Episode 10 – Dean Somerset – Strength Training for Cycling: from 1800w – 2000w

In this Episode:

• Dean Somerset
• Mindset Evolution
• Squat Loading and Methods
• Individual Body Awareness
• Breathing Training
• Shoulder Position
• Spine Range of Motion
• Injury Prevention
• Tissue Adaptation in Strength Training
• Road Cyclists’ Gym Volume
• Hips and Rotary Stability
• Conclusion

Show Notes:

0:41 –

Dean Somerset

• Plethora of knowledge
• Has been presenting for over a decade
• The Complete Trainer’s Toolbox
• The Complete Hip and Shoulder Blueprint
  • With Tony Gentilcore
• His wife is a cyclist
• He trained cyclists and paracyclists up in Canada – where he currently lives

2:48 –

Mindset Evolution

• “Before they used to just walk past the weight room because they didn’t wanna get big and bulky” – Dean
  • But now they understand that’s not necessarily the case
  • Maintain that watt to body weight ratio and you’ll get stronger on the bike
    • Watts/kilo – relative, not absolute, power
• People don’t see the numbers change over time
• Cyclists are all about performance outcomes and biometrics
  • As threshold power goes up so does VO2 and RPMs and everything else that goes into the metrics of what makes a cyclist perform

4:40 –

Squat Loading and Methods

• Dr. McGill spoke about a belt squat
• Menachem likes to do a front squat or goblet squat before ever doing a back squat
• Dean likes to start with a front squat with most athletes
  • “If you have access to a belt squat machine – great!” – Dean
  • A front squat is more specific to cyclists
    • It’s anterior loading instead of posterior loading
    • “A safety squat bar would be even better” – Dean
• Range of motion is going to be very independent to the individual
  • Essentially, it depends
  • “Everybody has a bit of a different squat” – Dean
• “Some people have Tony the “shoulder guy” and you the “hip guy”, but you’re well beyond that” – Menachem
• “For a beginner – the best place to begin is at the beginning” – Dean
  • Learn how to do a clean squat and a deadlift properly with good body control over compound movements, and then, gradually add loading as you can tolerate it
  • You’re not training to be a powerlifter or an Olympic lifter, but you’re using those techniques to benefit cycling performance

9:34 – 

Individual Body Awareness

• It depends!
• It’s so athlete-specific
• Series of assessments
  • Medical questionnaire
    • Helps determine red flags for certain exercises
  • Passive range of motion on table
  • Active assessment
    • Can they generate tension?
  • Actually doing stuff
    • Can they squat, deadlift, kettlebell swing, etc.?
      • What does that look like?
• Also depends on their schedule/calendar

• Dean wants junior athletes to learn body awareness, position, technique, etc.
• Get them train based on what they’re looking to do, where they are in the training calendar, and how old they are (masters vs. juniors athletes)

15:00 –

Breathing Training

• “It’s a fundamental component to how a person moves and what they do” – Dean
• Breathing is a mobility and a stabilization tool
  • It is extremely essential with endurance athletes
• It’s not yoga – breathing helps to increase your lung volume and lung capacity to allow you to create pressure, stability, and stiffness and increase oxygen delivery to the working tissues
• “Let’s make you breathe better” – Dean
• “If you have somebody who cannot get full thoracic extension – they’re limiting tidal volume – which is gonna affect their performance on the bike” – Dean
  • Because then they’re breathing through a smaller bag of air, so it will make them have to work harder and waste more energy
• Rib expansion, thoracic extension, diaphragmatic depression will all inflate the lung into a bigger size
• You have to start young
• Interlace breathing work in everything you do to get maximum performance out of your exercise
• 360º breathing
• “Just become aware of what happens when you breathe” – Dean

23:22 –

Shoulder Position

• “You can’t just have one position all the time that’s anatomically perfect and aerodynamically perfect” – Dean
  • So it comes down to if you manage the stress on the body during the positions and after for recovery
    • Train shoulder range of motion drills, work on thoracic extension and rotation, and get them to move their shoulder blade
    • Foam rolling or lacrosse ball work will decrease tension
    • Soft tissue work and basic mobility drills
• A lot of cyclists can’t separate their rib cage and shoulder
• Lat activation can affect side expansion of the ribs which affects breathing
• Red flags:
  • AC joint pain when swimming
  • Side stitches with intervals
  • Cramping or rib pain

