Which muscles in the legs are most usefull to train in gym for riding a bike?

[VeloFidelis]

I'd say it's valid that everyone has an opinion.

MMmmm... that's deep... and profoundly egalitarian.

 

[GrilledFish]

I was at the gym tonight and a 55+ guy who had be training 30 years(!) with some work hard spin cycling work till you vomit guy was asking about weight lifting for cycling - for the first time.

Whichever way you feel about this, how about trying both before you are an old dude. Just saying...

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

I was at the gym tonight and a 55+ guy who had be training 30 years(!) with some work hard spin cycling work till you vomit guy was asking about weight lifting for cycling - for the first time.

Whichever way you feel about this, how about trying both before you are an old dude. Just saying...

I have. I was stronger but I went slower.

 

[VeloFidelis]

I have. I was stronger but I went slower.

How ironic...

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

How ironic...

Not really. I'm talking track sprint BTW. From a aerobic POV the impact was worse.

My neuromuscular power only improved when I, shock horror, did focussed track sprint training work such as lots of standing starts and flying sprints of many varieties.

Once my leg got chopped off, well I never really bothered too much with that sort of training, save the occasional sprint efforts one might normally do in their routine or when having a little fun at the track, and racing of course.

The real irony is that I won as many road/crit sprints after as I had with two whole legs, I just had to be smarter and do it from breakaways. And despite the significant drop in strength that accompanied my amputation, my aerobic power improved (e.g. I set an all time PB power output at UCI paracycling world cup time trial).

YMMV

 

[kielbasa]

Not really. I'm talking track sprint BTW. From a aerobic POV the impact was worse.

My neuromuscular power only improved when I, shock horror, did focussed track sprint training work such as lots of standing starts and flying sprints of many varieties.

Once my leg got chopped off, well I never really bothered too much with that sort of training, save the occasional sprint efforts one might normally do in their routine or when having a little fun at the track, and racing of course.

The real irony is that I won as many road/crit sprints after as I had with two whole legs, I just had to be smarter and do it from breakaways. And despite the significant drop in strength that accompanied my amputation, my aerobic power improved (e.g. I set an all time PB power output at UCI paracycling world cup time trial).

YMMV

So Alex, what would be the most beneficial calf exercises to improve cycling?

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

So Alex, what would be the most beneficial calf exercises to improve cycling?

Improving skills with custom moulding carbon fibre ;-)

 

[GrilledFish]

I have. I was stronger but I went slower.

It seems many sports where speed is important, and pay well, also use weights. What do you think makes cycling different?

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

It seems many sports where speed is important, and pay well, also use weights. What do you think makes cycling different?

Depends. Some questions to consider:
What sort of speed?
Over what durations?
What sort of joint angles and forces?
Eccentric and/or concentric contractions?
Impact/non-impact?
Degrees of freedom with motion?
What is the nature of the various resistance forces involved?
What are the primary energy systems in play?
etc etc

What training makes sense for any given activity will be specific to that activity.

 

[sponsor]

See 1:47

Well, its all a good watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NdFnLTz66k

 

[Cookster15]

Why use weights for cycling strength? Wouldn't long hill repeats in a big(ger) gear sitting in the saddle be better? Hill repeats build cycling specific strength, muscle endurance and aeorobic endurance / capacity. You just need to be careful with your knees - especially if you are younger or new to cycling. But weight training like squats would be even harder on knees I think. Maybe for track sprinting where you accelerate from standstill weights would help but for road there are better ways to train in my view.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Coaching is SO subjective, there are many, many ways to get to your goals, not just one clear cut path. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's what Alex has been trying to say for most of the thread. Knowing a little bit about his reputation and clientele I know I'm inclined to listen.

This is exactly right. *For me* volume only made me skinny. Intensity did not increase my power. I got very good at riding near threshold.

When I go to the gym and do squats, deadlifts and more, I have more power (speed!!!) than I ever had. However, it's not a 1:1 experience. I have to do some hours and turn the gym power into cycling endurance power.

I'm definitely not saying Alex is wrong.

 

[sponsor]

This is exactly right. *For me* volume only made me skinny. Intensity did not increase my power. I got very good at riding near threshold.

When I go to the gym and do squats, deadlifts and more, I have more power (speed!!!) than I ever had. However, it's not a 1:1 experience. I have to do some hours and turn the gym power into cycling endurance power.

I'm definitely not saying Alex is wrong.

I posted Peter. He does well.
While some might say he would do as well just on the bike, others would say he would do better focusing on one thing at a time. While you can mix cardio, strength, and bike handling in one activity does not mean that isolating each area is poor training. Alex has a view that may work fine. Peter, and others have other views, and they seem to work fine too. In both cases there is high resistance (I think Alex advocates high force, low RPM).

Personally I think weights give bigger gains in less time. So does Peter, or so it seems.

 

[sponsor]

Is this the chart?

I think that is the EPO based chart. Anyone have a newer one?

 

[sponsor]

What matters is how much power a rider can sustain, and especially expressed as a ratio to their body mass and also to their coefficient of drag area.

Hence why I use a power output as a cycling performance measurement - it is far more useful and instructive, as well as being readily available and convenient.

O2 utilisation capacity is enhanced with endurance training, and not by weights. This is really basic stuff and well established in the literature.

Kind of a repeat of my last post but I am looking for a current W/kg chart. Charts I find seem to vary and some have been around a long time. I'm looking for the 5 min power range of current top riders. I guess the 7.5W/kg had some help from the Dr - but of course - just a guess.

 

[parisroubaix18]

If there is anyone that knows the answer to this, its these guys.

http://vimeo.com/108120315