Posted on July 12, 2013 by Jenny Cromack

A recent study published in the journal of strength and conditioning examined the effects of maximal strength training on cycling economy in competitive cyclists.

Typically road cycling competitions last between 10 and 500 miles. Performance is therefore around 80-99% dependant on aerobic metabolism. The three key factors to achieving a good performance can be categorised as:

1. Maximal oxygen consumption
2. Lactate threshold
3. Cycling economy

Focusing specifically on cycling economy it would make sense that if the cyclist could utilize the oxygen more effectively delaying the onset of lactate accumulation performance should be improved dramatically.

One of the key goals for cyclists is to be as light as possible without compromising performance; this would suggest that most resistance programs would provide unfavourable adaptations. However the study examined a low volume low rep range protocol, which has been shown to increase strength without effecting muscle size.

The study broke the cyclists up into two groups over an 8-week period:

1. Intervention group – completed resistance training+ continued cycle training plan
2. Control group- Continued cycle training plan

The workout for the intervention group was as follows:

A-     Half back squats 4 sets of 4RM (3 min recovery) (3x per week)

One the cyclist was able to perform 5 reps at the weight 2.5kg was added

The results were amazing, 8 weeks of maximal strength training improved work efficiency and time to exhaustion in the intervention group significantly more than the control group despite having decreased total weekly cycling. The cyclists in the intervention group did not significantly gain any more weight either.

The researchers suggest that this resistance regime will improve time trial performance by up to 5% over a given distance, and suggest that both recreational and higher level cyclists incorporate this into their weekly regime.

Reference

ARNSTEIN SUNDE, ØYVIND STØREN, MARIUS BJERKAAS, MORTEN H. LARSEN, JAN HOFF, MAXIMAL STRENGTH TRAINING IMPROVES CYCLING ECONOMY IN COMPETITIVE CYCLISTS, journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2010 National Strength and Conditioning Association