How to Grow a Pair

The title says it all. Here’s how you grow a pair of biceps, hamstrings, shoulders, and quads, as well as a good hefty pair of mental muscles, too.

Grow a Pair of Biceps

Simple guidelines:

• Elbow flexion exercises (barbell, dumbbell, machine curl) done with extreme effort
• The best - seated incline dumbbell curl with the forearm supinated (palms turned up)
• The best - standing pronated grip bicep curl (palms turned down)
• Work each set to volitional muscle fatigue
• Perform a reasonable number of sets (one to three)
• Repetitions can vary from 6 to 20

Grow a Pair of Hamstrings

There are three hamstring muscles - the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. They flex the knee (heel to butt) and extend the hip (pushing the thigh back).

Simple guidelines:

• Perform lying, seated, and standing leg curls along with hip-extending stiff-leg deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, and glute/ham raises
• Work each set to volitional muscle fatigue
• Perform a reasonable number of sets (one to three)
• Repetitions can vary from 10 to 25

Grow a Pair of Shoulders

First, I am uncomfortable when the shoulder joint is discussed. Many believe the shoulder is only the visible top of that body part. This would be the medial deltoid. However, in reality we know the shoulder joint as a whole is comprised of a number of muscles that move the upper arm and scapula (shoulder blade) in various directions. Therefore, multiple-angle pushing and pulling exercises work the shoulder joint, strengthen it, and enhance its stability.

Here is a list of shoulder fortifying exercises:

• Wide or close grip pulldown
• Wide or close grip pull up
• Pullover machine
• High row
• Face pull
• Seated/Bent-over row
• Plate-load row
• Low row
• Upright row
• Rear delt machine/bent-over fly
• Rotator cuff internal and external rotation
• Overhead press
• Incline press
• Chest press
• Decline press
• Dip
• Lateral raise
• Chest fly

Simple guidelines:

• Incline and overhead press, upright row, face pull, lateral raise, rear delt/bent over fly
• Work each set to volitional muscle fatigue
• Perform a reasonable number of sets (one to three)
• Repetitions can vary from 8 to 20

Grow a Pair of Quadriceps

The four quadriceps - the vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, and rectus femoris - make up the “quads.” The quads primarily extend the knee. To grow large quadriceps, it takes more than simple knee extensions on a knee extensions device. The quads, collectively, possess a lot of muscle mass. They need to be overloaded via heavier exercises that involve knee extension (squats, leg presses, and deadlifts).

Simple guidelines:

• When squatting, leg pressing, and deadlifting, work each set to volitional muscle fatigue. Yes, it's going to hurt, but that is how you stimulate your quads to grow.
• Perform a reasonable number of sets (one to three)
• Repetitions can vary from 10 to 30

Working the legs (and quads) can be discomforting. That is a good thing. Any exercise that is physically and mentally challenging is a productive exercise. Learn to love those exercises that manifest themselves in a lot of huffing and puffing.

And while we’re at it, let’s grow that pair.

Grow a Pair - Mentally

Ultra-high intensity 12-exercise circuit:

• Minimal (<:20) rest between exercises
• All exercises to volitional muscular fatigue at 10 to 14 repetitions
• Use four different upper body push, upper body pull, and multi-joint lower body exercises each
• Perform upper body push 1, upper body pull 1, multi-joint lower 1, upper push 2, upper pull 2, lower 2, upper push 3, and so forth until all 12 exercises are completed
• Remember, all-out effort on each set and minimal rest between exercises

Five rounds for time

• 10 dumbbell burpees with a plank row (right and left) and overhead press
• 20 dumbbell squats
• 10 chin ups (bodyweight or assisted)
• 30 mountain climbers
• Record the time of your initial workout. Attempt to better it in future workouts.

Fitness Gauntlet:

• Intervals (running or exercise machine) of :30 all out effort/:15 easy pace x 20 bouts
• 2:00 rest
• No more than one minute rest between these events:
• 50 bodyweight burpees
• 200 bicycle crunches
• 150 bodyweight squats
• 20 dumbbell bent-over rows + 20 dumbbell overhead presses x three rounds
• Push ups x maximum reps

Attempt to complete the following exercises in under 20 minutes:

• 300 bodyweight squats
• 150 push ups (males) 100 (females)
• 50 dumbbell burpees + one-arm plank row (R & L) + squat + overhead press

Why 10 x 3 Is Best for Strength and Size

One of the things that has always stuck in my head as far as training goes is to do the opposite of what most do. Breaking Muscle athlete and super-coach Charles Staley is the guy who said this. It’s a fairly simple concept. If you see people using machines, then do free weights. If you see people doing chest and biceps, then do legs.

