Leg Strength Training: The Impact of Squats and Deadlifts on Cycling Power Output

For road cycling enthusiasts in Taiwan, whether you’re tackling the long climbs of Wuling or sprinting up Fengguizui on the weekend, the level of scientific rigor in your training often determines whether you can break your personal best (PB). This article will take a systematic, actionable approach to help you deeply understand the sports science principles behind “leg strength training,” and combine them with Taiwan’s local riding environment, events (such as the Taiwan KOM Challenge), and climate conditions to provide a training mindset that can truly be put into practice.

A common blind spot for many cyclists is equating “being tired” with “being effective.” In reality, performance improvement comes from the complete cycle of Stimulus → Fatigue → Recovery → Supercompensation. If you simply accumulate fatigue without structured intensity distribution and recovery planning, your body will remain in a state of fatigue accumulation, ultimately leading to stagnant or even declining performance. The goal of this article is to help you build a training framework where you “know why you’re training this way.”

Next, we’ll start with the physiological mechanisms, then gradually move into actual workout plans, data interpretation, Taiwan route applications, common mistakes, and long-term planning—content that is substantial and directly applicable to your next training cycle.

1. The Foundational Exercise Physiology

To understand any cycling training method, you must first return to the body’s three major energy systems:

For the vast majority of Taiwanese cyclists, riding long climbs like Wuling, which take one to two hours, is dominated by the aerobic system. This is why “Aerobic Base” is considered the foundation of the training pyramid—without a solid aerobic engine, any anaerobic capacity is merely a flash in the pan.

At the cellular level, long-term aerobic training brings several key adaptations:

• Increased mitochondrial density and volume: Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell; the more you have, the more ATP you can produce per unit of time.
• Capillarization: A denser network of capillaries around the muscles improves oxygen and nutrient delivery efficiency and speeds up metabolic waste removal.
• Increased Stroke Volume: The amount of blood pumped per heartbeat increases, which lowers resting heart rate. This is why well-trained riders often have morning heart rates in the 40s.
• Lactate Threshold (LT) shifts right: At higher intensities, the body can still maintain the balance between lactate production and clearance, meaning you can “cruise” at a faster speed.

The value of understanding these mechanisms is this: when you know whether a specific workout is stimulating mitochondria or challenging lactate tolerance, you can more accurately judge “whether I should push hard today.” This is the biggest gap between an amateur rider and someone who just rides casually.

2. Core Methods and Implementation Steps

2-1 Establish Your Baseline Data First

The first step in any scientific training is quantifying your current status. It is recommended that you obtain at least the following data:

1. FTP (Functional Threshold Power): Can be estimated via a 20-minute test (average power × 0.95) or a Ramp Test. This is the anchor for all your power zones.
2. Maximum Heart Rate and Resting Heart Rate: Maximum heart rate should ideally be measured during an actual hard climb, rather than using the rough formula of 220 minus age.
3. Body Weight and Power-to-Weight Ratio (W/kg): For long climbs like Wuling, W/kg is almost the decisive metric. A 65 kg rider with an FTP of 260W (4.0 W/kg) will be significantly faster on a pure climb than an 80 kg rider with an FTP of 280W (3.5 W/kg).

2-2 Power Zone Reference

Using FTP as the 100% baseline, the commonly used seven zones (Coggan model) are as follows:

2-3 A Sample Weekly Workout Plan You Can Execute

Using an advanced rider who can train 8–10 hours per week as an example:

• Monday: Rest or 30 minutes of Z1 active recovery on the rollers.
• Tuesday: Threshold intervals—after a 15-minute warm-up, do 3 sets × 10 minutes at Z4 (5 minutes Z1 rest between sets).
• Wednesday: 90 minutes of pure Z2 aerobic riding, maintaining a cadence of 85–95 rpm.
• Thursday: VO2max intervals—5 sets × 4 minutes at Z5 (4 minutes Z1 rest between sets).
• Friday: Rest or easy recovery ride.
• Saturday: Long ride, 3–4 hours, including a Tempo climb up Wuling.
• Sunday: 2 hours of Z2 social riding, plus some technical skill practice.

