Exercise Program for Cyclists

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Hi, I thought this might be of some help.

INDEED IT IS!!!

I've been looking for something just like this!!

Thanks so much!

-Bianchi Bob

Jeff Starr <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi, I thought this might be of some help.

Q: I am about to get back into Road Cycling and was wondering if

there

Quoted message said:

were any exercises and routines that you could recommend. To start
with recreationally, but I am intending to get into amateur racing
eventually.

A: Cycling is very specific

And that is why I think the rest of the answer given was far to
complicated. Just ride your bike; when your spending 10+ hours a week
doing that, you can get a bit more involved.

Matthew Venhaus said:

Jeff Starr <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi, I thought this might be of some help.

Q: I am about to get back into Road Cycling and was wondering if

there

Quoted message said:

were any exercises and routines that you could recommend. To start
with recreationally, but I am intending to get into amateur racing
eventually.

A: Cycling is very specific

And that is why I think the rest of the answer given was far to
complicated. Just ride your bike; when your spending 10+ hours a week
doing that, you can get a bit more involved.

Yeah, your answer would have been really helpful to the guy asking the
question. The guy asked the question in a Health and Fitness
newsletter. These questions and answers are posted for all of their
readers, it gives them an opportunity to cover a topic.

Now do you understand why the answer was so thorough? Think about it,
why would I bother posting the info, if it came with your answer.

I found it interesting.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jeff Starr said:

Many cyclists develop illiotibial band (ITB) problems due to weakness
in other muscles. Make sure to stretch all major muscle groups (upper

I am not really sure about this one. I know a lots of runners have ITB
problems, but cyclists ?? cycling is a not a weight bearing activity.

Very informative article, but there are lots of websites giving
information about how to strengthen legs. But when i posted to
misc.fitness.weights, most unanimous reply was to "ride the bike". I
tend to agree with it as well. Although weight training can give you
strong muscles, the endurance and sustained power output is built by
riding the bike. A proper system should include riding the bike equally
as much as training with weights.

my 2 cents,
+ravi

Jeff Starr <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Matthew Venhaus said:

Jeff Starr <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi, I thought this might be of some help.

Q: I am about to get back into Road Cycling and was wondering if

there

Quoted message said:

were any exercises and routines that you could recommend. To

start

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

with recreationally, but I am intending to get into amateur

racing

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

eventually.

A: Cycling is very specific

And that is why I think the rest of the answer given was far to
complicated. Just ride your bike; when your spending 10+ hours a

week

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

doing that, you can get a bit more involved.

Yeah, your answer would have been really helpful to the guy asking

the

Quoted message said:

question. The guy asked the question in a Health and Fitness
newsletter. These questions and answers are posted for all of their
readers, it gives them an opportunity to cover a topic.

Now do you understand why the answer was so thorough? Think about

it,

Quoted message said:

why would I bother posting the info, if it came with your answer.

I found it interesting.

I really don't think the answer in the OP was all that thorough. Let's
say I intended to implement the program recommended. I have a few
lower body exercise recommendations, but no volume parameters. So how
many sets do I do? How many reps in each set? How long do I rest
between sets? Between exercises? How often do I perform the exercises?
How do I coordinate strengthening exercises with streching exercises
and on-the-bike training?

Further, the answer wasn't very good. The author instructed the
trainee to balance upper body and lower body workouts but provided six
exercises for legs and one exercise for lower back. There were no
exercises for major muscle groups of the upper back, chest, or
shoulders. The author mentioned ITB inflexibility but didn't include
any specific stretching recommendations. It totally ignored the far
more common hip flexor inflexibility found in cyclists. The
strengthening exercise program recommended is likely to further
increase this inbalance because it includes very little hamstring work
relative to the quads. The author recommends only three rides per
week; perhaps for a triathlete relatively good on a bike this is
enough, but it is no where near enough for an aspiring amateur racer.

Matthew

Quoted message said:

Nothing can be more cycling specific than "ride the bike". None of those
exercises will yield even a percentage of the conditioning that riding the
bike over a variety of terrain will.

How often do you "ride your bike over a variety of terrain" to the point of
muscular overload?

