Strength Training for the bike – with MSC head Coach Nick Croft
The off season is the perfect time to work on bike strength for next season. This will come around quickly and making use of the off season while building a base after some down time is ideal to work some specific strength into your cycling, especially if the bike is your weakness. Initially once some recovery / easy unstructured training may have taken place some athletes may choose to work in the gym but triathletes are fairly time poor and it is a fact that leg strength is not automatically transferred to the bike. It can be frustrating to see gym built strength fail to transfer to the bike. The majority of strength training for the bike should be done on the bike – unless you have areas that are very week and have been identified in a body screening by a qualified coach / physio and you work on these in the gym to correct any in balances.
Below are some sessions that help build on the bike strength.
Be aware that the sessions described are difficult and can be stressful to your knees. Monitor your knees carefully and stop if you feel any pain or discomfort. Build up the number of repeats and duration of each repeat gradually over weeks. Injuries are often caused by too much, too soon. Have patience with yourself to see the best improvements.
Big Gear Repeats
On a flat course or indoor trainer pedal in a big gear, with a cadence of 50 to 60 rpm for 5 minutes. Your heart rate should stay in heart rate zones 1-3 (60-75% of max HR). That is well below lactate threshold. This workout is to stress your muscular system, not aerobic system. Start with repeats of 5 minutes and work gradually up to 20 minutes. Stay seated in the saddle with a quiet upper-body throughout the repeat.
Big Gear Hill Repeats
When you have built up to 20 minutes of big gear repeats on flat terrain you can do the same session on a longer – not too steep (3-5%) hill to build additional strength. Remember to stay seated in the saddle with a quiet upper-body. Focus on leg strength and adjust gears accordingly.
Force Repeats
This workout is similar to lifting weights in the gym, but done on the bike. On a flat course or indoor trainer pedal in a gear that only allows you to reach 50 60 rpm. While remaining seated drive the pedals down as hard as possible for 15 to 20 revolutions of the cranks. Do 6 to 10 of these, starting a new one every 3 to 5 minutes. Between force repeats spin 85+ rpm easily with light pressure on the pedals.
90 Second Hills
On an indoor trainer with a high resistance setting pedal for 30 seconds at 70 to 80 rpm with your heart rate in zone 1-2, shift up one gear and maintain cadence for 30 seconds, shift up another gear and maintain cadence for another 30 seconds. Your heart rate will rise but should stay below lactate threshold in zones 3 to 4. Spin at 85+ rpm with light pressure on the pedals for 90 seconds recovery between each repeat. Do this 8 to 12 times.
With the selection of ‘smart (wind) trainers now on the market it has never been easier / more convenient to get stronger on the bike during the off season indoors with the various programs / apps in the market and plot your progress through power and heart rate and make the most of limited time to train.