On days when you are not feeling a workout, how do you get yourself up and out the door to train? Do you still stick with your inital workout or switch it up?
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Thanks for talking about Jonas Abrahamsen’s weight journey in EP 331. I was not aware that he previously was having some hormonal issues likely related to under-nourishment. That certainly puts a different spin on the big performance improvements he saw when adding 20+ kg of body weight. It’s still an interesting topic, though.
I like how you guys made the point that for 99% of us, the demands of our events do not require we drop muscle mass for performance reasons. We aren’t racing the TdF so it’s just not relevant. Now let me ask this … is the converse true? Should we consider gaining muscle mass to improve performance? What is a good way to go about that?
Note that in my question, I’m assuming that the athlete doesn’t have the “spare tire” or excessive body fat. Personally I’ve tried to simply ignore the bathroom scale. But I’m definitely interested in whether and when you think using strength/hypertrophy training with a calorie surplus would be a good idea.
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That’s an interesting twist on it. Generally my advice is to do what you are doing and that’s to eat well, eat enough and let the body do what’s natural. I would, however, note that I believe that a good many masters and youth cyclists haven’t developed their strength fully. Many are afraid of gaining weight with lifting. Strength programs have benefits that range from performance to health and everyday function as we age. It’s also tied to lower mortality in older populations. So, I will always advise strength training.
Now, with proper fueling, this may involve some weight gain. As you noted, extra fat is not what we’re looking for but rather extra muscle and contrary to conventional wisdom, some upper body added strength is a benefit rather than a hindrance as it will assist in stability on the bike, increase high end power and prevent injury when we hit the deck.
I have advised athletes to gain weight, but each athlete is different and not all will benefit the same from weight gain.
Hi Grant! I was hoping you’d see this thread!
I totally agree with the injury prevention/ resilience aspect to strength training. I think there’s also an efficiency aspect. Sprinting is easy when you’re used to heavy deadlifts!
How would you decide if an athlete needs to get “bigger?”