For Cyclists, 2026.
Strength training as it relates to cycling, has advocates and some nay sayers. It is my thought that you will not be a competitive racer without some measure of strength training. Also, as we age, strength training is good for our overall longevity, health and well-being.
It perfectly matches to my mantra,
Fit for Fun, Fit for Sport, Fit for Life.
My plan for setting up strength training is similar to any other bike specific training. It will be progressive in nature starting in the pre-event season with at least 1 and maybe two sessions a week depending on how much time an athlete can devote to weekly training. The sessions will be relatively short time wise, max 2 hours per session. (after the initial learning occurs the process occurs)
The overall weight will be keyed to what is reasonable for the athlete at their level of performance. Strength sessions will morph through time, more sets and reps and lighter weight to begin and moving into and through the season with fewer days, fewer reps per sets, more weight entering the season, possibly becoming more explosive in nature. Peak season, it will drop significantly.
If you are new to strength training, you may feel some soreness for the next one to two days max. If the aches and soreness continue past two days, time to evaluate the amount of weight and the number of reps being done.
What a strength day session will look like:
There will be FOUR parts to each strength day, they need to be done in this specific order. DO NOT mix and match the below 4 elements.
1) Dynamic Activation, not to be confused with static or passive stretching. (The two are totally different) Dynamic Activation is meant to ” wake up” your body. Facilitate blood flow, you perform what may feel like silly maneuvers to get joints and tendons ready to handle weight. As an athlete, you already know your peak effort does not occur without some “warm up” session. Same goes for a Strength session.
2) Core Specific. Cyclists generally think about how to make the lower body strong. As a cyclist you are part of the “circular” in nature structure of the entire bike and rider. Bikes don’t go faster without the rider engaging the upper half of the structure. Without solid core and some added upper body strength, strong legs will overwhelm the rest of the body and lead to possible pain and injury which requires recovery, non-training time.
3) The Main Strength session focusing on Free Weights not machines. Working with bars, plates, squat racks and other devices to facilitate safe weight management. Activation and core work get you ready for the meat of the session. Time to safely load the body with bars, plates and other devices that will strain and overwork muscles enough to do some “damage” that through rest will rebuild stronger.
4) Cool Down, where static or passive stretching comes into play. This is what several athletes think they should do before a ride or some athletic endeavor. Static Stretching tells the body, relax, we are done, time for the muscles and brain waves to say, great, another productive, injury free athletic session is done. Time to refuel, rest, repair and grow stronger.
Lastly, any athlete performance improvement plan requires time, consistent, tenacious time to put in the work and grow stronger. Improvements come incrementally. As one of my athletes told me about 6 months into his strength training, “I just added a 35-pound plate to the bar the other day and realized that 35 pounds was the maximum weight I started to use”. He had a very big grin on his face saying that.
Welcome to the Strength Zone!