Strength Training Part Two (Anatomical Adaptation)

So I completed the rescheduled South Downs Sportive. It was a great event and a really pleasant ride. I clocked a time of 4h:39min which I was really pleased with especially as I had a spectacular fall 10 minutes into the ride. Training had been going well I had been on the conversion phase of strength, so moving from maximum strength to muscular endurance. It had been a mixture of bike work and weights. The legs felt good, I didn't have the niggle in my left knee that I had just before Hell of the Ashdown so that was a welcome bonus and testament to what a proper strength training programme can do for us cyclists. I'm now having a week of just light bike work before I write a whole new programme and this has allowed me time to get back on here.
So to recap from the last post we know there must be a period of maximum strength training before we focus on muscular endurance and power.
However before we hit the big boy/girl weights there has to be a period of getting the body ready for the tough regime to come. This is known as anatomical adaptation. The main objectives of this phase are to prepare the tendons, ligaments and muscles not only for the training regime but a season of competition. At this point we do not focus on muscles specific to the sport, i.e. legs, we involve the body as a whole and will include core, back and upper body work also.
Another aim of this phase is balance, so for example balancing the strength of the flexors and extensors of joints. In cycling terms an obvious example is the hamstrings (flexors) and the Quadriceps (extensors).
For cycling and more specifically the legs, balancing the strength does not mean making the quads and hamstrings as strong as each other because that can not be the case. The quads are larger muscles and therefore always stronger than the hamstrings in a ratio of 3:2. So the aim of this phase is to ensure the quadriceps don't become too strong in comparison to the hamstrings, ever wonder why footballers get so many hamstring injuries? The same goes for the muscles around the ankle, gastrocnemius (calves) and tibialis anterior. The calves are obviously a much larger muscle, but cannot be allowed to become too strong in comparison or this will also increase the risk of injury, think of runners and shin splints.
Balancing the 2 sides of the body is vital as is strengthening the stabiliser muscles.
For cycling the stabiliser muscles will be the upper body and core. Core strength is hugely important and could be (and probably will be) a whole separate post.
All these issues have to be addressed before we move into more specific training.
A great way to incorporate the whole body into a work out is with circuit training.
For those who are not familiar with circuits it is where do an exercise, then move on to the next, then the next and so on in a "circuit". The beauty of circuit training is that you can do it with or without equipment and hit several parts of the body in one session.
As we are cyclists we will be doing a fair amount of leg work in this circuit, however, we will be including some upper body and core work.
Before I list the exercises it is important to note a few things.

• Firstly if you are new to strength training then the anatomical adaptation phase will need to be longer than if you are an experienced trainer. This may sound obvious but moving too quickly to the max strength phase will increase the risk of injury. 
• As mentioned in my previous post testing your 1RM is vital to planning a programme. However if you are new to strength training this is not advisable. I will give the intensities of the loads in % of 1RM if you have not tested your 1RM because you are new to this type of training then select a weight that you can do 10 repetitions with and reps 8, 9 and 10 are tough but doable. 
• Warm up and cool down, I won't bore you with why this is important just take my word for it.
• This is only the strength part of your overall programme you will still be doing your rides as well.
• If possible when you do any cardio work try and focus on aerobic capacity, this means long rides at a manageable intensity. However I am aware that I have written this post during the competition season so this may not be feasible for serious cyclists. 

For the sake of ease I will write the programme from my own point of view (as in this is what I will be doing in the gym). There will be 9 exercises that will work legs, core and upper body. The programme will last for 6 weeks and will progressively get harder. Try and do this at least 2 x per week as well as your rides. 

Exercises will be written as Exercise name, Weight (%1RM), x Reps x Sets (how many times you do a whole circuit)

e.g. Leg Press, 60 x 10 x 2 

After you have completed one circuit rest for about 2 minutes before starting again. 

1. Back Squat 40 x 10 x 2
2. Ab Crunches n/a x 15 x 2
3. Press ups n/a x 10 x 2
4. Leg Press 40 x 10 x 2
5. Plank n/a x 45secs x 2
6. Seated Row 30 x 15 x 2
7. Goblet Squat 40 x 10 x 2 
8. Russian Twist 3kg x 10 x 2 
9. Shoulder Press 30 x 10 x 2 

Week 2 Add 10% to each weight (except Russian twist where you will add 1kg) keep reps and sets same

Week 3 Keep weights the same add 5 reps to each exercise, increase plank to 1 minute

Week 4 As with with week 2 increase weight by 10% keep reps/sets same

Week 5 Keep weight and reps the same, add 1 more set to all exercises

Week 6 Add 10% to weights keep reps/sets the same

If you are unsure of any of the exercises then YouTube is great or you can ask one of the instructors at your gym. 

After 6 weeks of this you will be ready to go onto the next phase which will be maximum strength, during this phase we will focus almost entirely on the legs as they are the prime movers although core work will still get some attention.

If you have any questions please post a comment or you can ask me on my new twitter account linked to this blog @conditionforthe 

Have fun guys and safe riding!!