I do lower body weights once a week during base and build. Should I keep doing that during rest weeks or is it better to give the legs a break?
Same as the rest of your recovery week, lower the volume, lower the intensity.
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What he said ^^^ and to make a clarification, typically “Rest” is referred to as time off the bike and/or doing nothing. and “Recovery” is still being active, just at much lower intensity. If you’re resting from say an injury or illness then I probably wouldn’t be doing workouts either. Even body builders have recovery weeks so why not sync them up?
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+1 to Everything said above
I usually cut my sets in half but with same intensity (weight).
I do, yes. But I keep it about the same volume as non-rest weeks (2 30min sessions a week on average), and focus more so on upper body.
The voodoo/broscience thought process here is that weightlifting increases GH and testosterone levels, which can help with recovery. So long as the weightlifting I’m doing isn’t isn’t interfering in leg recovery, or particularly stressful overall on my body, then I will take the free hormone boost.
More importantly I just like weightlifting so I will justify doing it however I want to.
Lower volume AND lower intensity, similar to the typical rides scheduled during rest weeks.
For example, complete two sets per exercise, at ~50% of your current “work set” weight, or use your normal warmup weight … for all rest week sets.
personally I find it very beneficial to skip the first lift during the rest week, and only resume on Thurs or Friday. I can easily ignore how much stress lifting puts on the body and nervous system, which REALLY needs a break if training a lot, especially as we get closer to spring and the intensity is coming on top of the volume.
good luck!