Leg strength

[J Wakefield]

Hi folks.

 

I'm new to the forum. I'm a beginner and have been cycling for a couple of months now. In addition to hours in the saddle, what would you recommend I do extra to build leg strength?

 

I find that I'm losing muscle mass in my legs as opposed to gaining and my legs were not very muscular to begin with.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

There 2 ways to build leg strength for cycling - 1 is on the bike with low cadence intervals. 4min and 10min efforts of a cadence between 35-40rpm for 4min and 40-45rpm for the 10min. you want to be able to push a gear you can just turn over. 5-10min rest between.

 

Then you can do off bike in the gym - this has a very good benefit on the bike especially in older age group athletes 30+. Cycling is all concentric so the off bike gym strength will help with eccentric strength.

 

If you want to build muscle in the gym use a heavier weight and lower rep - typically 80% of 1RM 8-4 reps dependant on how you periodise the sessions.

 

Leg Press

Squats

Hamstring curls - seated and face down

Calf raise - both double and single

Single leg squats

Single leg press

Dead lifts 

 

Those are great to start with.

 

2 days rest between each to allow for adequate recovery.

Do after you ride your bike, not before.

Dont do the evening or day before a key session (interval) on bike.

 

You can do strength work all year regardless of racing or not, its just how and when you plan the sessions. 

[Numb3rcrunch]

There 2 ways to build leg strength for cycling - 1 is on the bike with low cadence intervals. 4min and 10min efforts of a cadence between 35-40rpm for 4min and 40-45rpm for the 10min. you want to be able to push a gear you can just turn over. 5-10min rest between.

 

Then you can do off bike in the gym - this has a very good benefit on the bike especially in older age group athletes 30+. Cycling is all concentric so the off bike gym strength will help with eccentric strength.

 

If you want to build muscle in the gym use a heavier weight and lower rep - typically 80% of 1RM 8-4 reps dependant on how you periodise the sessions.

 

Leg Press

Squats

Hamstring curls - seated and face down

Calf raise - both double and single

Single leg squats

Single leg press

Dead lifts

 

Those are great to start with.

 

2 days rest between each to allow for adequate recovery.

Do after you ride your bike, not before.

Dont do the evening or day before a key session (interval) on bike.

 

You can do strength work all year regardless of racing or not, its just how and when you plan the sessions.

Thanks for the advice. How often would one do intervals sessions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[J Wakefield]

Thanks for the advice. How often would one do intervals sessions?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Twice a week is adequate in order to get quality from the sessions.

[GrahamS2]

Building muscle begins and ends with lifting weights full stop

You can lift weight till the cows come home, if you're not fueling the growth with a proper diet nothing will grow.

['Kaze Pete]

You can lift weight till the cows come home, if you're not fueling the growth with a proper diet nothing will grow.

indeed. Muscle mass loss does not indicate a lack of building exercises but rather deficient fueling.

[stefmeister]

1

LEG PRESS

3 sets of 25 reps Leg press Leg press

SUPERSET

2

LEG EXTENSION

3 sets of 25 reps Leg extension Leg extension

LYING LEG CURL

3 sets of 25 reps Lying leg curl Lying leg curl

3

WALKING DUMBBELL LUNGE

4 sets of 30 reps Walking dumbbell lunge Walking dumbbell lunge

4

STANDING CALF RAISE

2 sets to failure Standing calf raise Standing calf raise

Not to sound like an internet training expert dishing out advice, but if you train in that rep range you are merely doing endurance training. 5 reps = strength, 8-12 for muscle gains. >15 and you're simply not putting on enough weight/resistance to stimulate muscle growth.

[stefmeister]

There 2 ways to build leg strength for cycling - 1 is on the bike with low cadence intervals. 4min and 10min efforts of a cadence between 35-40rpm for 4min and 40-45rpm for the 10min. you want to be able to push a gear you can just turn over. 5-10min rest between.

 

Then you can do off bike in the gym - this has a very good benefit on the bike especially in older age group athletes 30+. Cycling is all concentric so the off bike gym strength will help with eccentric strength.

 

If you want to build muscle in the gym use a heavier weight and lower rep - typically 80% of 1RM 8-4 reps dependant on how you periodise the sessions.

