# loss of muscle in my chest and arms



## peter_liver (8 Sep 2015)

I've been cycling hard for the last 4 months and have noticed a big muscle loss in my chest and arms...I'm starting weight training again in hope of muscle regain... Is it possible to keep upper body muscle or is the cardiovascular workout of cycling so intense that you just can't retain/regain it.by the way I'm 50 years old ;( .


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## MikeW-71 (8 Sep 2015)

Cycling (particularly road cycling) does not work out the upper body much at all, and the body will only develop what it needs to use. Your CV fitness is way up, but your arms and chest have shrunk as the body isn't needing to use them.

If you want to keep the upper body, you'll need to lift some weights.


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## Citius (8 Sep 2015)

peter_liver said:


> I've been cycling hard for the last 4 months and have noticed a big muscle loss in my chest and arms...I'm starting weight training again in hope of muscle regain...


So you were previously doing upper body weights - you then stopped - and now you are wondering why you are losing upper body condition?


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## Fab Foodie (8 Sep 2015)

It's all part of being 50 ....


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## peter_liver (8 Sep 2015)

MikeW-71 said:


> Cycling (particularly road cycling) does not work out the upper body much at all, and the body will only develop what it needs to use. Your CV fitness is way up, but your arms and chest have shrunk as the body isn't needing to use them.
> 
> If you want to keep the upper body, you'll need to lift some weights.



It's as if my body has eaten all the muscle I don't us to help me get fit to ride...I'm just hopping I can regain it fast than my body's eating it... Nutrition & training I hope brings it back￼   .


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## peter_liver (8 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> So you were previously doing upper body weights - you then stopped - and now you are wondering why you are losing upper body condition?


 
I know it sounded obvious but the loss has shocked not only me but friends & family... Just wasn't sure if I could get it back, that lack of ability to retain upper body muscle was just a side affect of cycling I would have to endure.


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

I find swimming 8k a week helps keep the upper half in shape, cycling about 80 miles a week is for the bottom half. The workout and stretches I am just about to do as I do every evening is for my core.

One thing is for sure: You’ll lose your muscles in a shorter amount of time than it took to build them.

By the way I am 59 years 168 days, but who is counting, age is just a number.


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## User19783 (8 Sep 2015)

This is what you need to do,
Body weight is all you need,

I love this form of exercise,
A lot better than pumping iron,

It's all about control,
Below is some simple movement, but I hope get the idea,
Btw, I am over 50.


View: https://youtu.be/McHfvcJ7KsA


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

I have the same problem, thought it was through the statins and beta blockers i'm on............glad to know why now, suppose i'll have fork out for some weights now lol


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

I'm 65, It's my daughter and wife telling me i'm too skinny, even the doctor said i'm very lean. 9 stone now at 5' 6" in height, i was almost 11 stone before i started cycling.


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

Seems even doctors have lost sight of what shape we should all be. What is your fat content?


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

sight-pin said:


> I have the same problem, thought it was through the statins and beta blockers i'm on............glad to know why now, suppose i'll have fork out for some weights now lol



Did you see the video with no weights involved.


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

Murdock, thanks for that I will try some tomorrow.


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## youngoldbloke (8 Sep 2015)

sight-pin said:


> I'm 65, It's my daughter and wife telling me i'm too skinny, even the doctor said i'm very lean. 9 stone now at 5' 6" in height, i was almost 11 stone before i started cycling.


According to the NHS Choices BMI calculator you are a 'heathy weight' with a BMI of 20.3 - well within the heathy range - http://www.nhs.uk/tools/documents/healthy_weight_v3/healthy_weight.html


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> Seems even doctors have lost sight of what shape we should all be. What is your fat content?



No idea with me. I only see my doctor for lung disease and high blood pressure. Most of my weight before cycling was the stomach area, but like the OP is saying i've lost weight in my arms mainly. also face area as well.


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## Dec66 (8 Sep 2015)

peter_liver said:


> I know it sounded obvious but the loss has shocked not only me but friends & family... Just wasn't sure if I could get it back, that lack of ability to retain upper body muscle was just a side affect of cycling I would have to endure.