But the biggest disconnect usually comes when we talk about volume. Everyone knows typical gym training begins with three sets of ten. There is actually some science behind that. Back in the 1960s, Dr. Thomas DeLorme found that people responded better to multiple sets than they did to a single exposure, both in terms of building muscle size and strength (which explains why high-intensity training doesn’t work long term).

While sets of ten will work to begin with, they do have some limitations, especially for the natural trainee. Sooner or later the decreasing intensity in these sets of ten will have you need to work fewer reps per set. To begin with, a set of ten may leave you out of breath and flushed, but it won’t stay that way. The best way to think about it is like going for a jog. At first it’s difficult to even get around the block, but if you keep running those relaxed runs, you will be covering more and more distance pretty quickly. And at that point the only way to get fitter is to run faster

 

It may seem like a strange analogy, but there are far more similarities than differences between strength and fitness training. Beginners usually find themselves training at around seventy percent of what they are ultimately capable of. In fact, there is even a table to work out how hard you are working based off how many reps per set you are doing called Prilepin’s Table. A single set that is the heaviest thing you can lift once and once only represents 100% of your maximum. Looking at Prilepin’s Table, you’ll see that it goes down and eventually ends up at sets of ten and a corresponding seventy percent effort.

 

One of the things people often lose sight of is how many total reps are in a session. There’s a real reason why top strength coaches record not just weight, but sets and reps in their students’ work, as it helps to calculate the total intensity for the session, and even the training cycle. When you look at successful training plans the majority have one big thing in common - they share a total number of reps between the mid twenties and low thirties.

 

Think about it:

 

• 3 x 10
• 3-4 x 8
• 5 x 5
• 4 x 6
• 6 x 4

 

But there’s one incredibly valuable scheme that is overlooked in these plans, and that is the flip side of the old three sets of ten. What happens when you do ten sets of three? Let’s look at some of the benefits of 10 x 3:

 

• In a lift like the deadlift, where the set up can often be half the battle, this gives a trainee more opportunities to learn how to set up properly.
• Fatigue per set is kept to a minimum, reducing the possibility of injury. It’s rare to hear of people hurting themselves on the first rep of a set, but far more common for people to push hard while fatigued and hurt themselves on the eight, ninth, or tenth rep.
• Instead of thirty reps done at seventy percent intensity, this is thirty reps done at around 85% intensity.

 

This style of training allows for much greater stimulus to be applied to the muscles, which will result in greater strength and hypertrophy along the way. This is a great tool to use with opposing muscle groups and big lifts. Good choices are:

 

• Front squats and Romanian deadlifts
• Front squats and power cleans
• Bench press and chins

 

It can also be used to good effect on its own, and Westside Barbell made the 10x3 workout famous when they started using it for speed work on their Dynamic Effort days. For people who have never tried it, the end result is similar to what Dan John had in mind when detailing the One Lift a Day program. Just know that ten genuinely hard sets of three in a big exercise will take some time to get through, and the rest needed to do all this properly will make what seems like a small workout push out to the hour mark.

 

I’d suggest scheduling no more than two workouts per week for the ten by three sessions and using lower intensity work on the other days. A good sample split would be:

 

• Monday: 10 x 3 front squat and power cleans
• Tuesday: 5 x 5 bench press and chins, 3-4 x 6-8 of another upper-body pair
• Wednesday: Rest or easy cardio
• Thursday: Same as Monday
• Friday: Rest or easy cardio
• Saturday: Same as Tuesday
• Sunday: Rest or easy cardio

 

Give it a try for six weeks and see how fast you grow in size and strength.

How to Adjust Sets and Reps to Fit Your Training Goal

The way we describe a workout is by breaking it down into exercises, sets, and repetitions. All of your workout can be explained in only a few lines and all will understand what those numbers and multiplication signs mean.

The Importance of Number of Repetitions

Early on, you learned about repetitions. You learned the number of reps you do depends upon your training goal. You do singles, doubles, and triples for power; sets of four, five, or six for strength; eight to twelve reps for hypertrophy; and sets of fifteen or more for endurance.

