

This means heavier weights, low repetitions, and longer rests. The best way to build strength is by training for absolute strength.Increasing your strength can improve your endurance, power production, and resilience to injury.You can significantly increase your strength without adding large amounts of muscle.In other words, exactly the same way endurance athletes have been taught to train to avoid building muscle. It's time to outgrow it the way you outgrew toe clips and steel frames.Īsk any bodybuilder-you're on, after all-and they'll tell you that the best way to add muscle is with moderate weights, high reps, and short breaks. Let me be the first to say that this approach is no longer valid. Sound familiar? Even if that's not you, you've no doubt heard someone use this line of reasoning to describe their approach to training. After all, I don't want to add weight in the form of muscle or induce too much leg fatigue." "I'm an endurance athlete, therefore I should stay in the endurance rep range: 10 reps and above per set, with light weights and short rest periods. And when it comes to strength training, that model has been this: However, just like any other type of athlete, cyclists who get serious about their craft are prone to following the prevailing training style they see modeled around them. Both are athletes, and they're also people, which means they encompass every body type, personality, training style, and lifestyle.

.png)
"As an increasing number of recreational and competitive cyclists are discovering, training for strength allows you to use your existing muscle more efficiently, tap into power you didn't have before, and perform better in the crucial late stages of your races and time trials." Build Endurance on the Bike, Strength in the GymĪs someone who has experience in both strength training and endurance training, I'm not going to insult you with a stereotype of "the endurance athlete" versus "the strength athlete," as if the two are entirely different species.

Change the way you approach your workouts, and you'll create a whole new idea of what you can achieve on the bike! This style of work is known as concurrent training, but the version backed by the latest science isn't the same old lightweight rep-assault you may have been doing for years.
