Weight Training - Leg Exercises a Help or Hindrance?

Sorry if a thread already exists for this - couldn't find one myself. :-k

Any opinions out there about weight lifting leg exercises (curl, squats, etc) and whether they help or hurt mountain bike performance? On one hand I want to increase my leg strength for climbing (will be doing second year of racing so I'd like to improve in the climbing department).

However, my legs are sore for at least a day or 2 after a good leg workout and I'm much weaker if I mountain bike during that time (perhaps because muscle fibers are repairing?). I know some folks who straight up don't do leg weight lifting because of this - they rely solely on their climbing and work on other muscle groups while weight lifting.

Any experiences to share in this regard? Thanks!

 

Weight lifting helps. You need to train your body to prevent injury and enhance your performance. Cycling allows the body to only move in the sagital plane. A good strength program will asses your movement pattern and focus on imbalances as well as strengths. You should weight train in a linear and lateral plane. Your program should be periodized so it doesn't hurt you during your rides. I think it is a big misconception that it isn't good for cyclist, more to the effect of one person says it isn't good, so everyone follows.

 

Weight training for your legs is very beneficial. The types of workouts you do will train different parts of your legs as there are many muscles groups. There are two types of muscle categories per say. Fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers which aid for different purposes. Quick and explosive movement will come from fast-twitch where as endurance and stamina relate to slow twitch. Think of dark meat vs. white meat, where white, chicken breast, does not need as much energy to maintain normal function and dark, legs & thighs, needing more energy such as protein to function optimally. Working out your leg muscles or any other will give you a "tear and repair" effect, helping your growth and overall performance.

If you're looking for different workouts to gain in overall performance come check out a "bootcamp" located at Back Bay Fitness in costa mesa. NO NO, I'm not paid for this, I'm honest and just want to share what I feel will be beneficial. I for one do not like working out my legs nor did I know all the workouts that are possible. Your first week is completely free w/o any obligations, but yes you'll go through some small sales pitch but the trainer malachi is not overall "pushy". The workouts are on tues/thurs at 6pm for 1hr. Everyone and anyone is welcome to come and try it out. if you want more info feel free to PM me or just show up.

 

Just get a Single Speed...

 

+1 on the singlespeed. Definately a lazy man's workout!! Even though I singlespeed on the road, the times I sprint definately helps my mtb climbing.

 

Good info given so far! As already stated, weight lifting will not only help performance but also prevent injury. In the past 17 years I've gone through the lift big to get like Arnold stage etc. to leaning out (lost 35 lbs the past year) and focusing on training to help my mountain biking. I never really took leg training seriously until I started mountain biking and I finally put it all together - full body strength training, cardio & good diet. I can say that mountain biking has changed my life in that I am in the best shape of my life at age 32 and KNOW I can only get better.

As far as leg training, it will definately help. I don't understand how anybody could say that it would hurt your riding. Since I changed my bike from 2x9 to 1x9 a few months ago, I sometimes do 2 leg workouts per week and regularly ride the day after (once you are warmed up, the muscle sorness goes away) and my climbing has significantly improved.

Whichever program you start, just ease into it and listen to your body if you think you are overtraining...variety is key. Of course "no pain no gain" will ALWAYS apply!

 

I've heard that beer can be beneficial for sore legs, grasshoppers.....

PS: Now I know why my bike riding sucks... I've been riding only in the sagital plane ... I need to try to include a few other planes

 

Well I have been at the well rounded weight program for about 2 years and it definitely negatively affected me at first when we did really hard legs, but now 2 years in its great I have a stronger upper body, core check! and legs are stronger and more well rounded, I do go lighter on the legs during certainly times of the year like right now. If I am going to to a big SS training ride on Saturday no heavy legs on Thursday!

What seemed to hurt me early on was the tightness after leg workouts as I was probably not stretching enough afterward.

 

I think I ought to put something other than a smarta$$ed comment into this...

Not anymore than any other workout, except I'd stay pretty much "middle spectrum". Never push for max reps, nor max weights capacity. You don't need to look like Mr. Universe, or be able to squat a small car to be a good climber.

Exactly!!

