Weight Lifting & Cycling... When You're Old!

meehs said:

I lift weights three times a week during the "off-season" (which since I don't compete much, really just means during the winter) to stay in shape and build a little strength when I'm not riding much. I ride on the trainer indoors on the days I don't lift.

I usually continue lifting during the cycling season at least a couple of times a week because I'm afraid I'll lose everything I gained if I quit completely. So really I lift weights year 'round, just less during the cycling season. I've been noticing the last couple of years that I don't recover from my weight-lifting workouts as quickly as I used to (I'm 40ish) and my joints get sore after "heavy" (for me) lifting days.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

Meehs,
At this point, I can only respond to point #1....at least for a couple more years. 😉
Stopping your weight training program during the cycling season could be "bad" or it could be "good", depending on what you deem more important at that time of year. Yes, strength training with weights is an excellent way to maintain lean muscle tissue, overall strength and functional capacity as we age. However, weight training (for your legs) is most likely going to negatively impact your endurance cycling performance, especially if you notice an inability to fully recovery from the individual workouts.

My input is for question #2 and I am only providing my routine as an example and not suggesting this a good routine for others. My goals are very specific to me.

I am 41 and have been lifting for 22 years.
I currently train with weights 5 days a week and ride on the weekend.
I also do interval "type" training 3 days during the week.

I break the weight training schedule down to just working 1 bodypart per week.

Monday - chest + 20 minutes on the stepper at 80% & then 30 minutes treadmill at 60%
Tuesday - back + 20 minutes on the stepper at 80% & then 30 minutes treadmill at 60%
Wednesday - legs
Thursday - Shoulders - + 20 minutes on the stepper at 80% & then 30 minutes treadmill at 60%
Friday - Arms

Saturday or Sunday - road ride

My bodyfat has decreased and I have maintained lean mass.
My conditioning has improved, but I have lost a little strength under the weights, but I can cope with that if my conditioning improves.

I fully realize I will never be much more than a recreational level cyclist because I desire to keep my lean mass up and I consider lifting to be more important. I will vouch that to be a good cyclist weightlifting in the manner that I train will interfere with good results on the bike, but I am still happy to see that I have improved on the bike.

I'm a 32 year old female who has been working out with weights on and off for about 15 years or so. I lift weights that are somewhat heavy for me, but in no way have I bulked out or anything. :p Anyway, I have always learned that lifting weights or strength training in general is good for your joints and other soft tissue. Many people with arthritis and tendinitis are encouraged to lift weights to strengthen the muscles around the soft tissue and keep the soft tissue from becoming too tight or stiff, increasing the likelihood if injury.
So, I would say don't stop!

The other thing to think about is cycling works certain muscles in certain ways - a lot of repetitive movement that could cause your body to be off balance (certain muscles are strong and others are weak). I've learned (the hard way) that you don't want your muscles to be out of balance. This can cause tendinitis and injury and other not so fun things! I've been to physical therapy twice because of that, so I know!

What's worked for me is balancing out my schedule. I try to ride about 3 times a week and on the days when I am not riding, I try to get in a full-body work out with emphasis on my upper body. I'll do regular "heavy" weights for the upper body, but then for the lower, I might just do a few basic exercises for each muscle group in the legs not too much weight - just for overall strengthening. 1-2 days rest is good, too.

Spending a good amount of time stretching before and after lifting and riding are very important, too. Not just quicky stretching, but holding a stretch position for at least 30 seconds and doing this 2 or 3 times for each stretch. This alone has helped me in a big way! I don't feel as sore and the recovery is quicker.

I am no "expert", but these things have worked for me. I hope you find something that works for you! :o

meehs said:

I lift weights three times a week during the "off-season" (which since I don't compete much, really just means during the winter) to stay in shape and build a little strength when I'm not riding much. I ride on the trainer indoors on the days I don't lift.

