Hi David,

You ask a number of questions, that’s ok so I will answer them in order.

A couple of comments first. If you are the true sprinter, I would also focus on improving your other limiters. You can always fall back on what you are good at (sprinting), however, you need to be in a situation where you can use it. With more information about your race experiences I can advise you further on this (in short usually it is the types of workouts you REALLY hate doing or just ask your riding mates, they will gladly tell you what you are not so good at=) ). Also August-March is actually not a short off-season. Around here races start in February (with the bulk starting in April) and go all the way to October so off season is a touch shorter. It’s perfectly OK to take some weeks off the bike, while staying somewhat active (ie not a total couch potato).

On to your questions. You mention you are experienced athlete and have already been lifting for some time already. The idea behind the introductory weight training program is to get your body accustomed to working with weights, to learn the correct technique or as I would like to call it – develop muscle memory. Therefore I would suggest to do at least 1-2 weeks since this program includes basic exercises that are used later on. I emphasise that technique is paramount, not weight.

How long to lift and should you do it during season?
Since days are short and/or weather is pretty bad, one day at the gym during the off-season is nice to break things up and combined with core work it improves your functional fitness as well(posture, etc.). Once season starts and you can ride more outside it depends on your time availability. If you have limited time to train, spend it riding rather than at the gym, it’s bike racing after all=), and do core exercises as a minimum since they are good for your functionality off the bike as well. I personally stop weight training around February/March when daylight savings kicks in, we used to do the same when I was rowing. If you can squeeze it in, as you correctly observed keep it short, intense and fast. You can do weight training pretty much all the way up to the weeks where you have races where you want to do well. Weight training is considered a ‘hard’ workout, similar to an interval training so for best recovery it is advised to not do anything intense the day after (ie racing)

How to incorporate weight training with your base and cycling workouts?
Use this article and my posts tagged under ‘cycling strength series’ as a start. If you have more specific questions about organising your cycling workouts, let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

What weight?
You should keep it challenging. The other reason behind the introductory period is to get a feel for it. Once are past the introductory phase the best way to describe it is that the last couple of reps should be challenging but not impossible (i think that is about 60-80% or 1RM). Keep a diary and increase the weight slowly as the weeks go so you keep the training stress, forcing your body to keep super compensating/adapting.

I do agree the information overload is significant when you are just starting, however, it is a process so as you get more understanding you can modify things in the go. Also the off-season is the perfect time to plan and to start to educate yourself. Try to learn a little every day/week it it would all start to make sense to you.

Good luck with your cycling endeavours and respond to this thread if you have further questions.

-Nikola

Really, any help will be appreciated, I just feel very overwhelmed with all this info and I just had a new baby and a lot more responsibility dropped on me at work. I am taking these next 2 weeks off the bike and out of the weight room (just doing core work) and I am trying to develop a detailed training plan for the off season Aug-March

Thanks