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<\/p>\nAs the days grow shorter and temperatures cool, autumn is the ideal time to begin your cycling strength training plan for next season. The off-season offers a chance to reset, rebuild, and address weaknesses that limit performance on the bike. By focusing on proper recovery, movement quality, and consistent warmups, cyclists can build the strength and stability needed for more powerful, efficient riding.<\/p>\n
Before you rush to the gym, take time to reset your body from the season, focus on movement quality over load, and establish a consistent warmup routine that reinforces strong, efficient movement patterns. Here are three key strategies to help you get the most from your strength training this winter and return to the bike stronger than ever.<\/p>\n
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Take the time to \u201cunwind\u201d your body from the season<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most overlooked step in strength training, especially for cyclists, is what Tudor Bompa calls Anatomical Adaptation. This first phase, which an athlete should pass through in every training year, should occur as the very first phase of the new year. Usually, after some time off and away from the athlete\u2019s chosen sport.<\/p>\n
For some, this may mean 2-3 weeks completely off the bike, which is common for many pro cyclists in October or November. For others, this may mean a few weeks of unstructured riding. The latter option may be especially preferred for older cyclists, who likely experience less ability to recover lost fitness from extended time off. Whatever the case, this break serves 2 purposes:<\/p>\n
Both of these are important, and must be respected in the right amount, for your needs from the most recent season.<\/p>\n Within this time, and as we begin the anatomical adaptations phase, we want to help aid the body in \u201cunwinding\u201d. Put another way, we need to slowly coax the body back into better breathing patterns, postures, and positions.<\/p>\n This need not be aggressive, nor tiring. Rather, you should leave each session feeling a little better. There are a few ways to do this, ranging from 2-3 times a week of gentle yoga, to light movement sessions focused on technique, to sessions that include breath work, dynamic stretching, and light movements to hit common tight spots.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to experience the latter, my Stronger After 50 program\u2019s step 1 is a 4 week program accomplishes just that. Or you can simply go through the HVTraining YouTube channel and piece something together for yourself.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all about movement QUALITY, not weight Once we do begin to strength train with resistance, be it bands, bodyweight, or barbells, many of us (yes, I\u2019ve been guilty of this myself) get excited and ramp things up relatively fast.<\/p>\n Yes, adding more weight to the bar, or more reps for the same weight is definitely rewarding in the moment. But if you\u2019re seeking the gains that help you push the pedals more economically AND powerfully, it\u2019s all about the \u201clong game\u201d.<\/p>\n Think of focusing on technique and how you perform an exercise. You\u2019re focusing on the fundamentals that will help you attain the best results possible. While I wish I could tell you that it\u2019s easier and takes less effort, the truth is that it\u2019s a whole lot harder to play this game, as it take focus and purposeful action each and every time you hit the gym.<\/p>\n But boy, oh boy, are the rewards worth it.<\/p>\n Build yourself a solid warmup, and stick with it For the first 3 years or so, when I first began as a personal trainer, warmups were something that needed to be done, and which I tried to make a bit fun. While nobody ever complained, after a few years of tracking client progress, I began to realize that I could do even more for those I worked with, if I just changed my approach from \u201cget the blood going and prepare for the session at hand\u201d to \u201chow can we do those two things, AND hit on the biggest weaknesses?\u201d.<\/p>\n The result was absolutely breathtaking:<\/p>\n More clients with better posture Unlike before, we weren\u2019t changing the warmup every week or two. Instead we had our \u201ccore 4\u201d (usually some variation of the McGill Big 3 and an exercise for their biggest weakness) finishing with 2-3 movements to prepare them for that session\u2019s focus.<\/p>\n The Key?<\/p>\n We kept their foundational warmup the same \u201cuntil\u201d\u2026 Until they could move regularly through them with great strength, postures, and quality. This equaled out to around 2-4 MONTHS of the same warmup.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say we didn\u2019t slowly and appropriately progress these movements, we did. However it was at a much slower pace, which returned 10x results.<\/p>\n Fight the urge to \u201cchange it up\u201d because it\u2019s been a month. Instead, build that foundation solidly, taking your time to truly master the movements.<\/p>\n \u201c4 inches wide, and 4 miles deep.\u201d<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/p>\n Strength training can offer those who have seen the seeds of consistency and focus on quality massive returns in their riding, but it can also sap energy, and precious training time if done incorrectly. Following these 3 tips can help you not only be on the right side of the equation, they\u2019ll also help you multiply the rewards for your efforts.<\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to hear a little more about these 3 tips, and to learn 3 more powerful pointers for your strength training, take a listen to episode 136 of my Strong, Savvy Cyclist and triathlete podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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\nTo allow the body time to physically repair itself from the rigors of a long season
\nTo allow the individual to mentally refresh.<\/p>\n
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\nDrastically improved movement patterns
\nWay better \u201ccore\u201d strength and abilities
\nTons of Personal Records set
\nClients telling me they had never felt better!<\/p>\n
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