Originally Posted by Felt_Rider .
If this discussion was on a Strength related forum like T-Nation you would see a good bit of talk toward having a strong core, but a strong core is a factor in the equation of performing other specific lifts. I typically get into a lot of discussions with my chiropractor, who was a competitive powerlifter, knows anatomy and physiology better than anyone in my local social circle, knows strength training better than most in my social circle and the two of us have just about identical thoughts on strength training. When we talk about core strength it is absolutely necessary to support the structure while performing most lifts and with a lesser degree to seated or bench presses, but even then the core is involved.
But as others have noted, those that seem to have lifting experience, that doing squats, deadlifts, standing military presses typically stress the core more than most focused core exercises. I still do focused core training, and please note this it is not for cycling performance. But I feel like there are certain specific exercises, such as, squats, standing overhead presses where I can feel my core being stressed to a greater degree. It is common practices for powerlifters to not use a belt on the warm up sets. Back in my prime I would not use a belt until I went over 225 and I probably could have gone higher, but did not want to risk a hernia, which is a devastating and potentially career ending injury to a lifter.
All the core strength a cyclists needs to perform at a high level is equivalent to what others state as the strength needed for a cyclist. We have seen the top cyclists gurus state that all the strength that is needed is enough to climb a set of stairs and almost any healthy human in a fairly sedentary state can climb stairs. Same with core "strength". When we stand our core is being stimulated otherwise we would all just be a blob of flesh and bones laying on the ground. Even sitting in a chair with good posture is stimulating the core enough to the point where that is enough to sit on a bike.
To answer your question if one has time to do strength training and is it necessary for cycling.
Several of us have been trying to state for several pages now that strength training is not important for cycling. If you are calling core training strength training and that is all you are doing that it probably will not impact cycling training one way or another depending on how it is done. If say your daily schedule is pretty packed, but you sit and watch TV for an hour or so each evening you could easily use that time to put in some core movements like planks and abdominal that will not have a negative impact to your cycling training. The core group of muscles are constantly being stimulated in daily living and are a muscle group that can be trained daily. Many will not experience hypertrophy from working the core so there is little threat of gaining excess weight hurting the watts/kg factor and it again it will have very little impact to the recovery time of the cycling training. But if time and schedule is absolutely at a limit for those aspiring Cat level cyclists or triathletes then the program needs to stay focused on specificty and many Cat level cyclists training 15 to 20 hours per week, holding down a job and spending time with kids or wife do not have much more spare time to give and core is not an absolutely necessary attribute to winning or performing well in bike racing. Again daily living typically stimulate the core enough. As I sit here typing this note I am sitting upright with my back away from the chair back and I can feel my core holding my upper body erect. That is enough to keep my core strong enough to sit on a bike for a few hours and one must consider that all that needs to be stimulated for cycling performance is being stimulated while riding the bike anyway - if that makes sense.
I can also look at a coworker that helps me see this model specifically for this discussion. Here I am with 30 solid years of strength training and over 10 years of competition compared to a female coworker that looks like she belongs on the fashion supermodel runway. We are drastically different in body types and gender hormones. Everything about her appearance is that of fragile and the last thing you would think when you see her is strength. She is the model of feminine and does no core or strength training. She has placed in the top 3 of her AG in every triathlon she has entered this year. But here is the kicker. She trains exclusively with guys that compete in cycling and can drop most of them if she chooses. She often has to stop and wait for most of them and I have tried to hold her wheel on a couple of rides and cannot. She climbs the most challenging moutain climbs with a 53/39 crankset 11-25 cassette where I am using a 34T / 28 cog on the same climbs and she will have to wait for me at the top. I can out squat her by a large margin because she doesn't train at the gym at all. Is she held back from dropping guys on the flats or on climbs when her strength in body or core is obviously far less than than some of us guys?
Even if I am wrong in my knowledge of evidence based training I can look around and observe the typical high performing model of a cyclist compared to a strength athlete. I doubt Voekler would care that my legs are far bigger than his and that I can squat more than him. Most of my friends that I train with on weekend cycling could careless that I have greater strength even though I often get comments on the muscularity of my legs it matters very little to them when I am the last one to the parking lot.
. You guys obviously know more about cycling that I do. I was probably just a little dissapointed that you all trash weight lifting because I was involved in a lot of "fast twitch" sports (discus throwing, baseball) and thus I am a pretty big fan of lifting. but I understand that cycling is something else.
