Getting fitness back

[Bill Gates]

Cycling uses certain muscles, and in ways, which are pretty specific. Running uses a whole different set, in a different way, doing gym stuff, uses different muscles again, and in different ways ( again ). There are some ‘common’ muscle groups that are used in all sorts of exercise, but it will be the cycling specific ones that will take time to re condition, the best way to do it, is to get back on a real bike, on a real course ( be it on or off road). I’ve just got back in my bike after 2 weeks, because I injured myself running. It felt like I’d been off the bike for a lot longer than 2 weeks. Just persevere, and you’ll soon be back in the swing of it.

Not sure about that. Not going on the bike for some time maybe after 2/3 weeks you will start to lose aerobic power for sure. On the other hand as an off the bike form of training, then gym and strength work will increase your power base so that when bike riding is resumed the body is more able to withstand large efforts in say climbing or sprinting. I can't think of any muscles that are "specific" to cycling that you can't exercise through gym work. On the bike training is basically an aerobic exercise with a skill set derived on transmission through efficient pedalling.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Not sure about that.

riggghhht.

Not going on the bike for some time maybe after 2/3 weeks you will start to lose aerobic power for sure.

yes correct.

On the other hand as an off the bike form of training, then gym and strength work will increase your power base so that when bike riding is resumed the body is more able to withstand large efforts in say climbing or sprinting.

nope.

I can't think of any muscles that are "specific" to cycling that you can't exercise through gym work.

There are loads, it’s more the way in which particular muscle fibres are used which is the important bit.

On the bike training is basically an aerobic exercise with a skill set derived on transmission through efficient pedalling.

Yes and no. It’s an aerobic exercise, but the effort ramps for your body’s systems are very different when cycling, to pretty much any other form of exercise. That basically means that you find yourself increasing your efforts to your limits, in a way which is very hard to replicate any other way.

 

[Bill Gates]

Just saying "nope" made the think WTF. Are you kidding me? So professional riders and top amateurs are wasting their time in the gym then.

There are loads of muscles cycling specific. Tell me one then.

There are loads, it’s more the way in which particular muscle fibres are used which is the important bit.
Not sure how you use muscle fibres in a particular way. That's a new one on me. A muscle fibre is a muscle fibre is a muscle fibre. Edit: qualify that by agreeing they are different types of muscle fibres and when applied in the riding of the bike are employed at different cadence levels.

the effort ramps for your body systems are very different when cycling. This just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know what you're talking about..
Body systems? Which ones? Circulatory, Nervous maybe Digestive. How are they different? Off the bike for a period then you lose aerobic power. Is that what you mean? I have already stated that.

Are you a cycling coach? Maybe an elite rider?

Edited

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If you're rebuilding the fitness then just getting out on your bike as often as you can will help rebuild. Just do what motivates you and accept it'll feel tougher than usual for a while.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Thanks for all the replies. I am happy to have actually started in the gym and I hope to be back on the bike soon (it is a motivational as well as a physical issue for me).

Just to clarify, I am not an elite rider, not even an elite veteran . Getting any muscles back, never mind cycling muscles, is my goal. The TdF can wait.

 

[Slick]

Thanks for all the replies. I am happy to have actually started in the gym and I hope to be back on the bike soon (it is a motivational as well as a physical issue for me).

Just to clarify, I am not an elite rider, not even an elite veteran . Getting any muscles back, never mind cycling muscles, is my goal. The TdF can wait.

Nice, hopefully it won't be long until you are back up to your normal mileage.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Just saying "nope" made the think WTF. Are you kidding me? So professional riders and top amateurs are wasting their time in the gym then.

There are loads of muscles cycling specific. Tell me one then.