 

Leg Press

Squats

Hamstring curls - seated and face down

Calf raise - both double and single

Single leg squats

Single leg press

Dead lifts 

 

Those are great to start with.

 

2 days rest between each to allow for adequate recovery.

Do after you ride your bike, not before.

Dont do the evening or day before a key session (interval) on bike.

 

You can do strength work all year regardless of racing or not, its just how and when you plan the sessions. 

I religiously follow leg day in the gym. But my legs are wasted for 3 days afterwards. How do you cope with cycling after leg days?

[lechatnoir]

I tried one-legged squats against a wall with a pilates ball. seemed to work when i did them. can someone tell me why i stopped? 

['Dale]

Gargle

 

Singe leg pedalling 

[Karman de Lange]

My legs is half the size after starting cycling ~3 years  ago and my FTP power has almost doubled, so size is not a indication of power.

 

From personal experience, when you start cycling you don't need strength, you need to build proper base (endurance) first, so go out and do group rides and long rides and just enjoy yourself for first season. If you still into cycling after the first year and you want to get serious ,  get your self a proper cycling plan , otherwise just go and enjoy the rides.

[GrahamS2]

I religiously follow leg day in the gym. But my legs are wasted for 3 days afterwards. How do you cope with cycling after leg days?

Concentrate on form and use less weight. Unless you're training purely for muscle gain, in which case stay off the bicycle

[Jurgens Smit]

I religiously follow leg day in the gym. But my legs are wasted for 3 days afterwards. How do you cope with cycling after leg days?

 

What do you use to recover? You might want to stretch a bit and start using a protein shake with some creatine and/or glutamine.

 

Seems more like a recovery issue if DOMS lasts for 3 days

[Sitting@89]

Not to sound like an internet training expert dishing out advice, but if you train in that rep range you are merely doing endurance training. 5 reps = strength, 8-12 for muscle gains. >15 and you're simply not putting on enough weight/resistance to stimulate muscle growth.

While in principle I do agree with what you say I also disagree. Building muscle happens when you create micro tears in muscle fibres, and anything (no matter how you get there) that pushes a muscle to failure will create these tears.

 

So this training program is done with supersets and only 30 seconds of rest before starting the next superset. Which trust me pushes you to failure big time.

 

Also as someone mentioned earlier in the thread you need to fuel the growth so eat balanced diet with at least 1g of protein per kg of body weight per day

[Sitting@89]

What do you use to recover? You might want to stretch a bit and start using a protein shake with some creatine and/or glutamine.

 

Seems more like a recovery issue if DOMS lasts for 3 days

Also creatine aids recovery like nothing else.

[Fat Boab]

There 2 ways to build leg strength for cycling - 1 is on the bike with low cadence intervals. 4min and 10min efforts of a cadence between 35-40rpm for 4min and 40-45rpm for the 10min. you want to be able to push a gear you can just turn over. 5-10min rest between.

 

 

I'd agree with this. I don't have the best knee in the world, so gym work seems to aggravate an old 'war wound', but gradually building up to low cadence/high torque hill sessions, works a treat for me.

 

Focus on good form ie don't accentuate joint flexion or extension, get the glutes and hip flexors engaged, make your legs work against each other, keep your core engaged, upper body relaxed, avoid pulling on the bars, none of that swaying from side-to-side, and a 'cottage of wattage' will be growing in your shorts in no time!

[stefmeister]

What do you use to recover? You might want to stretch a bit and start using a protein shake with some creatine and/or glutamine.

 

Seems more like a recovery issue if DOMS lasts for 3 days

No supplements. Just try to eat healthily with higher protein foods.

 

Concentrate on form and use less weight. Unless you're training purely for muscle gain, in which case stay off the bicycle

My form is fine. I squat low and heavy (well for me ~110kg, I'm ~70kg/1.73m), 3 x 10. Dead lifts the same, with some leg extensions, calf raises, etc. I used to do more sets, and toned it down for this reason.

 

Also creatine aids recovery like nothing else.

I've used it before, and actually still have a tub at home. Honestly can't tell if it makes a difference, or if there are any performance gains.

So I just try to eat ~3400 Cal and ~160 g protein.