The snatch lift is one of two competitive movements in the Olympic sport of weightlifting. Originally known as one of the two “quick lifts,” (the other being the clean and jerk) the snatch contrasted the more pure strength lift, the press, which was dropped from competition in 1972.

A skilled weightlifter may generate 2,500 to 5,500 watts of power when performing a snatch. This makes the snatch a favorite exercise for those seeking to develop power to be used in other sports on the playing field or court. Although kettlebells, sandbags, or cables, may be raised overhead in an action labeled snatching, it is only when a barbell is snatched with proper technique as described below that the mechanics of the lift produce the power figures that make this lift popular.¹

Basic Technique

A lifter starts the snatch by grasping the bar with a fairly wide, overhand grip and then lowering the hips to a safe and effective starting posture that includes a flat back (neutral spine). The legs perform the initial pull, or first pull, via knee extension. The lifter’s torso angle remains approximately the same as the barbell comes from the platform to knee height. The arms are kept straight during this phase.

Elite lifters then engage in what’s called a transition phase in which the lifter quickly repositions to a biomechanically strong posture popularly known as the power position. Strong hamstring and spinal erector muscles are needed in order to raise the barbell past the knees by hip extension. This engagement of the hamstrings causes the stretch-reflex action that flexes the knees and brings the hips close to the bar. Lifters actually make contact with the bar approximately at the level of the crease between the thighs and the hips. The lifter’s feet remain flat, with the arms still straight.

This posture, when successfully achieved, resembles a partial squat, but the bar is obviously in the hands. The lower body then explodes upward, propelling the barbell up as the lifter goes quickly through what is called a triple extension position. This means the ankle, knee, and hip joints are now all fully extended. It’s important to keep the barbell close to the torso throughout this explosive second pull.

Without hesitation, the lifter then exerts force against the weights as he or she pulls down against the barbell. This is the only time the elbows bend, with the still-rising bar kept close to the descending lifter’s torso. Utilizing the efficient spinning action of the Olympic bar, the wrists flip the bar overhead as the lifter lowers into a receiving position. This position might be a partial squat, in which case the lift is called a power snatch. The receiving position could be a low, wide lunge position, in which case this is a split snatch. Finally, the form of snatching performed by nearly all elite lifters, the squat snatch involves catching the bar at arms’ length overhead while the lifter is in a full squat position.

Regardless of the receiving position used, the lifter steadies his or her balance and recovers to a full standing position. In competition, the signal is given to lower the bar once the lifter and weights are stable. In training, lifters return the weights to the platform and execute any further repetitions called for in the training program.

It takes less than one second for an experienced lifter to snatch a heavy barbell to arms’ length overhead. Watching a snatch performed by an elite lifter leads many a neophyte to imagine the weights are swung overhead. In fact, the bar is kept very close to the body throughout the pull. Trajectory tracings of world records show only minimal horizontal displacement of the barbell.

First Things First

Especially in light of the recent publicized injury resulting from the loss of a snatch from overhead, it is crucial that beginners experience how to safely drop a missed snatch. Once it’s determined that a lifter can successfully hit a squat snatch overhead position (an overhead squat with an empty bar), then the lifter should rehearse dropping the bar both in front and behind.

The easiest and most effective dropping practice is to keep the arms straight, thus keeping the bar as far from the body as possible. In front, it’s simply a matter of guiding the bar back to the platform. When losing a snatch behind, keeping the arms straight and performing a “dislocate” action of the shoulders while the jumping forward creates a safe distance from the falling weights.

Practice this repeatedly so that safely dropping a barbell back to the platform becomes an automatic response.

Learning to Snatch

The snatch is most easily taught in segments, starting at the top and working downward. Ideally, this is done with the barbell located on special pulling blocks. Minus blocks, the lift can be taught from the hang position, a term applied to any position when the bar is not on the platform. This method is thoroughly covered in the USA Weightlifting Level I (Sports Performance Coach) course.² A brief overview follows.

First, learning the explosive second pull from the power position keeps a beginner’s focus on this simple muscular action executed at maximum speed. With blocks, no fatigue of grip or postural muscles occurs between reps. The primary emphasis here is on explosively triple-extending the lower body, keeping the bar close to the torso, and actively pulling yourself under the rising barbell.

The next step is the most difficult, and it involves lowering the bar to just below the knees. From here the lifter works through the transition stage, returning to the power position. Then the lift continues as previously practiced. A novice can learn this sequence in a one-two step process, but it’s crucial to realize that the eventual execution of the snatch cannot have any hesitation. With repeated practice (and this may take several weeks to master), the snatch from below the knees should be executed as maximum speed.