This is going to sound rude, but please believe me, I don't mean it to... Why do you want to retain upper body muscularity at 50? It's so difficult to maintain as the years pass, surely it's better to drop down the stack (or do something else, like cycling) than to try to keep up bulk and do yourself an injury?

For the record, I'm approaching 49 myself, and I want to be as skinny as possible (which the sprinter's legs and arse I possess mitigate against). It's especially good when the sales start, you can get some bargains in size "S"


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## Citius (8 Sep 2015)

If you stop weight training, then you will lose the muscle condition you have built up through weight training. You will not lose any more than you started out with. Simply 'leading a normal life' will ensure you maintain as much muscle strength and condition as you personally need for that...


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

Quote is not working here now?


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

What is a normal life?


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

For those wanting to build the upper body up a bit, what have you done today and yesterday towards helping the wish be fulfilled.

Bang 20 press up' s out between each sentence of your reply. As soon as you press the post button get down and do 2 minutes planking.


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

User19783 said:


> This is what you need to do,
> Body weight is all you need,
> 
> I love this form of exercise,
> ...






youngoldbloke said:


> According to the NHS Choices BMI calculator you are a 'heathy weight' with a BMI of 20.3 - well within the heathy range - http://www.nhs.uk/tools/documents/healthy_weight_v3/healthy_weight.html



Thanks for the link also.


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## Citius (8 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> What is a normal life?



Whatever anyone would normally do outside of cycling. Getting up in the morning, having breakfast, going to work, etc - that kind of thing.


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## sight-pin (8 Sep 2015)

peter_liver said:


> I've been cycling hard for the last 4 months and have noticed a big muscle loss in my chest and arms...I'm starting weight training again in hope of muscle regain... Is it possible to keep upper body muscle or is the cardiovascular workout of cycling so intense that you just can't retain/regain it.by the way I'm 50 years old ;( .



Apologies for hijacking your thread, i got a bit carried away


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## Katherine (8 Sep 2015)

Why not try a Pilates class. I feel much stronger than before I started and the flexibility and suppleness makes everything else I do easier. (I'm ahem a bit older than you)


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> Whatever anyone would normally do outside of cycling. Getting up in the morning, having breakfast, going to work, etc - that kind of thing.



But surely that is only normal for a third of the population. Personally I prefer to be fitter and stronger than I need to be, to lead a normal life.


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## screenman (8 Sep 2015)

I have found that it is mainly over weight people who say I am thin, which I am not.


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## Citius (8 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> But surely that is only normal for a third of the population. Personally I prefer to be fitter and stronger than I need to be, to lead a normal life.



I expect everyone has their own definition of normality. I've only ever ridden and raced bikes, so I've only bothered exercising in a way that helps that. I haven't been to a gym for over 20 years, but I have somehow managed to retain an adequately-functioning upper body musculature


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## PhilDawson8270 (9 Sep 2015)

Dec66 said:


> This is going to sound rude, but please believe me, I don't mean it to... Why do you want to retain upper body muscularity at 50? It's so difficult to maintain as the years pass, surely it's better to drop down the stack (or do something else, like cycling) than to try to keep up bulk and do yourself an injury?



I play rugby, and some of the older guys there are getting on for that age, or are over. And still have quite a bit of bulk.

Horses for courses, you're not done till you're done


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## Drago (9 Sep 2015)

Nothing wrong with a good dollop of lean muscle mass as you age. Stronger, bigger les prone to musculoskeletal injury, greater resistance to osteoporosis. Just ask Dave Draper.


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## Dec66 (9 Sep 2015)

Yeah, you need it for rugby... All I'm saying, though, is that personally I'd rather get lean and stay lean as I get older, because trying to maintain muscle mass can be a hell of a strain on the joints and ticker as you age (not to mention carrying it round with you everywhere, and especially uphill on a bike).


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## fossyant (14 Sep 2015)

You'll probably find that weight training to some degree is better for your bone density than cycling, especially when getting older. Better use that gym membership


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## ColinJ (14 Sep 2015)

I am getting slimmer but my arms are getting more muscular through cycling!