There are loads, it’s more the way in which particular muscle fibres are used which is the important bit.
Not sure how you use muscle fibres in a particular way. That's a new one on me. A muscle fibre is a muscle fibre is a muscle fibre. Edit: qualify that by agreeing they are different types of muscle fibres and when applied in the riding of the bike are employed at different cadence levels.

the effort ramps for your body systems are very different when cycling. This just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't know what you're talking about..
Body systems? Which ones? Circulatory, Nervous maybe Digestive. How are they different? Off the bike for a period then you lose aerobic power. Is that what you mean? I have already stated that.

Are you a cycling coach? Maybe an elite rider?

Edited

There are only a very few activities which work the body in the way that cycling does. Think of cycling as an analogue type of training, where you’re efforts work on a constant wave, of increasing and decreasing efforts, with peaks and troughs, and plateaus. Another activity that has this profile, is rowing, but rowing uses a lot more upper body, than cycling. Doing general Gym stuff, is digital, you’re either exerting, or not, a bit like switching on or off, with nothing in between, the two types of exertion really aren’t complimentary. Strength gained doing weights / resistance stuff, is actually pretty pointless, if you want to be a better cyclist. Cycling is more about muscle endurance, than outright muscle strength. If you can stand on one leg, then the other, you have enough leg strength to cycle, you don’t need much more. Doing other physical activities ( like general gym stuff) won’t hurt, you’ll be working your CV system, but it won’t help improve your cycling much if at all either. You’d need to be doing targeted drills, on the more cycle specific muscle groups, for that to work.

 

[Stephenite]

@Rusty Nails Have you thought about taking up wrestling?

Like you I've sort of lost the mojo in the last few months and I want to get going again. I thought it could be a good idea to do something new to kick start a new regime of health and fitness. Now my 8 year-old son goes wrestling twice a week and really likes it and there's a parents training session on a Monday evening. This could be something like circuit training or a dads fight club (in which case, being 52, I won't be around here much longer ). Just a thought- maybe try something different. Maybe not dads fight club though.

 

[Bill Gates]

There are only a very few activities which work the body in the way that cycling does. Think of cycling as an analogue type of training, where you’re efforts work on a constant wave, of increasing and decreasing efforts, with peaks and troughs, and plateaus. Another activity that has this profile, is rowing, but rowing uses a lot more upper body, than cycling. Doing general Gym stuff, is digital, you’re either exerting, or not, a bit like switching on or off, with nothing in between, the two types of exertion really aren’t complimentary. Strength gained doing weights / resistance stuff, is actually pretty pointless, if you want to be a better cyclist. Cycling is more about muscle endurance, than outright muscle strength. If you can stand on one leg, then the other, you have enough leg strength to cycle, you don’t need much more. Doing other physical activities ( like general gym stuff) won’t hurt, you’ll be working your CV system, but it won’t help improve your cycling much if at all either. You’d need to be doing targeted drills, on the more cycle specific muscle groups, for that to work.

Let's put our cards on the table. I've studied to be a cycling coach and passed a number of different courses but gave it up as I lost interest in the end. In the past I have won numerous open TTS at all distances from 10 miles to 100 miles and hilly TTS and course records and still hold a RRA record going back to 1979. I held club records at all distances apart from 12 hours. So I've got some experience of training to win. Neglect gym training and you won't reach your full potential.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Part of my problem is a tendency to be a loner, and also a lack of confidence that makes me worry about slowing the group down.

Audax klaxon

 

[Bill Gates]

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/k...e-bike-Strength-training-for-winter-cycling-0

Off-the-bike conditioning work will make you faster on the bike but it will also deliver a host of other benefits. It will slow and even reverse the loss of muscle mass associated with ageing, improving strength, health and facilitating weight control. It will improve bone health, specifically bone density, which is an issue even for Grand Tour riders. Finally, by being more robust and resilient, you will be less likely to injure yourself lifting the kids out of the car, carrying shopping or working in the garden. Less time laid up with an injury means more time out on your bike.

