so i’ve in the gym for for about the last 3 months, 2 x per week, with 1 sick week and another once in a week.
i’ve been doing about 5 or 6 leg exercises per session, with every session going 8/10 for effort. doing another 10 ish hours on the bike.
should i keep the intensity in each session or mix it up. i have been progressing well, but as time moves along the heavier loads (for me) are adding up. would a light day/ heavy day work well, would a reduced overall intensity be better?
so far i’m enjoying it and the Z2/3 bike days are great, but how to optimize the leg days? how do you folks balance things?
For legs I do Squats and Deadlifts - 3x10, 2x a week at about 7-8 RPE directly after a bike workout and then focus on the bike after that. (2-3 days of upper body / core too).
Beyond that, it begins to impact how much I can do on the bike and currently I’m prioritizing those workouts. (I do 3 60-90 minute intensity workouts a week on the bike, plus 1-2 more Z2 rides depending on how I feel). But, I’ve always had a lot of leg strength, and I can start doing squats and deadlifts and strength starts going up pretty quickly for me
i’m 52 and weak as piss tbh. i’m investing in the idea that i need a sustained period of strength training to get a benefit on the bike. with racing starting in march i’m thinking to keep on it hard till mid february, then backing it off by a good %.
while i’m riding well, i guess its about having faith that carrying around the extra fatigue now, will reap rewards later. i’m doing little high intensity bike work now, but will introduce it in the next 6 weeks
As long as you know it’ll impact on-bike intensity, I think if you want to prioritize strength over the on-bike workouts, now is the time to do it. I personally prefer lift, 2 days off, lift, repeat and to really try to nail those lifting workouts. I’m 45 now so you’ve got 7 years on me, but I have a hard time with just one day rest. There are days when I try and lift where I’m feeling pretty tired, I never feel like I get much out of those workouts. It always goes much better for me if I take a rest day, and then come back and crush it the next day.
Get lots of protein (I target .7-.8 grams per pound of bodyweight), lots of rest, and layer on as much Z2 as you can without impacting strength training and throw in one intensity workout a week would be how I personally would do it.
Also, I’d prioritize the bigger compound movements like deadlift and squat. Lots of core, back, and shoulder benefits on top of legs.
What BCM said above is sound advice and is exactly what I’ve settled on after 6 weeks of starting this type of program. At 45yo I agree that one day of rest between lifting would not be enough. Currently I lift twice a week (Mon, Thur) and am able to really hit those sessions hard. Riding is one Z3 (Thur) and four Z2 (Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat) sessions to fill the rest of the week (8-9hrs/wk total riding). After some experimenting I feel I’ve landed on something sustainable now.
Are you referring to the amount of protein? In that case I’d say no. Recommended amount is often 1.2-2.0 g/kg body weight for athletes, so that lines up nicely enough.