The thing is (as though of you who have seen my route profiles*** will know), I tackle a lot of steep climbs so I am often pulling hard on the bars. There are obviously more effective ways of developing strong arms, but if you want to exercise your arms _on the bike_ - try tackling a few 20+% climbs and see how you get on!



*** Example


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## cyberknight (15 Sep 2015)

Im 47 and i gave up my multi gym for space and find that press ups /pull ups / Australian pull ups combined with core work does everything i need , my legs get enough from cycling and i have always been a thunder thighs anyway.


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## Drago (15 Sep 2015)

Dec66 said:


> Yeah, you need it for rugby... All I'm saying, though, is that personally I'd rather get lean and stay lean as I get older, because trying to maintain muscle mass can be a hell of a strain on the joints and ticker as you age (not to mention carrying it round with you everywhere, and especially uphill on a bike).



It's no harder on the joints than cycling, somewhat less so even. The exercises needed to acquire it aren't bad for the ticker either, unless someone's being foolish and taking growth hormones or insulin (only teenage kids do steroid these days).

I can confirm though that it is a ballache when cycling up hill. Uphill speed record chasing ain't my thang.


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## Shut Up Legs (15 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> What is a normal life?


It's what everybody else has.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> I am getting slimmer but my arms are getting more muscular through cycling!



I must say I'm surprised at that, if it's true. Surely if that was actually the case, then all of the top pro climbers like Contador, Froome, etc, would all have arms like Popeye..?

And yet they don't - so why would _your_ arms be developing in such a way, but not theirs?


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## cyberknight (15 Sep 2015)

Drago said:


> It's no harder on the joints than cycling, somewhat less so even. The exercises needed to acquire it aren't bad for the ticker either, unless someone's being foolish and taking growth hormones or insulin (only teenage kids do steroid these days).
> 
> I can confirm though that it is a ballache when cycling up hill. Uphill speed record chasing ain't my thang.


Good for down hill though , the bigger guys tend to go past me downwards.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> I must say I'm surprised at that, if it's true. Surely if that was actually the case, then all of the top pro climbers like Contador, Froome, etc, would all have arms like Popeye..?
> 
> And yet they don't - so why would _your_ arms be developing in such a way, but not theirs?


Because they weigh 60 - 70 kgs, have superlight bikes and whizz up long climbs with a good pedalling style whereas I am dragging 80+ kg of me, a heavier bike, 1.5 - 2.0 kg of drink plus tools/spares etc up some super-steep stuff pedalling very slowly so I am pulling hard on the bars to be able to force the pedals round? (Try climbing a 20% hill no-handed and you will soon see what I mean!)

Anyway, I'm not talking about BIG arms, just bigger than they were when I was doing less cycling. The main exercise my arms get otherwise is typing on a computer keyboard or operating a TV remote control!


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## blazed (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> I am getting slimmer but my arms are getting more muscular through cycling!
> 
> The thing is (as though of you who have seen my route profiles*** will know), I tackle a lot of steep climbs so I am often pulling hard on the bars. There are obviously more effective ways of developing strong arms, but if you want to exercise your arms _on the bike_ - try tackling a few 20+% climbs and see how you get on!
> 
> ...



Slightly pulling on the bars for 10 mins during a climb isn't going to make you stronger. At all.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

blazed said:


> Slightly pulling on the bars for 10 mins during a climb isn't going to make you stronger. At all.


At last - somebody who knows my arms better than I do! 

As for '_slightly pulling_' ... my arms get more tired on hard hilly rides than my legs do.


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## Dec66 (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> At last - somebody who knows my arms better than I do!
> 
> As for '_slightly pulling_' ... my arms get more tired on hard hilly rides than my legs do.


Is this your bike?

http://www.damngeeky.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Handcycle-hand-powered-bicycle.jpg


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> Because they weigh 60 - 70 kgs, have superlight bikes and whizz up long climbs with a good pedalling style whereas I am dragging 80+ kg of me, a heavier bike, 1.5 - 2.0 kg of drink plus tools/spares etc up some super-steep stuff pedalling very slowly so I am pulling hard on the bars to be able to force the pedals round? (Try climbing a 20% hill no-handed and you will soon see what I mean!)



But you are not lifting that weight - you are simply moving it from side to side.


