Squats

[02GF74]

nah, its only a cheapo bar from Argos, does the job though. The bar itself prob weighs 2-3 kg max.

nope proper gym bar - 20 kg.

I reckon if I tried I could do more (they all say that! ) but I get a bit wobbly and out of breath after a few and feel, even with a belt, my back is getting a bit wobbly. I never really push myself to the limit due to risk of injury.

note to self - sort out gym membership.

 

[jimboalee]

Doing squats at home with freeweights is tricky.

First, you have to get the bar onto your shoulders. At the end, you have to get the bar off your shoulders and if you haven't got a crash mat, it can be noisey and ruin your floorboards.

To do squats, you have to load the bar with the weight to exercise both legs, perform a 'snatch' movement and sit the bar on your traps.

A better exercise for the home freeweight user is the Lunge, or 'Alternate lunges'. Half the weight on the bar and the leg moves out forward, just as in cycling. The knee doesn't go beyond 90 degrees and it works the back and obliques as well.

 

[plank]

I can squat 130kg for 3

if you don't have any weights you could try this

http://www.beastskills.com/Pistol.htm

squats def help me in all aspects of cycling.

 

[Damaged Hero]

I am in agony today Last night was leg night at the gym so we decided to step things up a bit.Leg extensions were first,upping the weight each set (4 sets).then it was Hack squats on a machine,easy enough.Then the bit i hate,Barbell squats but with the bar in front of you resting across your shoulders with your arms crossed (not sure of it's proper name).I find this way to uncomfortable and gave up.So it was decided we should finish off on the leg press machine,I did the following..

200 kg set of 6 (some assisted by friends )
150 kg set of 8
100 kg set of 8
50 kg set of 20

No rest between each set and you had to hold the press still while the plates were removed from the press !!!.

Woke this morning with very little stiffness,rode to work about 1.5 miles,easy enough.10 minuets into my delivery (I am a postie) my legs started to seize up on me.Tried as best as possible to stretch them as i walked around but made little difference.The ride home was hard,feel like my legs are bruised.

Plenty of rest now as i have my first club ride on Saturday.

 

[Ricd11]

I agree with Rob3rt,

My exercise has, up until recently, always consisted of running to warm up and then weight lifting. I'm not a big chap, 5'8 75kg, and I used to be able to squat 140kg. When i've been out cycling with my triathlete friend (only on cheap mtb) i'd struggle, but if i put my foot down i'd leave him for dust. So I'd say heavy squats are not the best for endurance cycling from my own experience.

Bodyweights would probably be more useful, and you can go on to try split squats, one leg, jump squates and sumo squats before having to pile on the weight.

Rich

 

[Rob3rt]

I am in agony today Last night was leg night at the gym so we decided to step things up a bit.Leg extensions were first,upping the weight each set (4 sets).then it was Hack squats on a machine,easy enough.Then the bit i hate,Barbell squats but with the bar in front of you resting across your shoulders with your arms crossed (not sure of it's proper name).I find this way to uncomfortable and gave up.So it was decided we should finish off on the leg press machine,I did the following..

200 kg set of 6 (some assisted by friends )
150 kg set of 8
100 kg set of 8
50 kg set of 20

No rest between each set and you had to hold the press still while the plates were removed from the press !!!.

Woke this morning with very little stiffness,rode to work about 1.5 miles,easy enough.10 minuets into my delivery (I am a postie) my legs started to seize up on me.Tried as best as possible to stretch them as i walked around but made little difference.The ride home was hard,feel like my legs are bruised.

Plenty of rest now as i have my first club ride on Saturday.

Maybe you have been over doing it trying to keep up with friends? Shouldnt be in agony.

If you find any exercise physically uncomfortable (assuming its not down to bad technique) you shouldnt do it.

Also may I ask why do you do the hardest exercise last? Compound exercises should always be 1st after light warm-up in my opinion. Why tire yourself out on heavy leg extensions when you are about to follow it with an exercise relying on large muscle groups. You should do the compound 1st when you are fresh to give it maximum effort with reduced risk of a wobble or poor techique induced by fatigue. Afterwards you can use the safety of the machines for extensions and curls etc to ensure you are useing correct form without the worry of being fatigued.

Thats my opinion, I might be wrong, but I'd pretty much never try to do free weight squats last unless it was a light weight warm-down.

 

[Rykard]

I am in agony today Last night was leg night at the gym so we decided to step things up a bit.Leg extensions were first,upping the weight each set (4 sets).then it was Hack squats on a machine,easy enough.Then the bit i hate,Barbell squats but with the bar in front of you resting across your shoulders with your arms crossed (not sure of it's proper name).I find this way to uncomfortable and gave up.So it was decided we should finish off on the leg press machine,I did the following..

200 kg set of 6 (some assisted by friends )
150 kg set of 8
100 kg set of 8
50 kg set of 20

No rest between each set and you had to hold the press still while the plates were removed from the press !!!.

Woke this morning with very little stiffness,rode to work about 1.5 miles,easy enough.10 minuets into my delivery (I am a postie) my legs started to seize up on me.Tried as best as possible to stretch them as i walked around but made little difference.The ride home was hard,feel like my legs are bruised.

Plenty of rest now as i have my first club ride on Saturday.

Hope you are not like me, the real pain starts after 36 hours - almost on the dot....

 

[Damaged Hero]

Maybe you have been over doing it trying to keep up with friends? Shouldnt be in agony.

If you find any exercise physically uncomfortable (assuming its not down to bad technique) you shouldnt do it.

Also may I ask why do you do the hardest exercise last? Compound exercises should always be 1st after light warm-up in my opinion. Why tire yourself out on heavy leg extensions when you are about to follow it with an exercise relying on large muscle groups. You should do the compound 1st when you are fresh to give it maximum effort with reduced risk of a wobble or poor techique induced by fatigue. Afterwards you can use the safety of the machines for extensions and curls etc to ensure you are useing correct form without the worry of being fatigued.

Thats my opinion, I might be wrong, but I'd pretty much never try to do free weight squats last unless it was a light weight warm-down.

We like to mix it up sometimes,but most of the time we would do the hardest exercise first.We did use a machine,there is no way i will ever be able to squat 200 kg

I am wondering though if doing smaller heavy sets will benifit my riding,Or doing more reps and a smaller weight would increase my endurance ?

 

[Rob3rt]

From my understanding, heavy weight low reps good for sprinting and acceleration. Lower weight and higher reps better for endurance. I dont know though, Im a newby cyclist, and I dont do weights or try to improve individual area's of performance because I dont have a solid base to build on yet.

I cycle, 2-3 20 mile rides a week(mainly for enjoyment not training) and 1 or 2 gym sessions on stationary bike consisting of 1 day intervals, 1 day just spinning for an hour followed by a run. Im not 100% consistant though.

 

[plank]

The way I think about it is if my max power is double everyone else its only half as much work to keep going at the same speed as them so endurance comes from there.

You can improve power by lifting heavy weights. I got good progress with a the sets/reps at 5x5 where I didn't like the common approach of 3x8/12 very much.

Seems to work for me but I suppose there could be other factors in play.