Wait, hang on. Who said I haven’t read the books, listened to the podcast and that I’ve ignored general recommendations? I understand if you disagree with me but let’s not get silly.
This idea that a conversation can’t be had because it’s been covered elsewhere is ridiculous, as is the idea that because scientific studies have been conducted, there’s no room within that subject for debate.
If you wanted to be helpful then you, like others, would point people towards sources of information not just tell them to effing google it. I’ve never questioned the value of answers already given here by other members.
Probably not ideal but you can replace (at least as a beginner with less weight requirements) a lot of barbell exercises with dumbbells. Goblet squats for example instead of barbell squats.
I started a year ago and it was not possible to do the heavy lifts with proper form. Via search that led me to a lot of websites that focus on power lifting, articles that talk about accessory lifts and proper progressions for a beginner to work on, in order to eventually do the heavy lifts. I’ve provided my “best of” collection of links above.
Didn’t find any evidence on pubmed, but I may have missed it. My own evidence is those progressions work, and I made really good progress and regained lost lean muscle mass doing things like dumbbell step-ups instead of leg press. But I was starting over after 30 years working at a desk, and having never committed to the gym in the past. You can do a lot with dumbbells and kettlebells, with the right exercises. At some point you will need to go to the gym, I’m definitely at that point on my deadlifts but not on my squats.
But for all people who work out at home, (with no garage squat rack gym type) what work out equipment do you own? I decided against a gym member at the time being, mainly because of COVID but started to use the wife’s work out gear.
This consists of a 12.5kg KB and 5kg DBs…for me the weight is pretty easy. My work out consists of something along the lines of.
Front squats
KB swings
press ups with renegade rows
DB bent over row
single leg deadlift with the DBs
deadlift with the KB
planks
a circuit of those and I repeat 3 / 4 times. Now…is that all I need, or do I need to buy some heavier weights? Rep wise im doing about 10-12 reps each exercise. What other equipment are people using?
I know chad says 5reps with heavy load will make you strong. But at this time that is not available to me, so looking for more options, with easy accessible equipment
I can comment on a few parts of this. Sadly, there is no clear evidence based work related to lifting and improved cycling performance in anything close to real world setups. I looked a lot but was surprised to not find anything. Think of how hard it would be to recruit people for that study though. We need experienced cyclists with some background in lifting willing to throw their own lifting and cycling programs out the window and follow the study protocol, show up at our gym, all for like $100. Good luck with that. There is a reason studies are all on young and old folks, they are the only people willing to show up at a lab for lunch money.
All this said, the most solid anecdote I have is, I am not injured any longer. When I ran 50 per week, I got hurt all the damn time. When i lifted heavy with high volume and no cardio I got hurt all the time. When I lift heavy but temper it so I am able to run and ride and let those 2 keep my volume in the other in check I stopped getting hurt. I am sore as hell every single day but I dont get injured like I used to going all in on 1 sport.
I dont think there is any way the long term quality of life that comes from having a stronger more robust body is not more valuable than my ftp, 1RM or mile times anyway.
You can make stuff work with DBs and such but its pretty night and day if you can make a barbel and rack work. Are you avoiding it due to cost, space, or just not being sure you will use it enough to justify? If its cost, there are some pretty awesome DIY options covid has made people come up with I can link to. If its space, the fold away racks can be hidden really well. Finding weight plates is still an issue right now either way.
I suggest finding a used bar if you can. Its hard to sub out deadlifts.
Single leg bulgarian split squats with a db will murder you even with light weight.
Use the bar or a trap bar to do real deadlifts. The core strength you gain from this makes everything in life easier.
Use the same to do straight leg deadlifts, even out that posterier chain.
Get some adjustable dumbbells and you can press from a step up platform, or buy a folding bench. You can curl and row.
Get some bands and you can do a LOT. You can make pushups just as hard as bench. You can do seriously hard squats.
Get yourself a cheap doorframe chin up bar and you can cover all your pulling stuff (use bands to assist).
I’ve never lifted in my life and am using the FasCat 10 week strength off season plan. As a complete newbie to the gym it’s v simple To follow. It is also surprisingly nice to have dropped a lot of the hours on the bike as a result and thus I expect to be super motivated to kick start base in December.
Thanks for the article post, looks really helpful.
Maily avoiding it for COVID reasons, i joined a gym in feb for a 3 month membership…London went into lockdown in march and i never got to use my membership as we moved areas in august…so as London increases it’s threat levels i am holding off.
So it’s a home gym for me at the moment, but ill defo use that article thanks for that.
To the excellent recommendations already made above, I’ll just add that I absolutely love my sandbag!
It’s basically just a big canvas duffel bag filled with rubber mulch (you could use a denser material such as sand for a smaller/heavier bag). It’s big, awkward, and relatively heavy, at least for me! It can be lifted in a similar fashion as a barbell, shouldered, carried or thrown around. It can be used inside or taken to the park with you (if you don’t mind the weird looks!). The material shifting within the bag will also work all sorts of muscles you didn’t know you had. Mine weighs around 120 pounds and cost about $60 to build. That’s a pretty good option for any home gym IMO!
Some useful stuff there!
I do most of the excersises you mention, during the winter (now-april) I do 3-4/week, but dividing them into lower body one day and upper body /core another day.
Sometimes if I’m home all day (no work) I do both types, or a total body mix. Then pm I will do a trainerroad session or an outside ride if dry.
I also do a cardio workout as a warm up for my TR workout every day ,unless having a day off, or on a car trackday /race.
My real problem is eating. I’m sure some of us women share this problem.
Which is why I don’t do long rides very often. I notice my leg muscles seem to shrink after a 6 -7 hour ride. It takes me days to eat enough calories to make up the deficit.
On the contrary, I always feel great after doing a weights session,
My other problem is I feel the cold badly. Wonder if this is age related? Interested to know if any of you suffer from this?
One of my favourite exercises to prescribe.
Lets face it, cycling is a unilateral sport.
Depending what type of cyclist you are you may need a little more weight for it to be challenging.
If you bring the weight overhead it will be even harder mechanically and have uneven loading. eg. KB on one side and DB on the other it will be very challenging on your core as well.
That said, I think you could be a level 3 athlete on chads scale if you could perform 3x10 with 20kg DB’s. You don’t need that much loading.
Two other extremely challenging single leg movements I recommended trying if you are after heavier loading without much weight at home as suggested by Matt via Greg’s article. Skater Squat Pistol
And you can also load both these movements. Loading the pistol can make it easier for balance pending your mobility, anatomy and biomechanics.
I don’t have space at home or money to kit out a home gym but I’m lucky to have a gym next to my work that is 24/7, still open, monthly rolling membership and just £17 per month. So I’ve joined it for my 10 week off season before I start TR base plan in Dec.
Even more it has a watt bike for my warm ups and cool downs
Equipment question. For those who do bench work, I am in the market for a bench. Would you purchase an adjustable that can be used for inclined work, or just a flat basic bench? I was looking at Rouge’s folding flat bench so I can put it away when not using it (limited space in the Greater Boston area). I don’t want to miss out on the adjustability of an adjustable bench if people thing it’s truly the way to go. I know when the fixed bench it can load with more weight, but I doubt that I will ever get to doing 500 lbs bench.
I’d go for the adjustable. Until you bench 500+ the non-adjustable offers no particular benefit, while the adjustable will be easier to store when not in use as you say, and additionally it allows you to do a couple of exercises that require an adjustable bench.
but I dont get injured like I used to going all in on 1 sport.