REF-743 · Llanos-Lagos C, Ramirez-Campillo R, Sáez de Villarreal E — 2025 · European Journal of Applied Physiology · Paper
Meta-analysis of 17 controlled trials (262 cyclists, 60 women): heavy strength training (≥80% 1RM, 5–25 weeks, 1–3 sessions/week) improves cycling performance (ES 0.46), anaerobic power (ES 0.56) and cycling efficiency (ES 0.35) without changing VO₂max, power at VO₂max, maximal metabolic steady state or anaerobic capacity
Key Findings
| Outcome | Pooled effect |
|---|---|
| Cycling performance (time trial / time to exhaustion, combined) | ES 0.463, p = 0.016 |
| Anaerobic power | ES 0.560, p = 0.024 |
| Cycling efficiency | ES 0.353, p = 0.012 |
| VO₂max, power at VO₂max, MMSS, anaerobic capacity | no significant change (all p ≥ 0.26) |
Interventions lasted 5–25 weeks at 1–3 sessions per week.
The performance gain arrives through neuromuscular power and efficiency, not through the aerobic engine — consistent with the mechanism in REF-147 and REF-047.
Certainty of evidence was rated low, so the authors decline to specify an optimal dose; the direction of the effects is consistent across outcomes.
Practical Application
Prescribe cyclists heavy lower-body strength at ≥80% 1RM, 1–3 sessions a week over a block of at least 5 weeks; expect better sprint/anaerobic power and efficiency, not a higher VO₂max or threshold — plan the aerobic work separately and do not sell the gym as an FTP builder.
The gain is largest where races are decided by short high-force efforts — sprints, starts, low-cadence climbs, off-road bursts (REF-741, REF-742) — and smallest for long steady events, where efficiency is the only channel.
Keep it going in season: the meta-analysis does not test maintenance, but REF-744 shows the sprint and peak-power gains disappear within 8 weeks of stopping, and in that trial 1–2 sessions a week had been enough to build them.
Limitations
Low GRADE certainty; heterogeneous performance tests (TT distances, time to exhaustion) pooled into one outcome.
Mostly trained-to-elite men; 60 women in the pool, few Tier 1 riders.
Optimal load, frequency and in-season maintenance are not resolved here.