[WesleyJack]

I get that to train for a century I need to be biking and figuring out what on bike nutrition works best for me, that part is a no brainer. I even think I've got an okay handle on what kind of riding I should be doing and how much (at least lets just pretend that I do).

What I'm curious is does anyone do any additional off bike training to prep for big rides? like weight lifting or that sort of stuff?

Just curious what other people do in terms of preparation.

[rola643]

All I can say is have a good base mileage to work from. Unless your century is late this fall I'm gonna say, for the most part, weight lifting/conditioning is a winter thing. I work out as routinely as possible on a Bowflex but I feel the core of my strength conditioning was done in the winter months. INTEGRATE may pop in here with much better advice in those regards. You mentioned nutrition while riding and you probably include it there but I would suggest something more than water in those bottles on a century or for that fact any hard ride.


I would have to say that base mileage is your friend and I would do at least a couple rides at least 60-75 miles before your century.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it

[WesleyJack]

working on those base miles currently and as great as water is I always add a little extra something to it for anything over 25 mile or so, and maybe some other fuels like gels or a bar for 50 miles, but know I will need a little more than that to keep going for 100 miles.

[INTEGRATE]

Weight training is critical to century success. You need rock solid foundations of glute strength as well as low back strength to allow you to climb multiple times and last all day.

I would also highly recommend hill repeats, intervals and 20-30 hill repeats on the weekends. That will build a hue motor and make it easier to finish your event. We have our riders lift 2-3x/week, and they usually have solid events.

[Poolie]

I worked my way to a half-dozen 65-70 miles under my belt. During that time I experimented with different sport drinks and energy bars/gels during that time. Found what worked for me. Believe me, you will need more than water. Consider that you'll be on the bike for roughly 6 hours. Also, as you get to the 60-70 mile range and beyond you'll discover how well your shoes fit and how good your bike shorts are. Get all this worked out on the shorter rides and don't try anything new on the big day. If you can do 70 miles... twice, you can do a 100. Turns out my biggest challenge was mental. After about 5 hours I just didn't want to be on the bike anymore. Not because I was tired physically but because I was just tired of being on the bike.

For me, the actual century was anti-climatic. Turns out all the rides building up to the point I could do the century was the most fun. Practically every ride was a personal best at something. Enjoy that part!

[qmsdc15]

Originally Posted by INTEGRATE

Weight training is critical to century success...

I rode a bunch of centuries (5) last year without any weight training. I'm 55 years old, never lifted weights, never road a century before last May.

[Dos_Ruedas]

Disclaimer: I am a non-attorney spokes person for myself. I have very little training but considerable trial and error experience.

Long distance bikers, the real ones, do not bulk up with lots of heavy muscle. In my opinion, weight training should be done year round, low weights with high reps. This helps keep all muscle groups fit yet not bulky. A strong, fit core does help any type of cycling. Try it and you will become a believer.
I agree with the writer above.
You should be throwing in a few 60+ mike rides in among your 30+ rides.
Unless you live where you can ride your century on the flats, throw in some hill specific training.

Definitely take something besides water. After a couple hours of sweating and burning fuel, your body needs potassium, sodium, etc. Liquid is the quickest way to put it back into your body.
Unless you are riding a shorter loop several times, you will need to plan ahead where to refill your liquid.
For fuel, take what has lots of calories and tastes good. The last thing you need on longer rides is something that tastes bad to put you in a funk. If you are in shape, the physical will be the smaller part of the challenge.
Let us know how the training goes and when you plan to do your ride.

[INTEGRATE]

You can lift without putting on size. In fact, natural body builders have try like heck to bulk up.

Endurance riding would negate that because of the catabolic nature of riding. Plus, a little size is not a bad thing. It doesn't hamper power to weight ratio if the weight gained is lean mass.

Another reason, perhaps even more important, is that road bikers tend to break easily when the crash due to bone density issues. UCI riders have been tested, and if I understood correctly, had the bone density of 85-year-old women.

You need the strength training to combat not only fatigue, but the repetitive stress nature of cycling, how that robs you of flexibility and what it does to shut down the glutes unleashing several muscle imbalance scenarios.

Plus, it will help you combat the potential for spinal flexion in the saddle which is detrimental to disc health.

[rola643]

Originally Posted by INTEGRATE

You can lift without putting on size. In fact, natural body builders have try like heck to bulk up.

Endurance riding would negate that because of the catabolic nature of riding. Plus, a little size is not a bad thing. It doesn't hamper power to weight ratio if the weight gained is lean mass.

Another reason, perhaps even more important, is that road bikers tend to break easily when the crash due to bone density issues. UCI riders have been tested, and if I understood correctly, had the bone density of 85-year-old women.

You need the strength training to combat not only fatigue, but the repetitive stress nature of cycling, how that robs you of flexibility and what it does to shut down the glutes unleashing several muscle imbalance scenarios.

Plus, it will help you combat the potential for spinal flexion in the saddle which is detrimental to disc health.

Plus if you wanna be able to bench press more than a cheeseburger ya might wanna hit the weights. Sorry I loved that phrase when I saw it.

At what point or riding how often and how long would you have to worry about the repetitive stress or loosing flexibility. I have often read about the bone density issue of riding but can't help but wonder if that is really such a big factor to the average rider only riding 3 or 4 times a week?

I would like to say at this point I am riding stronger and faster this year than ever before and I'm convinced it's because 1. I decided to do a total body weight lifting program over the winter and 2. I got onto MTB towards the end of winter on a cheap bike and the non-stop repeat nature of riding MTB has greatly improved what I can do on my road bike

[Poolie]

Left this out of my first post, but I think weight training, not for bulk, but for 'core' fitness can do nothing but good things for your riding. I have a wimpy lower back which always starts to hurt on the longer rides. This spring I have been doing exercises to strengthen my lower back. Two weeks ago I rode in a metric charity ride and had zero back pain... a first for rides of that length.