To lift or not to lift is a question that has, well, exercised physiologists, cyclists, and coaches for quite some time. Two recent papers have just come out (one a study, and the other a review article) with opposing conclusions as to whether or not lifting weights will benefit cyclists, and the appearance of these two articles combined with a continuing interest of mine prompted me to return to this long-neglected blog.
Let me begin with an apparent contradiction: I personally lift and suggest that some of the athletes I coach lift regularly, but not because lifting will benefit directly their cycling performance. There are very few situations in which pure strength (such as the effort needed to squat 2x your body weight) factors in cycling. Some common instances would be steep, technical climbs off-road in which you are moving at a slow speed, track sprinting, and BMX starts. (Interestingly enough, apparently some of the highest wattages ever recorded at the national level come from BMX riders training for the Olympics, but those numbers are from a dead stop and not after several hours of racing). So, then why lift? There are several reasons both physiological and psychological; I will cover them in what I see as decreasing order of importance below.