I started strength last winter. I finally solved this by doing less in the gym and doing maintenance on legs when I wanted the focus to be cycling.
After starting my legs would be smashed for 3 or 4 days and I couldn’t push threshold watts without a high RPE.
I read some of Joe Friel’s recommendations on strength. His periodization is heavier and more frequent strength in the winter and then in prime season, high reps with less weight and less sets.
At first I did the same number of sets with the less weight and high reps and it helps only a little bit.
Finally, I found that doing legs once every 7-10 days and only doing one set at my highest target weight (ten rep max) maintained all year and my legs would bounce back in 1 day.
Now that the fall is upon us, I’m going to hit the gym 2-3x per week and do more sets and attempt to increase weight with the leg work.
I know very little about strength training, all I have done are body weight functional exercises in past (pullups/pushups/squats). Juggled multiple AIs in attempt to coax balanced cycling/strength training routine out of them – kept pitching against each other until reached agreement and provided reasonably sounding rationale (although I am little qualified to validate them )
What about following plan for offseason (~60-70% of my cycling load):
Friday: Full Body (slightly easier to prepare for weekend)
Saturday: cycling Z2 2 → 3h
Sunday: cycling Z2 3 → 4h
For 1-2 weeks plan to use very light weights, possibly bar only, figure out RM after that and then start progressing +5kg/week on deadlifts, +2.5kg/week other exercises (as per StrongLifts 5x5 Ultra ← this was basis for strength training routines). If I start failing, stall progression and/or skip accessory lifts, prioritizing heavy lifts, even at expense of cycling.
Planning to follow it until Rapha 500, then do volume boost in scope of that and with new year start prioritizing cycling again (TR Plan Builder).
Squats and deadlifts are clearly important for cycling but they clobber your legs. And they make me tired! Maybe only do squats or cut them in half. Consistency might be more important than pure push.
Consider Friday another day off as long as you’re doing strength work. Your hard days are hard. I need 2 days off. You could stick to your regular schedule but nix Friday. You’re probably not accomplishing much that day anyway. Rest would accomplish more.
Generally, I do
Monday – Off bike. Strength work.
Tues – Hard bike.
Wed – Easy bike. Strength work.
Thr – Moderate or hard bike.
Friday – Off bike. Strength work.
Saturday – Hard bike.
Sunday – Lone ride (or a “whatever ride”).
That is not to say this is what you should do but I’ve also struggled with this and landed on that schedule. Plus…
My first month+ indoor is just endurance rides and strength work. And to be honest, especially early winter, I often do only 1-2 interval days per week.
Strength work is in service of making me stronger on the bike. If it’s interfering with the bike then I reconsider it.
The lift is generally full body, heavy, lower reps. I’m not getting stronger but I’ve been following this for a couple years now and have generally maintained my strength decently well. (also this changes during VO2 blocks or weeks with racing)
A lift generally looks like:
Bulgarian Split Squat (work up to heavy set of 4ish)
RDL or hamstring curl (moderate 3x8)
Lat pulldown or pull up or seated row (moderately heavy 3x8)
Incline DB bench or DB Overhead press (Moderately heavy 3x8)
Random accessories (curls, tricepts, lateral raise, face pull, adductors, core, etc)
It’s more upper body then required and I definitely hold more upper body mass than is ideal for cycling (6ft 180lb) but I like being a bit stronger so that’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make.
Also, you’d be surprised how little volume is required to maintain or even improve strength. 3x8 Squats and Deadlifts twice a week is way too much and deadlifts are far from ideal for cycling because of the systemic fatigue and the upper body loading required.
For what it’s worth, I’m racing and podiuming Cat 2 crits, have put 30+W on my FTP in the past 2 years doing this (after 5years of cycling), have a 1400-1500W sprint, and can squat probably 240lb after a couple weeks of practice. I’m not saying it’s a miracle program or the reason for my improvement or anything but it’s been the most sustainable schedule and given me the biggest gains since the first couple years of cycling.
How do you feel about doing heavy bulgarian split squats - any problems with stability etc?
I really like split squats, especially for cycling, but I’ve never done them as my “main” exercise. I always do squats or deadlifts before them but maybe I could swap them around Back squats and deadlifts are great lifts but they seem to cause a bit too much fatigue later in the training cycle. Perhaps heavy split squats and lighter squats or deadlifts could work better?
I really like them. Especially if I lean forward a bit more it feels similar to when you’re really grinding up a steep climb or sprinting with high torque.
As for stability I don’t have the greatest balance in the world but I’ve never fallen over or anything. Since I use dumbbells the weight is much lower than a barbell so the balance is much easier.
But yeah I find that since they’re single leg I then have to use much less weight and so my core and upper body is doing less work to stabilize so I feel less overall fatigue from them.
I think especially if you have a strength background to get stuck on squats and deadlifts cause they’re just the foundation of most strength programs since most programs are heavily powerlifting influenced but they aren’t really special for any reason and there are better exercises if cycling is the goal.
Right now, just to keep the squat motion ‘grooved in’ I do the bulgarians during my heavy weeks and then light back squats during my deload weeks. Otherwise I stopped squatting during my heavy weeks.
Before cycling, I got back into powerlifting in 2020 following the Starting Strength split which had me doing 3x5 Back Squat 3x/week. Even on that plan, they recommend only doing 1x5 heavy deadlift once or twice per week, as it is just so much stress on your body.
With your current load, it seems like you’re lifting too much! If I do back squat now during a heavy cycling split, I’ll do it once or twice per week and do 3x5, but work my up to a final heavy set (185x5, 205x5, 225x5)… much less than before cycling when I would do 3x5 at 315.
I started running doing Runna this fall, which has a good lifting component. More single leg work, which is more helpful for me!
I’ve had pretty much the same experience. When I started ramping up my cycling volume, trying to keep full-body lifting twice a week just didn’t work. Now I periodize more carefully.
During the off-season/base phase – focused on endurance, tempo, and SST rather than higher-intensity TR-style plans – I’ll add more leg volume. Once I progress to more intensive cycling phases, I cut back to a single maintenance session per week for legs, usually squats and deadlifts at something like 1×95%, 2×85%, 2×85%. That’s enough to hold most of my strength through the season. I still train upper body twice a week without issue.
There are even times, like during high-volume or VO₂max blocks, when I drop strength training completely.
You’re not doing anything wrong, just doing too much at once. Your setup looks solid, but your body hasn’t adapted yet to handle the combined load. The persistent DOMS and fatigue suggest your recovery window is too short.
Try these adjustments:
1. Reduce leg volume in the gym.Stick to one heavy lower-body day and focus the second on mobility or core.
2. Lower the RPE temporarily.Even dropping from 6/10 to 5/10 for squats and deads can make a big difference.
3. Space out leg sessions.Avoid doing gym work the day before or after your hardest rides.
4. Increase protein and sleep quality.They’re key for muscle recovery and performance.
5. Ease into maintenance work. After two or three weeks of adaptation, you can gradually raise gym intensity again.
Your training is structured well, but managing fatigue means adjusting stress across both riding and lifting. Recovery is training too.
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Back squats and deadlifts are great lifts but they seem to cause a bit too much fatigue later in the training cycle. Perhaps heavy split squats and lighter squats or deadlifts could work better?