mollusk

A current picture of Pcad:

blue_nose

Here is a good article that summarizes Stern’s views about strength training. His thesis is widely debated:

https://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=strengthstern


Here is a good article with some opposing views. There are others out there as well.

https://www.training4cyclists.com/Wei...Road-Cyclists/

There is a huge potential if riders start to adapt some of the training principles athletes in weight limited sports use (e.g. track & field). It is well known that these athletes actually benefit from strength training, but there have also been more studying of practical training in athletics. In road cycling there is much more money in developing aerodynamic equipment, thus that is where all the brains go. One of the biggest problems in road cycling is to recruit educated cycling coaches. Think of how many cycling coaches actually just are old pros? Not surprising that road cycling is way behind the scientific training strategies that a lot of other benefits from.

asgelle

So I guess now you've read one modern periodization training plan that does not include strength training.

mollusk

I'm "loving" this thread!

If you have been riding hard for a couple of years you should be able to get a good feel to what your body is telling you. At that point you don't need any books to tell you what to do. You will know what is required.

As for me with my 54+ year old body that has been a roadie since the 1970's I have been in "base" mode for a about a month. This is my time of year to drop weight. Of course with that is that I lose some fitness. I'll know that the bloom is off the rose when the fitness I lose is greater than the weight.

It is also my time of year to do 100 mile "Fred" rides with century virgins. That is my cycling penance. It is always painful.

DataJunkie

I have had nothing to train for since mid July. Been in base mode since then.
I really need to find more events (hopefully a few races) next year to keep me in training mode. Lets just say I am far from burnt out.

Cateye

Below is a re-post of a thread that I started in the Training forum. Not trying to start a flame war but it was just something that happend to me.

HIT only?

Before this week I had not been on my bike in a year. I have been deployed to Iraq and came home on leave. We have a small gym in Iraq with a few indoor stationary bikes......standard gym fair that displays HR, distance, cadence...... that I road in hopes of being in some kind of shape to ride a century this weekend. In a nut shell I started training 4-5 days a week….depending on missions…..for an 1-1 ˝ hours a day. The months went like this:

Mar- May….interval training
June and July….hill training
Aug….long intervals 30 min hard efforts
September 5 days off fly home and ride a century.

Last year when I was home I rode the same century, same rout, and it took me 5hr, 45 min. This year I did it in 5hr 1 min. I used the same bike so no change there. Based on my un-scientific experiment......I trained like I did because I was mainly bord not based on any training method......... I concluded that training with intensity can make up for a lack of miles/base training. I would not recommend training only indoors for 7 months because it drove me nuts ………….but it was all that I had

Brandy

You wouldn't be the first BF'er to spank me.

ravenmore

patentcad

Pics or it didn't happen B.

Brandy

Oh...I've got pics. NSFW, of course.

patentcad

When I spank you there will be no pics, but the video will be available for $29.95. PM me about your cut on that B.

GP

I do strength training and blue_nose drops me like a rock. Strength training obviously has no benefit.

blue_nose

I should have qualified it with “good” training plan.

Let’s see what somebody with a little bit more experience with training thinks:

Armstrong: It goes in phases. Right now, I'm spending half my time in the gym and half my time on the bike. Come January, all of the gym work will go away, and really for the rest of the season, all you do is train on the bike and obviously focus on other things. Focus on stretching. Focus on the technology of cycling. Focus on diet. Focus on the team and strategy and all the other elements.

https://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/09/24/armstrong.qanda/


I will go with the training plan that pretty much revolutionized the way a cyclists peaks for a season and made a minor celebrity out of a coach.

https://www.ultracycling.com/training...perf_prog.html

LA used strength training on his way to 7 Tour wins. Maybe there might be something to translating increases strength to improved cycling.

ravenmore

I was going to say that but this is the gal with the Cervelo and flip flops.

GP

I was down there between 11:20 and 12:45, videotaping Janet. Today was the last day of the year for her to surf without a wetsuit.

mollusk

Too bad that Pcad works from home so it will NEVER be safe.

Brandy

ilvwhtgrls

coast highway heading into newport?

asgelle

You're arguing a straw man and I'm not about to bite. You began this by saying you were unaware of any training plan that didn't include strength training. That reflects on the breadth of your experience and the foundation on which you based your recommendations. (How can you say say strength training is necessary if you've never considered the alternative arguments?) Now you admit they exist, and imply you were aware of them but rejected them. Whether or not to include strength training is an entirely different matter. You choose your experts, I'll choose mine (though I still haven't said where I stand).

Now that's funny. We were reading Bompa when Carmichael was a minor player on a second-rate team.

Chucklehead

Ah, I rode past your place around 10:30 and saw your truck. Figured you just rode to work. If I'd had any empty GU wrappers or Co2 cartriges, I would have tossed them on your front lawn.

Vireo

I will toss my stuff in his truck bed - just to let you know I came by GP

blue_nose

Guilty. I have read Stern’s articles, posts, blogs. I personally do not agree with his unproven “theory”.

And how does Charmichael’s performance translate to his ability to coach? Many of the greatest coaches have not excelled at the highest levels in their sport. If you are going to criticize how I make my arguments – that is a pretty silly thought to end with.

NomadVW 

But you didn't, which was I made my comment. Ric Stern and Andy Coggan are certainly not the only ones who have weighed in against "strength" training, and more specifically weight training.

I'm also quite surprised you would suggest Carmichael revolutionized peaking/periodization. Either way, periodization and peaking is obviously a functional method of training. I would not argue against periodization.

Whether or not "strength" training accomplishes anything during the off season has much more to do with available training time than it does end result.

edited: posted a couple seconds late. ah well.. going to bed.

asgelle

Again, try to stay on point. The subject is temporal. Carmichael's training plan could hardly have revolutionized training when it closely follows what had been written decades earlier and was widely known.

waterrockets 

Regarding strength training, I haven't done a sprint workout since January, and I don't lift weights. Still, my 5s power has gone from 1470W to 1651W. My 1m power went from 670W to 834W, and I probably only did 15 1m interval workouts all season. All this gain was driven by FTP work...

Strength training is not necessary for me (I do believe that it may vary from person to person).