I often hear that cyclists skip strength training because they are afraid they will gain additional body weight. In this series I will try to explain how cyclists can strength train without gaining extra body weight.

1. Why additional body weight should be avoided
Larger muscle cells (that will say larger square diameter) can generate more power. That is the most commonly known way to increase power, though it is not desirable for cyclists. The problem is that a large muscle mass is heavy to carry and there is a dilution of mitochondrias. Additional body weight will slow you down when you climb or accelerate your bike. Notice that I include accelerations, because many riders forget that their body weight also matters when they accelerate their bike out of a corner. Enthusiasts riding with power meters may have introduced you to the term ‘power to weight ratio’. That refers to how many watts you can push compared to your body weight. That ratio has a huge impact when you climb (or accelerate…)

Read the first part of the series here

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Inspiratory muscle training is done against an external resistance when you breathe. There are several products (POWERbreathe, PowerLung, Ultrabreathe etc.) on the market claiming they can significantly improve your endurance. I have done some studying in Cochrane Library and Pubmed to figure out what we know about inspiratory muscle training for trained cyclists.

Inspiratory resistance training improves maximum inspiratory pressure

Nearly all studies find that it is possible to improve the maximum inspiratory pressure, but it remains uncertain whether this improvement actually affects cycling performance. Most studies have in common that they have used very small study groups with less than 10 participants in each group in the randomized placebo controlled studies. I am pretty sure that inspiratory muscle training does affect maximum inspiratory, but these respiratory muscles are also trained during hard aerobic exercise.

Respiratory muscles get exhausted during hard exercise
The first time I was introduced to exhausted inspiratory muscles was after a long race with a very high intensity. When I took a deep breath afterwards, I could feel pain in my inspiratory muscles. My conclusion was that vo2 intervals and racing probably gives your respiratory muscles a great stimulus.

Inspiratory muscle training - Yes or no?

As I have previously discussed, it remains uncertain whether strength training improves aerobic endurance. It seems like we have a similar problem with respiratory resistance training: Strength training for inspiratory muscles and skeletal muscles both increases maximum strength, but it remains unsure if there is a benefit for you in a competition.In a Cochrane review it is concluded that “Currently there is insufficient evidence to suggest that inspiratory muscle training with external resistive breathing devices provides any demonstrable clinical benefit in patients with asthma.”

So until we get more scientific evidence, I can not advice you to use respiratory resistance training regularly because there is not (enough) evidence for its benefits. On the other hand there is no doubt that instruments like Powerbreathe, PowerLung or Ultrabreath can train your respiratory muscles in a way you can’t train them during endurance training. I can’t think of any unwanted side effects to respiratory training, so if think it sounds interesting you can give it try. They are non-invasive and inexpensive, so it might be a cheap improvement for your performance.

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I have covered this topic a couple of times before, but there are still a lot of reasons to consider whether weight training is waste of time or way to improve your overall performance. When road cyclists discuss strength training it sounds like a discussion of religion rather than a discussion about having some amusement in the winter time. There are strongly believers in the possible gains from strength training and there strongly opponents arguing against lifting weights. There is very few arguments there are supported by scientific research. Like most studies in exercise physiology, research on trained cyclists are always made on small groups, thus making it very difficult to prove significant differences for trained individuals. Here are my comments about Cycling, strength training and statistical power

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Watch this Video Clip

3 things that I don’t understand:

1. Why nobody assists him in 1-rep maximum attempt?

2. Why he listens to music in a 1-rep maximum attempt?

3. Why he does heavy squats without a proper technique?

Please don’t make these mistakes..!

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I often hear that cyclists skip strength training because they are afraid they will gain additional body weight. In this series I will try to explain how cyclists can strength train without gaining extra body weight. This article is a part of the ‘Strength training without additional body mass series’. You can read the rest […]

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When you start to strength train you will make progress in the beginning with little effort. This is not due to hypertrophy, but rather neural adaptations. Maintaining a low body weight is essential in both road cycling and mountain bike, since carrying extra pounds (dead weight) decrease your performance. I have made a couple of training tips that can help you to avoid hypertrophy of your muscles when you strength train.

Read the tips for strength training here

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