Winter is ugly right now with no signs of any decent riding as the snow has piled up and it may be march before it melts. I decided to add weight training to my 1hr indoor rides and yesterday was my first day. My legs are so sore today that I can hardly walk. I did no weights on the hip sled and did leg curls and extentions with about 60lbs on the machine. What is it about the weights that make such troubles for my thighs? Since cycling really completes the endurance aspect of training would it be better to do heavy weight short reps for strength only or is that wrong thinking? Seems like a good time of the year to lift as overtraining would be hard.
Hie hie… smile… I know I know…
I started lifting 1st week in Jan. I only lift once a week (Wed. lunch times). The Friday I couldn’t get out of bed… I mean it was BAD. I walked on my toes all day… the guys at worked thought it was MAJOR funny!
Anyway, my wife (physio) told me to stretch before and after every session… stretch well! After second session I was OK. Not nearly as bad as 1st. I do 20 reps of lighter weights (4 sets on each muscle group, sounds a lot but I found that it gives me muscle endurance rather that “body building strength”). I also do legs only and no upper boddy. I will stop in April before race season starts.
Soreness is pretty common when lifting for the first time in a while - I’m typically more sore the second day afterwards. I find if I do a light recovery workout 2 days after it helps a lot. (better than 2 days of rest)
However, if you’re always that sore after lifting I’d guess you need to lower your weight. Friel recommends a month or so of high weight/low rep but only after a period of anatomical adaptation with light weight. You don’t want to jump in and start with heavy lifting - that’s a good recipe for injury.
From my experience, if you are sore for more than a day then you were lifting too much weight. I had been doing the same mistake for years, essentially never giving my legs the chance to recover and rebuild themselves. This year I changed my old habits and I have seen a marked increase in the weight I can lift, and in my times. I also now concentrate more on my core muscles than my legs, and this has helped significantly.
As far as sets/reps/weights are concerned, I follow Friel’s program, but always try to do the maximum reps in his recommended range.
John
I have found that it really helps me to finish a weight workout , then get on the exercise bike with no resistance and spin for 5-10 min at 80 ish rpm’s. I think that helps to increase bloodflow in the quads and develop muscle memory for cycling. The exercise phys. guys will probably eat me up on that one , but try it. G
As a number of people have mentioned, the soreness is definitely there the first time. I also find that if I do weights less than twice a week, I’ll feel sore. But when I was doing it regularly 3 times a week, it would only bother me a little during and right after the workout. Overnight I’ll be fine. I guess the body learns to adapt faster? Once a week definitely makes the weights seem really hard every time. I also find I have to do weights year-long (different programs); otherwise I lose too much during racing season.
Also, I do quite a lot of hard slow bike sets (climbing) with my club now so I do few reps, but with lots of weights right now. But not excessive. I’m still able to control my motions and go through the range of motion verrry sloowly.
Core workouts are great but I find them extruciatingly boring. bleah.
One last thing, a friend of mine who’s a nutrionist also emphasizes the need to take in carbs within 30 minutes of your workout. I find with weights I really do crave carbs afterwards. Even something as simple as a glass of OJ before you shower helps. Supposedly. (try it?)
As for overtraining is harder in the winter … ha… ha… eh… ahem…
deechee