​How many Masters runners, triathletes and cyclists do you know who shy away from weight training, either because they believe it's a waste of time, or because they're fearful of gaining extra muscle bulk in the belief it will impair performance? Or, how many do you see in the weight room lifting dumbbells that more resemble Q-tips because they are deathly afraid of “getting huge”? Maybe this is you.
 
This has been a big part of conventional wisdom.  Another piece of conventional wisdom is to lift for a very finite period of time in the off-season and then scrap strength training altogether for the vast majority of the year. But, more and more, there is a growing body of information speaking to the benefits of strength training – and not just for part of the year but nearly year-round.
 
One such study published very recently looked at the effects of a half-year period of heavy weight training in top Masters cyclists. The cyclists were split into two groups; for 25 weeks, one group performed 1-2 sessions per week of lower body resistance exercises in addition to their normal cycling training. The other group did no resistance work, and simply carried on with their normal cycling training. At the end of the 25 weeks, both groups began their competitive season, during which they were monitored for the following 8 weeks.
 
The results left little doubt to the benefits of adding in weight training. Compared to the cyclists who only cycled, the weight-trained Masters cyclists had significantly greater maximal aerobic power and were able to produce more sustainable power at lactate threshold - widely acknowledged as the most reliable indicator of race performance. Even more telling, when these cyclists ceased weight training, they gradually lost their competitive advantage. After 8 weeks, they were no better than the cyclists who hadn't weight trained at all.  So, if you don’t use it, you lose it!
 
This particular study was focused on Masters cyclists, but can certainly be extrapolated out to any Masters endurance athletes.  Question:  Are any of you reading this surprised by these findings?  You probably shouldn’t be.  Heavy weight training can improve the performance of all endurance athletes by helping make muscles work more efficiently and stimulating endurance adaptations. When you take a step back, what this article is telling me is that bucking convention is the path to better performances – something ORION Training Systems has been doing for the past quarter century.
 
So, what’s the definition of “heavy”, you might be asking.  Good question!  If you are a regular follower, then you know I believe that how we lift weights needs to mimic the phase of training we are in.  If we are focused on high-end sprinting, then we should be focused on explosive, fast movement exercises and plyometrics.  If we are focusing on improving our LT (lactate threshold), then sets of 10-15 reps with controlled, slower movements to near failure makes sense.  And so on.  To me, “heavy” is generally defined as singular to multiple sets of 4-15 reps.  And, lifting sessions are additive to our primary sports.  So, we shouldn’t strive to spend an hour per session in the weight room.  We can get a lot of adaptive benefit from 25-45 minutes, with 30 being great.  In the off-season, we can throw iron around 3 days a week and reduce this to 2 days for most of the year, finally cutting back to 1 day per week during the heart of our competitive seasons.  As stated above, for the final push – call it 3-6 weeks – we can cut weight training out altogether.  This will minimize the degradation of the benefits while allowing our muscles to be more fresh for our key workouts that are meant to sharpen the point of our spear as we head into our most important races, our key events.
 
If you’re a Masters endurance athlete and have shied away from lifting or have only lifted for part of the year, make a commitment to yourself that you will continue lifting for the vast majority of the year.  Change up what you do and how you do it based on the nature of the key workouts of any given training cycle.  Be regular with your lifting – other studies show that lifting 2 days/week nets about 80% of the gains lifting 3 days/week provides.  And, finally, challenge yourself.  Use Q-tips to clean the wax out of your ears or remove eye make-up.  Hit the weight room with purpose and the right frame of mind so you set yourself up for some enjoyable progress and, ultimately, better race performances.
 
Happy Training,
Coach Nate

OK, so "enjoying" might be too strong a word.  But, there are certainly ways to make riding outside in the cold, dark winter days more enjoyable and tolerable.  The upshot is that you will reduce the mental and physical drag of always riding the trainer or rollers.

In the past couple weeks, I talked about the value of riding indoors, not just in the winter but year round.  For those who ride outside Hell or high water, or for those who want to ride outside a decent amount during the colder winter months, I wanted to follow up that post with this one. While I do not espouse riding in a blizzard, the right clothing and approach can keep you warm and comfortable so you gain more pleasure out of riding outdoors – and riding in general. 

