texaggs

So I started racing last year mid season and really have enjoyed it. By the end, I had gotten to where I could hang with the pack to finish. So this year I am starting more focused training, including weight lifting. So my question is: after a hard day working out if I have a long ride scheduled but my legs just feel dead, do you call it a day or just go for an easy spin?

johnybutts

If I were you I'd PM rkwaki. As far as I know he's the most experienced "lifter" on the forum. What you'll need to balance is ride time lost with strength gains in the gym. If your gym workouts mean you're missing/not completing your riding workouts you might want to reconsider your schedule/priorities.

Weight lifting benefits have been and probably always will be a hotly debated subject. So just understand you're opening a can of worms.

Tyrell

I'm in the same situation as you, texaggs. I also started racing late last year at some Crits and have decided to give bike racing a go this season. To that end, I'm in the middle of my second Base period of training right now. I planned to incorporate some weight lifting along with my bike workouts but have found that my limited schedule meant I would have to sacrifice base riding time for weight lifting time. I decided to stick with my bike workouts and I'm happy I have. I feel like I've made some good gains from my first Base period and I'm continuing to grow stronger in this second Base period.

merlinextraligh

Given you live in Houston, I'm assumming that your race calender starts early. Thus you should be coming to the end of your base phase now. As JB points out there's debate about the value of weight lifting, but IMHO, I'd focus on the work on the bike, particularly outside base phase, and if lifting is interfering with the amount or quality of work on the bike, I'd cut back on the lifting.

rumrunn6

from what I know of weight training the best thing after an intense training session is 48 hrs of rest for recovery and rebuilding. nutrify with protein and watch those puppies grow.

echappist

There are dead legs due to fatigue, and then there's intense soreness(i.e. DOMS) due to strain or tearing of muscle fibers. I assume you are talking about the latter, in which case, recovery and rest is the way to go. Your muscles are literally thrashed and need a pretty good recovery.

Creatre

I've been lifting 3 days a week at lunch, and I ride 7 days a week. I have never experienced 'dead legs.' If I'm sore or my legs are tired, that usually goes away within ~10 minutes of being on the bike. I'd say 9/10 times, if you are tired from lifting, get on the bike and get your legs moving and you'll be fine. My "off" days, I still go out and spin 30 minutes to an hour, and it makes a huge difference in the way my legs feel.

waterrockets 

This was my experience. I'd always at least see if my legs felt better after 30 minutes. Other than a few rare times, they always felt better. I also found that I didn't lose much threshold performance from recent weight lifting soreness. My legs didn't feel like I could perform, but I could. Same thing with running soreness since I rarely run -- I'd have a hard time walking around, but on the bike, performance was normal.

I don't lift any more though.

rkwaki

His Lordship has been summoned
Hey fuggers, here's my thoughts.

You need to clarify what is a hard day of working out. A couple of members here have some of my workouts (not the functional ones the actual in gym weight ones) and I can assure you that those will give you some dead legs BUT rest assured I am thinking that it may not be a workout issue but a nutrition issue.
I believe (again there are many schools of thought on this) that lifting makes you faster but it must be managed properly with rest and nutrition. At this time of the year I life super heavy (my hands look like hamburger from varying types of deadlifts).

I would also ask you to post up more details on what your training looks like.

FOR ME: I tend to lift heavy after a long ride. For example I will get my 5 hours in in the morning then go to the gym in the afternoon knowing that the following day is a light or rest day. The most important thing though is your nutrition. I will bet you a new set of race wheels that your nutrition is not where it should be nor is your protein intake. Basically you are not fueling your muscles and allowing them to recover properly.

I proved a point last year when I rode 80 miles in the morning with 5,000+ feet of climbing in the morning, ate and squatted 605 in the afternoon. Legs were a little tired but they were properly fueled to perform.

Before I can really tell you what I think let me know a little more about your training.

Fat Boy

This

jsutkeepspining

Hey look its dough boy!

hammy56

agreed.

cafzali

You certainly don't need 48 hours to recover. I think there's a bit of a misconception in regard to what strength training consists of -- at least for cyclists who do it. It's not the Schwartzenegger type lifting, but rather involves various exercises that are customized to mitigate the fact that cyclists who don't do core training will often lose flexibility and have poor upper body strength. Flexibility gains help your bike handling and things like weighted sled pulls definitely help build overall leg strength. But it's not about having gargantuan muscles.

But even after a tough one-hour strength session like I did today, I could easily do a 20-mile spin.

waterrockets 

You're making a lot of assumptions about various cyclists' goals for weightlifting... you describe one way of doing it. Back when I was hitting the gym, my workout partner and I were trying to kill each other.

Racer Ex 

Mileage is a recreational metric. Other than for race distance, no one even discusses mileage here.

Agreed. I don't do any upper body work in the gym. All my weight/strength work is designed for cycling specific goals, and that work varies depending on phase and what "A" races I'm shooting for.

Given that I do both short distance track and 100 mile road races, that program has a pretty wide range of exercises.

texaggs

Thank you for all the advice. Seeing as I missed the first half of last year, I did not realize when racing started here and that the majority of races are early. I am going to back off the weights and start focusing for on the bike.

Merry Christmas to all.

johnybutts

Good luck. If you want to hit up some rides this weekend PM me.

Fat Boy

I do some upper body work, specifically to help muscular endurance. I found that when climbing out of the saddle, my arms would get tired before my legs were. Having a little more upper body strength seems to have helped me in that respect.

texaggs

I really aprreciate the offer. I tried to PM you but says I have to have 50 post to do so. I usually start around 4:30 or 5 am because of work committments and 2 young kids at home. During the week I sometimes jump in with a group that starts at 5:30 in Memorial Park and heads west cause I live out that way so I can get some time in and then finish up with them, leaving when they are close to my house. I have not had any luck finding a weekend ride that early. I am assuming you are more around 7ish?

waterrockets 

In Houston this weekend... I'm going on the SW Cycle Club Saturday ride. ~55 miles at 7:30.