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## Dec66 (15 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> But you are not lifting that weight - you are simply moving it from side to side.


Well, no, he's not, he's pushing it with his legs, but in order to turn the pedals powerfully enough to maintain forward motion up the hills, he has to tense himself, which means tensing the arms and shoulders, thus giving them a bit of a workout.

I get him, I feel that pain. We don't all ride 34/32 WiFli 

Never had a situation where my arms hurt more than my legs after a ride, though. Whereas I once did 12 three minute "rounds" of shadow boxing, with a minute in between, and couldn't lift my arms up next day.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

Dec66 said:


> Well, no, he's not, he's pushing it with his legs, but in order to turn the pedals powerfully enough to maintain forward motion up the hills, he has to tense himself, which means tensing the arms and shoulders, thus giving them a bit of a workout.



Most people probably pull on the bars with much less force than they realise. Certainly not enough to encourage hypertrophy, I would have thought...


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## blazed (15 Sep 2015)

The average person naturally has far more than enough arm strength to pull the bars a bit when climbing. Climbing those hills over and over ain't gonna make em any stronger.


Mod Edited


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## screenman (15 Sep 2015)

Now as I see it, if squeezing a tennis ball can build forearms then some pulling on the bars may help if only a little bit.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> Now as I see it, if squeezing a tennis ball can build biceps then some pulling on the bars may help if only a little bit.



Good for tennis elbow and arm pump. Useless for building biceps, for obvious reasons. Squeezing a tennis ball doesn't even work the bicep.


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## cyberknight (15 Sep 2015)

Dec66 said:


> Well, no, he's not, he's pushing it with his legs, but in order to turn the pedals powerfully enough to maintain forward motion up the hills, he has to tense himself, which means tensing the arms and shoulders, thus giving them a bit of a workout.
> 
> I get him, I feel that pain. We don't all ride 34/32 WiFli
> 
> Never had a situation where my arms hurt more than my legs after a ride, though. Whereas I once did 12 three minute "rounds" of shadow boxing, with a minute in between, and couldn't lift my arms up next day.


Packed in wing chun after i strained my shoulder at work, its ok but its not up to a couple of hours of sticky hand/punch drills anymore.


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## screenman (15 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> Good for tennis elbow and arm pump. Useless for building biceps, for obvious reasons. Squeezing a tennis ball doesn't even work the bicep.



Corrected for you.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ok - but it ain't going to build the forearms either...


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## Katherine (15 Sep 2015)

I'm recovering from tennis elbow and found that when it was at its worst, pulling on hills and away from junctions was just as hard and painful as lifting weights.


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## screenman (15 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> ok - but it ain't going to build the forearms either...



Well that is different to what other say, what are your credentials, I am happy to listen to others advice as long as I have knowledge of their medical experience.


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## michaelcycle (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> Anyway, I'm not talking about BIG arms, just bigger than they were when I was doing less cycling. The main exercise my arms get otherwise is typing on a computer keyboard or operating a TV remote control!



When you say your arms are "bigger" do you mean they look bigger or have actually increased in size (verified by measurements using a tape for example before and after?)

It maybe that you have dropped some body fat which has given you more muscle definition exposing your pre -existing musculature and therefore the illusion of increased size rather than an actual increase or you are simply retaining fluid.


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## ayceejay (15 Sep 2015)

This is another occasion to conflate muscle size and strength. As michael says it is possible that the loss of the OP and the gain of Colin are more to do with a change in body composition than loss/gain of muscle per se.
Also, the size of Chris Froome's arms are not an indicator of their strength, Pro tennis players can whack a ball across the net at 100 mph set after set but none of them have Popeye arms.
In Montreal there is a museum devoted to the history of beaver trapping that made some English people very rich (another story). Canoes would head out from Montreal powered by men called _Voyageurs _who would paddle all day on very little food in terrible conditions sometimes carrying the canoe to pick up the pelts hundreds of miles to the west. In the museum there is a template of the size and type of man who would make a good Voyageur and if Chris Froome was a foot and a half shorter he would fit the type exactly.


