Well for what it’s worth I think that it’s pretty unlikely that you would gain so much that your w/kg would be negatively affected, and that you should continue, particularly if you are feeling good doing it. 
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So I’m 3 weeks into a simple plan. Finished last serious road race. CX for fun only this fall. So it’s going to be some lifting, lunch rides, z2, and weekend CX race /ride for the next few months. Due to my work schedule and ability to use a gym, lifting and group rides are on the same day.
Mon: Rest or Z2 if didn’t ride sunday
Tues: AM Strength session A. PM tempo group ride
Wed: Rest
Thurs: AM Strength session B. PM ‘tempo/spirited’ group ride
Friday: rest
Sat/Sun: Race CX / Big Ride / Family / Rest depending
Session A
Squat, OHP, Deadlift, Barbell Row, Bulgarian Split Squats
Session B
Squat, Bench Press, Single Leg Romanian Deadlift, Pullups, Single leg weighted box squat (or lunges)
For the compound lifts I’m doing like 2-3x5-8 at ‘easy’ weight working to a 3x5 working sets at ‘heavy’. Still finding out what ‘heavy’ means and adding 10lbs or so each session to figure it out.
Very limited DOMS compared to previous years where I tried to lift to failure each day. Feels good to be back in the gym moving weights around!
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I’ve been casually reading a few different resources. Searching/learning. You know, end of season evaluation time, planning etc. came across the human vortex method.
Anyone familiar. This guy a nut or has some good material?
Menachem Brodie is the strength coach at Tim Cusick’s Basecamp:
Seems reasonable enough credentials. I read his book since it was pretty cheap. Light on details for making training plans but does have some sample plans.
Can anyone recommend a good MTB XC strength training plan? I’ve read a lot but would really benefit from a program to follow to base my own plans off in the future. I’ve had recommendations of James Wilson (bikejames.com), Dialled Health, Fit4Racing but I’d like some real world feedback before splurging the cash!
Cheers!
I cant but before you take of a specific strength program I’d encourage you to determine what your weaknesses are - this is where I think @chad ’s strength targets are valuable.
Otherwise you might benefit from a more general training plan.
Having used Chad’s benchmarks, I’m fairly close to all of the benchmarks for an XC racer -
Deadlift - 5 Reps 150% BW - can do 200%
Back Squat - 5 Reps 125% BW - can do 133%
Bench Press - 5 Reps 90% BW - only at 60% currently
Barbell Row - 5 Reps 90% BW - only at 60% currently
Pull/Chin-Ups - 15 Reps - yep, rock climb regularly so this isn’t an issue
Military Press - 5 Reps 55% BW - yep, can do 60%.
Is it worth something like Dialled Health for this - I’d rather get more specific MTB fitness but with a general focus on being a good athlete rather than just XC MTB!
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Honestly this whole idea of “specificity” is really more of a distraction than anything else. Mainly marketing to sell a program and make you feel like you are doing something special. At the end of the day, strength is strength. I know this probably isn’t a popular opinion these days but oh well. I If you need help building a strength program around your specific bike training sessions then you are probably going to want a coach that he’ll hold out all of your weekly bike/strength sessions. But honestly I would pick a strength program that is about 3-4 days per week and just follow it and see how/if it impacts your rides. If you like kettlebells I’d look at StrongFirst and if you prefer a barbell then checkout starting strength.
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I agree with @Watts4bfast I don’t think you need something specific and those weaknesses are minor - you’ll easily catch-up of Starting Strength of StrongLifts. And as you are already “strong enough” I’d be doing this for the ancillary benefits to core stability etc rather than for tha big gainz so maybe just once or twice per week.
You might want to consider some cross training with running or swimming if it’s off-season
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Somewhat of a counterpoint to the benefits of lifting to endurance training:
this episode we are joined by Professor Sara Mahoney, who has her Ph.D. in exercise physiology, researches nutrition for endurance athletes, is a runner herself, and coaches Division 1 and 2 cross country and track and field. She’s on to talk about how she uses resistance training to help her endurance athletes improve performance.
This is a lifting podcast looking into endurance training so you’d expect they might overly favour the benefits of strength but it’s quite muted.