I usually continue lifting during the cycling season at least a couple of times a week because I'm afraid I'll lose everything I gained if I quit completely. So really I lift weights year 'round, just less during the cycling season. I've been noticing the last couple of years that I don't recover from my weight-lifting workouts as quickly as I used to (I'm 40ish) and my joints get sore after "heavy" (for me) lifting days.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

I saw a quote from Dr. Pierfederici (sp?), Merckx' coach, that said "Italian cyclists don't lift weights". He acknowledged he was talking about pro's, who don't want to carry any extra upper body mass at all. He said for aging recreational riders, a bit of upper body weight training was OK, to help maintain strength.

I'm well beyond your age, but will answer anyway. 1) I'm back to one upper-body weight session a week now, with no leg work at all. 2) Believe core work on the ab and back machines has greatly reduced the back soreness I used to experience on the bike, so that's my priority. I also do some light ab and back exercise every day at home, along with morning stretching routine. (At 57, consistency is everything).

Not so long ago I used to do weights as much as 3 or 4 times a week and cycle as well. Then last Christmas I stopped weights altogether since I was getting kind of tired trying to juggle cycling, work and gym all in one.
After a lengthy 7 week break from Jan to March, I resumed weight-training on a once a week basis. And when I finally did my first work out after so much cycling, I was kind of interested in how my overall strength would be affected.
Just for curiosity's sake I can tell you my legs weren't even sore after my first weights session in 7 weeks and even my upper body wasn't as weak as I thought it might be (although even 3 sets had me sore).
But, however the case may be, I presently do one whole body workout once a week, starting with leg-presses and I make sure I do hardly any cycling the day after so I recuperate properly. My purpose here isn't so much to build muscle but maintain a percentage of muscle density.
As has been said before, muscle mass is bad news for the pro cyclists since such mass acts as a drag in the cols. But if your goal doesn't involve trying to climb the alpe d huez in 37 minutes, I guess you can cycle and carry a sensible amount of muscle mass too, by throwing in some gym work.
I have yet to see how my body will respond to this once a week routine. At present I find that even doing very mild, light weight sessions my muscles have been getting so sore, it made me feel exhausted at work. This is odd because you can do a 3 hour, hard cycle ride yet feel perfectly O.K. the morning after and ready to go again.

meehs said:

I lift weights three times a week during the "off-season" (which since I don't compete much, really just means during the winter) to stay in shape and build a little strength when I'm not riding much. I ride on the trainer indoors on the days I don't lift.

I usually continue lifting during the cycling season at least a couple of times a week because I'm afraid I'll lose everything I gained if I quit completely. So really I lift weights year 'round, just less during the cycling season. I've been noticing the last couple of years that I don't recover from my weight-lifting workouts as quickly as I used to (I'm 40ish) and my joints get sore after "heavy" (for me) lifting days.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

Carrera, you and Dr. Morbius need to come back to the dark side and be hardcore weightlifters like me. 🙂

.......and be slow on the bike like me. 🙂

Please see reply, in blue ... below:

meehs said:

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

==> Depends upon your goals

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

==> I'm 48, soon to be 49. My routine is somewhat similar to yours. I cycle year round - using a computrainer when it's too wet/cold to ride. I also use the computrainer to supplement rides during the riding season as I can do very specific worksouts and get metrics on my performance. I tend to ride 3-5 times a week. About 50-80mile/week in the dead of winter and 80-150mile/week during nice weather.

I also lift. I tend to lift immediately after my ride. So, the ride gets priority. However, my normal schedule leaves me with one day where I just do a long ride and one day where I just do 30 minutes on the VersaClimber and then focus on the weight workout.

For me, this has been a very nice combination as I do want to include weight bearing exercises, keep the bone mass up, keep some shape (at 5'8" and 130lbs i'm pretty thin so like to keep some muscle mass) and keep some upper body strength.

