Old 08-27-21, 03:58 PM
  #12  
canklecat
Me duelen las nalgas
 
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^^Ditto^^ headwind15 's post.

Check Dylan Johnson's YouTube channel for videos on weight training. Dylan's videos are always backed up with citations to legitimate studies, so he's not just some young hotshot popping off at the mouth (although he looks only 16 years old).

Be sure you're warming up before strength training. An indoor trainer bike is fine -- that's what my physical therapy clinic uses, although I warm up with a 15 minute bike ride to the clinic, so I'm ready to go when I get there.

And do the cool-down, warm-down, whatever you want to call it. This is crucial to clearing lactate and minimizing soreness and that feeling of heaviness after a good pump. Follow up with an easy spin for 20 minutes or longer. I ride home from PT and usually put in a few extra miles piddle-pedaling around the neighborhood, just moving the legs.

Post-strength training massage may also help. I use a heavy marble rolling pin on my legs, hips and lower back. Works much better than foam rollers for me. And I use percussion massagers -- one is shaped like a cordless drill with a jackhammer type action, and multiple heads ranging from large firm foam balls to pointy plastic tipped torture tools; the other is a dual head with longer arm to reach behind my back and straddle the spine and shoulder blades.

Careful strength training suited to your primary physical activity is never a bad thing. Yeah, you can consider hill repeats, mountain climbs, sprints, standing to pedal for longer distance, etc., a form of strength training, but those also tax the aerobic system. It's grueling to combine strength and aerobic training in the same exercise.

BTW, some folks suggest adding weight to the bike or wearing weight for strength training on the bike. One of my bikes is a 30+ lb hybrid that I use for errands, and it's definitely a workout on climbs. But the ergonomics are very different from a road bike so I'm not sure how much it helps. And I wear a 2L hydration backpack for some longer rides on hot summer days, and can definitely feel it on climbs until I drink enough to drain the hydration backpack and sweat off the excess.

While the muscle pump from strength training feels kinda good, that pump is useless for most activities other than sprinters (running and cycling -- I mean, check Chris Hoy's legs), weight lifting and bodybuilding. I came primarily from a boxing background where weight training was discouraged because overdoing it can limit mobility and quickness, that snap in the punch. And building muscle tends to put on mass and weight that aren't helpful with boxing, or distance cycling and running. Lots of boxers do some strength training, but the goal is to follow up with range of motion exercises to minimize the pump and keep the upper body limber and loose.
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