Why I Fell in Love With the Gym Again—And How You Can Too

As endurance athletes, cyclists often have complicated relationships to the gym. We can often come off a bit judgmental about people who exercise for how they want to look, not what they want to be able to do. We don’t just work out, we’re trying to win races! In other words, sometimes we can kind of act like jerks.

I have a long and storied history with gyms, given that my dad may have been early to being something of a fitness nut. I think I had my first gym membership when I was barely 10 years old. We called our gym the racquet club because it started as a place people could play tennis and go to the pool outdoors, and play racquetball indoors, if that gives you a sense of how long ago that was. I kept going through high school, sometimes to run on the treadmill, and admittedly for longer than I wanted to admit in my Aerobics phase. I can only be thankful there’s no photographic evidence of this phase.

When I became a serious runner, our coach would give us gym workouts to do, which we did extremely half-heartedly. We didn’t want to put on muscle! We were runners! This all changed when I became obsessed with triathlons in my late 20’s. I was a truly abysmal swimmer, but I was a decent cyclist and a pretty good runner. I figured that if I could just get a bit stronger, I’d become an awesome swimmer, become a pro triathlete, and literally exercise for a living. Well as you can imagine this did not come to be—but two days in the gym, getting jacked as we called it in college, became a routine I really enjoyed.

Our coach would be so disappointed if there weren’t TRX pics in this post!

Fast forward to COVID, when we all stopped going anywhere for several months. It seemed like the only activities we could do safely were outdoors or at home. I quit my gym, rode my bike a lot, and didn’t feel like I really lost that much strength. Until I showed up at Really Rad for my first full UCI weekend in several years, and the second day of the race, when I went to pick up my bike to go over the barriers, my shoulder didn’t work. I could also barely run. Yikes. Maybe it’s because I’m not as young as I once was, but I knew my strength was lacking, and I wouldn’t race as well as I wanted to if I didn’t address it.

My husband and I found a local gym and started showing up once or twice a week. Maybe it’s just the thrill of getting out of the house after so much time at home, but I’m really enjoying it. The first couple times we went I of course stupidly did the exact routine I used to do in my tri days, with the same weights, and got so sore I thought I was going to die. But after a week or two of consistency, I started to feel much better.

If you’re thinking about starting a lifting routine but don’t know where to begin. I thought I’d provide a few tips that have come in handy for me over the years.

• Don’t be intimidated by what you consider to be ‘real’ lifters. You have just as much of a right to the equipment as they do, and I bet they’re mostly pretty nice. But you should always be considerate and ask someone before rotating in on equipment they’re using.

• For time efficiency I do almost every workout as a circuit. This means I’ll group three exercises together (let’s say bicep curls, tricep extensions or dips, and dumbbell pullovers), and go through 3 sets of 12 - 15 reps one after the other. This allows me to maximize the time I spend lifting, not standing around, and my muscles can still recover between sets.

• If you’re not sure how to do different exercises or what to do, consider getting an app you can use as a pseudo personal trainer. I see tons of people at my gym doing this and I think it’s a great idea! Not everyone knows how to put a good solid workout together.

• At home workouts are a great way to start out too - Peloton has tons of great classes beyond cycling. Check out a body weight class to learn how to get a solid strength workout in without picking up a weight.

• Be meticulous about good form. If you can’t hold good form for a full set, maybe the weights you’re trying to lift are too heavy. It’s better to lift lighter weights properly than heavy weights improperly.

• Machines are the least efficient way to lift weights. I used to be really intimidated by the free weight area and think that only really serious weight lifters, not endurance athletes like me, could be trusted to use them. But using free weights, or mixing in some TRX or BOSU, which make you stabilize your muscles as you lift, are extremely efficient and very good for cyclists.

• A personal trainer can be a great temporary investment. I’ve had trainers a handful of times and because I try to remember and repeat my favorite exercises, now I can be my own personal trainer.

• Keep timing in mind. Lifting is awesome in the early season, but pay attention to how you feel on your intervals the day after a strength day. I suggest putting lifting on hold for 1-2 weeks before A races.

• Cyclists are often… not the best at stretching? Consider adding 5 - 10 minutes at the end of each lifting workout for stretching or foam rolling.

• Have fun! Any day we can get out and move our bodies, and appreciate how capable they are, is a really good day.