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## Drago (15 Sep 2015)

I think there is a pretty reasonable correlation between muscle size and strength. I've done a fair few power lifting competitions now and not once seen a competitor with arms like Froome.

Ditto Strongman.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ayceejay said:


> Also, the size of Chris Froome's arms are not an indicator of their strength



I would say it is. Drago is quite correct when he says that size generally correlates to strength. Froomes arms are as strong as they need to be (ie not very).



ayceejay said:


> Pro tennis players can whack a ball across the net at 100 mph set after set but none of them have Popeye arms.



Because most of the strength and power transfer comes from the shoulders.


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## Drago (15 Sep 2015)

And their technique. And increasingly the length of their arms as the average height of the top boys gets taller and taller.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

Blimey - my throwaway remark about arms and cycling has generated more interest than I expected, or it deserved! 

Here is a map showing what the hills immediately round here are like ...







The single chevron climbs indicated are 14-19%. The double chevron climbs are 20+%. It takes a lot of effort to get up them. I pull hard on the bars with a tensed back when putting those efforts in to give my legs something to push against. Those rides make my leg muscles bigger and stronger. They make my arm muscles bigger and stronger. Trust me! I can pick up heavy objects more easily. I can twist the tops off tight jars more easily.

My biceps are still pretty puny by strongman standards. I was referring more to my forearms which have _definitely_ got bigger. Is that due to body fat? No - I have lost lots of weight and have loose skin on my arms as a result. My arms were quite big before I lost the weight but that was due to flab not muscle.

I know the size of my arms with low body fat AND small muscles, because that is what they were like when I left university. I weighed about 68 kg at that time despite being 1.86 m tall and a medium build (6' 1", 10 st 10 lbs). I was skinnier than Chris Froome!

Here is a 3.5 inch roll of Sellotape ...






When I left university, I could slide one of those over my hand, up over my forearm, past the elbow, over my bicep and have it nestling in my armpit!

When I developed fat arms, I could get the roll almost as far as my elbow, but no further.

Now, my arms are getting lean again and the veins and connective tissue are starting to stand out.






The flab has gone. So, how far would the Sellotape go now? I know the answer before even trying it because I know that my arms are a lot bigger than they were when I was skinny ...






The roll of tape will not go as far as it would when I had fat arms, and that certainly is not stuck up in my armpit! The thing blocking its path is a muscle. It isn't flab. It isn't fluid in the tissues. I don't do any exercise other than cycling and walking, and I am sure that it isn't walking that made my arm muscles bigger! I don't even carry my shopping using my arms - I carry that in a rucksack on my back.

Anyway, I think I've made my point ...


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ColinJ said:


> I can twist the tops off tight jars more easily.



Caution: Not all 'tight' jars are the same tightness - and not all sellotape rolls are the same I/D. But as long as you feel good about yourself, that's the main thing.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

Citius said:


> Caution: Not all 'tight' jars are the same tightness - and not all sellotape rolls are the same I/D. But as long as you feel good about yourself, that's the main thing.


Ha ha ha! 

How about the metal bangle that I used to wear which was the same size as those rolls of Sellotape ... Did that mysteriously change size?

It is amazing that I used to buy only jars with tight lids and now I only buy jars with easy-to-remove lids! Oh, and screws go into pieces of wood much easier than they used to, presumably because modern wood is softer or screws are now sharper? Oh, and tearing up wads of paper is easier too.

Maybe I am just reaching my physical peak about 40 years later than most males? 

Anyway .. real life intrudes - must dash!


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

PS My hand has _not_ changed size. I could _just_ squeeze a roll of Selloptape over it in the past, and I can _just_ squeeze this new roll over it now. They _ARE_ the same size, to within a mm or two


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## blazed (15 Sep 2015)

Looks like blood on the wall? And an obvious sellotape fetish.

Reckon those arms have been growing from all the kidnapping you've been doing.


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## Drago (15 Sep 2015)

Jan Pal Sigmarsson - strongman.






Chris Froome - ace cyclist.






It's difficult to get them mixed up.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

blazed said:


> Looks like blood on the wall? And an obvious sellotape fetish.
> 
> Reckon those arms have been growing from all the kidnapping you've been doing.