Finally, the barbell is placed on the platform. Now the lifter practices the first pull, i.e. lifting the bar to knee height, pausing for a second or two, then slowly returning to the platform. Once the lift-off is mastered the lifter can segmentally do a one-two-three sequence of first pull, power position, execution.

Beyond the initial learning stages, a lifter should never execute the snatch in segments. It’s important to work on the full movement from the platform as soon as the sequencing becomes somewhat automatic.

Training the Snatch

Experienced lifters usually perform the snatch in repetition schemes no greater than three. For a novice, using a light weight and drilling technique only, up to five reps can be employed. From a weightlifting point of view, it makes no sense to perform more than five reps. Doing so leads to a reduction in power exhibited, improves the odds of technique breakdown, and increases the chance of injury.

The snatch is a challenging, yet rewarding, lift to master. But, it does take time to learn the proper technique. Nothing can replace proper instruction from a qualified coach.

References:

1. Ross, et al., “Snatch Trajectory of Elite Girevoy (Kettlebell) Sport Athletes and Its Implication to Strength and Conditioning Coaching.” International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, United Kingdom. Currently in review.

2. USA Weightlifting “Level 1 Sports Performance Coaching Course Manual.” January 2010, pp. 31-35.

The post Learning and Training the Proper Technique for the Barbell Snatch appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Often this concept, to maintain, is applied simply to remind athletes that without a reasonable form of resistance training their improved strength and power measures are likely to return to baseline values. Certainly the mere act of maintaining strength and power traits is more attractive than losing these same characteristics. It is clear that cessation of strength training, sometimes for as little as a couple of weeks, has a deleterious effect on keeping the hard-fought gains in strength and power obtained during the offseason.

Coaches of pure strength and power sports like football, certain events in athletics, volleyball, and many others recognize this need to lift year round. Their athletes include some sort of lifting during the competitive season. But this concept is often a hard sell for the endurance athlete. Except for track cyclists specializing in short-duration explosive events, the average cyclist all too often considers weight training something to only engage in during the winter months, when riding is at a minimum.

Program Considerations

In-season maintenance training need not be extensive or exhaustive. Most cyclists simply do not have the time or the energy to keep up full time resistance training, so it would be foolish to attempt to maintain comprehensive strength training while traveling and racing nearly fulltime. However, an abbreviated program, perhaps once or twice a week for a short period of time, can easily maintain, or slow the loss of, strength and power.

Frequency

Hitting the weights only once a week may cause enough delayed onset of muscular soreness (DOMS) post-workout to interfere with smooth pedal stroke in the hours or days following the lifting session. Training twice weekly should greatly reduce the likelihood of DOMS. However, once a week is certainly more positive than no training at all.

Volume

In addition to reducing the frequency of lifting it makes sense to reduce the volume (total number of repetitions performed). One to three sets of selected exercises, rather than the usual three to five, assist with maintaining strength and power gains from the offseason.

Intensity

Most studies of detraining conclude that while volume and frequency can be safely reduced in-season, intensity of effort must be maintained. This means getting to the serious lifting sets quickly, reducing somewhat the volume of work done with moderate loads. Of course, a rider may find his or her high-intensity efforts are naturally reduced somewhat due to the effects of an active racing season, but the perceived effort put forth in lifting can remain high, regardless of actual personal records.

Exercise Selection

It remains vital to train all parts of the body, conveniently subdivided earlier in this series into upper body pushing, upper body pulling, abdominal, lower back, and lower body.

In-season is a great time to utilize time saving combination exercises, such as a power clean + front squat + push press. Let’s say the rider does three sets of three repetitions in this combination (a nine-rep set with any order of repetitions permitted). The limiting factor is the amount of weight handled in the push press, so the power clean and the front squat may not have sufficient intensity to maintain the total body effects normally required of these two moves.

It is also possible in this scenario that the lifter first performs one power clean, followed by three push presses, followed by two more power cleans, and the series finishes with the three front squats. In this case the lifter can make the front squats more challenging (increasing intensity) by lowering and rising to a count of five seconds in each direction. At the end of a set or two of this combination the rider might finish off with a heavier set of front squats and/or power clean, two higher priority movements for a cyclist than upper body pushing (push press).

Many times riders can maintain strength gains with bodyweight resistance, particularly in exercises that provide a high-intensity effort, such as pull ups, parallel bar dips, dynamic step ups, or similar moves. If the rider cannot perform pull ups, inclined pull ups are often workable by rigging up a bar across two solid objects. If he or she cannot execute full range of motion parallel bar dips, then a simple clapping (plyometric) push up done in low repetitions may suffice. Step ups or lunges, with or without external load, maintain lower body strength.

