How to gain the right kind of weight

[Schmorglebot]

Hey guys, just a bit of background. I'm the cyclist in your group ride that guys look at and say things like "no wonder you're fast on the climbs, you weigh nothing" or "I wish I weighed that little, you're so lucky" and  to a degree they're right. They miss hard work and the 10 hours a week I spend riding but that's besides the point.

 

My dilemma is that while I'm pretty light, 55-56kg, it's not entirely by choice, I genuinely struggle to pick up weight. I look at the weight of the pros that are my height and I can put on another 6-7kg. I've very recently started supplementing with whey protein in an attempt to gain weight but my primary concern is cycling performance and not hitting weight numbers. I'm not doing races through the alps so I don't really need to be a feather weight for SA's terrain.

 

Basically I'm asking how I can put muscle where it matters and not just pick up weight for weight's sake. Any advice?

[DieselnDust]

Weight training

[MORNE]

resistance training/lifting.

 

^jinx

 

EDIT: and from personal experience...fastest way to do it is manual labor. When crap needs to get done you keep on going no matter how tired you are. I'll never call a building site worker lazy ever again 

[Long Wheel Base]

Have you tried gym?

[s14phoenix]

Thought I was alone in this with that exact problem - even weight training is not helping much either - Just really hard to gain mass in the engine department.

 

Training harder just usually means being able to sustain more power but having less in reserve and getting really lean and actually losing weight... recently down to a new low of 65kg @ 1.76m

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcnpP2KVDM

[Schmorglebot]

I could "hit the gym boet", but is that just going to build muscle for muscles sake? I understand the idea of weight training to build muscle, but I want to be a cyclist not a power lifter. Do you think high torque/low cadence stuff would work? It's in the same vein as resistance training but then you've got the same range of motion and the right muscles firing  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Schmorglebot]

Thought I was alone in this with that exact problem - even weight training is not helping much either - Just really hard to gain mass in the engine department.

 

Training harder just usually means being able to sustain more power but having less in reserve and getting really lean and actually losing weight... recently down to a new low of 65kg @ 1.76m

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHcnpP2KVDM

 

I'll give that a watch, thanks

[Odinson]

Consistent and structured time spent lifting/pushing weights. There's obviously other ways to go about it, but put that VA membership to good use and spend a couple of hours every week there and you should see results. 

 

Remember, consistency is key and it takes time. 

[Schnavel]

I could "hit the gym boet", but is that just going to build muscle for muscles sake? I understand the idea of weight training to build muscle, but I want to be a cyclist not a power lifter. Do you think high torque/low cadence stuff would work? It's in the same vein as resistance training but then you've got the same range of motion and the right muscles firing  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Weight training doesn't mean you will become a body builder. Upper body work actually improves your cycling ability, especially core work. You can also do a lot of strength building for your legs using weights.

 

Most of the pros do heavy gym work outs during the off season in order to build strength - go Youtube Nino Schurter's off season routine.

[Odinson]

I could "hit the gym boet", but is that just going to build muscle for muscles sake? I understand the idea of weight training to build muscle, but I want to be a cyclist not a power lifter. Do you think high torque/low cadence stuff would work? It's in the same vein as resistance training but then you've got the same range of motion and the right muscles firing  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Follow the top athletes and you'll see that they spend a fair bit of time in the gym cross-training. 

[Schmorglebot]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I'll have to schedule some time for some weight training then.

Should I be emphasizing weight or reps?

[RobertWhitehead]

Hang on, you want to put on a few kg's right? Weight training and all the other suggestions are grand but it boils down to calorie intake versus calories burnt. 

 

Now I'm not saying stuff your face with everything you can find, what I am saying is that it may be a good idea to have someone do the math for you to see if you're intake is more than what your body burns - a dietitian comes to mind.

 

As an example you may find that your body needs 2000 calories per day and you burn / use 2500 calories per day. The end result of this will be quite simple: You may end up losing more body fat and gain more muscle and become stronger but this will still not solve your problem.

[ajnkzn]

It's a massive misconception that gym makes you a "Body Builder".

 

It stresses your muscles in a different way and will add more muscle fibres and more power.

 

If you're super slim you would need to stop riding and only gym to get even remotely bulky.

 

I bet that if you cut down your riding time by 2 hours a week and did one session of yoga / pilates and one of proper gym work I can 99% guarantee you'll actually get faster on the bike.

[ajnkzn]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I'll have to schedule some time for some weight training then.

Should I be emphasizing weight or reps?

 

3-5 reps - anything more is getting into endurance.

 

3-5 reps of a weight where the last rep is just possible to be done with good form.

 

Focus on squats, deadlift, pull ups (lat pull down if your upper body isn't strong yet), bench press, shoulder press and core stuff.

 

Don't waste time on more focused stuff like bicep curls or anything, do full body stuff where possible.

[Escapee..]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like I'll have to schedule some time for some weight training then.

Should I be emphasizing weight or reps?

 

Work on both, have a low rep/heavy weight day, good recovery days and then a high rep/lower weight day

[Jewbacca]

Surf? Strand has some decent waves through winter.

 

Cycling is a weird sport. It builds muscle in specific places BUT if it's all you do, you do nothing for bone density or muscle density. Cyclists generally have very poor bone density and become fragile.

 

Any sort of cross training will help. Buy a 12kg and 20kg kettle bells and you can build the right muscle and work on your form.

 

Have a look at guys like Andrew Tracey and Tom Kemp, who have coined the phrase 'you are not your gym membership' and train in car parks with very bog standard things and whatever time of the day they can.

 

They released an e-book that focuses on functional training and movement using very little equipment.

 

Might be a bit less mundane than just 'going to the gym'.

 

You will probably need to eat more too... Calorie intake is as or more important as the training.