Cycling

Your riding.
Your strength.

Fit gym sessions around your important rides, rest days and the time you have available.

YOUR RIDING COMES FIRST07 DAYS

Your week.
Room for strength.

  1. Mon
    Rest
  2. Tue
    Intervals
    ＋ Strength
  3. Wed
    Easy ride
  4. Thu
    Threshold
    ＋ Strength
  5. Fri
    Rest
  6. Sat
    Long ride
  7. Sun
    Easy ride

Example for a rider already used to lifting.
The gym follows the ride in a separate session.
This is an illustration, not a personal training plan.

Strength training can help cycling performance. The practical question is where to put it when you already have intervals, a long ride and other commitments.

These guides cover gym days, riding and lifting on the same day, and keeping strength work during race season.

STRENGTH TRAINING: WHAT THE RESEARCH FOUND

Does strength training improve cycling performance?

Evidence note by · Published · Updated

Heavy strength training can help cycling performance. A review of 17 studies found improvements in cycling efficiency, anaerobic power and combined time-trial/time-to-exhaustion outcomes, with no significant effect on VO2max. The evidence was low certainty. It supports considering strength work; it does not promise a faster ride or identify the best programme for you. Read the cycling review.

Read the findings and their limits

Scroll the table horizontally on a narrow screen. These are three different research questions.

Study results are a starting point. Your weekly decision is a separate step.
The researchWhat it foundWhat it does not establishThe decision in your week
Cycling review · online 2025, issue 202617 studies; 262 adults, including 60 women. Selected performance outcomes improved; certainty was low.An effect size is not a percentage improvement. The review does not validate Good Legs or an optimal individual dose.Can your calendar support the gym work? Inspect fixed-day, travel and missing-slot examples.
Concurrent-training review · 2022Across 43 studies of healthy adults, adding aerobic work did not significantly reduce maximal-strength or muscle-size gains versus strength alone. Explosive-strength gains were reduced, particularly within the same session.This is not a cycling-performance test or proof of a universal recovery interval.Which session matters most today? Keep order and separation tied to that goal.
Cycling maintenance study · 2010Six male cyclists in the strength group preserved earlier muscle-size and strength gains during 13 competition weeks with one weekly strength session after a 12-week build.A small, specific group does not establish one session as the right maintenance dose for every cyclist.Are you building strength or maintaining familiar work? Begin with what you have already developed.

Where does it fit in your week?

Research cannot choose your gym days for you. A fixed booking, travel or a weekend event can change what fits. Our example weeks show how the planner handles those clashes, including weeks with no suitable gym slot.

Try your own week

The free planner arranges days. It does not choose exercises or loads, measure recovery, or show that the Good Legs app improves performance. How we use evidence.

Can a cycling load score tell you when to lift?

A cycling load score summarises the riding recorded. It cannot tell you, on its own, whether to lift today. Two rides can earn the same score while differing in length and intensity, and missing ride data can leave the picture incomplete.

We’re proposing research to test whether cycling records can help us understand your response to training. We have no participant results yet and no proven rule for adjusting strength sessions.

Explore cycling load, readiness and the strength question ↗

The planning principle

Keep your rides.
Find room for strength.

Try your own week
  1. MonRestKeep it clear
  2. TueIntervals+ GymA separate session later
  3. WedEasy rideRide stays put
  4. ThuThreshold+ GymA separate session later
  5. FriRestKeep it clear
  6. SatLong ridePriority ride
  7. SunEasy rideRide stays put
A calendar illustration for a rider already accustomed to lifting. The rides stay on their days; the gym fits around them. This is not a workout prescription or a guarantee of recovery. Read the example.

Free tool

Where does the gym fit?

Enter your cycling week, choose your available days and explore a sample placement for one, two or three gym sessions.

Try the free scheduler

GOOD LEGS / THE PLANNED IPHONE BETA

Meet the Good Legs app.

Good Legs is being built to plan strength work around your cycling and running. Try the examples below to see how it will work.

  1. 01

    Strength for your training block.

    Switch between Sprint, VO₂ max, Threshold and Base to compare example gym sessions.

    Explore the training blocks
  2. 02

    Tell us how your legs feel.

    Try a morning check-in. See what changes in the example gym session, and why.

    Explore the check-in
  3. 03

    Guided recovery sessions.

    See the yoga, meditation and flexibility sessions planned alongside your strength work.

    Explore recovery
  4. 04

    Share progress with your team.

    Preview the private stories you can use to share completed sessions with teammates.

    Explore team stories

These examples preview an app still in development. The iPhone beta is planned for January 2027. Keep using your own endurance plan.

Join the founding 100 Good Legs at a glance

The first 100 beta members receive three months free from receiving access. Joining the list is not a purchase, subscription or guaranteed place. Offer terms.