Originally Posted by
furiousferret
A solid gym workout usually kills 2-3 days of good riding for me, so I'd like to find a middle ground. Everything I've researched say 3 to 4 sets for 3 just may be that. Low reps don't cause hypertrophy, so less mass but what you do have is stronger. What you're posting confirms that. The problem comes handling those reps, because they're going to end up at some point being big numbers and its easy to get hurt if you're not careful.
Being a strong rider will never be a strength, but I'd like to optimize what little anaerobic power I have in tank. At my short height its glaringly obvious I don't have the natural leg strength of others. I'm just not sure when I'll start up. Part of me says now, but in the past weight lifting has been disrupting to training so the winter is a safer bet.
I am keenly aware of injury as the weight increases. I started consistent strength training in 1974 and did some in high school for football and track and field. I have belonged to a gym ever since and have stuck with it. I have not done power lifting. In fact, I cannot get my arms into a power clean position for the catch - flexibility.
An interesting exercise that I started doing is the farmers carry. As part of the warmup, I take a couple of dumb bells or kettlebells and walk around the gym with perfect posture with the weights. I find this does wonders for posture. Cycling, we roll our shoulders forward and keep them in that position for long periods of time. This posture plus weight puts the shoulder back in its correct place and aligns the spine.