My typical schedule looks like this:
Monday - Versaclimber/weight workout
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Ride/workout
Thursday - Off
Friday - Ride/workout
Saturday - off
Sunday - Long Ride

Pushing 50 I find that off days are important to my performance. However, as often as not I throw a couple rides into days that are listed as off. I Schedule them as off to keep time for work, family, etc. But sometimes you just gotta ride <grin>.

meehs said:

I lift weights three times a week during the "off-season" (which since I don't compete much, really just means during the winter) to stay in shape and build a little strength when I'm not riding much. I ride on the trainer indoors on the days I don't lift.

I usually continue lifting during the cycling season at least a couple of times a week because I'm afraid I'll lose everything I gained if I quit completely. So really I lift weights year 'round, just less during the cycling season. I've been noticing the last couple of years that I don't recover from my weight-lifting workouts as quickly as I used to (I'm 40ish) and my joints get sore after "heavy" (for me) lifting days.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

The Cyclists Training Bible says that older cyclists(like you and me) should do some form of weight training year round. I suppose it's partly because we're loosing muscle tone as we get older so it's a protective thing. It's obviously a moot point though! 😕
Paulo

meehs said:

I lift weights three times a week during the "off-season" (which since I don't compete much, really just means during the winter) to stay in shape and build a little strength when I'm not riding much. I ride on the trainer indoors on the days I don't lift.

I usually continue lifting during the cycling season at least a couple of times a week because I'm afraid I'll lose everything I gained if I quit completely. So really I lift weights year 'round, just less during the cycling season. I've been noticing the last couple of years that I don't recover from my weight-lifting workouts as quickly as I used to (I'm 40ish) and my joints get sore after "heavy" (for me) lifting days.

So I guess my questions are:

1. Would it be a bad thing to just completely stop lifting during the cycling season?

and

2. Do any of you in my age range have a routine that includes weight-lifting that works well for you?

Well, you are just a youngster,and I lift heavy weights nearly every day year round, besides the cycling and other stuff.I duno what sore joints are.

Bigbananabike said:

I suppose it's partly because we're loosing muscle tone as we get older so it's a protective thing. It's obviously a moot point though! 😕
Paulo

Haven't noticed that loss thing. Actually it gets better.Maybe superior genrtics? 😉

dhk said:

I'm well beyond your age, but will answer anyway. 1) I'm back to one upper-body weight session a week now, with no leg work at all. 2) Believe core work on the ab and back machines has greatly reduced the back soreness I used to experience on the bike, so that's my priority. I also do some light ab and back exercise every day at home, along with morning stretching routine. (At 57, consistency is everything).

You young guys are such a hoot.

I think Dr Morbius has encountered similar problems as myself whereby you start to get older and then your joints begin to experience significant pain. I began to ask myself whether I feel I ought to be doing 400 pound squats in my forties with the accompanying back pain. The worst pain I used to get was around the hips but that has stopped of late now I no longer strain so much.
Cycling, of course, is a good substitute when you get a little older and still want to keep in shape. Really cycling isn't much different from weight-training at all. What's the difference between cycling up the Alpe d Huez in 37 minutes and squatting a phenomenal weight? Only duration of time, I guess, but both require their own specific muscular demand.
I must confess I feel better now I don't do hard core weights as my back pain has gone, my hips feel O.K. and only my knees ache a bit depending on the weather.
Plus as a bodybuilder I always neglected cardio. At my peak I could deep squat 400 pounds and rep 300 pound bench presses at a weight of 190 pounds but I had a pot belly and couldn't cycle up a modest hill without spluttering and wheezing for breath.

Felt_Rider said:

Carrera, you and Dr. Morbius need to come back to the dark side and be hardcore weightlifters like me. 🙂

.......and be slow on the bike like me. 🙂

boudreaux said:

Well, you are just a youngster,and I lift heavy weights nearly every day year round, besides the cycling and other stuff.I duno what sore joints are.

Maybe you're right about the superior genetics thing. 😕 What I've been doing the last few trips to the gym is on the exercises that have been causing me some problems, the leg press (which has been giving me a sore hip), and the overhead press (which has been giving me a sore shoulder), I've cut the weight back and increased the reps. This seems to be helping! I think maybe I just was pushing too much weight on those exercises.