Of course, it is vital to maintain some form of lower body plyometric training, as previously covered, in-season. This does not need to be extensive, but the efforts must be challenging in order to transfer weightroom power to the pedals.

The Yearly Plan

Maintenance lifting remains in effect throughout the racing and riding season. As part of a normal taper be sure to back off the lifting a couple of days prior to a big race or century ride. But get back in the gym at the first opportunity and hit an abbreviated program as described above.

This series has covered the entire year of a periodized resistance training program for cyclists. Again, it is vital that masters (those over 35 or so) and females continue lifting throughout the year. Both of these groups start with a bit of a deficit, hypertrophy-wise.

In-season the biggest priority remains racing and training on two wheels. Big gains on the bike are available to those that make the effort to include a sound resistance-training program in their overall performance package.

In case you missed it:

Part 1 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: A Well-Planned Transition Phase

Part 2 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Building a Strong Foundation

Part 3 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: More Foundation Work Into the New Year

Part 4 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: The Strength Phase

Part 5 – Preseason Strength Training for Cyclists: Gaining Power Off the Bike

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photos 2+3 courtesy of CrossFit LA.

The post In-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Keeping What You’ve Gained appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Quit lifting now and muscular strength gains earned over the past few months are lost. With no long-lasting effects, why even engage in lifting during the winter months? This is particularly true for master athletes and females, both of whom must maintain some form of weight training throughout the year in order to optimize benefits.

To date, this series has outlined a periodized, off-bike resistance-training program designed for the recent offseason winter months. We started with a solid general preparation phase that gradually and progressively got the body ready for the more intense work that really produces results in improved strength and power. Most recently, readers have engaged in a strength-building cycle. Now it’s time to focus on power.

The Development of Power in Cyclists

The popular use of power-measuring devices in the 21st century has made cyclists much more aware of power, or the rate of work performed. Power and strength are not the same physical component, although many of the lay public use the terms somewhat interchangeably. It’s important to remember that in order to train and improve power, you must focus on both increased strength and improved speed of execution.

On the bike this makes sense, as we’ve gone from general offseason easy riding to the introduction of hill training (strength). At this time of the year we need to introduce more sprint and interval (power) work to our cycling training plan. Similarly, in the weight room we’ve progressed to the recent emphasis on lifting heavier weights for fewer repetitions, thus addressing the quality of strength. But improved strength by itself is unlikely to result in better cycling performance. Utilizing our newly discovered strength and converting to power is what pays the biggest dividends. And this means training is a manner specific to improved power.

Program Considerations

Time in the gym can certainly be reduced during this preseason (cycling) phase. Obviously, a cyclist’s priority is getting better on the bike, so reducing lifting to twice a week from the usual three times a week makes sense. These lifting sessions are probably best placed several days apart and not connected directly to high-intensity riding efforts, such as sprints or intervals.

Plyometric, or jump, training is a must at this time of the year, but again, the volume does not need to be excessive. However, the intensity of effort should be at its greatest. This means challenging jumps, rather than high repetition efforts of medium intensity. Review the previous installments of this series for details on plyometric training for cyclists.

Training power means movements need to be executed more quickly than in the phase in which we emphasized strength. Slow and steady was fine over the past two months, but now it’s time to make your lifts snappy. Generally speaking this means the weights will be lighter. This quick action during the power phase applies mostly to the concentric, or muscle shortening against resistance, portion of a movement. The eccentric, or muscle lengthening, portion of the lift should be steady and under control. A squat, for instance, would involve lowering slowly to the point where the thighs are parallel to the ground, then blasting upward as rapidly as possible.

This is a time of the year to consider more classical explosive lifts, such as the power snatch or the power clean. Although my background is in the Olympic sport of weightlifting, I am not suggesting that cyclists attempt full snatch or clean and jerk movements as done in competition. The abbreviated power version of each full lift is all that’s needed.

Additionally, power can be easily trained by doing these two movements from blocks or the hang position. This means the weights are located off the floor a distance prior to executing the lift. This serves two purposes: First, it eliminates potential problems with lifting from the ground with a non-neutral (rounded) spine, something common in many cyclists. Second, it focuses all of the effort at the most powerful part of the movement.

Even simpler, riders can do just the pull portion of these lifts. This means the barbell does not go overhead in the power snatch or onto the shoulders in the power clean. Again, we’re training the most powerful portion of the lift here, which is the priority. No need to complicate matters with otherwise technical aspects of these two lifts.

