Should I Do Strength Training as a Cyclist Over 40?

Yes — and after 40, it's the single highest-return non-cycling intervention you can make. Heavy resistance training twice a week produces 8-15% FTP gains without adding bike volume (Rønnestad), protects fast-twitch muscle from age-related loss, and improves cycling economy by 4-5%. Skip it after 40 and you're choosing the steepest version of the decline curve.

Should Cyclists Over 40 Lift Weights? The Honest Answer

If there's one near-consensus inside the Roadman expert network, it's this one. Bent Rønnestad's published research is the single cleanest piece of evidence — heavy resistance training twice a week, alongside normal cycling volume, lifted FTP by 8-15% in trained cyclists. Cycling economy improved by 4-5%. Time-to-exhaustion at threshold went up. The cost was 60-90 minutes twice a week. The return per hour is hard to find anywhere else in the masters playbook.

After 40, the case sharpens. Andy Galpin has been clear on the Roadman Cycling Podcast: fast-twitch fibres atrophy first with age, and they're the fibres that carry short hard efforts, accelerations, and the top-end of your FTP. Without resistance training, you're losing them by 3-8% a decade. With it, you can hold or even build them into your 50s and 60s. Watching a 55-year-old who lifts ride away from a 35-year-old who doesn't is a regular feature of any serious masters training group — the work is the difference.

The honest counter-argument: 'lifting will make me bulky and slow me down.' The published research doesn't support this for the protocols that actually deliver FTP gains — heavy compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, single-leg work, hip hinges) at low rep ranges (3-6 reps, 3-5 sets) twice a week. Hypertrophy isn't the goal and isn't what happens at this dose. What happens is neural — better motor unit recruitment, stiffer tendons, more force per pedal stroke. The masters who report feeling 'too bulky' are usually doing high-rep bodybuilding sessions, not the strength template that moves cycling performance.

Practically, the template Roadman runs inside Not Done Yet is two sessions a week, ideally on the same days as a hard ride (so you're not stacking another stressful day) or on a separate strength day if your week allows. Squats, deadlifts, lunges or split squats, a hip hinge variant, and core. 45-60 minutes including warm-up. Heavy enough to be hard at 3-5 reps. Off-season builds the foundation; in-season maintains it. Skip it for 8 weeks and you'll feel the loss on every steep climb.

WHERE THIS COMES FROM

Bent Rønnestad — strength training for cyclists

Rønnestad's published trials showing 8-15% FTP gains from 8-12 weeks of heavy resistance training without added bike volume — the strongest single masters intervention.

Andy Galpin — Roadman Podcast

Galpin's research and conversation on fast-twitch fibre loss after 40 establishes why strength training is non-negotiable rather than optional for masters cyclists.

Roadman strength training research review

Roadman's synthesis of the gym-vs-more-miles literature, including the published meta-analyses on age-group cyclists and the case data from the masters cohort.

Roadman Strength Training Course

The published Roadman strength programme that operationalises the Rønnestad protocol for masters cyclists who don't have a coach.

COMMON FOLLOW-UPS

How many strength sessions per week for cyclists over 40?

Two is the published-evidence standard and the dose that delivers most of the FTP gain. Three can work in off-season for riders who recover well; one is enough for in-season maintenance once the foundation is built. Below one a week is closer to no programme than to the published research.

When should I do strength training in my cycling week?

Two patterns work. Stack it on hard ride days — fewer total stressful days, more recovery days clean. Or run it as standalone strength days with easy or rest cycling around them. Avoid putting heavy lower-body strength on the day before a key cycling session.

Will lifting make me a slower climber?

If you're doing high-rep bodybuilding-style sessions and gaining 8kg of upper-body muscle, yes. If you're doing the heavy-low-rep cycling-specific protocol — squats, deadlifts, single-leg work — the evidence consistently shows the opposite: faster climbing, better economy, more durability. The protocol matters more than the activity.

Can I just do bodyweight or do I need a gym?

Bodyweight gets you most of the way for the first 3-6 months, particularly if you're new to strength work. Beyond that, the published gains require external load — barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells. The masters cohort inside Roadman who've shifted from bodyweight to loaded sessions report the bigger jump came in the second phase.