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's been helpful and interesting to hear what others are doing.

Plus my motivation has increased. I figure if boudreaux can do it... 😄

Carrera said:

I think Dr Morbius has encountered similar problems as myself whereby you start to get older and then your joints begin to experience significant pain. I began to ask myself whether I feel I ought to be doing 400 pound squats in my forties with the accompanying back pain. The worst pain I used to get was around the hips but that has stopped of late now I no longer strain so much.
Cycling, of course, is a good substitute when you get a little older and still want to keep in shape. Really cycling isn't much different from weight-training at all. What's the difference between cycling up the Alpe d Huez in 37 minutes and squatting a phenomenal weight? Only duration of time, I guess, but both require their own specific muscular demand.
I must confess I feel better now I don't do hard core weights as my back pain has gone, my hips feel O.K. and only my knees ache a bit depending on the weather.
Plus as a bodybuilder I always neglected cardio. At my peak I could deep squat 400 pounds and rep 300 pound bench presses at a weight of 190 pounds but I had a pot belly and couldn't cycle up a modest hill without spluttering and wheezing for breath.

Interesting Carrera. I was getting hip pain from doing 300 lb. leg presses on one of those sled type of machines. I found that cutting back to 250 lbs. and doing more reps (which I've done the last couple of workouts) has resulted in my hip pain diminishing significantly already.

Carrera said:

I think Dr Morbius has encountered similar problems as myself whereby you start to get older and then your joints begin to experience significant pain. I began to ask myself whether I feel I ought to be doing 400 pound squats in my forties with the accompanying back pain. The worst pain I used to get was around the hips but that has stopped of late now I no longer strain so much.
Cycling, of course, is a good substitute when you get a little older and still want to keep in shape. Really cycling isn't much different from weight-training at all. What's the difference between cycling up the Alpe d Huez in 37 minutes and squatting a phenomenal weight? Only duration of time, I guess, but both require their own specific muscular demand.
I must confess I feel better now I don't do hard core weights as my back pain has gone, my hips feel O.K. and only my knees ache a bit depending on the weather.
Plus as a bodybuilder I always neglected cardio. At my peak I could deep squat 400 pounds and rep 300 pound bench presses at a weight of 190 pounds but I had a pot belly and couldn't cycle up a modest hill without spluttering and wheezing for breath.

Actually I am in the same boat as you guys.
It has been hard for me to let those days go, but after 5 different strains/micro tears in my legs over the past 5 years, nerve damage in my foot that required injections to deaden the nerve and some other things I have backed off the amount that I am using on leg day. I have dropped down to using 275 lbs on full squats and just keeping up the reps and volume. I may try to get back up to 315 lbs. and stay at that weight, but I have also leaned out 7 lbs in bodyweight and that is helping me on the bike for sure.

Felt_Rider said:

Carrera, you and Dr. Morbius need to come back to the dark side and be hardcore weightlifters like me. 🙂

Father?! Noooooooooo!! It can't be! I'll never fall to the dark side!!! 😄

Quoted post said:

.......and be slow on the bike like me. 🙂

No need to get back into hardcore bodybuilding for that. I'm already there. Been having such trouble improving on the bike, in fact, that I'm losing motivation and am entertaining the thought of just doing 30 - 45 minutes a few times per week as a blah blah general fitness routine. For example, on March 7th I had my best 1 hour session ever on the trainer. It was a paltry 16.7 MPH for 1 hour with an average HR of 163 BPH or 85.3% of my known max of 191. I took 3 quick 40 second breaks at each of the 15 min marks where I stopped pedaling long enough to get a drink of water. In that brief period my HR would drop from ~170ish to 155ish. That's why my average HR was only 85% as much of that ride was around 90%. Truly pathetic and very discouraging after about 2 years of cycling.

As of today I've had 13 days off the bike (or any exercise for that matter) due to a case of chronic bronchitis which I seem to have about 3 times a year. I've actually had it for several weeks but it's not been so bad. In the last 4 years I've had quite a few problems related to breathing and catching my breath.

For example, a sedentary friend of mine asked me to help him carry a couple of trash cans out of his basement that were filled with basement tiles he'd removed for remodeling. After helping him carry 2 trash cans up stairs and out to his van I was quite literally gasping for air and he was hardly breathing. I'm starting to wonder what the frack all of this cycling is doing for me if I can't even do stuff that a sedentary person can do with ease.

Add on top of that is the fact that I've gained about 25 lbs in the past 18 months. I started cycling with hopes of getting my lungs into shape and losing some weight as diabetis runs in my family. So far it ain't happening. Cycling, or rather any exercise just makes me hungry. Ravenous is actually a more descriptive term.

Quoted post said:

Actually I am in the same boat as you guys.

Hardly.

Quoted post said:

It has been hard for me to let those days go, but after 5 different strains/micro tears in my legs over the past 5 years, nerve damage in my foot that required injections to deaden the nerve and some other things I have backed off the amount that I am using on leg day. I have dropped down to using 275 lbs on full squats and just keeping up the reps and volume. I may try to get back up to 315 lbs. and stay at that weight, but I have also leaned out 7 lbs in bodyweight and that is helping me on the bike for sure.

The only thing I'm sucking at worse than cycling is weight training. It quite literally takes me months to work up to doing 5 sets per bodypart. And once I get there I easily overtrain. That's if I even make it that far. And the amount of weight I can handle these days is pathetic. We're talking 5 sets per bodypart here, Felt_Rider! For upper bod that's 30 - 35 sets every 4 to 5 days. For legs and abs that's 20 - 25 sets every 4 - 5 days. I've tried the "train each bodypart once per week" routines and felt that 7 days was too long between training sessions to be effective. Besides, when I did that I had to make sure that every workout counted and some days that just isn't possible.

Long gone are the days when I could handle 350 lbs for 5 sets for 5 to 6 reps on the bench. Unfortunately, now I have the rotory cuff problems to show for it. 😠

Add to that frustration is the fact that my resting HR is only about 56 BPM on a good day! It was 68 tonight. After 2 years of aerobic exercise I would expect it to be a little lower than this, especially when it was 58 BPM after only the first 6 months of training!! All I did for the first 6 months was to do 10 miles in about 41 to 43 minutes on an old beater MTB with slicks 4 to 5 days per week.

I'm seriously considering switching over to a GPP (General Physical Preparedness) type workout. Something that would include cycling, stair climber, squat thrusts, high rep freehand squats and some other bodyweight only type calisthenics.

Sounds to me like you're being a touch hard on yourself, Doc. To me it sounds like your focus should switch from performance to actual enjoyment of the hobby.
From previous posts, you shared you're quite a big guy so if you can attain an average speed of 16 mph on a training run, that's actually quite good and not so poor as you imagine. There are times my speed drops to about 11 mph when I ride back from work and I'm far lighter than you and, yes, it occasionally pisses me off (we all get a bit frustrated at times by sticking points).
Now another thing you seem to have indicated is you're experiencing some health problems which I'm sure must be frustrating for you. Let me share that I myself suffer from absolutely chronic hayfever and have breathing troubles in Spring. I also have a hernia to add to my woes and I'm sure there are many other riders on this forum who have health problems, bad knees, heart conditions, injuries through crashes or whatever.
I think the main thing is to try and enjoy this hobby of ours because if you enjoy cycling and spend time cycling, you'll eventually get fitter and healthier. Correct?
The incident with the trash can seems to me you may have been run-down at the time after an episode of bronchitis which left you physically drained. Try taking supplements for your immune system (I myself started taking copious amounts of honey for my allergy as well as fish oils).
But my principal advice is that you could consider leaving aside your bike computer readings for a time and spend more time on the bike at a more leisurely pace, enjoying your training and giving time to time.
On a personal note, last Summer I had real chronic pain throughout my body, possibly due to allergy. My knees were killing me and my hips gave me sleepless nights while my shoulders, lower back and wrists ached from riding. Then I was getting testicular pain from the possible hernia.
Ever since I cut down on my training intensity, reduced my weight-training and stuck with the supplements I have felt a lot better and my principal motive for cycling is enjoyment anyway. So, don't despair and remember that both Lance and Schwarzennegger suffered major health problems as well and that's what makes us human.

