Training4cyclists

Cycling Training Tips

alpe d'huez

Strength Training Without Additional Body Mass – 3

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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 number 3 of the ”˜Strength training without additional body mass series’. You can read the rest of this series here:
1. Why additional body weight should be avoided
2. Nutritional tips to avoid hypertrophy
3. Training tips to avoid hypertrophy
4. Tips about strength training

3. Training tips to avoid hypertrophy

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. This explains why beginners experience great improvements in the first couple of weeks when they begin to lift weights.

Maintaining a low body weight is essential in both road cycling and mountain bike, since carrying extra pounds (dead weight) decrease your performance. Actually 1kg can cost you around 1 minute on finishing time on Alpe d’Huez.

I have a couple of training tips that can help you to avoid hypertrophy of your muscles when you strength train:

Short sets of 1 to 5 reps
Sets of few reps apply very little damage to the muscle fibres (protein degradation). This damage is normally one of the parameters responsible for stimulating the muscle fibres to grow. Body builders would prefer sets from 6 to 15 reps, because these longer sets cause more protein degradation which stimulate the muscles to grow. 

Long recovery periods between sets
When you train for neural strength you are interested in a full or almost full recovery between each set. This little move, which is a very social and comfortable time of the training session, makes it possible to keep protein degradation at minimum. It also makes you able to perform lifts at higher level, which in the final end makes you stronger. I recommend you to take a break of at least 2 minutes between sets.

Avoid failure training
This training type is a big mistake when you train for neural adaptations. It might also be a big mistake if you train for hypertrophy, but that is another story. The point is that failure training might trigger your muscles to grow and also there is a risk that your strength gains will reach a plateau too early.

Avoid forced reps
This training type is not made for strength gains. It is from 80’s where people believed in ”˜No pain, no gain’. Again, if you focus on strength gains, forced reps are not a topic. Forget about the ‘No pain, no Pain’ attitude, well if you like to suffer, it is much better for you to suffer during som effective interval programmes made for your aerobic system. 

Be explosive
Well, this advice does not exactly protects your muscles from growth, but I think that it is an important advice for serious cyclists or other people interested in neural strength gains. In the concentric phase of the lift, you should try to barbell as fast as possible in the concentric phase (lifting phase).

How much time does extra weight cost on Alpe d’Huez?

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Ever wondered how much difference it would make if you made your bike lighter? I guess most serious riders once in while have concerns about their bikes whether they are light enough. As previously described the bike weight has impact on performance ”“ especially during climbing.

Thus, I thought it was interesting to find out how much difference it makes if you ride a heavier bike up alpe d’Huez. This little trial was performed by the best rider I coach as a part of his preparation for Tour de l’avenir (U23 Tour de France) in September 2008.

In this experiment he had to ride up Alpe d’Huez four times with different setups. He was supposed to keep a pace around 275w on all four rides. The test bike was a Pinarello Prince equipped with Shimano Dura Ace and SRM crank:

1. Normal bike + 1.8L extra water in tyres(!)
This setup was quite interesting and got quite a lot of attention the day before when he had a puncture..! It was possible to fill 900ml into each tyre. Reducing weights on wheels is more important than reducing weight on non-rolling equipment e.g. bike saddle.

2. Normal bike + 1,8L extra water on bike.
This setup also got some serious attention because he rode a relative fast pace compared to most riders visiting Alpe d’Huez. Thus, when he performed the trial, well-trained riders were trying to keep up with his pace because this setup looked so extreme.

3. Normal bike
This setup was a completely normal bike.

4. Normal bike, reduced tyre pressure only 3 bars.
The last setup was ridden with reduced tyre pressure to 3bars. This was a tough finish on the last ride up Alpe d’Huez this day.

Results:
1. 52.01, 275w
2. 51.34, 277w
3. 49.40, 278w
4. 50.38, 273w

1,8L extra weight costs 1.54min up Alpe d’Huez. This is a remarkable test that shows us how important weight savings are when you are riding on steep hills. Also it shows that weight savings on wheels might be more important than weight saving on non-rolling equipment. These trials were only possible because of his SRM Crank that made it possible to compare each ride up the hill. You can make similar trials to test your bike setup if you want to optimize your bike equipment. These tests can be extremely helpful for e.g. time trialists if you don’t have wind tunnel in the neighbourhood.