Maximum Overload for Cyclists
I read this book pretty fast. I tend to consume books like this quickly. I'm super interested in training and maximizing potential. A big message of this book is train less hours, lift weights, Do Hard / Do Easy, and MSP (Maximum Sustainable Power) training.
In cycling, it seems more and more training is better, eating up more and more time each week. The problem is most people aren't focused enough in their training. This book warns against what they call the "Black Hole" in training: not going quite hard enough to get adaptations and not going easy enough to get an active recovery. So many athletes actually need less training hours per week, with more hours put to interval training and weight training and less put into mindless riding. LSD or Long Slow Distance training is important, but it's for active recovery and getting the body accustomed to long hours on the bike. This is the Go Hard / Go Easy part, hard days should be hard and easy days should be easy, don't waste time going medium.
The book emphasizes using weight training to overload the muscles and build strength and power. This hits home with me because my biggest gains on the bike have come from leg strength. I remember a few years ago I just didn't have the leg strength to do certain things, like climb a steep hill for example. More leg strength and power will give athletes the reserve they need to cycling longer and competitively. The book has a lot of strength exercises. There's not a ton of upper body workouts since this is about cycling, but there's core, back and lower body workouts. The main workout can be done in 45 minutes, two times per week, or one time per week in season.
The MSP part of the workout is at the end, and it's the part where the athlete tries to maximize their power with weighted walking lunges. The workout aims to increase the time the athlete can do these walking lunges with dumb bells. This works the muscles that push the pedals, and is supposed to increase the amount of time the muscles can sustain maximum power.
I enjoyed this book and I am going to incorportate these workouts into my routine. I believe in weight training in the off season, and this book gives me a better understanding of weight training and how to structure it. Now, I believe I will be weight training and doing the MSP workouts almost year around. Whether they help my cycling progression remains to be seen. I will update this further after the race season is over.
If you want to buy the book and use the link below I would appreciate it. I would get a small amount per book sold that would help me fund this blog... Thanks!
