Bike training/Strength training

More likely than not, what you need is to ride more, ride at different intensities, and, for the best bike-specific strength training, ride hills.

Tired legs with moderate HR can be a sign of too low of a cadence.
What sort of rpm are you normally doing on the trainer?

Squats

...will do squat for your cycling.

Thanks for the replies. Right now my cadence is about 80. If I push it, I get to 90; but i can only hold that for a couple of minutes.

What gear are you in? Try a lower gear in that you could spin faster on.

Edited by ionlylooklazy 2010-02-21 9:31 PM

There is no reason you shouldn't be able to hold a cadence of 90 for 5, 10 or 20 minutes...you just need to use a smaller gear. This will require less force with each rotation of the pedals. your speed is a product of cadence x gear inches, so both need to be considered. There is no "correct" cadence, nor "correct" gear. But your description of your pedaling soulds like you need to use an easier gear so you can ride longer. Anyone can put the bike in a hard gear adn strain at 80 rpm and feel their quads burn. As you get familiar with riding your bike you'll have a better idea of what gears and cadences to use for various situations.

Here's an article I wrote about cadence/speed/gears/strength, etc....
Perhaps it will help you.

http://www.sprinttriathlontraining.org/cycling/sprint-triathlon-tra...

Strength training is helpful to build a strong core and to correct muscle imbalance, but the problem you are describing is exactly what everyone says, you're cadence is very likely much to slow. Change gears until you can hold 85-95rpm for 20 minutes.

Yup, cadence should be 90-95.  If you're in a smaller gear, your legs won't burn as much, so you can go longer.  As you increase mileage (outside), you will naturally encounter more hills, wind, etc that will force you to "push it" and make you stronger. 

This is all great information.  I really appreciate it.  It leads to another question:

Through the next few months I have to be on the trainer as I live in a climate that isn't condusive to outdoor training until May; should I be using the trainer to build endurance moreso than to build strength in my legs?  Or will the time in a lower gear handle both of these aspects?

I ask because I want to maximize my efforts, and not be too weak in the legs to handle the hills on the two tris I have scheduled this summer.

Thanks again!

leg strength is not really the issue at all.

the stregnth you need to push the pedals once you get moving it VERY VERY low and most 10-13 year olds are strong enough. its a matter of having the endurance to keep it up.

There are a couple different topics here...

As for the OP, I don't think leg strength is the issue here.  So lifting probably wouldn't help you in this instance.


However, I can't say if I disagree or agree with other posts saying that lifting won't help (at least a little).  In my case, I never lifted for the first 3-4 years of doing triathlon.  Saw my typical growth/gains...

However, I felt like I wanted to incorporate some lifting for other reasons (not triathlon) into my program...  And I swear I have seen a bit of improvement in my biking and running.  In particular, biking and running hills seem to be a bit easier.  Could that be due to the fact I'm riding and running more hills?  Maybe, but I'm not doing much different that I did the last 3-4 years, and I could swear I notice something different and attribute it to lifting...

That being said, I can't be sold on it THAT much, since I dropped lifting from my program since I need that time to do more s/b/r!  I focus on getting my leg strength from riding/climbing the mtns around here now.

If you can wrap your brain around this, you will see that leg strength is not a limiter in cycling performance

http://support.trainingpeaks.com/trainingpeaks-wko/wko-user-guide/w...

it's more a matter of pedaling velocity (cadence) and gear selection.

I'd suggest doing as the poster above mentioned...start by finding a gear that you can pedal at 80-90rpm for 45 minutes. Do that 4-5 times this week. Then start increasnig the duration of time you are using that gear, then start increasing the resistance by changing to one gear harder.

Don't worry about the hills at all, because right now it sounds like you just need fundamental cyclign fitness. YOu can go to the gym and stregnth train your cycling muscles but it still won't help you ride the length of the triathlon course (or ride the hills).

you can hit the same speeds many diff ways outside,

this is a bit general but will give you an idea.

you can pedal 60rpm in your hardest gear

you can pedal 80rpm in one in the middle

you can pedal 100rpm in the easy gear.

all will net you the same speed.
now you have to pick the range that best suits your riding style.
the more you ride the better you will get at finding where works best for you.

x2 - there is no magic cadence that every rider should use.  I would suggest that you train to be comfortable across a range of cadences and then ride with the cadence that feels best to you in a given situation.

Shane

Train in your small gear up front. For a long time. Long means, months, maybe a whole year. Get your speed up while you build RPM. Get your legs used to a fast turn-over. Get fast at a 105 RPM.
When you can hold 24-25 mph in the small ring, then you are ready to start training in the big ring. You can then bring that turn-over pace and the cardio base you have built to the larger gears.

um............

You've already fought the burn...before you coudlnt' even pedal for 5 minutes on your trainer at 90rpm with out burning legs...last night you just did. You got your HR up higher, which means that your legs actually ahd a higher oxygen demand.

So while your primiitive brain is telling you that "If it doesn't burn it's not helping", your body, heart and legs have already told you different. Listen to them.