There’s still a need to focus on exercises that affect upper and lower body, along with core musculature. Time on the bike, especially the increased effort of sprints and intervals, can help to maintain lower body strength. Plyometrics and explosive lifts assist in improving muscular power.

If possible, pull ups or chin ups are the easiest pre- and in-season exercises for upper body pulling muscles. Push ups or parallel bar dips suffice for upper body pushing muscles. Remember, the emphasis in this phase is on power, so this means exploding during the concentric portion of the lift and slowly returning through the eccentric phase. Explosive repetitions will preclude you from performing too many reps, as once the speed of the concentric portion of the repetition begins to slow it’s time to stop, not struggle through additional, non-power-producing reps.

Various abdominal exercises can be executed in an explosive manner, such as sit ups with a medicine ball held overhead and propelled forward to a partner at the top of each rep. Playing catch with a medicine ball while including a power component is a fun way to end a workout and benefit from training the core in an explosive manner. Just make sure this does not become a slow sit up, followed by a chest pass of the medicine ball.

Final Thoughts

Off-bike power training for cyclists should be fun. It’s a chance to get in the gym, train seriously, and then get out. Workouts are shorter, maybe thirty to 45 minutes, including warm up and cool down. Track riders, especially those focused on pure strength and power events, should continue training three times weekly at this point. The shorter and more explosive the race, the greater power training in the gym remains a priority throughout the year.

The next installment will deal with the maintenance of strength and power during the cycling in-season. 

In case you missed it:

Part 1 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: A Well-Planned Transition Phase

Part 2 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Building a Strong Foundation

Part 3 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: More Foundation Work Into the New Year

Part 4 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: The Strength Phase

Photos 1 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post Preseason Strength Training for Cyclists: Gaining Power Off the Bike appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Sports such as alpine skiing, bobsled, and ice hockey have engaged in serious strength training for many years. Fans, however, may wonder about the relevant application of sound weight training methods to other winter sports. Suffice it to say, all athletes at this level engage in some form of resistance training, either as an injury prevention practice or for performance enhancement. But what about true weightlifting training? Well, even in sports as remote as skeleton, fourth place Team USA member Katie Uhlaender sang the praises of her weightlifting training in Shreveport, Louisiana under the supervision of Kyle Pierce, the director of the USA Weightlifting Development Center there.¹

The Case for Figure Skating

My first real exposure to figure skating occurred just after the 1992 Olympics, when I was enlisted to serve as a strength coach for a men’s junior world championship figure skating silver medalist. The opportunity greatly expanded my awareness of this sport, its physical demands, and the amazing amount of time skaters spend on the ice throughout the day. So much time was devoted to on-ice training that off-ice training became a matter of “when do we fit it in?”

Selling true strength and power training to a non-strength or power athlete is often a challenge. My young charge was not convinced of my approach and his adherence to a periodized strength-training program was poor. He wanted to spend more time on the “pec-deck” (“I need this to help with my spins”) than on squatting. We never got to any of the more serious training that could have quickly provided additional on-ice benefits. As I struggled to establish a reasonable approach with this athlete, I recalled a relevant story I’d heard earlier that connected the benefits of weightlifting training for figure skating.

Indulge me for a brief, but related, history lesson. The US Olympic Committee’s first attempt at a training center took place at Squaw Valley, California in 1979. The idea of training centers resulted from the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (now revised as the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act).² This massive legislative act came about in reaction to small East Germany’s greater gold medal count than the USA’s in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.

Weightlifters training for the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games shared training facilities with athletes from several sports, including Randy Gardner, the pairs figure skating world champion from 1979 (with Tai Babilonia). I became USA Weightlifting’s first national coach in 1981 at the larger, permanent Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Several of my lifters reported that Gardner was capable of clean and jerk lifts in the 220lb range – certainly an outstanding effort for a non-weightlifter. This total-body, ground-based exercise certainly makes a lot of sense for someone who repeatedly lifts and throws their partner into the air, on skates, no less.

How and Why Such Training is Relevant

Noted sports biomechanist John Garhammer has investigated the power output in weightlifters of both genders and all abilities. He has repeatedly shown that elite male lifters generate as much as 5,500 watts of power during the so-called second pull phase of the snatch or the clean, and approximately the same amount in the jerk portion of the clean and jerk.³ These lifts all involve rapid and coordinated triple extension of the ankle, knee, and hip joints, similar to the jumping actions of various sports.

