Weight Training

[iRacing.com]

Now that winter is nearly upon us here in New England and it gets darker here earlier than most places, I reckon it's near time to head indoors on the trainer and back into the gym. Can anyone recommend how much or what types of weight training would be beneficial to cycling, and which types would one may want to steer clear of, if any? I've always lifted weights, but I don't want to lift in a fashion to get "bigger" or stay big, hard enough pulling my frame up a hill as it is, but with the indoor trainer and helping increase FTP. I'm not a racer, but my goal is get up Mount Washington, NH one of these days, just as a self gratification thing, internal challenge ya know? But 7.6 miles at avg 12% is a bit much for my body frame. Also want to be able to ride a 65 mile trip weekly to and up Wachusett with a co-worker and his group of skinnies.

[ldmitruk]

I recommend getting a hold of a copy of Weight Training for Cyclists, http://velopress.com/cycling.php?id=268.

[coachboyd]

Since cycling is all about strength while balancing and pushing your own weight, core exercises are excellent for building strength. I like to do a series of core strength exercises, and most of them can be done at home with a yoga ball and a few weights.

Here's a link for some great core exercises with videos instructions
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exe ... type=lower

Also, don't forget some of the upper body ones, especially stuff like pushups and crunches on the yoga ball.

Be careful when first starting the core exercises. You aren't lifting a lot of weight and a lot of people really overdo it at first and are sore for over a week. Start off very slow!!

[iRacing.com]

Thanks, both of you for the reponses, Checked out the site and ordered the book. It's going to feel a bit strange in the gym being on a yoga ball. Always figured those were gimmicks for housewives. I'm sure I'll embarress myself a few times falling off of it.

[doofus]

core work on the ball -- especially exercises where you are working the transverse abdominals by moving your arms+legs at the same time.

abdominal pikes (what my college and high school swimming coaches called "v-sits") are great as well.

as for legs, I'm a believer in Andrew Coggan's take -- do maximal seated accelerations in a big gear from a slow (5mph-ish) start, and track-style power starts out of the saddle. Those will do more to teach your central nervous system how to recruit more muscle fibers on the bike than squats or leg presses will.