I seem to remember a cycling coach from way back who was dead against doing anything other than riding your bike for training. He was at odds with the established beliefs. I think his name was **Alan Simmons or something similar. We crossed swords a number of times on a forum called Bike Radar from which I got banned.
my problem with him was that he and his cronies did a nice line in power meters so his business depended very much on his credibilty. Who knows maybe he is right all along. One of the riders I admired greatly was Fabian Cancellera and he concentrated on core strength exercises off the bike. The reason for the paragraph quoted above is that there is a bigger picture for cyclists, in particular like me and the OP who are in our seventies when things like testosterone levels and bone density become more important than any performance issues which have long since ceased to be important.

Edit ** Ric Stern Chris Carmichael and Alex Simmons. Just looked up online and they are very successful coaches I crossed swords with some time ago. I can understand their philosophy re muscles endurance for the legs, but I never questioned that. It is the stresses and strains on the body (and the bike) from riding up climbs or sprints where upper body strength gives the driving force of the legs a solid base from which to work and control the bike.

 

[screenman]

I find cycling gets me fit for cycling, add the gym and swimming and I a fit for a lot more.

 

[Shadow121]

For various reasons related to injury, the weather and depression I have done no cycling or other exercise for two months.

I have, only temporarily I hope, lost my enthusiasm for cycling, but today shook myself out of my lethargy and went to the gym. Nothing too strenuous, but it was a start, although I was disappointed at how unfit I have become (at 72 my fitness does seem to drop off quite quickly).

I am now wondering whether to knock cycling on the head for a while and concentrate on the gym to regain fitness and, hopefully, my enthusiasm. The gym is only a mile from the house and so easy to get to, no matter how bad the weather. I have thought of getting a turbo trainer for the house, but the idea doesn't exactly fire me up.

Hi Rusty Nails
If you like the gym keep going, as with any exercise take time to build
up, bodies need this time to adapt, and get over the shock of doing
more of whatever it may be.
You will no doubt enjoy the bike again, it’s just this kind of cold
wet weather and dark early nights, a body won’t relish that crack,
but when summer comes it will be different, you and your body
will want to be out on the bike.
I only do a little cycling during this cold wet weather, hate the salty roads
messing up my bike, and to be honest, a cold workout is not good for anyone,
sure I brave it, get used to it o, but my muscles or no one else’s flex properly
in the cold, only inviting trouble is how I see it.

Anyway, keep ticking over, brighter days do come, eventually.

 

[Rusty Nails]

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/k...e-bike-Strength-training-for-winter-cycling-0

Off-the-bike conditioning work will make you faster on the bike but it will also deliver a host of other benefits. It will slow and even reverse the loss of muscle mass associated with ageing, improving strength, health and facilitating weight control. It will improve bone health, specifically bone density, which is an issue even for Grand Tour riders. Finally, by being more robust and resilient, you will be less likely to injure yourself lifting the kids out of the car, carrying shopping or working in the garden. Less time laid up with an injury means more time out on your bike. ........................................?
.................................................. The reason for the paragraph quoted above is that there is a bigger picture for cyclists, in particular like me and the OP who are in our seventies when things like testosterone levels and bone density become more important than any performance issues which have long since ceased to be important.

That first paragraph and your last sentence both resonate with me.

I think my priority is to be a fit and healthy person who cycles, rather than just a fit and healthy cyclist. I know it doesn't have to be just an either/or issue and I have lots of other reasons why I want to stay/get back to being fit.

 

[Rusty Nails]

@Rusty Nails Have you thought about taking up wrestling?

Like you I've sort of lost the mojo in the last few months and I want to get going again. I thought it could be a good idea to do something new to kick start a new regime of health and fitness. Now my 8 year-old son goes wrestling twice a week and really likes it and there's a parents training session on a Monday evening. This could be something like circuit training or a dads fight club (in which case, being 52, I won't be around here much longer ). Just a thought- maybe try something different. Maybe not dads fight club though.

I think I would struggle to wrestle your eight year old son.