28:34 –

Spine Range of Motion

• Track cyclists typically sit in flexed posture longer than a road cyclist would
• In training, a track cyclist typically has more gym-based time focusing on extension and explosiveness, whereas a road cyclist would likely spend less time there
• It depends on the athlete
• Relatively safe ways for a road cyclist to maintain thoracic extension:
  • Stretch and cool down when you get off the bike
    • Foam rolling and basic stretches
    • Deep breathing or yoga
• For cyclists, anything that involves rotation is great
  • Hip cars, shin box, shoulder circles 90-90 rotation, etc. are great for shoulders
• Where can people find you?
  • Instagram – Dsomerset1
  • YouTube – Dean Somerset
  • Website – deansomerset.com

33:35 –

Injury Prevention

• Connutation and nutation have a big impact on the SI joint and pelvic positioning
• One of the main goals for a triathlon is to see if you survive
• Don’t try to increase volume or intensity too suddenly
• Give yourself D-load weights
• Take time off
• Programming accounting is very important for keeping yourself healthy and away from potential overuse injuries
• Maintain tissue quality and integrity
• Injuries are bound to happen – so do your best to prevent them
• Adding strength training can add resiliency if you’re consistent with it
• “Decreasing your ride time on the trainer, and added 10-15 minutes consistently – 3-4 days a week – can really help with those tissue qualities” – Menachem

41:00 –

Tissue Adaptation in Strength Training

• Almost a form of cross training from what you do on the bike
• “If you do it concurrently with cycling, you’re cycling performance goes up” – Dean
• The most adaptation will be neural, compared to anything structural
  • The tissues may become more pliable
  • Joints tend to move better when exposed to force or range of motion that’s different from what they’ve been put through on the bike
  • “Strength goes up, power output goes up, range of motion improves, and wattage to rate ratio improves as well” – Dean
• “Mass = gas” – Dean
• It depends what kind of cycling you’re doing – mass can either be an advantage or a detriment
• Important to pay attention to weight and diet as well
• “For most endurance athletes, it’s gonna come down to weight to power output” – Dean
• Strength training will probably injury-proof a lot of their joints and tissues down the line
• Cyclists typically don’t do much upper body stuff

• 2 sets of 3-5 – once or twice a week – you can maintain strength pretty well

50:18 –

Road Cyclists’ Gym Volume

• It depends
  • Training calendar, time in off-season, specific sport, etc.
• Phase training in off-season is typically:
  • Introduction into strength training, max. strength, strength endurance, power endurance
    • Shows huge improvement in strength training
      • One guy went from 1800 watts – 2000 watts
  • You should have 1-2 reps left in the gas tank after you’re done
• “I don’t max test any of my athletes” – Dean
  • It can increase the risk of injury 

58:15 –

Hips and Rotary Stability

• Look for impingement
• 2 coaching tips:

1. Don’t hurt the client in the gym
2. Make them better at their sport

• You need to train strength, not just test strength
• Basic hip stuff:
  • Brace, breathe, create tension, hold tension through range of motion, etc.
• Dean’s goal: get them into a training environment where they can get a loaded adaptation to what they’re trying to do
• “Why is that important to you?” – Dean
  • Then break into their belief system
• Ask a runner what they feel getting tired on them after they run
  • If they say quads – then they’re not using glutes
    • They’re probably stooped forward, have a hard heel strike, and knees are flexed as they hit the ground
    • Using a knee extension eccentric contraction to control their stride
  • If they say it’s their glutes – then they’re using their glutes
• “In terms of rotary stability, the glutes and a lot of the hip musculature are a power source” – Dean
  • It just comes down to how you actually run and cycle
• “The glute med is like the rotator cuff of the hip” – Menachem
  • Pulls head of femur back and into acetabulum
• “The glutes operate as a complex – so let’s get the glutes to actually operate as a complex” – Dean

1:11:28

Conclusion

• Key takeaways for listeners:
  • “There is nothing that will replace compound strength” – Dean
    • Get good at basic compound strength because that stuff you can take with you anywhere you go
    • “You won’t get bulky” – Dean
  • Train to get stronger, don’t train to fail
    • “You should always have one or two reps in the tank” – Dean
  • Train mobility of your joints
• Where can people find you?
  • Australia in July
  • Instagram: dsomerset1
  • Facebook: Dean Somerset
  • Website: deansomerset.com