Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of an 8 week period of combined endurance and resistance training (concurrent training) with that of only endurance training on both maximum strength (1 RM) in the leg press test and performance in the 30 s Anaerobic Wingate Test (WANT) in moderately trained endurance cyclists.

Method: Twenty male moderately trained cyclists were recruited for the investigation and were assigned to either an Endurance training group (E; n=10) or an Endurance Resistance training group (ER; n=10).  Subjects underwent 8 weeks (2 training sessions per week, 16 sessions in total) of concurrent training (60 min steady state cycling session followed by 6 sets 12 repetitions of leg press) or cycling only. Furthermore the subjects of the intervention completed both Pre and Post intervention testing in the 1RM leg press and the Wingate 30 s cycle test which was conducted twice (SRM cycle sprint 1 and SRM cycle sprint 2) within each testing session.

Results: The results attained from the intervention were that the ER group demonstrated an increase in concentric leg strength within the one repetition maximum (1 RM) leg press test by 18.7 % from pre-test values 339 ± 42 to post test values 402 ± 59 kg. With regard to the Wingate cycle sprints there was significant improvement from pre to post test results in peak power of cycle sprint 1 from 1019 ± 110 watt to 1077 ± 153 watt 5.7 % and cycle sprint 2 from 1001 ± 131 to 1054 ± 161 watt, 5.3 % (P < 0.05) respectively. The E group showed no significant change in l RM or the Wingate cycle sprints after training.

Conclusions: The main findings of the study is that an 8-week concurrent training intervention can lead to significant concentric strength gains in 1 RM leg press development and increased peak power within the Wingate 30 s cycle sprint when conducted by moderately trained cyclists.