Lifting Weights

I have not caved into the non-weight believing crowd yet, but I have decided to give up lifting 'till next off-season to see whether or not it will make a difference. I will train the exact same number of miles from here to a 40km. tt that is close to the peak of my season. I will then compare the time with my fastes 40k tt from this year- 57:42 I think, I'll check. I guess it will have to be the same course I did that on too. Luckily, that same race is held 5 times throughout the summer, so I'll have plenty of opporunities.

Also, since I will no longer be lifting weights, care to give me some trainer exercises- it gets dark at 5 here, and it is usually raining, snowing, or too cold or windy this time of year- that I can do in about an hour?

If you have a VCR or DVD player near your trainer, check out the Carmichael Training Systems Videos (trainright.com). They really help break up an hour long workout so it flys by.

I use a medicine ball. I selected a wieght I can work with for 10-20 minutes.
It helps me with muscle knots and pains. Bike riding puts stress on muscles without neccessarily strengthening the muscles. Weight training can take too much energy according to some people. The medicine ball done with good form can work the muscles and circulation. It doesn't stress the muscles like weight training, but it strengthens and heals the muscles. Try different weights at the store. I took them out of the boxes. Mostly I use two hands. Try one. in front, over head, around back, etc. delts, traps, tris, bis, lats, abs, chest, you could even use your legs.

Depending on how much $$ you have, you may want to consider VR trainers, à la Tacx I-Fortius or Elite Realaxiom.

__________________
De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Doing the same number of miles doesn't really give you a "control" for this n=1 experiment. In fact your expected outcome would be significantly different if you varied the % of those miles done at different intensity levels.

Since the 40km ITT is the "gold standard" of FT (Functional Threshold) performance because it generally takes about an hour to complete, to produce the best result you would want to focus the majority of your training to increase your FT. According to Dr. Coggan's schema this is best accomplished by training in the 80% - 105% range of your current FT power/intensity/RPE. Periodic reassessment of this FT will keep you in the "Sweet Spot".