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leg gym work
ugo.santalucia
Posts: 28,052
I need more power… my 3 minute plus numbers are decent enough, but I seem to be really bad at the short stuff… my best minute ever (what a minute that was!) wasn’t even 9W/kg and I can’t even get to 800W for a few seconds, other than power meter glitches…
So gym has to be…
I can’t do squats with heavy weights, as I am not keen to end up with a slipped disc or worse, so the big weights will have to be on the leg press machine.
What would be a single leg weight which is good to aim for in the next few weeks? I managed to do reps of 6-8 up to 80kg on a single leg this morning, that is about 120% of my body weight… I could probably do a bit more, not a lot more… would 120kg be a realistic target.. too little, too much?
So gym has to be…
I can’t do squats with heavy weights, as I am not keen to end up with a slipped disc or worse, so the big weights will have to be on the leg press machine.
What would be a single leg weight which is good to aim for in the next few weeks? I managed to do reps of 6-8 up to 80kg on a single leg this morning, that is about 120% of my body weight… I could probably do a bit more, not a lot more… would 120kg be a realistic target.. too little, too much?
left the forum March 2023
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- Dolan Tuono
Focus on don't that well and having good form ugo, rather than a specific number.
Maybe do some squats with lower weight too, to strengthen your back and reduce the risk of a slipped disk. Again form is very important.
- Dolan Tuono
Not sure they help in cycling.
In my case, the only cycling I care is climbing, so upper body strength...
Or am I getting something wrong?
https://www.strava.com/activities/9339629165
I understand machines are second best to weights, but I’ll take second best to avoid injury
You are just as likely to injured on a machine when you are pushing it as you are just sat there and not having to engage the rest of your body.
However in regard to single leg press one of my mates who had on the national Squad as junior could do the full stack without looking like he was making any effort.
Based on what I can do with a barbell it sound like you can single leg press more than me but I've done 1300w+ sprints on each of the 5 power meter I've owned. I've never trained it, that's just town sign stuff.
don’t really trust power numbers under 10 seconds… my best 10s is well under 800w
BTW, @ugo.santalucia very nice Bianchi in your Strava!
I have seen some studies which suggest that 'explosive' strength training has some effect on short efforts i.e. 5-10 seconds, but 'heavy' strength training (i.e. the type of gym work Ugo is planning), does not have the similar effect.
My guess would be that 1-3 minute efforts on the bike are going to be improved by more targeted cycling training, but would be interesting to see if your gym plan has the desired effect Ugo. Anecdotally, my 1 minute power has gone up this year, the only real difference is actually my volume has gone up also (have consistently done 5 rides per week and averaged 400km per week which has pushed me up to over 9w/kg for a minute). I suspect that most of us reach a plateau in terms of power numbers at certain combos of volume and intensity. The way to shift the numbers up to the next level (for an experienced fairly well trained cyclist) is to add volume and some specificity to training.
I can find many that conclude it does increase cycling performance.
edit:
here is one
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10378917/
I have back issues from wear and tear (life) which has caused disc herniating and sequestration, so I started weight training to help with it, it’s perfectly safe if done correctly and will prevent not cause back issues.
There is certainly some truth in this. Some say that muscular men have more success in attractive females, not because females prefer the muscular types, but because known you're muscular gives you extra self confidence, which in turn helps attracting the females.
BTW, in my teens I was obsessed with gym-work and looking muscular. Now I couldn't care less. I didn't like when I concluded that most of these men want to LOOK fit, and do not really care about BEING actually fit.
I look fit, but I'm not. If I could look fat, and yet be as fit as an elite runner or cyclist, I would immediately sign up for it.
The only thing I have improved is knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses. For a number of reasons, I would like to target the 1-2 minute races, which are currently my weakness.
As a side issue, it might help getting a bit leaner…
Perhaps the reason it has not given you any additional benefit is because you have reached your plateau. So even the overall "optimum" training (which admittedly is hard to find) there's only so much that your fitness can improve. Just a thought.
If I can’t improve by means of intervals, maybe I can improve by other means… it is also something to focus on during the winter… there is only so much Zwift one can do… cycling outdoors this time of the year is more for sanity than actual training.
thinking that I cannot 8mprove is dangerous… I would lose motivation to enter any race than is more than cycling distance away
Over and over. That'll sort you out. Untill your legs scream, then rest for longer than you think till you're fully recovered and repeat.
Can also add some overgeared days into your riding too to build a bit of that torque ability > lower back etc.
Unless I am misreading the abstract, that study seems to confirm my exact point. To quote below:
Conclusion: The present data suggest that increased leg strength does not improve cycle endurance performance in endurance-trained, female cyclists.
No correlation between leg strength and increased endurance.