In part 1 of “Strength Training For Cyclists” I talked about how your body adapts to different kinds of exercise.  We learned about the concept of different pathways that create physiological adaptation and a touched on a couple of ways these pathways interact with one another, turning you into a sharp physical specimen where there used to be couch potato.

But there was a problem: I covered all these concepts about how your body uses some common physiological mechanisms to build fitness in different muscle types, that's true.  But the one thing not talked about was how to put all that sciency stuff together.  I'll tackle that in detail in today's podcast, so click through the break and check out the show notes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:51 — 73.9MB)

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Giant quadsStrength Training For Cyclists Show Notes:

  • @11:20  – A great listener question: how do all those pathways from the last episode ultimately end up influencing our fitness?
  • @19:13  – Integrating strength work into your cycling, including specific strength workouts and equipment that will help you to build the muscular strength you need to be monstrous on the bike.  I'll include body weight exercises that you can do to help develop your balance and core fitness (and get some weight workout while traveling, too.)  I'll talk about on-bike work designed to integrate all the heavy lifting benefits you're building.
  • @43:40 – Nutritional considerations to help build strength and fitness on the bike (basically, how to prime those pathways and how to eat to maximize your fitness gains.)  I'll also talk about exercise and meal timing that will give you the competitive edge.

And just because I'm a stickler for doing things (relatively) right, I'm going to include a couple links to products and exercises that I not only use, but find to be very helpful in building strength, endurance and general fitness.

Kettlebell Moves
Kettlebell swings
One arm kettlebell swings
Pirate chops
Goblet squats
Clean (and press)
Figure 8s
Heavy Lifts
Deadlifts (wide stance and narrow stance)
Lunges
Squats – Front and Back
Bulgarian split squats
Pistol squats
Bodyweight Exercises
Lunge walking
Glute bridges
Mountain climbers
Spider pushups

For those of you who don't have a gym membership (or just flat out don't want to go to a gym) you can spend a few dollars and pick up the equipment needed to build yourself your own little home gym.[easyazon_link asin=”B0040XP7NS” locale=”US” new_window=”yes” nofollow=”default” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]CAP Barbell 110-Pound Weight Set[/easyazon_link] [easyazon_link asin=”B00D6D46L2″ locale=”US” new_window=”yes” nofollow=”default” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Kettlebell(s)[/easyazon_link] [easyazon_link asin=”B0016BQG50″ locale=”US” new_window=”yes” nofollow=”default” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Swiss Ball[/easyazon_link] [easyazon_link asin=”B00AQ4F19K” locale=”US” new_window=”yes” nofollow=”default” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]BOSU Balance Trainer[/easyazon_link]

As always, if you enjoy what you hear, head over to the Tailwind Coaching Podcast on iTunes and rate it 5 stars.  Don't forget to post any questions to the Tailwind Coaching Facebook page, and don't forget to support our sponsors and help to keep this podcast free, and help me to get this information to more people and help grow the racing community.

Now that we're winding down the competitive road season, you might want to think about reloading for the fall cyclocross season!  Check out my modular training plans in my online store and get running on the way to some killer cyclocross fitness.  And don't forget to save 10% with the coupon code in this week's podcast.