Need advice - combining cycling and weights

[hilldweller]

Hello all
I need some advice on how to put my training week together. Currently it consists of two bike rides, one gym-based cardio with a few physio-prescribed core exercises tacked on, and two weights sessions again with core exercises tacked on. Two rest days. Anyway, I've realised my bike ride days are both the day after weights so I'm always getting on the bike with tired legs. Today nothing could persuade them to spin at 90rpm on an easy flat ride, no matter how many times I changed down.

Would I be better to swap my days around? The hardest bike ride is on Sundays where I'm riding right at my limits, hanging on the back of a bunch I'm new at this and it's a great opportunity so I want to keep doing those rides, but would I be better to have Saturday as a rest day or gym cardio rather than weights? TIA

[alpinerabbit]

Try swapping the days, would make sense to me - and since you are cycling, how about dropping the indoor endurance session.

[OakLeaf]

My thoughts -

* What's your priority right now? Riding faster? Riding longer distances? Building strength and muscle in the gym? Your priorities can (and should) vary over the course of a season and off-season, but you need to sort out what's most important to you at this phase in your training before you make decisions about how to accomplish it.

* You need to do any activity three days a week to make any significant gains. Two days is enough for maintenance only. So if you want to be able to take longer pulls on your Sunday ride, skip the gym cardio and ride three days instead. If you don't feel you're getting enough cardio to make gains in your cycling, make your third riding day a focused workout - intervals, hill repeats or a shorter TT.

* Whether you need two rest days a week depends on your individual recovery rate - which depends somewhat, but not entirely, on your age. If you're young or if you've been working out most of your life, have you tried working out six days a week?

* If you have the time, you could do some of your gym work (particularly upper body) immediately after a ride; or in the afternoon after a morning ride.

* Unless it's super intense, your core work can happen on your recovery day(s).

* You're making time for stretching and neuromuscular release, right?

[Zen]

Recovery is extremely important in improvement. you're sure not gonna improve if you're pooped.
From Nancy Clark-
"How long do elite soccer players need to recover from a game? In one study, they needed five days for sprinting ability to return to pre-game level. That's four more days than most athletes allow."

What is your goal as regards all this exercise?

[OakLeaf]

That has to do with taper before a major event, and recovery after one - not training. Nobody says you should only train every fifth day!

And, there's a difference between "pooped" and "overtrained." I expect my muscles to be tired most of the time when I'm in a building phase, and I doubt it's possible to make gains without ever getting muscle fatigue. It's only when you stop making gains, or exhibit other symptoms of overtraining, that you need to look at smarter recovery.

But I agree - as I said before - it's impossible to come up with a training plan without identifying what you're training for.

[Zen]

Nobody says you should only train every fifth day!

Works for me