(As an aside after all the many years I have spent around gyms I have never seen any trainee doing sevens. Ditto on thirteens and fourteens. I guess we just like to work with round or familiar numbers.)

How to Categorize Sets For Lifters and Bodybuilders

The way you categorize sets is somewhat different than reps. They, too, depend on your training goals, but they also depend on where you are at in your workout. Most trainees regardless of discipline use between three to eight work sets. These are the down-and-dirty sets that help you work toward accomplishing your goals.

It stands to reason that the higher the intensity and the lower your reps per set, the more sets you will have to do. For strength and muscle building, the name of the game is to achieve a certain volume of work in training sessions. For weightlifters or powerlifters, you will not be able to lift more than one rep at 100% intensity, so you will have to do more sets of those singles to get enough work in. Conversely, if you are doing a bodybuilding-type of routine, then three sets is the norm. Due to the high reps, bodybuilders only need to do three sets in order to achieve sufficient training effect.

Approach the Warm Up With Caution

The number of warm-up sets done on the way to work-set territory can vary. Many beginners make the mistake of taking too narrow a step between each set. By the time they get to their work sets, they are showing signs of fatigue and cannot perform at their best. Excess warm up can be a sign of lack of confidence. This is especially seen to be true in competition settings where stress is high and those extra sets pile up quickly.

With practice you can get to the point where you will need few heavier warm-up sets. In that case, a new problem emerges - the psychological difficulty of going from very light to quite heavy all at once. This is like jumping out of a nice warm bed into a cold shower.

The solution is a little thing we call an approach set. This is a weight only a plate or so lighter than the first work set and done for only a single or double. The sole purpose of approach sets is to mentally prepare the lifter for the heavier work weights to come. It is just too much of a shock to the system, especially that mysterious system between the ears, to go from a light warm up to a heavy work set in one jump. The approach set will warn the body and the mind that they are now going to be lifting something a little heavier. After the approach set the first work set will feel a lot better and the lifter will feel more confident.

Ramped Up or Straight Across

Eventually you get to your work sets. The number of reps and sets will depend on your training goals. Special attention should be given to the repetition regimen in your work sets.By that I mean, will sets be ramped up or straight-across?

Ramped up means the weight used in each set increases. A lifter might do 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 185x5, and top out at 195x5. This approach is generally used by novices who have not yet developed the capacity for many sets at high intensity. This is great for getting newbies into shape and also for anyone coming back after a layoff or injury. As a lifter gets in better shape and more experienced, he or she will need more intensity.

That is where the straight-across sets come into play. At some point our lifter will want to do 195x5 for all five sets (or 195/5x5 as our shorthand puts it). Intermediate and more experienced athletes will need this extra work to produce a training effect. This venerable 5x5 regimen is commonly used in powerlifting, football, and general strength training. It was popularized by Mark Berry in the 1930s and revived by Bill Starr in the 1970s. The only reason such an antiquated routine is still used is simple - it works.

Intensity Versus Volume

Olympic lifters don't use quite as many reps, instead concentrating on singles, doubles, and triples. As you might guess, when you are peaking for competition, the number of reps goes down but the number of sets will have to go up to compensate somewhat.

I say “somewhat” because you cannot substitute intensity for volume perfectly. For example, if you want to move from a 5X5 regimen to one with singles, you cannot do 25 singles at 95-100% intensity. Even Bulgarians will tire well before that. Eight to twelve such lifts are pretty much the maximum. At that point volume will drop off considerably, to the point it may be inadequate to maintain strength in the long run. So, what to do?

Enter the concept of the back-off set. This is where the bar is unloaded by a certain amount that will enable more reps and more sets to be done at a high enough weight to stimulate improvement, but not so much weight that fatigue happens too quickly. Back off sets are often done straight-across until a lifter is satisfied that enough work has been done. Others prefer a sort of reverse pyramid situation where the weight is lowered gradually over several sets. Each set will be a little bit lighter and easier than the last.

Variations on the Classic Rep and Set Schemes

There are other regimens out there, but the ones mentioned are the ones most commonly used today. But they are often done with some variation.

The old pyramid regimen has been around for ages. Often lifters will only pyramid upwards, but sometimes they extend the workout by pyramiding back down again. Still other lifters like to warm up really well, then start at the top and pyramid downwards Whichever way they pyramid they usually end up doing more work than they have to.