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"We will teach our twisted speech to the young believers"
-- The Clash

Quoted message said:

A: Cycling is very specific, and is not like activities we perform
daily. Your current training program should include:

Quoted message said:

1. One-leg squats
2. Squats

be very careful with these. doing them wrong will blow out your knees.
--
mac the naïf

Alex Colvin said:

Quoted message said:

A: Cycling is very specific, and is not like activities we perform
daily. Your current training program should include:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1. One-leg squats
2. Squats

Quoted message said:

be very careful with these. doing them wrong will blow out your knees.

Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most knee
damage. The US Army took long to discover that deep knee bend
exercises caused the most 4-F service discharges in basic training.
Knee bends of pedaling afflict many people's knees, they having done
no loaded knee bends greater than about six inches, encountered on
stairs... that are generally avoided by using elevators and
escalators. The two story home is scarce these days and running up
stairs two at a time in youth is good training but not done much
anymore. Pedaling a bicycle is in effect a 14-inch loaded knee bend.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most knee

damage.

The squat has often been called the king of lifts and is a key
component of almost any athletic strength/power program I have seen.

Don't you think that the culprit is overloaded knee bends. I've done
heavy full squats for 40 years and never had a problem. And none of my
training partners have either. Like in all exersize the trick is to
build slowly. Your Army reference is interesting. I went into the Army
out of college athletics and found basic training to be more harmful
than any of the contact sports I ever played. I think the macho
mentality is what causes the problem there. That and a total lack of
knowledge of exersize physiology on the part of the traing corps.

To me the major risk of injury from squats is lower back, especially if
you get into heavier weights.

Gary Jill said:

Quoted message said:

Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most knee
damage.

Quoted message said:

The squat has often been called the king of lifts and is a key
component of almost any athletic strength/power program I have seen.

That may be true but the squat-jump exercise was determined to be the
principal cause of long term knee damage, the kind often ascribed to
not spinning (low load) on a bicycle. I trust these studies because
they are one of the things the military does correctly.

Quoted message said:

Don't you think that the culprit is overloaded knee bends. I've
done heavy full squats for 40 years and never had a problem. And
none of my training partners have either. Like in all exercise the
trick is to build slowly.

So what, I've ridden gears that regularly bring on criticism of
wanting to ruin my knees. This, I believe, s reinforced by the many
people who HAVE ruined their knees in bicycling, having begun to ride
a bicycle, well after 30 years of no knee bends as I explained.

Quoted message said:

Your Army reference is interesting. I went into the Army out of
college athletics and found basic training to be more harmful than
any of the contact sports I ever played. I think the macho
mentality is what causes the problem there. That and a total lack
of knowledge of exercise physiology on the part of the training
corps.

The squat jump exercise, with hands clasped over the head and
performing jumping "curtsies" to the kneeling position alternating the
forward leg was without a doubt the cause of the damage found by the
Army. You will not find that exercise listed by the military anymore.

Quoted message said:

To me the major risk of injury from squats is lower back, especially
if you get into heavier weights.

No additional weight is required to perform a squat jump and it is the
loaded deep knee bend that causes the damage. I recall doing that
exercise in grade school and right on through PT in the army. Having
always done that sort of exercise, it did not harm me but sedentary
(most) folks don't take well to it.

Jobst Brandt

gds said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most knee

damage.

The squat has often been called the king of lifts and is a key
component of almost any athletic strength/power program I have seen.

Don't you think that the culprit is overloaded knee bends. I've done
heavy full squats for 40 years and never had a problem. And none of my
training partners have either. Like in all exersize the trick is to
build slowly. Your Army reference is interesting. I went into the Army
out of college athletics and found basic training to be more harmful
than any of the contact sports I ever played. I think the macho
mentality is what causes the problem there. That and a total lack of
knowledge of exersize physiology on the part of the traing corps.

To me the major risk of injury from squats is lower back, especially if
you get into heavier weights.

