12-Week Strength Resistance Training Plan

written by Tim Cusick, TrainingPeaks WKO4 Product Leader and master coach with BaseCamp

Plan overview

Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles. Because we cyclists are so focused on getting our training time on the bike, we can easily overlook strength training in the winter when time on the bike is more limited, but winter is in fact the perfect time to get in our strength training. Along with the benefits listed below, we cyclists want to keep our legs strong so we’re ready to go when spring comes around and training kicks up. It’s also imperative to strengthen our upper body, as we want to be able to lift a bike (in a cyclocross race, for example) without any issues, and we want to ensure that the muscle groups that get overlooked in season are getting worked. In order to maintain overall great fitness, we cannot neglect any muscle groups, including our upper body.

Strength training is a term that describes all exercises devoted to increasing your physical strength. While doing aerobic workouts, it is important to incorporate strength training as well to maintain overall health and fitness. Among many other benefits, a strength training program enables you to reduce your body fat, increase your lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently, as well as boost your stamina to reduce your risk of injury.

You’ll see several different types of strength throughout this program: body weight (for which you’ll need little to no equipment), resistance tubing, free weights such as barbells or dumbbells, and weight machines (you’ll see these mainly in gyms, though you can purchase them for your home, as well).

We've got more plans!

Tim Cusick has written dozens of training plans for many different areas of cycling: road, gravel, time trial, mountain bike, cyclocross, indoor training, and more. Click here for a full list of his current plans by sport type.

In addition to his coaching experience, Tim is the TrainingPeaks WKO product leader and the founder of BaseCamp.

Questions?

Click here to view a list of frequently asked questions about our training plans. If you don't find your answer there, please email us directly.