There are also hybrid schemes where three sets across at one weight are done and then three more may be done across at a higher weight. This is often done when transitioning from ramping up to straight-across sets. At first the lifter is only capable of one set at the maximum. As the lifter gets in better condition, he or she can do two sets, then three, still ramping up the earlier sets. Eventually, the lifter can do all five sets and ramping up can be forgotten.

A Summary Approach

That’s about it for rep and set basics. An exercise will open with straight-across warm-up sets, then some ramping warm-up sets, an approach set, several work sets, and then maybe finish with some straight-across back-up sets.

The key is to know what each is for and don’t do more than you have to.

Whole-body Training Versus Split-Training: Which is Better?

Both split-training and whole-body approaches are conceptual ways of organizing your weekly training schedule.

• A split-training approach involves apportioning different muscles or body regions to specific workouts (for example, chest and quads on Mondays, back and hamstrings on Wednesdays, and arms, abs, and calves on Fridays).
• A full-body approach typically emphasizes “big” (meaning multi-joint) exercises each and every workout (for example, squat and chins on Mondays, bench and lunge on Wednesdays, and deadlifts and overhead presses on Fridays).

Not many people use the former option, and here’s why: a true split routine limits you to mostly single-joint exercises. After all, if you squat on quad day, you’re also training low back, core strength, and hamstrings (just to name a few). A true quad day pretty much limits you to leg extensions.

How to Utilize a Split Routine

Few, if any, serious physique or strength athletes limit themselves exclusively to single-joint exercises these days. This means very few people use true split-training routines, and neither should you. The exercises that produce the most results are the ones that involve the most joints (and muscles) simultaneously. Examples include squats, bench presses, chins, lunges, overhead presses, Olympic lifts, and deadlifts. None of these can be performed using a split routine.

With all of that said, there is a variant of a split routine that does permit the use of multi-joint exercises: the upper-lower split. On your upper-body day, you can perform things like bench presses, chins, rows, overhead presses, and so on. On lower-body day, you can use Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, lunges, and step-ups.

For the best results, alternate between the lower- and upper-body sessions, training a total of four times per week. This is pretty much how my own training is organized, as you may have noticed).

This Week’s Training

This will be a short entry this week, partly because there’s not too much to report, and also because I’m having a busy week due to a few professional obligations.

That said, I did manage a 265lb bench press, which is my best bench this year, and only five pounds shy of my best paused-bench press ever. I also hit a 425lb pull without warmups, a belt, or chalk.

On the less positive side, my last two lower-body sessions have been abbreviated - the first one due to knee issues and the second due to scheduling issues. Not the best thing to happen this close to competition, but sometimes life doesn’t cooperate with your best intentions.

That’s about all for this week. Sorry for the brevity, but I hope your training is going well, and please leave any questions or comments you might have below!

Weekly Training Volume: 21,410 lbs (Last Week’s Volume: 48,424 lbs)

Significant Lifts:

• Bench Press 265x1
• Deadlift 425x1 - No warmup, belt, or chalk

Monday, September 29, 2014

Bodyweight: 201 lbs

Volume: 1,290 lbs

Squat

Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
Set 3: 135 lbs × 3
Set 4: 185 lbs × 1

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Free Workout

Bodyweight: 201.6 lbs

Volume: 11,264 lbs

Bench Press

Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
Set 3: 135 lbs × 5
Set 4: 185 lbs × 3
Set 5: 215 lbs × 1
Set 6: 235 lbs × 1
Set 7: 247.5 lbs × 1
Set 8: 247.5 lbs × 1
Set 9: 247.5 lbs × 1
Set 10: 225 lbs × 2

Chin Up

Set 1: +35 lbs × 1
Set 2: +35 lbs × 2
Set 3: +35 lbs × 3
Set 4: +35 lbs × 4
Set 5: +35 lbs × 6
Set 6: +35 lbs × 4

Bicep Curl (Dumbbell)

Set 1: 80 lbs × 8
Set 2: 80 lbs × 8
Set 3: 80 lbs × 8
Set 4: 80 lbs × 8
Set 5: 80 lbs × 5

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Free Workout

Bodyweight: 201.4 lbs

Volume: 8,856 lbs

Bench Press

Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
Set 3: 135 lbs × 5
Set 4: 185 lbs × 3
Set 5: 205 lbs × 1
Set 6: 225 lbs × 1
Set 7: 245 lbs × 1
Set 8: 255 lbs × 1
Set 9: 260 lbs × 1
Set 10: 265 lbs × 1
Set 11: 225 lbs × 6

