Hello everyone, and for about a year I’ve been following our coach Jak’s and I’ve been pretty good but now I’d like to do some more specific strength training.
I took a look at the workouts proposed by jacks but I’m very confused, what do you recommend to increase the explosive and resistant strength? next year I would like to try the marathons in mtb
Hi Trx,
Strength training is an essential part of getting better on the bike. The way to do strength training varies. You can do strength training on the bike, weight training or body weight training.
They all have their benefits and limitations.
I advise my clients to do basic bike time divided over at least three workouts. During the base period, I plan some strength training on the bike. The advantage is that the time spent on the bike is good. The disadvantage is that only a limited number of muscles will be developed and only to a certain strength.
Your core muscles, for instance, contribute to your performance but are not really getting any training when you’re on the bike, especially not on a road bike.
Taking your training to the gym to do some serious weight training is an excellent way to get stronger, provided that it doesn’t compromise your bike time and that you are motivated to do so.
I don’t like going to the gym, but I see the results on the bike, and that keeps me motivated. My advice: if you hate going to the gym, don’t do it. You won’t see the results, but you won’t be bored out, either.
A simple and very effective way is to do bodyweight training. Using Tabata-style training, you can easily add 2 or 3 extra workouts in your week, and it will only cost you minutes.
This might sound like it isn’t worth the effort, but believe me, it is the smallest investment with huge returns. Think about it.
You don’t waste any time going to the gym, no long training sessions, no equipment needed, litte recovery time.
I do this kind of training when I roll out of bed on the bedroom floor. Ten minutes later, I’m in the shower, ready to start my day.
Let me know what kind of training you’re looking for and I’ll give you some more advice.
Have lots of fun, Coach Robert
Yes, I already do weight training at home. I wanted some advice on what specific workouts to do for strength among those offered by Coach Jack to do on the bike. Of course, I thank you for the info you gave me and I give you reason on the fact of the Tabata exercises.
Great. I think there is not much strength training on the bike you can do. Studies show that this kind of training is very limited in effectiveness.
On the other side, most intervals will make sure you get stronger on the bike.
Here are some examples:
5 minute sweet spot intervals on a two hour training.
3 minute zone 4 intervals with 3 minutes rest.
every zone 5 and zone 6 training.
Every hill or mountain climb
My advice is to do these kind of trainings. Forget about strength training on the bike. These trainings will all make you stronger anyway.
My clients have three trainings:
1 zone 5 or 6 training
1 zone 4 training
1 zone 2 training
If they want to train more than three times a week I let them choose the third training. It can be sweet spot, zone 2 or a fartlek training. Meaning you don’t have a schedule but you train as the route gives you your obstacles.
Any mountain bike route is a fartlek-style training. You go up, down, over rocks, through a creek, etc.
The freedom of choice is important so you don’t get “cramped” by following a schedule all the time. There are only a few riders that follow a schedule to the end year in, year out.
Do you make your weight training seasonal? I mean do you adapt your weight training the different stages in your season and/ or schedule?
With weights, you can follow a base, build, and peak routine too.
Our SFR and Dynamic force workouts are lower RPM, high force workouts which result in strength endurance not just strength. Strength is done with weight training as Robert suggested. Strength endurance is something that most people don’t training and SFR and Dynamic force are interesting if you have not done them. Let me know if you need more info.
So thank you both. Unfortunately, with the translator, I cannot understand your speeches. I have already followed the SFRs and the dynamic strength exercises that Pripone Jacks. Every year from November until January I do both bodyweight and weight training and I always felt good. In fact, Robert is right, but this year I wanted to insist more on strength and since I use trainer day as my only source of training I wanted to like do a training of about 16 weeks with Jakcs something to put together with the weights in this period. Unfortunately also the fault of the English language of the descriptions I wanted a piece of advice on which blocks to use type Among those proposed on the site type the serius italian,crunched power ecc ecc .Or better still use the custom block and insert the most suitable exercises for strength during this period.
I repeat the translator is not on my side so excuse me for the mistakes.
You should paste our responses into ChatGPT and ask it to translate, it is a much better translator. If you have done SFR then I don’t know of any other good bike strength work. Riding your MTB up steep hills…
You should think in terms of what you are trying to do. On the bike you should be thinking power duration curve or mean max power (MMP). Each person will have a power signature, some will be sprinters and some will be TTers. When it comes to anaerobic work capacity it’s difficult to make a huge change in this other than 8-12 weeks of hard efforts and you reach your peak. The best thing you can do is raise your aerobic capacity so you don’t have to push so hard. Raise your base and then your anaerobic power above that is raised as well.
Alex makes a good point: Look at what you need in your marathon and your strengths as a cyclist.
Mountainbike Marathons are the ultimate nightmare. They are long, so you need endurance, but they also have many steep, technical climbs that require skill and strength.
The rule of training is simple: use it or lose it. This means that a block of strength training from November until January will give you great power in February, but that power will fade away during the season.
Since you have time to do weight training, I would extend that period.
Start with 5-second reps. Do all your exercises after each other. Pik a weight you can use to do 8-10 reps. Do 5 seconds up, 5 seconds down. As may reps as you can, but no more than 10. If you can do more, pick a heavier weight. After one set, go to the next exercise. Do one round, maybe a second if you can. Do this for 6 weeks. Ideally, you would follow your Trainer Day schedule of 3 weeks of work and 1 week of rest. No weight training during rest week.
For the next 6 weeks, you make exploding reps up and three reps down. do 3 sets of each exercise and pick a weight you can do 12-15 reps with. Again, follow your rest routine from your Trainer Day schedule.
For the rest of the season, do 4 or 5 sets of 25 to 35 reps per exercise. Pick different exercise every 6 weeks. And don’t forget to take weeks of, as in your Trainer Day schedule.
Again, weight training gives you way better results for strength than bike training. You will develop all the muscles in your body, fatigue less, and develop stamina and power.
Don’t worry about your bike training. Do what you did last year. Do the intervals and a heap of zone 2, and you will have a great season.
I’m sorry, but I can’t understand what you mean by five uphill and five downhill.
So I just have the doubt of which training to follow by bike with Trainar Day,…
So far I’ve entered a specific date with Jach and followed the workouts, but this year I wanted to do more specific things that are tailored to my goals.
I’m undecided whether to start now with a base block or directly go to the Italian serius or stronger ride blocks.
From November to January, along with my bike workouts, I wanted to do weights two times a week and then go to 1 time.
My biggest doubt is which of the training blocks that Jacks has proposed during this period.
Do you think that during this period I carry out 2 days of weights and 2 days of bikes is fine?
The most traditional for max bike performance would be to do
- Base + Lots of Strength
- Build + maintenance strength
- Peak with reduced strength or none
So yes more strength from Nov - Early Jan during. Serious Italian Jan-March, then big climbs.
It’s best to do as much riding as you can during any of this period as intensity on the bike goes up, intensity and duration of strength training goes down.
Okay, thank you very much for all the clarifications. Have a good day!