By comparison, the so-called “power” lifts of the squat, bench press, and deadlift reportedly create between 300 and 1,100 watts of power. Gardner was no doubt a bit of a pioneer more than thirty years ago, but he recognized the benefits of training a total body, multiple-joint movement like the clean and jerk with weights well beyond those he typically experienced in his event.

Fast forward more than thirty years and we today find that explosive training has gained tremendous support from sports coaches of many, if not most, disciplines. A recent survey of high school strength coaches found that 97% use Olympic-style lifts in the training of their athletes and that 78% rated the clean as the number-one or number-two “most important exercise.”⁴

Training explosively, that is, attempting to move a mass at the fastest possible speed, is advanced training. It is important to first lay a proper foundation with bodyweight resistance exercises (pull-ups, dips, etc.), followed by general weight training or bodybuilding protocols to prepare the muscular system for the more challenging weightlifting-specific exercises. But, with proper preparation, most athletes benefit from moving into more serious strength and power exercises, including those found in the sports of powerlifting and weightlifting.

Final Thoughts

We can safely conclude that most Olympic-level athletes at the Sochi Winter Games are training with weights. Some may be performing simple, basic exercises that at least may balance their muscular development or prevent injury. But, I’m willing to bet that more than we might expect are engaged in advanced training, such as weightlifting-specific exercises.

Included here is an excellent example of good weightlifting technique in the clean and jerk exercise, demonstrated by strength coach and first-year weightlifter, TJ Greenstone. TJ, lifting in the +105kg (superheavyweight) category, needed this lift (185kg, 407-¾lbs) to garner the bronze medal in the 2013 American Open Weightlifting Championships. He’ll never be mistaken for a figure skater, but athletes from any sport would do well to emulate his technique.

Check this out and see if your athletes could benefit from such training. Click on the arrow indicators to see the various positions that make up the entire movement.

References:

1. “Hall of Fame Class of 2012 – Ted Stevens,” TeamUSA.org, accessed Feb 2014.

2. “Level 1 Sports Performance Coaching Course” manual, USA Weightlifting, January 2010, page 3.

3. Duehring, et al, “Strength and Conditioning Practices of United States High School Strength and Conditioning Coaches,” Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, Volume 23, Issue 8, November 2009, 2188-2203.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Weightlifting and Figure Skating: An Odd Fit? Or Are All Olympians Doing It? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Most studies confirm that in early stages of resistance training much of the improvement (utilizing increased weight in the same exercise) comes from what’s known as neural adaptation. Increased voluntary muscle activation, not increased muscle size, contributes significantly to progress made. This tends to be especially true with beginners or individuals who do not resistance train on a regular basis. Your maximum strength does not actually increase significantly during the first weeks or months of lifting, although progressively heavier weights may be used.

Moving Into the Strength Phase

For the past three months we’ve progressively prepared the muscles for the more intense work to be done this month. The strength phase emphasizes the heaviest loads, which, of course, results in fewer repetitions performed. In a typical model for periodized training, as your volume (quantity, measured by total reps performed) decreases, the intensity (quality, measured by average weight on the bar) increases. This trend moves us toward peak performance.

Theoretically, strength results are optimized with repetitions between one and six. Hypertrophy (muscular growth) is generally facilitated with reps between eight and twelve. Repetition schemes beyond fifteen tend to address muscular endurance. While cycling is all about muscular endurance, this trait is most appropriately achieved on the bike or during other off-bike, cross-training pursuits. Training muscular endurance in the weightroom does not produce significant gains in actual strength, yet that’s one of our main goals.

So, let’s aim at getting stronger.

Program Considerations

As the new year starts, most cyclists are eager to just get back to more riding. Depending on a rider’s specific cycling discipline, the shift from off-season to pre-season generally means less time in the weightroom. Roadies, especially those not snowbound in northern climes, may be able to adequately focus on strength development with only two days in the gym. Track riders, especially those focused on power events, are better suited to maintain three days per week on the weights.

As mentioned before, in order to retain gains achieved in the off-season, women and masters must continue to resistance train throughout the year. For nearly all cyclists, this time of year is too early to cut back on the weight training efforts.

Regardless of a rider’s cycling discipline, the strength phase means heavier loads used in multiple-joint, total body exercises. Fewer exercises may be utilized. Numerous studies have shown that sufficient loading in exercises like the squat and the conventional deadlift creates outstanding core muscular engagement. Thus, you can forget about doing isolation movements for the core, such as crunches or back extensions.

Since higher intensity loads are used, more sets are normally involved. Previously we focused on a warm-up set, followed by three sets of moderate (eight to twelve) reps. In the strength phase it’s still a good idea to start with a light set of ten reps. The next set requires a heavier load for perhaps eight reps, followed by another increase in weight and reduction to six reps. Here we may remain for two or three sets, same weight. Alternatively, you may further increase weight, keeping the reps around six, but no lower than four.

