4 Principles of Strength Training for Cyclists

Fall is a great time to ride. It's also a great time to think about coming up with a resistance-training program to supplement your cycling. Resistance training can help you ride stronger, stay healthy and may minimize the occurrence of training-related injuries. Following these basic training principles will help keep you on track and can help prevent those dreaded training plateaus.

Before you decide on a program, let's take a moment and review the basic principles of training:

More: 6 Reasons Cyclists Should Start Strength Training

Specificity

Resistance training is most effective when exercises are similar to your target activity. For cycling that means single-leg exercises (i.e. single leg squats, step-ups, and lunges) are probably better than two-leg exercises (i.e. conventional leg press).

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Overload

To get stronger, periodically you need to overload your body. This could mean more weight, additional repetitions or sets, more training sessions per week, or less rest in between sets.

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Individuality

What works for one person may or may not work for you—it's important to take your individual considerations into account when coming up with training programs.

Allowance for Adaptation

Stress plus rest equals success. We're humans, not machines, so be sure to allow time for adaptation to occur. Think of progressing your training program in a staircase-like fashion. For example, you can do a four-week program, and then take it easy for a week before resuming your progressions.

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Training Journals

One of the best things you can do to ensure your success is to keep a training journal. A training journal is essentially a personalized training manual. Remember—only you can figure out what works best for you.

Training journals can help you identify trends in your training (either positive or negative), help maintain your motivation, provide accountability and serve as a blueprint for future training programs. Your journal can be as simple or as complex as you like. There are a number of software programs and apps, or you can use a simple notebook to keep track of your workouts. In keeping your journal, focus on both objective and subjective information. Objective information can include:

• Morning heart rate, bodyweight, and hours slept.
• Nutrition throughout the day—this is important. Successful athletic performance and good nutrition go hand-in-hand.
• Workout (exercises, sets, reps, weight, rest period, etc.)
• Supplementary workouts (flexibility, yoga, cross-training)

Subjective information can be:

• Quality of sleep
• Energy levels throughout the day
• Stressors (work, family, etc.)
• Workout quality

All this information can be very helpful. For example, you may find your energy level drops at a certain time of the day. If it does, you may want to avoid those times for your workout. For me, if I have a bad night's sleep, I know through experience that I'll be fine that day, but the day after I'll be sluggish. So, if I have a hard workout scheduled, I'll postpone it or modify it and go easy that day. Over time, you can really learn how your body responds to training.

In conclusion, these training principles apply to all aspect of your conditioning, not just resistance training. If you find that you've hit a plateau, take a look at your program and make sure that you are adhering to the basics. If you have a workout partner or coach, have them take a look as well. Sometimes it's easy to overlook things and they may be able to provide some insight for you. Enjoy the journey!

More: 10 Reasons to Keep a Training Diary

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