coasting 

Since the new year, I've been going to the gym as well as riding more. I don't think you need to over think too much. Overall, I found that doing weights and riding work very well together. I have not bulked up. In fact, I've shrunk in leg size as the thigh and calf muscles have tightened up. I am also able to exert more force on the pedals with much less effort.

rkwaki

Not going to end up drawn into the toning/blah blah blah discussion but let me shed a little light on what I think. Muscle tone is a reflection of bodyfat. Bodyfat, for the most part is a reflection of diet. Case in point my wife is going for her Figure Pro card this year (diet just started) and in getting ready for her last show she cut out doing cardio completely and still came in too lean and too hard for figure (could have done physique) - all accomplished with weights/diet only.
Since I stopped riding in Mid October I have put on 54 pounds. Now many of you know I am a big guy to begin with (5'10.5", 234) and have always been torn between cycling and bodybuilding/powerlifting as such when racing on the bike I have always been the largest guy in the field.
As I come and go in the sport I am often asked why I can get up to race speed so quickly (I am a Cat 1) the answer is simple:
1. Genetics
2. Years of racing (was a Cat 1 by 18 years old)
3. Most importantly - I am extremely strong and have never become lazy. If I am not training on the bike I am killing myself in the gym.

I have spoken in the 33 about some of my leg routines that I have found specifically help cyclists, If you want them let me know.

deepakvrao

What's the 33?

I have just started weight training from Jan, and this month have added legs. Would love to know your leg routines for cyclists.

rkwaki

The 33 is the racing subforum.

rkwaki

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Race-Training

Look at post #11

DGlenday

+1 about the 5x5 system. Anyone interested in toning up, building strength, etc. should get Rippetoe's book - or, at least, get a reliable 5x5 program.

But bear in mind - it's typically done for just a few months at a time.

Caveat : Your experience does not apply universally. The bulking - or not bulking - depends entirely on what exercises you've been doing, what weights, the number of sets and reps, what cardio you're doing, how long you've been working out, and what nutrition you've been on. There are so many variables in that list - let alone the fact that everyone's body reacts differently, especially in that honeymoon period we call "newbie gains".

Nevertheless - <generalization follows> whatever you're doing in the gym is better than doing nothing in the gym, and I have no doubt that the improvements you've seen will yield good results on the road. Nothing trains you for cycling as well as cycling - but time in the gym definitely helps.

Same here. But let me just add an old gym-rats saw when talking about washerboard abs:

Six-pack abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

rkwaki

Great statement.
My wife has had a six pack after both kids, still has one and is 40 years old.
Everyone has a six pack, most are covered up by fat.

NWS Alpine

Yeah as I like to say "I like to keep my abs protected" when the weight goes up.

MrCrassic 

I don't want to become a lifter. I just want to look better naked, lol.

Riding is great for endurance (I don't want to race) and for building leg mass, but does absolutely nothing for the upper body or for maintaining flexibility or general fitness. That's why I started lifting.

I went for my first ride of the year on Sunday; a short 50-miler. It felt pretty good, though my legs were a little slower at responding to climbs than they used to be. This was expected since I've done a lot of SST on the trainer but no training around improving my climbing speed. Speed on the flats improved a lot.

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RedNose44

I have been lifting most of my life. I got hardcore into it when I was in the Army in my early 20's. I still lift 5 days a week, and I also cycle about 5-6 days a week. I have had to cut down on my miles in the past when I started getting too skinny and was losing muscle mass. I am 5'10" and hover around 182-185. I was getting down into the mid 170 range when I was cycling too much. It's all about finding balance IMO. At my peak I was a ripped 215 in my late 20's, but I feel much better now where I am at. Just my.02.

Carbonfiberboy 

Looking back through my databases, the best season I ever had in terms of cycling's markers, climbing and endurance, I lifted quite a bit, usually twice a week. I only lift to improve cycling performance and general resistance to injury.

Starting in October, I did a progression. I started by working up to 3 sets of 30 of 8 exercises circuit style, resting only enough to drop my HR below 100. I used the same weight every set, enough for failure at about the 30th rep of the last set once a week. Then I went to hypertrophy, 3 sets of 12. Then strength, 6 X 5. By the time I had done strength for 6 weeks, it was the end of February. I switched back to 1 set of 30, twice a week for 6 weeks. For the rest of the summer I did one set of 30, once a week, not working to failure.

The objective was not only to get stronger, as in lift more weight, but not to get injured, and to still be able to bike. I did all my lifting after biking on my rollers or outdoors, or spin class. That way it didn't cut into time on the bike. I often reduced intensity on days following weight workouts. I lifted on Tuesday and Thursday and did a competitive ride on Sunday, every week. I usually hiked on Monday and biked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, then either did a short roller session on Friday or used a Stepmill at the gym.

I'm following this program again this year, with good results, though I've added more rest days since I don't recover as quickly as I used to.

Exericises:
Leg sled
Seated cable row
Back machine
Squats
Pushups
Straight legged deadlifts
One-legged calf raises
Roman chair
Lat pull-down

I don't follow the progression on the back machine, SLDLs, pushups, or calf raises, instead keeping these at 3 sets of 30, then reduced to 1 set. I stop squats and lat pull-downs around New Years. With luck I should be able to keep this up until I'm 80. Now that I'm retired, I'm also downhill skiing on Thursday, so that day I ski, do a spin class, and lift.

I eat so as to have a weight peak around New Years, then slowly losing weight going into the season, from 5-10 lbs. depending on how heavy I got. Can't climb if I'm heavy. My summer weight hasn't varied much in 20 years.