NOTE: I strongly suggest that cyclists, at least those not familiar with maximum strength efforts, avoid sets with fewer than four repetitions. It’s not necessary in order to improve strength and it may prove far too dangerous for someone not accustomed to the inter- and intramuscular coordination necessary to successfully lift high-intensity loads. 

Perfect exercise technique remains a must, especially as loads increase. In the serious strength-building sets the final repetition should be challenging. This is not because the muscles are exhausted from high repetitions, but because near maximum effort is necessary. It’s even okay if the final rep results in a failure. That’s the level of intensity needed in order to optimize strength development.

Failure with a rep, while not a planned occurrence, must be anticipated. In certain exercises, especially squats and movements like bench press, one or more trained and effective spotters are a must. This is a cardinal rule.

I do not recommend heavy bench pressing. This is not only due to the possible danger (bench press deaths and injuries, usually unsupervised, are well documented), but this is not a priority exercise for a cyclist. Incline bench presses, perhaps with dumbbells rather than a barbell, or overhead pressing, or parallel bar dips all accomplish the same goal of improved upper body pushing strength without the risks of the flat bench press.

The rest time between sets, addressed previously, remains a challenge for cyclists. Due to the increased intensity here rest intervals of three or four minutes may be needed. Without sufficient rest the athlete simply cannot perform at a high enough level of intensity to sharply increase strength.

Aim for full recovery (24 hours) between heavy training sessions and serious efforts on the bike. With a two- or three-day-a-week lifting schedule, choose a day every week or two for a heavy effort that breaks an existing repetition record in a primary lift. The other day(s) are more moderate efforts.

Exercise Selection

Keep a balanced training program throughout the strength-building phase. Squats and deadlifts are certainly highly recommended moves, but as always, these need to be done carefully. If you are unfamiliar with the specifics of exercise technique, seek out the assistance of a strength training professional, hopefully one experienced at applying strength training methods to athletes from a variety of sports.

For those not comfortable or capable of squatting, the leg press can be used for the lower body, but don’t get carried away with too much weight here, as distorting the body’s position or using the hands to assist the legs is simply wrong (and evidence of too much weight).

In order for deadlifts to be safe and effective you must aim for perfect form and execution. This means a flat back and neutral spine, using a conventional foot stance and grip. Don’t start in on sumo-style deadlifts or confuse the prescribed move with the stiff-leg deadlift (SLDL).

Some form of upper body pushing and pulling exercises must remain, but there is a large variety from which to choose. Keep the plan simple, keep it safe, and keep it effective.

Continue to Train Power

Hopefully readers heeded last month’s advice to include some lower body plyometric work. This power-oriented training continues this month and will soon become our most important ingredient.

Jumps can be part of the pre- or post-workout plan. Repetitions do not need to be excessive, but an emphasis on speed of movement and maximum or near maximum efforts is vital. No longer are we talking about low intensity efforts such as jumping rope or simple jumps in place. Seek out training environments that feature safe, secure, professionally designed jumping boxes.

Now, let’s get at least one month of serious strength training under the belt!

Next month we build more strength, with an eye on power development.

In case you missed it:

Part 1 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: A Well-Planned Transition Phase

Part 2 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Building a Strong Foundation

Part 3 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: More Foundation Work Into the New Year

Part 5 – Preseason Strength Training for Cyclists: Gaining Power Off the Bike

Photo 1 & 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 3 courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

The post Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: The Strength Phase appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

We’ve now had at least four weeks of medium intensity weight work, with moderate volume (twelve or so reps), hopefully utilizing mostly free-weight movements that challenge your balance, in addition to muscular strength. Remember, we need this ground-based activity in order to strengthen the skeletal system. A good deal of research in recent years finds that osteopenia (a tendency toward osteoporosis) is common among endurance cyclists. One of the sure ways to combat this problem is to use weight-bearing, total-body movements with external loads.

The weights you used at end of your first month of foundation building are hopefully higher than those used at the start of this phase of training. Still, with recommended reps in the eight to twelve repetition range, cyclists are not necessarily gaining actual strength. Much of what has happened over the past two months is a simple matter of neural adaptation, or learning how to contract muscles against a load.

In order to keep off-season training improvements a priority for the New Year, we will continue with this type of training for another four weeks. There is no need for peak cycling performance in January or February, so optimizing the resistance training program throughout the off-season is the goal. Obviously, there’s a need to stay in shape on the bike, but it’s going to be months before anything resembling a race of importance comes along.