Deadlift

Set 1: 425 lbs × 1 (Video Below)
Notes: No warmup, no belt, no chalk



Chin Up

Set 1: +45 lbs × 3
Set 2: +45 lbs × 3
Set 3: +45 lbs × 3
Set 4: +45 lbs × 3
Set 5: +45 lbs × 3

The 20-Rep Squat Routine: Old School Strength Training

For all neophytes who have no clue how to train hard, I suggest you heed some practical lore from the past. Back in the day when they had no sophisticated equipment, no Internet recommendations, and no super-duper nutritional supplements, those who sought to get stronger and grow muscle had to bust their butts with plain old hard work to achieve strength and size gains. They had only the basic means of stimulating muscle tissue - known as barbells and dumbbells - and the smarts to allow for proper rest and recovery following their training.

Surprise! They achieved results. And it still works today in this information-overload environment in which we reside. But the simplicity of hard work has either been blurred or completely lost from all the fancy stuff that pervades our current training culture. So, if it still works, why don't you try "old school" and give it a go? Working hard is still the way to go, no matter how you slice it.

With credit given to Randall Strossen outlining John McCallum's 20-rep squat routine in his book Super Squats, let me tell you about a simple but very difficult program for increasing lower body strength and facilitating weight gain. The 20-rep barbell squat routine. It works. It truly does. But it is brutally difficult.

It goes like this:

Train your lower body twice per week. One session is the 20-rep squat routine and the other is something different like deadlifts, leg presses, or whatever blows your skirt up.

For the 20-rep assault, select a resistance that you would normally use for a tough set of 12 repetitions. With that resistance, perform 20 repetitions. Yes, it's going to be challenging but find a way to squeeze out 8 more reps to get to the 20-rep goal. You can do it if you focus on the task at hand. Hang in there. Catch your breath between reps. Concentrate on getting one rep at a time.

Once you achieve 20 repetitions, it's mission accomplished.

Now that you have gutted it out to achieve the 20-rep goal, rejoice in the moment, and then it's time to move forward. It's now time to do more. Given proper recovery time, your body will have adapted to the previous 20-rep overload stress and can now tolerate more. It is the biological phenomena called the principle of recovery-adaptation. You did it, your body adapted to it, now you are physically able to do even more.

For the next 20-rep squat workout add at least five pounds to the bar (10 pounds maximum). Your goal again is 20-repetitions. You're stronger as a result of the previous 20-rep "death march," so you are capable of achieving 20-repetitions with slightly more resistance.

If you attack it with all-out effort you'll accomplish it. Remember, you only added a few more pounds from the previous successful session so be confident you will achieve the 20-rep goal. Yes, it will be physically and mentally disgusting, but if you want to improve you'll find a way to get it done.

Why am I so confident you can do this? I did it back in the day. In the summer of 1990 at a body weight of 185 pounds, I took the 20-rep squat challenge.

My initial squat session was a demanding (for me) 245 pounds for 20 repetitions a la NO-NO-NO (no belt, no wraps, and no lifting suit). It was simply body against the resistance with zero help from supporting equipment, but I did it.

Each week I added ten pounds to the bar and achieved 20 reps as follows:

• Week 2 = 255 x 20 (ouch!)
• Week 3 = 265 x 20 (yikes!)
• Week 4 = 275 x 20 (ugh!)
• Week 5 = 285 x 20 (yowza!)
• Week 6 = 295 x 20 (!%$@*!)
• Week 7 = 305 x 16 (I couldn't go further. I was done!)

The inevitable wall was hit and so it will be for you, too. Eventually you will reach a point where you cannot keep progressing. At that point you will have pushed it to the limit both physically and mentally. But savor the moment because you obviously moved up. In my case, I went from 245 pounds x 20 reps to 295 pounds x 20 reps. For me - being a genetic trash bag - that was outstanding progress.

If you have the intestinal fortitude to attempt a new challenge to for the purpose of improving your strength and/or weight gain, try the 20-rep squat routine. Understand it will be both physically and mentally demanding, yet it will be simple to implement.

