This winter I focussed on strength rather than the usual cardio or conditioning. Doing mostly a starting strength type routine I took my squat from essentially nothing having never done it to 1.5xBW or 300 lbs. While it felt good to see the numbers tick up now that I have transitioned back to outdoor activities riding, running, climbing its amazing to see how little of an effect it had on… well anything. Comparing the first few months of any season to the first few months of my post weights season my bike workouts are slower with a higher heart rate then the last few years…
Is there any non anecdotal evidence that strength training benefits other activities in otherwise fit athletic individuals?
At this point I think I am coming to the conclusion that weight lifting makes you better at …. weight lifting. And probably has its place, but that place is a couple months in the fall off season to potentially help with imbalances and injury prevention
i meant to comment on this but appears i forgot to.
first congrats on getting up to a 300lb squat, that's a goal most people will never reach. i understand your doubts about the benefits of the lifting thoguh and i touched on some of what you're questioning in my post to Tom here: http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?p=2847754#post2847754
so as you suggested strength training benefits mainly strength, but the type of benefit you get will greatly depend on the type of training you are doing. for example someone training for max strength and working with 3 or fewer reps is going to have wildly different benefits or adaptations than someone training at 20 reps and higher. higher levels of strength simply mean the ability to move a higher load or weight. the beenfit for mtn bikers is added leg strength could cross over to being able to climb a very steep hill easier than someone with lower levels of leg strenght. higher strength could also help with speed and explosiveness. the reason i say could though is the benefit will depend on other factors in your training routine, including your aerobic conditioning.
the first question i would ask is how much time were you spending with cardio/bike training this weight training season compared to the previous seasons where you didn't lift weights at all? if your time on the bike or doing other cardio dropped off dramatically to nothing or close to nothing, that's where the answer to your answer lies. resistance training (even at high reps of 30) uses a very different energy system than cardio training. with enough time away from the bike, your cardio conditioning dropped off to the point where you could actually notice it on your return to riding.
for people who's main goal/activity is riding i definitely suggest some strength training to boost thier peformance on the bike, but the strenght training should not come at a great cost to your cardio training. whatever one's main activity goal is, that's where the focus of their training should lie. it's fine and even beneficial to do other activities in the off-season, but be prepared to deal with deficiencies in your main activity if you take a lot of time away from it.
here are a couple of articles to consider. the first one is excellent and includes references to research studies that tout the benefit of strenght training for cyclists. the second article breaks down some training variables to consider and also includes a selection of good exercises. one thing to keep in mind though is that these sorts of guidelines are primarily geared to road riders and the physical requirements of mountain bikes is quite different. the program i recommended to Tom is geared towards mtb'ing and only needs two days per week and is very efficient (good bang for your training buck). in the off season if you wanted to focus a bit more on the gym you could train up to 4 days per week in the gym and still have the time and energy to maintain your cardio base so you're not in shock when you get back to more serious riding.
http://breakingmuscle.com/cycling/why-serious-cyclists-should-consider-strength-training
https://www.usacycling.org/encyclingpedia/encycstory.php?id=7089
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer