Does Weight Lifting Improve Cycling? (The For & Against Debate)

Get Stronger at Hill Climbing - Free eBook: go.roadcyclingacademy.com/free-book RCA Channel Subscription: bit.ly/2YxzwuB About the RCA: roadcyclingacademy.com/ Does gym work / weight training improve your cycling speed and strength? That is the argument we will cover today in this video with the cycling strength coach from ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast, Aaron Turner. #cycling #weight #lifting Please see article links for video below. Evidence highlighting strength training does NOT improve cycling performance, which was due to the research design simply increasing load (via gym strength training) in one group of cyclists for 6-weeks, then being surprised that performance did not improve (i.e. the initial response to any sustained training load increase, is typically a performance decrement): journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2009/11000/Eff… Evidence using a longer gym strength training block (12 weeks), which allowed for greater adaptation and load normalisation, highlighting cycling performance does in fact improve from gym strength training: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1600-08… Evidence highlighting that gym strength training (8 weeks) does NOT improve VO2max, but improves cycling efficiency (mechanical work divided by metabolic work), economy (watts relative to oxygen consumption), and time to exhaustion (how long one can maintain their maximal aerobic power output): journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/FullText/2010/08000/Max… Ability to maintain pre-season gym strength training benefits by completing one gym strength session per week for several months in the competition season: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-010-1622-…