I am (once again) looking to put strength training back in to my routine. I am not, at the moment, in a specific cycle training plan (just finishing off the AWW series, planning to do all the OL rides - every other day - then probably work through the Pro Rides.
So, without implementing a SYSTM cycling plan, are there best practices/recommendations on what days to schedule the Level 1 Strength training and, I’m guessing MultiSport is my best option (expecting this to be more well rounded than the other two). I did notice that by choosing Multisport the Strength sessions are twice weekly with a day between the sessions followed by 4 days off. I suppose this is as intended.
Hi @Glen.Coutts i started a strength plan separately to my 4 week plans, I do strength like you say 2 days a week Thursday and Saturday that lets me do yoga every other day or just some of them. I’ve also added in Ian Boswells Morning Activation into my week. This works on Yoga, Strength and using the Foam Roller and works all the muscles and I’ve found that to be really good. I hope if more athletes do A Week With they add in their Morning Activation/Stretching routine. You might find starting at the beginning is too easy so you might not start a plan for strength but just add workouts whatever 2 days your going to do it then if your comfortable doing them for a few weeks move on to the next episode. I do Full Body on a Thursday and Dynamic Focus on a Saturday but you may find other strength workouts will suit you better it’s not just strength workouts like before there’s a range of workouts based on different areas of the body.
I want to implement a formal plan from the app (beginner is def not too easy for me). I was just looking for a little guidance on whether the 2 days with only 1 between them but no other days is an error or by design. I listened to The Knowledge Podcasts on how to start weight training and adding Strength to endurance plans so there were some helpful tips there. Just looking for that last bit of clarification cuz it seems odd to have them scheduled this way (unless the 4 days off is to aid in adaptation which makes some sense too now that I think about it).
I think it all depends what your training towards Glen if your training for a race or long miles. A lot of us would probably add Yoga into our plans to help with flexibility but the strength sessions seem to be placed on days where there is no cycling or an easy session as the strength sessions get harder and longer up to 45 mins you wouldn’t really want to a 45 min session say before or after a 2 hour bike ride or longer so I think it is set up properly but again because I have only been doing 4 week blocks I’ve added the strength plan myself starting at Level 1 and been going from there. That lets you add the Yoga into the same days as the harder sessions.
Thanks again @Shaned1972. I’m training for life, as they say I’ve already got daily yoga scheduled in SYSTM though there are some I can’t/won’t do (old injuries).
My takeaways from the podcasts so far are to add an element of core work (planks, bicycle crunches, hip bridges) and now Strength. My goal for the strength is really just to get all the benefits but my primary concern is to maintain/develop bone density. I honestly don’t see myself ever doing a strength session longer than 30 mins (boredom over capacity).
The advice not to schedule strength on the same day as a hard ride makes sense (they said as much in the Podcasts) and suggested too, if I recall right, that if there is both in one day that it’s best to separate them by at least 4 hours, or better to do one in the morning and the other later in the day.
So, given I’m not on a specific cycling plan atm, I will take your advice and be aware of what else I’m doing on days I am cycling. It’s easy enough now to reschedule either the ride or the strength session if there is a conflict.
I haven’t explored the SYSTM strength stuff in any depth, but I too am in training for life and concerned about bone density. My understanding is that bone density requires some “violence” to put stress on the bones—like running, hiking downhill, jumping, or bearing heavy weight. Maybe that’s wrong, but do the SYSTM strength workouts do enough for bone density?
It’s been very easy in the past to just give up after a few sessions certainly when I used to do the strength and yoga in The Sufferfest I just felt it wasn’t for me and stopped say after 5/6 sessions but now after having them in a Cycling Plan or as a Stand-alone it’s made it much harder to not do it and I’ve been working on Ian Boswells Activation Routine which I’ve added to my routine as well where he covers yoga/strength and a foam roller in a 38 minute session which you might find is worth trying by itself too @Glen.Coutts
While there are some aspects of his routine I just can’t do (old injuries), I can make modifications to them to make them doable and have already added some of them to augment my daily yoga.
@Glen.Coutts I usually schedule strength on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. One of the podcasts said that core can be done more frequently so sometimes I mix in some extra work there.
Generally I pair strength with a cadence builds, standing starts or something like GOAT or an Inspiration ride. Some days I split sessions - strength in the morning and endurance in the evening. I do both the SYSTM strength sessions and also add my own upper body lifts - seated press, kettlebell swings, bench press, bent rows, triceps extensions. I also do yoga almost every day.
I think you will find that some of the leg drills in the SYSTM workouts will be fairly challenging - especially the single leg stuff so don’t worry too much about weights in the beginning.
If you’re going to do just strength and yoga, I don’t see why you couldn’t run 2 plans. Just have the 2nd plan be a different level that starts on Tuesday or Wednesday instead of Monday.
I’m currently doing the Pre-Season XCM plan with yoga and strength level 3. At 6 weeks in I added the Strength Level 1 plan due to the lower volume of the plan and I had been doing strength 3x / week (the deprecated and evil but beneficial Upper body A) in the old XC plan.
The new focus workouts are a nice change and have made me realize I really need more mobility work!
Thank you Sir! For the record, I’ve got ZERO intention to add weights atm. I’ve already got to modify some of the leg stuff (old injuries) and the upper body stuff (different old injuries).
I’m going to add Strength to my daily yoga, plus adding in some more typical weight bearing stuff like walking and (eventually) running. I’m also cycling just not on a specific plan atm but I’m sure I’ll be hitching myself to the ToS2022 prep plan if the SUF scientists add that in like they have before.
Let’s see if I can get all this going with some measure of consistency before adding in a 2nd plan TBT, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually completed an entire plan before Maybe if there was a badge
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I’ve already got daily yoga scheduled in SYSTM though there are some I can’t/won’t do (old injuries).