This month’s article deals with subtle changes to the program, mostly in the area of intensity. Riders may wish to experiment with different exercises this month, but the bottom line remains the same: build a strong foundation for the more serious strength and power training that comes next.

Program Considerations

Whether or not your exercise selections have changed this month, the repetition protocol remains eight to twelve. However, this month, start with one twelve-rep set for warm up with about 60%, followed by one ten-rep set with 70-75%, and finish up with at least two, possibly three, sets with an intensity around 80% that allows for eight repetitions. If eight repetitions are easily and regularly accomplished, increase the weight slightly.

This greater focus on higher weight and fewer reps prepares for the strength phase that is to come in the next month. As always, use perfect technique so that cheating does not contribute to your effort. During this month cyclists should aim to improve their 8RM personal records in all major exercise categories. That means the load in the last set is heavy enough to allow eight, but not nine reps to be performed in perfect form.

This heavier weight and lower repetition format often triggers the fear in many endurance athletes that they will gain unnecessary muscular bulk. As stated in earlier installments of this series, it’s nearly impossible for the minimal amount of resistance training prescribed here to result in increased muscular size.

As always, a ride, indoors or outside, pre- or post-workout, makes sense. Although some cyclists claim their legs are exhausted after a weightroom session, the program offered here should not result in that reaction. For example, four or five sets of squats, which are all that is needed to show marked strength gains in an endurance athlete, should not create an exhausted state. After all, only the final set may be a repetition maximum effort.

Of course, if a rider decides to work harder on each set or to add sets or to add additional leg exercises, then yes, the legs may be shot after the workout. It is again emphasized that such additional effort in the gym is simply not needed in order for riders to improve their cycling performances.

The Need to Address Power

Thus far the off-season program has been pretty simple, working up from bodyweight exercises in the fifteen-rep range to moderate external loads and multiple sets of eight repetitions. We are still in the process of preparing the body’s muscles for the more intense strength and power work to follow.

In a periodized approach to training, you cannot look upon the different training phases as simple elements cast in black and white. There remain many shades of gray. Good riders know that for best results on-bike training during this time of the year must retain some elements of strength (climbing) and speed (sprinting). To do otherwise would be a blow to overall conditioning and result in needless catch-up work in the preseason. The same is true in the weightroom.

While pure off-bike strength and power work is at least some weeks or months away, riders should now begin to work in some elements of plyometric (jump) training. This does not need to be anything extensive, but beginning or ending a weight workout with five to ten minutes of jumping keeps a rider aware of their type II (so-called fast twitch) fibers.

If no jumping has taken place for a few weeks or months, please start easily. As always, several elements should be present before attempting lower body plyometrics:

1. Adequate leg strength is a must. Perhaps the recommended strength level of 1.5 to 2 times your bodyweight for a parallel squat (1RM) may be extreme. But jumping onto, over, or off of elevated surfaces is a shock to the body and adequate strength is necessary.
2. Proper footwear and landing surfaces are important.
3. Volume and intensity rise during the year, so start cautiously, with an eye toward more intense efforts later.

You can start jumping as easily as jumping rope or with simple vertical jumps in place. A continuum of plyometric drills exists, but readers are again cautioned to start easily and progress slowly. To see elite track cyclists engaged in plyometric training, check my Dartfish channel (Cycling eBulletin collection).

Work steadily during this month and achieve legitimate improvements on all exercises. Next we’ll move to true strength training.

In case you missed it:

Part 1 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: A Well-Planned Transition Phase

Part 2 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Building a Strong Foundation

Part 4 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: The Strength Phase

Part 5 – Preseason Strength Training for Cyclists: Gaining Power Off the Bike

Photos 1 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of Dmitry Yashkin / Shutterstock.com.

The post Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: More Foundation Work Into the New Year appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A periodized training program should always include a transition phase. Characteristics of a transition phase include a reduction in both the volume and intensity of training. A well-designed transition phase helps the body recover from the recent race season and aims to reenergize the rider, both physically and psychologically.

This is not a time to lose conditioning, however. Cardiorespiratory fitness must remain a priority throughout the year. Using other forms of aerobic conditioning (cross-training) serves to accomplish this goal while allowing for a mental and physical break from the road or track bike.

The transition phase is also a time to include resistance training, with a goal of strengthening not only the legs, but all parts of the body that contribute to better cycling performance. Unfortunately, many riders fail to maintain some form of resistance training during race season, which often results in loss of strength in areas such as the upper body and the core. It is particularly important for females and master cyclists to effectively utilize proper resistance training, not only in the offseason, but also throughout the year.