The 20-rep squat routine in review:

1. Train the lower body twice per week, once with the 20-rep barbell squat routine and the other with something without squats.
2. With the 20-rep squat routine, perform the first workout with a resistance that normally challenges you for 12 repetitions. Get 20 reps.
3. For each succeeding 20-rep squat workout add five to 10 pounds on the bar and find a way to accomplish 20 reps.
4. Make sure you are completely recovered prior to attempting the 20-rep workout. It will take everything you have to achieve the 20-rep goal.
5. When you inevitably hit the wall and are unable to achieve 20 reps after weeks of progressive training, at that point you should have made exceptional progress and achieved measurable results.

The 20-rep squat routine is a time-proven means of becoming stronger and larger (all other factors being equal). It should be used sparingly because it is extremely demanding. Old school works if you are willing to work.

Why Heavy Lifting Is the Best Winter Activity for Cyclists?

As winter approaches, this particular cyclist is looking forward to spending time in the gym doing some heavy lifts. I can almost feel some quizzical looks from my fellow sportsmen with that statement. Yes, I said that I am going into the gym to do some heavy lifting this winter and it is going to benefit my cycling. 

 

 

Heavy Lifting Improves Oxygen Efficiency

I have found numerous studies that support this statement. The first study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, took a group of sixteen cyclists and splits them into two groups. The study group performed half-squats for four sets of four rep maximums three times per week in addition to endurance training. The control group continued with their endurance training. 

 

The result was an increase in time to exhaustion at their pre-study aerobic maximum power by 17.2%, as well as improvements in cycling economy and efficiency with no increase in VO2 max or body weight. So, by working on strength rather than muscle volume or hypertrophy, I am unlikely to add significant amounts of power-sapping body weight.

 

I have written about VO2 maximums before. Since maximal oxygen consumption is limited by your lung volume and how fast you can breathe in and out, there are limited opportunities to make significant improvements. Although having a big pair of lungs to start with (thanks to family genetics) will generally be a benefit to your performance. So, lifting heavy seems a good way of improving your performance and efficiency of using the oxygen that you can get into your system.

 

Heavy Lifting Improves Peak Power Output

The second study, published in 2005 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, took seven untrained males and had them perform four sets of five repetitions of hack squats at 85% of their 1RM. A barbell hack squat is performed holding the barbell behind the legs. As alternative you could use two kettlebells. As you might expect, the subjects’ lifting performances improved as did their cycling peak power output.

 

 

Heavy Lifting Improves Cycling Performance

The third study, published in 2010 in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, has been mentioned in a previous article concerning in-season strength training. The regimen tested was composed of a twelve-week preparatory period of heavy strength training twice per week. The study reported improved cycling performance more than a control group performing only endurance training.

 

High-Resistance Work Improves Performance

The fourth study, again published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, but this time in 2009, was slightly different in that it studied the effect of lower cadence interval training on cycling performance. This sounds like high-resistance work using the cycle on a turbo or ergometer, or even outside with hill climbs. 

 

In the study, eighteen cyclists performed explosive single-leg jumps combined with either low or high speed intervals. The lower cadence interval group improved performance more than the higher cadence group.

 

A Break From the Norm

The evidence from research articles indicates that some heavy lifting is beneficial. In the coming months it will be a welcome break for me from cycling in poor weather or becoming bored with turbo training. Working in the gym will also allow me to work on other aspects of my fitness.

 

As all these studies used heavy loads, you do need to take care. Make sure you warm up properly. If lifting in the gym is new to you, then start off gently and obtain the help of a coach or trainer who can instruct you on the right way to lift without injuring yourself. 

 

 

How to Incorporate Heavy Lifting Into Your Cycling Routine

One way would be to start with a preparatory period of three to four weeks of lighter weights and basic movements. Include squats, upper body presses and pulls, and core work, followed by a regeneration week. 

 

This could be followed by a second period of three to four weeks of building up the weights for a heavier lifting period. Concentrate more on movements that mimic cycling activities like lunges, steps, and squats. Reduce the number of repetitions and increase the effort while maintaining the same effort on the upper body. Have someone spotting you when you’re lifting heavy weights, for your own safety.

 

The third period could bring cycling activities back into program by combining resistance sessions with endurance. Work on the bike with a lower cadence and more resistance, such as hill climbs or harder resistance intervals, combined with explosive efforts like the single-leg jumps mentioned in the fourth study. Follow this again with a regeneration week.

 

That’s three periods of four to five weeks training each outlined over twelve to fifteen weeks, working on combining lifts with cycle training. If this is how you spend your winter, you’ll be in a great position to start 2015.