RESISTANCE TRAINING MAKES YOU PUT ON WEIGHT

Are cyclists missing out on the benefits for fear of becoming body builders?

Weightlifters like to say that “nobody builds muscle by accident” - it takes an extreme routine to turn yourself into an Adonis. Yet cyclists shy away from the idea of resistance training and, in doing so, according to Paul Hough, miss out on many benefits.

“Resistance training improves the strength of muscle, bone and other soft tissues. It also has a number of metabolic health benefits such as improving glucose and insulin metabolism. For endurance athletes, many studies demonstrate that resistance training can improve neuromuscular function; specifically, it can enhance cycling efficiency and decrease the risk of sustaining an overuse injury. Due to the positive impact that this type of training can have on health and performance, I recommend nearly all of my clients perform at least two sessions per week. To maximise the benefits, it is a good idea to increase protein intake on those days. I recommend 1.8g/kg of body mass.

“A carefully designed resistance training programme for an endurance athlete has minimal effects on muscle size. Achieving the levels of muscle hypertrophy that worry cyclists requires eating a calorie surplus. In fact, research has demonstrated that endurance training can actually ‘blunt’ muscle hypertrophy. This is why some body builders avoid endurance exercise.”

“A carefully designed resistance training programme for an endurance athlete has minimal effects on muscle size”