Doctor Morbius said:

Father?! Noooooooooo!! It can't be! I'll never fall to the dark side!!! 😄

No need to get back into hardcore bodybuilding for that. I'm already there. Been having such trouble improving on the bike, in fact, that I'm losing motivation and am entertaining the thought of just doing 30 - 45 minutes a few times per week as a blah blah general fitness routine. For example, on March 7th I had my best 1 hour session ever on the trainer. It was a paltry 16.7 MPH for 1 hour with an average HR of 163 BPH or 85.3% of my known max of 191. I took 3 quick 40 second breaks at each of the 15 min marks where I stopped pedaling long enough to get a drink of water. In that brief period my HR would drop from ~170ish to 155ish. That's why my average HR was only 85% as much of that ride was around 90%. Truly pathetic and very discouraging after about 2 years of cycling.

As of today I've had 13 days off the bike (or any exercise for that matter) due to a case of chronic bronchitis which I seem to have about 3 times a year. I've actually had it for several weeks but it's not been so bad. In the last 4 years I've had quite a few problems related to breathing and catching my breath.

For example, a sedentary friend of mine asked me to help him carry a couple of trash cans out of his basement that were filled with basement tiles he'd removed for remodeling. After helping him carry 2 trash cans up stairs and out to his van I was quite literally gasping for air and he was hardly breathing. I'm starting to wonder what the frack all of this cycling is doing for me if I can't even do stuff that a sedentary person can do with ease.

Add on top of that is the fact that I've gained about 25 lbs in the past 18 months. I started cycling with hopes of getting my lungs into shape and losing some weight as diabetis runs in my family. So far it ain't happening. Cycling, or rather any exercise just makes me hungry. Ravenous is actually a more descriptive term.

Hardly.

The only thing I'm sucking at worse than cycling is weight training. It quite literally takes me months to work up to doing 5 sets per bodypart. And once I get there I easily overtrain. That's if I even make it that far. And the amount of weight I can handle these days is pathetic. We're talking 5 sets per bodypart here, Felt_Rider! For upper bod that's 30 - 35 sets every 4 to 5 days. For legs and abs that's 20 - 25 sets every 4 - 5 days. I've tried the "train each bodypart once per week" routines and felt that 7 days was too long between training sessions to be effective. Besides, when I did that I had to make sure that every workout counted and some days that just isn't possible.

Long gone are the days when I could handle 350 lbs for 5 sets for 5 to 6 reps on the bench. Unfortunately, now I have the rotory cuff problems to show for it. 😠

Doctor Morbius said:

Add to that frustration is the fact that my resting HR is only about 56 BPM on a good day! It was 68 tonight. After 2 years of aerobic exercise I would expect it to be a little lower than this, especially when it was 58 BPM after only the first 6 months of training!! All I did for the first 6 months was to do 10 miles in about 41 to 43 minutes on an old beater MTB with slicks 4 to 5 days per week.

I'm seriously considering switching over to a GPP (General Physical Preparedness) type workout. Something that would include cycling, stair climber, squat thrusts, high rep freehand squats and some other bodyweight only type calisthenics.

I agree with what Carrera said. And I'd also add that you shouldn't put too much stock in your RHR. While a lot of pro cyclists and other super-fit athletes have extremely low RHR's (which they seem to love to publicize), many of these athletes have pretty 'average' RHR's. I remember reading an article about this. Resting Heart Rate is something that varies drastically from individual to individual. The fact that your RHR isn't super-low is nothing at all to be concerned about. Keep on ridin'! 🙂