To gym or not to gym, that is the question

Use the gym for strength, work through injury and when it rains.

Might quit my gym to workout at home with weights and turbo trainer.

I've been a gym-bunny for many years - I started at about 15 years old and 23 years later I still go 4 times a week.

There is a happy medium between lifting light and heavy in my personal experience.

Some random thoughts:

- bodyweight exercises are king for anyone who's not a powerlifter.  Loads of press-ups and chin-ups will get you both (relatively) strong and ripped, without much chance of doing yourself a mischief.

- Lifting heavy can be fun at times, but when I've gone through phases of that are the only times I've ever really hurt myself (torn rotator cuff).  IMO do it occasionally, but not exclusively.

- There is benefit to doing lots (hundreds) of reps with light weights IMO, it builds up your tolerance to lactic acid etc (and gets you nicely cut if you like that sort of thing)

More time on the bike is the best thing though IMO.  You could skip the gym entirely and get in the habit of doing a bunch of bodyweight exercises every morning when you get up - at your age you'd put on a bunch of muscle without adversely impacting your cycling.

+1 on specificity. Nothing quite emulates the workout given to you by a long climb or an all-out sprint.

As far as cycling goes, it seems sprinting benefits from having a solid upper torso and arms - you're effectively using your upper body, in addition to your core, to brace yourself while your legs put out all their power. Otherwise, just keep riding and do intervals.

I have heard people say that cyclists tend to have weaker bones because cycling itself doesn't bear as much weight as other exercises. Hmmmm - make of that what you will.

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Problem with doing light weights is it's crap. Can lift light weights for years and you'll get better at lifting light weights, won't really help you much in anything. 

Yep. This.

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Specificity is the key. Gym might be good for the winter to stay in shape but during the season if you want to be a good cyclist then you should cycle

And absolutely this.

Specificity is the key. Gym might be good for the winter to stay in shape but during the season if you want to be a good cyclist then you should cycle;

http://fitstar.com/specificity/

All the best

Problem with doing light weights is it's crap. Can lift light weights for years and you'll get better at lifting light weights, won't really help you much in anything. 

I wouldn't reccommend getting into heavy lifting at 15 either, for a lot of reasons, some obvious, some less so, and if you were my boy I'd point you towards core, flexibility and calisthenics. 

For Calisthenics inspiration see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvJHw64fxgQ

You can still get really, really strong and pretty ripped, but the focus is on core strength which will help you with cycling. Bodyweight workouts are heavy, but less risky, and you can do it at home. 

I make the missus do some basic crossfit type workouts with me. Airsquats, situps, pushups x 20, 3 rounds. Stuff like that in the mornings. When you get more advanced - handstand pushups against the wall etc. Crossfit is fun.

For beginning Crossfit see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVNoZfmWfNc

Then look up 'WODs at home' (WOD = workout of the day).

Anyway, back to the light v heavy lifting thing. Starting any workout you will either lift a weight that puts you under load, or you won't. Light weights relative to you won't put you under load and would be a waste of time that could be spent cycling (which almost always will benefit you). Heavy weights, relative to you, will put you under load (say heaviest weight you can lift for 5 to 8 reps) and will boost your strength and size depending on rep range. 

Maybe do the crossfit stuff at home and when you get bored of airsquats get yourself a couple of dumbbells and start squatting with those. If you're determined to do weights, then fine, do the squats. They really can boost your power on the bike if going heavy. 5x5 is best for strength.

On a side note, any nearby short hills you can do sprint intervals up? If you want to go full boss, having the strength to attack on the short grades is really impressive.

FWIW, I'm sitting around 87kg at the moment. I have big arms and chest, way too big for cycling. Want to get that down to around 80kg. It's just useless weight I'm lugging around. No need for it. Being a bit jacked is okay for certain styles of riding, but even the best puncheurs aren't anywhere near my weight. You don't want to put on weight and later realise that it was a waste of time getting jacked because it put you at  disadvantage!

The above post is very sound advice, especially point 4, don't neglect your recovery, though it is difficult to do nothing when the weather is ideal.

You don't need to do weights either, a lot of body weight excersises out there that will help strengthen your core and other muscle groups without getting you swole.

Also do you have a coach?  Joining a club with a strong youth team should get you relatively cheap access to one, and any decent coach will include strength and conditioning into your program.

A good start might be to talk to your PE teacher. Believe it or not they spend time learning about the physiology of exercise on young people's growing bodies. Also the staff at the sports centre can be very useful in helping you set a realistic program and in using the equipment safely and to best effect.

For my uninformed 2c;

1. Cardio, core, strength in that order
2. Sleep
3. Nutrition
4. Train smart, work hard but always listen to your body and don't overdo it.