I use Sellotape to bind the arms and legs of trolls to prevent their escape before they are offered up as blood sacrifice to Wheeleus, God of Cycling!


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## screenman (15 Sep 2015)

The top one looks like Froomie but it could just be the Sky kit kidding me.


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

screenman said:


> The top one looks like Froomie but it could just be the Sky kit kidding me.


I think it is a trick. The bottom picture is _also_ Froome, after putting on a few pounds last winter before getting back into serious training in the spring!


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## ColinJ (15 Sep 2015)

And I was wondering where my missing bangle had gone!


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## ayceejay (15 Sep 2015)

Although what those two pictures show is two extreme body types I don't see anything that proves Froome has no strength and the other guy has maximum strength.


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## Drago (15 Sep 2015)

No one has suggested Froome has NO strength, or that Sigmarsson has (or had) maximum strength. Froome has at least enough to life a knife and fork.

I am suggesting there is a general correlation between muscle mass and strength. It has to be this way on order to accommodate the muscle fibres. You can't accommodate myofibrillar hypertrophy required to gain strength without those very fibres increasing size. 

Show me a competitive strongman with arms like Froome, or a pro cyclist with arms like Josh Thigpen if you think weedy arms are stronger than hench arms.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

ayceejay said:


> Although what those two pictures show is two extreme body types I don't see anything that proves Froome has no strength and the other guy has maximum strength.



What? You don't think there's a good safe bet that Froome's arms are not as strong as the other guy's?


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## sight-pin (15 Sep 2015)

I also think the more the muscle mass the higher the possible strength, But! having said that geezers with quite normal size arms can be immensely strong, example look at those ballet dancer guys who lift dancers and hold them full stretch with just one arm, and how about the gymnastic guys? not all them have a huge mass.


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## Citius (15 Sep 2015)

No, they're pretty weedy... 






To be fair, ballet dancers don't need to deadlift, or clean and jerk - and (as I hope a lot of weightlifters will testify), the hard part is the lift itself, not so much holding the weight up there.


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## sight-pin (15 Sep 2015)

So i suppose it depends on what ever training your doing as to how your physique takes shape to benefit the most.


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## michaelcycle (16 Sep 2015)

sight-pin said:


> So i suppose it depends on what ever training your doing as to how your physique takes shape to benefit the most.



Right - S.A.I.D (specific adaptation to imposed demands)

The likelihood that cycling results in any increase in upper body /upper limb size I find a bit questionable (not because I am disbelieving people's experience but rather I think there is a different or better explanation.)

To increase muscle mass /size / strength you need to trigger myofibrillar and / or sacroplasmic hypertrophy (although you can see an improvement in strength levels without necessarily increasing size by improving the ability of your central nervous system to handle load - neuromuscular adaptation - but at some point it needs an increase.) 

To do so requires a sufficient load and to keep doing so requires the load to be progressively increased which is something that generally does not present itself in cycling in relation to the upper body even with repetitive straining and pulling on the handlebars (although there is a possibility of an increase in leg size, particularly quads and glutes to a limited degree IIRC, for new cyclists as the level of resistance they find themselves working against initially in say hill climbing is possibly high enough to cause micro tears in muscle fibres and therefore hypertrophy.)


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## wam68 (16 Sep 2015)

peter_liver said:


> I know it sounded obvious but the loss has shocked not only me but friends & family... Just wasn't sure if I could get it back, that lack of ability to retain upper body muscle was just a side affect of cycling I would have to endure.


I know what you mean Peter. I've lost a lot of def this year and like you, family and friends are giving off. But my AV's are great. I suppose you can't have both. Keep er lite 

PS Biggest legs I've ever had


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## Dogtrousers (17 Sep 2015)

My experiences of the past couple of days suggest that the best way to build arm muscles by cycling is to commute with a Brommie.

Your commute must involve plenty of train changes requiring lugging the folded bike up and down stairs and escalators.

No doubt @Drago will be along in a minute to point out that if I struggle with 12.5kg Brommie then I am a noodle armed wimp. Which would be fair.


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## Drago (17 Sep 2015)

Your Brommie would make a nice warm up weight for single arm skullcrushers.


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