This article provides guidance on getting started with an effective transitional phase resistance training program. Monthly articles to follow will address all the various stages of a well-designed, periodized, off-bike training plan.

First Steps

One of the main keys to success is to start this off-season resistance training easily. Much can be accomplished with your own bodyweight as resistance. In some cases, the use of light weights is in order. Regardless of the resistance used, there is not a need to engage in hard efforts in the gym during the first few weeks.

Just as the first time back on the bike after a layoff would not include hill repeats or intervals, the first resistance training phase involves relatively low intensity exercises performed in a moderate repetition range. You should be able to do each exercise in perfect form, including the last rep. Of course, after this break-in period (the first two weeks) the effort must increase in order to be effective, but to do so early on increases the odds of injury or unnecessary muscle soreness. Believe it or not, the “no pain, no gain” mentality in the weightroom is truly contraindicated. Getting muscularly sore is neither an aim nor a realistic outcome of lifting weights.

Some years back, some USA Cycling coaches asked me to help an elite junior rider transition from his previous year’s junior weight program to something a bit more challenging. I met the rider in the Colorado Springs’ Olympic Training Center gym and offered advice on some basic exercises done with one set of 12-15 reps each. As we wrapped up the rider said, “Is that all? I did three sets, and used more exercises and weight all last week. I’m still so sore I can hardly move, but I thought that’s what’s needed.” No doubt this young stud figured I knew nothing about training, as I never saw him in the gym again.

The First Two Weeks

In the first workout one set of 12-15 reps is appropriate for most exercises. At a minimum, cyclists should include one multiple-joint exercise for upper body pushing, one for upper body pulling, one for the lower back, one for the abdominals, and one for the lower body. It’s unnecessary, and not a good use of time or energy, to perform more exercises that address the same muscle groups. Cyclists do not need to train like bodybuilders.

Far too many cyclists hold unfounded beliefs that light weights and high repetitions in the gym are what needed for an endurance athlete. This might be true if the athlete demonstrates poor muscular (not cardiorespiratory) endurance on the bike, but that is an unlikely characteristic for a cyclist.

Cyclists want greater strength and power, but that comes later in the training plan. Actual strength or power gains require greater effort (higher weight, lower reps). The transition phase is simply a break-in period. By the way, fifteen repetitions is considered high volume in the strength training world.

The second workout can progress to two sets. During the final session of week one the rider should utilize three sets per exercise, with slightly greater resistance in each set. There should be about 1.5 minutes of recovery between sets. Monday, Wednesday, Friday workouts are well suited for most riders at this time of the year. Cyclists should aim to be in and out of the gym in 45 to sixty minutes.

Exercises

There are no magic exercises for cyclists. Keep exercise selection simple in the beginning. In the first two weeks, bodyweight works well. Use exercises like lunges or step-ups for the hips, thighs, and hamstrings; back extensions for the lower back; trunk curls (“crunches”) for the abdominals; push-ups (on the knees or traditional) for the shoulders, triceps and deltoids; and inclined pull-ups for the biceps and mid-back muscles.

After two weeks of break-in, riders should move to free weights or some resistance machines to work the same muscles in slightly different ways. For example, hold a light barbell or a pair of dumbbells while lunging. Place a 5- or 10lb weight behind the head for back extensions. Perform light bench press or shoulder press for the upper body pushing muscles. Use the lat pull-down machine or one-arm dumbbell bent-over rows for the biceps and mid-back. Since riders are not focused on developing hypertrophy (muscle growth) they can use different exercises each workout (Mon, Wed, Fri) for the same body parts.

A Note of Caution

I did not mention leg extensions or curls. Hip and knee extension is the main force behind the pedal stroke. This requires multiple-joint movements, no single-joint, isolation exercises. This will be addressed in future articles.

We’ll get more serious later. Right now, take it easy. There is plenty of time to graduate to the more serious efforts at resistance training in the coming months.

Any cyclist can improve performance on the bike by engaging in a sensible resistance training program throughout the year. Most cyclists engage in weight training only in the winter, but real benefits that contribute to better cycling performance throughout the season require a year-‘round approach to this part of the training plan.

Now read:

Part 2 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: Building a Strong Foundation

Part 3 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: More Foundation Work Into the New Year

Part 4 – Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: The Strength Phase

Part 5 – Preseason Strength Training for Cyclists: Gaining Power Off the Bike

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Off-Season Strength Training for Cyclists: A Well-Planned Transition Phase appeared first on Breaking Muscle.