Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club

Been thinking about this for a while but only became very apparent after my recent accident at the slowies last month.

Due to the accident I was pretty much inactive for more than a week, maybe two. During that time muscle athropy stepped in and what gains I get from 2 weekly gym workouts was decreased considerably. However I did keep working on the bike when I could.

Due to the muscle loss mainly in the upper body, I lost about 4 kgs. Immediately found it easier to do climbs, maybe a 10-15% improvement.

My question is this. Is it worthwhile building upper body muscles or is it better to just concentrate on the legs (used for cycling)?

I am convinced that my run-of-the-mill upper body workout (I am not an ‘Arnold’ by any stretch of the imagination) probably helped limit injuries from my fall. Most of the impact was on my left arm. To date it seems to be recovering reasonably, considering the impact.

unless you want to do track, or be a sprinter, you don't really need upper body strength. but if you also want to swim at the beach, lift book shelves, at fit into cloths, i would keep up the upper body.

so it really depends on what you need your muscles to do in your (cycling) life

Does your performance matter that much? I would recommend trying to look muscly and then if you win a race, you are both looking muscly and winning a race, if you don't win, you still look muscly

Does your performance matter that much? I would recommend trying to look muscly and then if you win a race, you are both looking muscly and winning a race, if you don't win, you still look muscly

LOL
Will keep that in mind.

Q. should i do weights for cycling?
A. yes, you will look great at the beach

haha tim love it!

on a more serious note i would think doing weights for any
cycling event longer than the 500m/1000m TTs would be
an inefficient use of training time. going to the gym would
be better than sitting on the couch eating cake, but i doubt
it would be near as useful as more time on the bike....

If you are over 35 you should do weights or impact exercise to maintain bone density. If you are under 35 do or don't do whatever you want.

The focus you may be looking for is muscle density rather than muscle bulk, but its up to you.

See also the thread "Race Weight"

If you are under 35 you should still maintain certain level of impact exercises. Bone density takes years to build and it's doubly hard to rebuild when lost, especially women.

I'm with pat, I have never achieved more by weights, only by cycling training more. Me and Christian went for one option each a few years ago, I did km, he did weights, I seemed to get more effective results, I ended up with a place in a big road race and riding for the Irish national team, and was able to keep up with a world cup points race. He was competitive, but I jumped up grades on road and track (I jumped 2 grades on the track).

I would recommend Tuesday and Thursday randwick training alongside weekly waterfall rides, followed by weekly racing possibly at heffron, and maybe another ride on Saturdays pushing your weekend km count over 160-250. The race experience actually makes a massive diff! (add Monday and Wednesday track training on for a nice week of training).

In saying that, I love being able to sit indoor at the gym pushing slightly further, I am also working on my smile I love the hanging out with people in training, and the health that comes from cycling, but is winning worth it!

I point you all now to a photo of a recent win by Liam Kelly, an absolute champ of a rider from Heffron, pictured here winning the star studded Tuesday night Easts crit race. Liam is a fast fast A grader.


(photo by Anthony Sill)


I now refer you all to a picture of another cyclist, who I am unsure of the name of, I don't know if he has won any races, as far as I know he could be a politician, and not interested at all in racing.



I would love to be half as fast as Liam, but I would much rather be half as muscly as this lad

What is the Tue & Thu Randwick training? Location/time? Is it another club? If so do u need to be their member or just turn up?

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

in saying that, calf to quad ratio is much better on Liam!

6am roundabout entrance to centennial, centennial park. Umm some one else may be able to give better directions, it is the race track entry.

Marc, I would say your climbing improvement is more a placebo or a result of being well rested than weight loss. 4kg is a lot to lose to muscle waste in such a short time, but if you are extremely active at the gym I guess its possible.
With the exception of track sprinting, cycling is mostly a cardio sport. Riding 60km is would be like doing 5000 leg presses of 10kg each, or something equally as easy - pointless!
You'd be better off getting a powermeter and setting about improving your Ftp doing some hard intervals and this, combined with all your riding over time and the weight you'll lose doing it, will net you the best gains and improved power to weight ratio.

Tim - there might be worse people in Sydney to emulate than Liam Kelly but you would really be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Marc - read "the big book of training and endurance racing" dr phillip maffetone. Cheaper on amazon than locally

I have no scientific knowledge of either, but I know that since starting leg weights about 2 months ago, my ability to climb hills has dramatically increased... I also do upper body but, as a woman, that has only helped me lose weight, thus also assisting me in getting up those pesky hills.

As a cyclist he does really well! (I love the facebook comments he makes too!

Thanks guys. After some time absorbing what you guys said, think it is still worth going to the gym. Have to wait for the arms to fully heal first.

If your going to FF, you can train with me.

At the same time you need to review your diet. No point doing all that hard work if your body cannibalises muscle fibre because it doesn't have the right nutrition

My 2 cents worth - UNless you have alot of time (or are a professional sports person) the Gym is pointless. You get better at bike riding by ridng your bike. On the bike strength beats leg weights every time. And speaking from personal experience - you have a high chance of getting injured by doing leg weights. Jo - i hope your core strength is spot on otherwise be very VERY careful. Your better up hills because you are fitter (by bike riding - not leg weights).

I think alot of amateur cyclists (and just amateur athetes in general) get sucked into the whole gym scene to build 'strength'. Alot can be done at home with just your own bodyweight and a stability ball, which is much cheaper and safer.

Anyway just my view.

Amy.

I have no scientific knowledge of either, but I know that since starting leg weights about 2 months ago, my ability to climb hills has dramatically increased... I also do upper body but, as a woman, that has only helped me lose weight, thus also assisting me in getting up those pesky hills.

That depends on one's base level. Climbing is about sustained power output, so anything that improves endurance would help, at least in the beginning. Above base level, sustained hill climbs and developing FT power are what matters.