The spirit of this plan is “Polarized Training”: approximately 80% of training volume falls in the easy Z1–Z2 zones, and 20% falls in the high-intensity Z4 and above zones, deliberately avoiding the gray area of Z3 that is “neither hard enough nor easy enough.” Extensive research shows that this distribution is the most efficient way to improve endurance performance.

3. Practical Application on Taiwan’s Local Routes

Now that the theory is covered, let’s put it back into Taiwan’s real-world riding scenarios.

Wuling—The Best Training Ground for Long-Climb Endurance

Wuling is a classic venue for testing your aerobic engine and pacing ability. The most common mistake many people make on their first attempt is going out too hard: pushing power into Z4 and above before they’re even warmed up, causing their muscles to blow up early in the middle or later stages, forcing them to push their bike or stop for long periods. The correct approach is to set your target power near the “overall average power” you can sustain (usually slightly below FTP, depending on the climb length), and strictly control it with a power meter or heart rate monitor, saving the “heroics” for the final three kilometers.

Taipingshan and Eastbound Wuling—A Comprehensive Test of Intensity and Skill

• On Taipingshan, you can practice Tempo (Z3) climbing to build the muscular endurance needed to sustain sub-threshold output over long periods.
• On Eastbound Wuling, the winding, rolling terrain is ideal for practicing weight shifting through corners and re-accelerating out of them, which is crucial for events like the Taiwan KOM Challenge.

Local Considerations for Climate and Nutrition

Taiwan’s summers are hot and humid, with temperatures often exceeding 35°C on flat roads. Heat dissipation is a severely underestimated limiting factor. High temperatures cause heart rate to be noticeably higher at the same power output (Cardiac Drift). If you stubbornly pace by heart rate in these conditions, you’ll end up undertraining. It is recommended that during summer long rides, you use power as the primary metric and heart rate as a secondary guide, hydrate with electrolyte-containing fluids every 15–20 minutes, and consume 60–90 grams of carbohydrates per hour to avoid “Bonking.”

In winter, at altitudes above 3,000 meters on Wuling, temperatures can approach 0°C. Staying warm and managing wind chill on descents is another aspect that requires serious planning.

4. Data Interpretation and Advanced Monitoring

Once you start accumulating training data (recommended using the Giant or Garmin ecosystem), you can manage training load with more objective metrics. The three most commonly used concepts:

Practical interpretation principles:

• CTL rising slowly: Keep weekly increases within 5–8 TSS/day. Rising too fast is a precursor to injury and overtraining.
• Positive TSB: Indicates fresh form, suitable for racing or testing; typically, you’d deliberately push TSB to +5 to +25 before a race.
• Chronically deep negative TSB: If it stays below −30 for several consecutive weeks, be highly alert to overreaching/overtraining.

Beyond load data, don’t ignore Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and morning resting heart rate. When HRV is consistently low, morning pulse is abnormally elevated, and sleep quality declines, these are signals from your body saying “I haven’t recovered yet”—and they deserve more attention than any scheduled rest day on your plan.

Common Data Pitfalls

1. Overestimating FTP: Setting your zones based on a single test where you felt exceptionally good, causing every workout to be overloaded.
2. Only looking at average power, ignoring variability: The same 200W average, but a “sawtooth” power profile with constant surges and drops exacts a much higher physiological cost than steady output. This is why NP (Normalized Power) exists.
3. Ignoring altitude and temperature context: 220W at 3,000 meters on Wuling carries a much higher physiological cost than 220W at sea level, due to lower oxygen availability.

5. Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Based on long-term observation of Taiwanese cyclists’ training patterns, the following mistakes are the most common and the most worth heeding:

1. Moderate intensity every day (Junk Miles): Riding every day at “somewhat tired but not stimulating” intensity means you neither build your aerobic base nor develop high-intensity capacity. Fix: Strictly differentiate—“easy days must be truly easy, hard days must be truly hard.”

2. Neglecting recovery: Treating rest days as laziness and forcing yourself to log rides every day. Fix: Recovery is part of training. Supercompensation happens during rest, not during training.

3. Equipment first, training second: Spending a fortune upgrading to carbon wheels but refusing to invest time in structured workouts. Fix: For amateur riders, the engine (your body) has far more room for improvement than the equipment.