The way you ride conditions you the you break and build muscle. Common sense says push hard, then rest. Push longer for more endurance (lower intensity). Push harder (middle ring it biatch) for pure strength. Take a rest day, or purposely DO NOT go 100% multiple big rides unless you are prepared to be off the bike for days. I had a "nice easy gate-clinic" at the track chew me up and spit me out for a week. I blame it on racing Friday, Sunday, Monday, then doing the clinic Tues....

Now. about SS'ing. You get to change the way your workout mid-ride, several times, often out of sheer cardio-necessity. If you know it's a short intense climb; ATTACK!!!! Otherwise, you sit and grind, keeping your heart in the zone as long as you can, knowing the inevitable IS coming, and YOU'RE going to have to stand up or walk....

 

In my experience, it's neither help nor hindrance...for climbing. Generally speaking, it's never bad to cross train other muscle groups. However, in terms of improving climbing, it won't help. Rationally, if you're not going to employ those muscle groups while pedaling, how would it help to have those muscles stronger? Whether it sounded in jest or not, riding a single speed (or a gear harder than normal) would be better training for climbing than weight training. Once again, cross training is never a bad idea, just don't expect that it's going to help any specific activity.

 

My thoughts and experience is as follows......

If you are only riding a few hours a week, then skip the weights and spend that time on the bike. If you are either going to weight lift or sit at home sucking your thumb, then weight lift.

Weight lifting can help out, but only if you are getting in enough cycle time too.

Think about it. If fitness gained weight lifting was directly proportional to cycling, then someone who lifts weights 8 hours a week should be as good a cyclist as someone who rides 8 hours a week, but we all know that is not the case.

So, if you are riding 10+ hours a week, then sure, add in weight lifting on top of that. If you aren't riding that much, then you are better off just riding.

(This has all been basically paraphrased from Joe Friel)

 

What I've found out that worked best for me was learning to pedal in "complete circles". Easy to train yourself if clipped in. Road Bike, Mountain Bike, and it might work on a Big Wheel

 

what also helps is the get yourself on a computrainer to see the difference in power btw your left and right legs. I was blown away when i saw that my left leg was generating roughly 80% of my power(i assumed my right was stronger). now i try to do one leg pedel exercises on all my rides.

 

Strength training is supplemental to any sport. I completely disagree with Friel's logic. Every other athlete in all sports weight trains and still puts in a lot more hours per week practicing their sport. What most forget is that you are trying to create balance, which in turn decreases injury potential, and increase strength, as I stated earlier. That alone increases efficiency.

 

If you want to get your body in shape to be an overall good mountain bike racer then crosstraining with lifting is good and important. While in general long haul climbers are skinny twigs (look at Contador and Andy Schelck), in mountain bike racing you never really have exceptionally long sustained climbs (unless you are doing the Leadville 100 or similar). Most MTB race climbing is short and punchy (i'm considering anything less than 2 miles sustained climbing in one shot as short and punchy).

Besides muscular legs and a strong core, shed all the fat that you can. Drop a pound of upper body fat and replace it with a pound of leg muscle.....

 

I think weight training your legs helps. After spending more time in the gym working legs and core I started cleaning a lot more climbs than before. Give it a try and if you don't see an improvement you can always go back to your old routine/habits.

 

Friel does support weight training, but he suggests that if your training time is very limited, then just go out and ride. I am assuming that the poster probably does not ride more than 5 hours a week (I am talking actual pedal time, not a 5 hours ride where 3 hours were spent sitting down eat, that does not count as a 5 hour ride). If you aren't riding 5 hours a week, then spend the time you have to train out riding.

However, if you are a hardcore racer who spends all his free time out riding, I would suggest weight training. I did some weight lifting over the winter and have seen positive improvements. Not as big of improvements that I have seen from actually being out on the bike, though.

 

I am a big believer in weight training. Research shows that weight training does increase your lactate threshold along with muscular endurance. If you are weight training, you should target all parts of your body, not just your legs. Having a strong core and upper body will increase your efficiency and power.

 

Weight training just a specific body part/section/legs only, etc. = imbalances = injury.

 

As you get stronger you'll recover from weight training faster so that you don't have to wait three days to ride. Keep your body guessing and challenge it constantly. IMO relying on just one activity that you repeat over and over creates imbalance and leads to the inevitable plateau effect.