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Dialed Health, hands down. The programs are very well laid out and easy to follow, esp at home. I really like the kettlebell work outs and the core work alone with that type of workout is huge for MTB. The monthly fee is only $20 and the library of workouts is huge. You can cancel at any time if it does not work for you. He is currently working on an app as well.
I have a few of James Wilson programs and honestly, they are hard to follow and not well laid out.
EnduroMTB is also very good, specifically the MTB Strong program. That program consists of usually 3 gym days, rotating between strength and mobility. He also lays out intervals, etc. It is a 6 phase (6months long) program with a calendar for every phase and tell you when to workout, when to ride and has recovery weeks every four weeks. Once you buy the program it is yours forever.
Point 1 Athletic Development is also very good. It is more geared toward enduro as well but crosses over nicely with XC riding. It is a 19 week program. Once you buy this program it is yours forever.
Fit4Racing from what I have looked at seems overpriced and way to much crossfit focused for my liking. All the video’s look like they are doing VO2 max workouts in the gym, no thank you I will save that for the bike.
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What is the best set up for home to get a good work out for a triathlete with little experience?
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This is a good resource:
They have a plan for triathletes that is a good one. You’ll need some weights, or better, a gym. If you can afford it, get help from a local strength training coach.
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Thank you for a very comprehensive answer! I was definitely swinging towards Dialled Health as I also really enjoy his podcasts!
I think that it kind of depends on your weaknesses, so what I did was look at Coach Chads strength benchmarks, read the Scientific Tri guide that @bbarrera linked, Dave Scott’s recommendations, Joe Friel’s chapter on weight training in his ‘Triathlete’s Bible’ and a bunch of other online sources.
What I found, or how I would summarise it, was that there were some slight variations but the five basics movements covered what everyone was after; squat, press, deadlift, bench and row. So I went with StrongLifts 5x5 (Starting Strength is similar) because it’s simple and the guy who put it together has a very no nonsense approach, just get on with it attitude.
For this I used a gym, 30mins 3x week in autumn, 2x week winter/spring, 1x week in summer - this aligns with Friel essentially and sci tri. but in reality I stopped each summer.
When covid hit I bough a barbell, a cage, bench and weights allowing around 120% my body weight. Probably £600, cancelled my gym membership and saved money. You need a space 2.5m2 and 2.25m high. I slotted my bike into the cage to re-use the turbo trainer space I was already using.
However, I will say that there is no clear need to be very strong, I suspect a moderate all round body strength achieved in any fashion I’ve just never seen the appeal of kettlebells and dumbbells but my ego is stroked every time I lift a barbell 
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Dumbbells allow a decoupling side to side and a larger range of movement.
Barbells restrict ROM but allow for heavier weights and more overload. Also, plates are a cheap way to get more weight and store more weight. Nothing seems cheap nowadays but not long ago you could find new plates for $1 a pound and used stuff for fifty cents a pound.
Kettlebells are great for larger range of motion exercises. Swings, arm ups, etc.
Do you need them all - of course not. My first “gym” was a set of adjustable dumbbells and a flat bench. More than enough for “fitness”.
But if you get into lifting and strength training, gear is fun and having the option to mix up different exercises and routines and do them safely is very enjoyable.
FWIW…. Starting strength, 5x5, et al are great. But for overall fitness I might argue we would be better off with lower weight but bigger ROM movements. More functional than power lift (for argument)
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This maybe a really dumb question, but every time I try to incorporate Strong lifts into my workout routine my power on the bike drops. Really struggle with Threshold over/Under. This is starting with very light weight and little to no DOMs.
I’m guessing this falls to the additional stress and workload on the legs.
Would love to hear others thoughts.
Very light weight squats 5x5…I can’t see that affecting any TR workout.
What are you calling very light weight, and how hard does the threshold workout feel without lifting?
How much seperation between lifting and TT workouts?
Do you have a regular strength training routine when starting strong lifts or are you starting by from zero? If you don’t have a recent background in strength training then even light weights could take something out of you. And soreness or DOMs isn’t correlated that well with fatigue so also keep that in mind.
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