4. Only training what you’re good at: If you’re good at climbing, you only climb; if your sprint is weak, you never practice sprinting. Fix: Use pre-season fitness testing to identify weaknesses and target them specifically.

5. Overtraining before a race: Still piling on volume the week before a race, then showing up on race day carrying heavy fatigue. Fix: Do a “Taper” 7–14 days before the race—cut volume in half, retain a small amount of high-intensity stimulus, and let your body peak on race day.

Injury Prevention Reminder

Although cycling is a low-impact sport, Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS), and lower back pain are still very common, usually stemming from improper bike fitting or a sudden spike in training volume. Any new training plan should follow the “principle of progression,” and persistent pain should be addressed early rather than “riding through it.”

6. Fitting It Into Your Long-Term Plan

No matter how good a single workout plan looks, its benefits are diminished if it’s not placed within a framework of Periodization. A typical annual macrocycle can be divided into:

• Base Period (8–12 weeks): Focus on high-volume Z2 aerobic work to build the engine, combined with strength training and skill refinement.
• Build Period (6–8 weeks): Gradually introduce threshold and VO2max intervals to enhance specific capabilities.
• Peak Period (2–3 weeks): High intensity, low volume, with tapering scheduled to bring your form to its peak for the target event.
• Transition Period (2–4 weeks): Deliberately reduce load after the season ends to recharge mentally and physically, avoiding long-term accumulation leading to Burnout.

Mapping this framework to Taiwan’s event calendar: if your goal is the autumn Taiwan KOM Challenge, then summer is your Build period, and early autumn is your Peak period. This timing allows your hard training to translate into results on the most critical day.

Recommendations for Riders of Different Levels

7. FAQ

Q1: I don’t have a power meter. Can I still use this approach?
Yes. While power is the most precise training tool, you can still use “heart rate + Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)” as a substitute. Heart rate responds slowly and is affected by temperature and fatigue, so combining it with RPE (self-rated on a 1–10 scale) will be more reliable.

Q2: I can only train three times a week. What’s the most effective arrangement?
It is recommended to use a combination of “one long aerobic ride + one threshold/VO2max interval session + one moderate Tempo ride,” concentrating your limited time on the stimuli with the highest return on investment, and ensuring adequate recovery between sessions.

Q3: How long until I see progress?
Physiological adaptations typically take 6–8 weeks of consistent stimulus before they clearly show up in your data. Patience is the most underestimated ability in endurance sports. Avoid testing your FTP every week and doubting yourself.

Q4: Can indoor trainers and outdoor riding replace each other?
Indoor trainers (such as the Merida smart rollers) have an advantage in “precisely controlling intensity,” making them particularly suitable for intervals; outdoor riding is irreplaceable for practicing bike handling, pacing, and mental toughness. The ideal approach is to use both as complements, not as an either/or choice.

Conclusion

Returning to the core of this article: “Leg strength training” is not some magical workout plan or expensive equipment, but rather a long-term mindset of “understanding principles → quantifying your current status → structured execution → data feedback → continuous adjustment.” The next time you ride up the long slopes of Wuling, I hope you won’t just be grinding through on feel, but will clearly know which energy system you’re training at that moment, why you’re pacing that way, and how this ride fits into the blueprint of your entire season.

Training is a long-term dialogue with yourself. May you ride smarter, healthier, and faster on every road in Taiwan. Before your next ride, ask yourself one question: “What’s the purpose of this ride today?” If you can answer it clearly, you’ve already beaten most riders.

This article is for training knowledge sharing. Individual training plans should still be adjusted according to personal fitness, health conditions, and professional coaching advice. If you have cardiovascular disease or existing injuries, please consult a physician before starting any high-intensity training.

Related Reading

• The Impact of Altitude Training on Cycling: The Science of High-Altitude Training at Wuling
• Cycling Training Data Analysis: How to Interpret Power, Heart Rate, and Speed Data to Optimize Training
• The Complete Guide to Power Training: A Systematic Progression from FTP Testing to Zone Training
• Cycling Cross-Training: Using Non-Cycling Sports to Improve Your Cycling Ability