in order for them to get better. Too much rest is a recipe for more injuries and prolonged healing.
I’m still sorting out my knee, which like you, was brought on from too many (possibly too heavy) back squats. It sucks, but slowly it’s gotten better, but it’s taken almost 12 weeks now. I’m still afraid to do any weighted squats so I’ve been doing Spanish squats, unloaded single-leg squats, and a lot of eccentric work focusing on a slow controlled descent.
Thankfully anything I do on the bike doesn’t hurt the knee so riding has been full gas
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Exactly this. My lifting has very little to do with getting better on a bike. I like having good functional strength and mobility, and I want to age well, so I lift. If it hurts me on the bike, then so be it.
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Same for me.
Lifting a couple times a week makes me feel a lot better in life.
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For me it was only a couple of days. I’m 100% now. However, I did a lot of research and it seems that in most cases its a problem of load management. The critical issue with tendinopathy seems to be that the overuse injury causes a reorganization of the tendon tissue that, it appears only proper load and tension can aim to rehab.
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A question for the experienced cyclist - lifters: If you followed a linear progression at the beginning of your strength training journey. How did you modify your workouts when you couldn’t increase the weights anymore on a weekly or 2 week basis? Thanks.
I’ve been following a slow progression over the winter that was adding reps per set before adding additional weight and also switching some lifts every 5-6 weeks. I found that following 5x5 of increasing every session until you fail and then backing off led to burnout and nagging injury, most likely from deteriorating form trying to move more weight. I keep adding reps and maintaining or improving form then add weight. I may not have as impressive “numbers” but this season has gone better than previous.
I agree…I’m only doing 3 x 5 and had to limit it to 2 sessions a week, with cycling and snowboarding I found it was adding too much stress to quads/knees. I think I found a good system, but I can see already that I’m getting close to the limits on the squat and the OH Press. Deadlift is still going strong.
I start failing in my bike sessions long before I start failing in my weight sessions. As I am this week - I just switch to 90% intensity and go for a -1 version of the workout next time.
I nominally follow a 5x5 style routine except 3x8 a bit of isolation work. My cycle is I alternate between 2 different workouts two times (4 workouts) and 2 days rest. Depending on which lift, If I hit 8 reps at a weight I go either 8,9,10 next time or 10s. If I hit 10s then I go 10,11,12 or 12’s then add weight. Some of the isolation ones I will go as high as 15 reps. It means going 2-4 sessions at the same weight but adding reps as progression. So far it’s been good and I have actually worked out some glute (piriformis) issues that always seemed to rear up (pun intended).
FWIW, this is what I do, maybe it’s good, maybe it’s trash.
Workout 1
Spin Bike Warmup
Squats (safety bar because of shoulder rotation issues)
Bench Press
Landmine Press
Landmine Single Arm OH Press
Skull Crushers
Chest Dips
Barbell Hip Thrust
Workout 2
Spin Bike Warmup
Landmine Squats (now Landmine Reverse Lunge)
Landmine Row
Hex Bar Deadlift (just changed from low to high handle)
Cable Trap Raises
Curls (incline dumbell changed to EZ curl)
Cable Lat pull downs
Trap Mobility exercises
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That sort of describes the move from beginner to intermediate lifter. Can either keep doing 5x5 or 5/3/1 type stuff and not worry about increasing weight or gaining strength, or move to different programming methods.
Most of the year I just do strength maintenance with working sets something like 75-85% of “lifting season” 1 rep max.
During periods when I’m focused on building strength and trying to move more weight, have had good luck with Johnny Candito’s programs and a couple higher volume programs for specific lifts grabbed from other sites.
Like cycling and FTP, once you are at a good level and are at a plateau, have to make significant changes to programming to make smaller gains. I happen to focus on bench pressing as that makes me happy. Last cycle managed to add 10 pounds to 1RM but took something like 2-3X change in volume and specific accessories.
Hope that helps. Am afraid once at a good level it just gets more complicated and time consuming to keep going up 
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Here is what I posted in another thread:
Neural adaptations. Nerves fire faster and in a more coordinated way.
But you’ll also get changes in muscle mass and shape. Don’t listen to the “your muscles won’t adapt if you endurance train” folks.
I make no claim if gaining muscle or strength will enhance performance for anyone here. If you have a strength training background, more than a cycling background, it almost certainly will not. (that’s my n=1 as a former bobsledder).
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Power / strength vs hypertrophy training
Horses for courses and all that, but for discussion, am curious if anyone here with cycling as their main sport, but also with an interest in strength training, has tried linking strength mesocycles with hypertrophy mesocycles.
I typically do several strength mesocycles in late fall to early winter and then switch to “maintenance” work in late winter when cycling ramps up. It has worked reasonably well as amount lifted goes up slowly over time and I can see moderate muscle growth. Am a bike racer sized guy so this is all very relative - LOL
Am wondering, thinking, pondering, that instead of “maintaining” if it might be useful to run some hypertrophy mesocycles during the bike focused months (April - August). Idea being that can’t keep getting stronger (lifting more) without adding muscle mass as a foundation. Hypertrophy cycles might give some advantage keep the fatigue low enough to not affect the bike training.
My default would be to lift only a little bit during the bike season. But 2021 season, the races I usually focus on wont happen so willing to experiment.