First things first.  Roads need to be clear of ice and dangerous debris, especially if you ride outside in the early morning darkness like I do.  The last thing you want is to hit some black ice and hit the deck.  Also, set some ground rules.  For example, in the early morning, if it’s below 30 degrees, then I stay inside.  At some point, even if I’m bundled up and warm, the air I’m drawing in is too cold and creates a workout that is counterproductive.  Better to ride indoors when it’s too cold, especially if higher intensities are called for. 

What’s Most important to keep warm? 
Believe it or not, it’s most important to keep your core warm rather than your hands and feet.  If you keep your core toasty, your body will more freely pump blood out to the working muscles and extremities.  If your core gets chilled, the body goes into survival mode to protect your vital organs and will pull blood inward for that protection.  This means less blood pumping outward which causes working muscles to start shutting down and causes your hands and feet to turn into ice bricks.     

LAYERS, LAYERS, LAYERS 
You’ve heard it a million times: layer.  Layering is very important for winter activities, especially high intensity ones like cycling or running because despite it being cold outside, you have the potential to generate a lot of thermal energy (a bi-product of our bodies inefficiency at turning food into mechanical work).  Layering allows you to adjust your temperature based on changing conditions.  For example, you can unzip a layer or two when climbing up a mountain, and then zip back up before descending.  This reduces the amount of sweat and soaked clothing, too, which will allow you to avoid getting chilled badly on the descent.  And, typically it will be colder when you start a ride than as the ride progresses.  Couple your rise in core temperature with a rise in the outdoor temperature and it becomes critical to be able to strip off a layer so you don’t completely boil over. 

The 3 Best articles of clothing – period 
While everyone focuses on the core, arms and legs, and feet and hands, most people ignore the pelvic region.  Below about 40 degrees, I recommend wearing a pair of thin lycra Under Armor togs to give your upper thighs, glutes and crotch extra insulation.  You’d be surprised how much this helps!  Another awesome piece of winter clothing is the neck gaiter. The gaiter covers the neck, and ensures cold air does not enter through the neck cuff of your winter jersey.  I love my neck gaiter; it’s vital.  Lastly, battery powered gloves.  I’ve got a pair with 4 heat settings.  I turn them off when I’m climbing and turn them on Medium or High when descending back down the canyons.  It’s fabulous hitting the valley without icicles for fingers.  Then I turn the heat off again (or keep it on but turn it down, if it is particularly brisk or windy).    

Think in two’s 
On your hands, wear a thin glove inside your winter gloves.  On your feet, wear toe covers inside of your booties.  You can even wear arm warmers underneath your mid-weight winter jersey/jacket.  Sometimes I wear two jerseys beneath a vest rather than a thicker winter jacket (remember “Layering” up above?).  I’m always surprised when I finish a ride and can wring the sweat from the layers closest to my body yet I never got cold during the ride.  Multiple thin layers insulate so much better than one thicker one.  Also, wear one hat or beanie and store another in one of your jersey pockets.  That way, if you get one sweaty, you can take it off and put on a dry one halfway through your ride. 

Know when to tap out 
It’s great to think of yourself as a hardened, tough athlete who can brave the elements to complete a workout or enjoy the outdoors in winter. But when conditions deteriorate or you are getting too cold to continue safely, make the smart decision to shorten your route or find shelter and call for a ride home. Frostbite and hypothermia suck.  And, there’s no shame in staying indoors.  Riding indoors is extremely effective if you go into the ride with a plan and a goal for the workout. 

Hopefully these tips help you get more out of your winter riding.  With a little bit of planning and the right outlook, winter riding can be really enjoyable and rewarding.  I love riding outside in the complete dark in the early morning (with a spotlight of a bike light, of course).  The world is quiet, there’s no traffic and it really is a different world out there.  It’s amazing how beautiful complete darkness can be when all you can see are stars, the moon, the lights of mountain neighborhoods and the silhouettes of the mountains beneath the moonlight.  Very peaceful and it puts energy into my body and soul rather than sucking it out. 

Stay warm out there! 

​Happy Training, 
Coach Nate 
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