I started strength training for the first time in a couple of years this month, adding it into SBR training and taking away one ride a week.
The program focuses on trap deadlift, walking lunges, and single leg press.
As expected, I was very sore after the first session, but less so three weeks in.
Bike is my weakest discipline relative to the field, and after five years of training I’m trying to improve it through weights. But my power output on the bike has slipped BIG TIME over the last month—on the order of 30%!!
What am I doing wrong? Next race is a half in late April.
If you have only just started weights and seen a drop I would imagine it down to fatigue. If you are doing low reps and heavy weights it can cause a lot of fatigue.
I recently started again after a break and even a Z2 ride the day after felt hard.
Adding strength session(s) at the expense of a bike session is not the approach I would take. But even a less than ideal approach should not see a 30% decrease. That’s ridiculous and you need to check calibration and maybe get some blood tests.
If you really want to break through on the bike, maybe summarize the training volume and key sessions you have been doing.
Post a video of your fit, as a proper bike fit is often equal to a year or more of proper bike training.
I think the issue behind the 30% decrease (assuming proper calibration, yada yada) is the weights, especially since it doesn’t sound like he has any prior history with lifting.
If you’re going to do the Maximum Overload program correctly, stick to the plan (at least for several months).
If you want to do ~2x/week of FTP interval workouts, stick to that.
I, personally, don’t think you can mash them together.
The MO wko uses the strength/power stuff in place of the FTP work. If you are doing 2-3 MO wko’s/week, then there’s one, ONE, day of all out intervals dropped into the week but all of the other riding is easy to moderate. As the season progresses, you can drop a MO wko and put in a harder group ride in it’s place.
If you think that you can get that extra boost by adding a couple of FTP wko’s to a properly executed MO wko week, you prob are risking recovery sabotage.
That’s my take on it. I’ve been doing the MO stuff since November. Like it. It’s been fun. Sticking to the plan. I’ll prob start working in 1 (building to 2) FTP sessions, and drop all but 1 MO wko, as the warm season kicks in. Project of 1!
I always add my lunges and dead lifts right after a hard session on the bike. That way I have a recovery day or two before I have another hard session on the bike planned. I definitely don’t do any leg weights the day before a hard session on the bike.
If you’re going to do the Maximum Overload program correctly, stick to the plan (at least for several months).
If you want to do ~2x/week of FTP interval workouts, stick to that.
I, personally, don’t think you can mash them together.
The MO wko uses the strength/power stuff in place of the FTP work. If you are doing 2-3 MO wko’s/week, then there’s one, ONE, day of all out intervals dropped into the week but all of the other riding is easy to moderate. As the season progresses, you can drop a MO wko and put in a harder group ride in it’s place.
If you think that you can get that extra boost by adding a couple of FTP wko’s to a properly executed MO wko week, you prob are risking recovery sabotage.
That’s my take on it. I’ve been doing the MO stuff since November. Like it. It’s been fun. Sticking to the plan. I’ll prob start working in 1 (building to 2) FTP sessions, and drop all but 1 MO wko, as the warm season kicks in. Project of 1!
A couple questions:
How heavy are you lifting? Are you doing 1.5x body weight for trap deadlifts or something like 20lbs…What kind of sets/rests are you doing?Did you reduce the intensity of your bike sessions to account for the additional stress on the body from lifting?
It could be you’ve just overloaded your body with too much weight training on top of an already challenging plan. A 30% drop seems ridiculously large though.
It’s not a straightforward answer. If your FTP is already 5w/kg you may find that some weight training helps you stress the body in a different way and help stimulate gains. If your FTP is 2w/kg you are better off just cycling, and it is probably your SBR program that is wrong.
My N=1. In off-season I have 3 weight sessions per week in my plan, but none of it is max lifting. At most it’s doing a challenging weight for 15 reps, and doing 2-3 sets of that. If I go any heavier my legs are trashed and it severely impacts my other training. When the season gets underway most of my strength training is body-weighted and after SBR sessions. The session I hate most is doing stuff like squats and lunges after a long run.
As a cyclist, I normally start lifting 1x/week in October, and gradually taper off in January. My important races start in April, so if you have a big race in April, now is the time to phase out any lifting that impacts your sport specific training.
Even with lower CTL and overall fitness, I can still do 20+ minute efforts within 90% of my usual in the fall, a couple days after lifting. You might feel sore, but your legs can still put out the power (on the trainer or outside).
Why not just do some lower cadence (50-60 rpm range) to work on developing more strength through cycling? This is more cycling specific and could help out the FTP.
If you have only just started weights and seen a drop I would imagine it down to fatigue. If you are doing low reps and heavy weights it can cause a lot of fatigue.
I recently started again after a break and even a Z2 ride the day after felt hard.
I have noted the same as iwaters. I have been doing strength training this winter (first offseason I have tried this) and if I push strength sessions to 3x per week (currently low rep/higher weight), the cumulative fatigue has gotten me on the bike. I couldn’t hold zone 2 for more than 30 min the other day. I have been able to keep my running up however.
I think Morpheus advice is solid (at least for me)…I couldn’t even consider a high sweet spot/threshold ride right now. I’m planning to decrease strength to once per week over the next few weeks and pick the biking intensity/frequency back up. I’m hoping to maintain 1x per week strength training through the 2018 tri season, we’ll see…