I know this is not bike related but in high school I used to show off by
doing one leg full squats and one armed pull ups with no damage. 40
years, a broken leg and a few pounds later I can't do those anymore but
up until my late 20's they were no problem. Either you have good knees
and a good back or not. Even the leg where I broke the femur into the
knee joint is good for low cadence, high stress hill climbing with no
pain. The only thing I have not been able to do since I broke my leg is
deep squats due to scar tissue on the right quads, but it does not make
me want to whine about biking and sore knees. What many cyclists should
do, but probably can't is to get out in a row boat where you can row
both pushing and conventional pulling of the oars. I used to do that
when I didn't feel like riding and had the distinction of being the most
overly muscled engineer at work, and this at 45 years old back in 1993.
Outdoors exercise is the best kind and I feel like a gym membership is a
waste of my time and money when I could be outside biking, hiking, or
rowing.
Just do something, and get rid of all that television stuff.
Bill Baka

Ravi said:

Very informative article, but there are lots of websites giving
information about how to strengthen legs. But when i posted to
misc.fitness.weights, most unanimous reply was to "ride the bike". I
tend to agree with it as well. Although weight training can give you
strong muscles, the endurance and sustained power output is built by
riding the bike. A proper system should include riding the bike equally
as much as training with weights.

I'd say this is true for any activity. The only caveat is that you
should supplement to provide a padded safety margin. For example, riding
a bicycle trains your muscles to be flexible through a specific range of
motion. If anything unusual happened to take you outside of that range,
your risk of injury is vastly increased. Supplemental
exercises/activities can provide an additional safety zone around your
typical range.

Randy.

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most
knee damage.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The squat has often been called the king of lifts and is a key
component of almost any athletic strength/power program I have
seen.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't you think that the culprit is overloaded knee bends. I've
done heavy full squats for 40 years and never had a problem. And
none of my training partners have either. Like in all exercise the
trick is to build slowly. Your Army reference is interesting. I
went into the Army out of college athletics and found basic
training to be more harmful than any of the contact sports I ever
played. I think the macho mentality is what causes the problem
there. That and a total lack of knowledge of exercise physiology
on the part of the training corps.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To me the major risk of injury from squats is lower back,
especially if you get into heavier weights.

Quoted message said:

I know this is not bike related but in high school I used to show
off by doing one leg full squats and one armed pull ups with no
damage. 40 years, a broken leg and a few pounds later I can't do
those anymore but up until my late 20's they were no problem.
Either you have good knees and a good back or not. Even the leg
where I broke the femur into the knee joint is good for low cadence,
high stress hill climbing with no pain. The only thing I have not
been able to do since I broke my leg is deep squats due to scar
tissue on the right quads, but it does not make me want to whine
about biking and sore knees.

As I said, these folks haven't done any loaded knee bends in more then
20 years. Their knees are atrophied and right now there isn't much to
rejuvenated them. The squat jump, however, was able to damage many
young men with at least average knees, ones that would otherwise serve
them well on military marches.

Quoted message said:

What many cyclists should do, but probably can't is to get out in a
row boat where you can row both pushing and conventional pulling of
the oars. I used to do that when I didn't feel like riding and had
the distinction of being the most overly muscled engineer at work,
and this at 45 years old back in 1993. Outdoors exercise is the
best kind and I feel like a gym membership is a waste of my time and
money when I could be outside biking, hiking, or rowing. Just do
something, and get rid of all that television stuff.

People generally like to be told what to do. That's why they go on
organized rides rather than head out on their own. A fitness center
offers that sort of guidance.

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Bill Baka said:

Quoted message said:

>Don't do squats at all. Loaded knee bends are what cause most
>knee damage.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The squat has often been called the king of lifts and is a key
component of almost any athletic strength/power program I have
seen.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Don't you think that the culprit is overloaded knee bends. I've
done heavy full squats for 40 years and never had a problem. And
none of my training partners have either. Like in all exercise the
trick is to build slowly. Your Army reference is interesting. I
went into the Army out of college athletics and found basic
training to be more harmful than any of the contact sports I ever
played. I think the macho mentality is what causes the problem
there. That and a total lack of knowledge of exercise physiology
on the part of the training corps.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

To me the major risk of injury from squats is lower back,
especially if you get into heavier weights.

Quoted message said:

I know this is not bike related but in high school I used to show
off by doing one leg full squats and one armed pull ups with no
damage. 40 years, a broken leg and a few pounds later I can't do
those anymore but up until my late 20's they were no problem.
Either you have good knees and a good back or not. Even the leg
where I broke the femur into the knee joint is good for low cadence,
high stress hill climbing with no pain. The only thing I have not
been able to do since I broke my leg is deep squats due to scar
tissue on the right quads, but it does not make me want to whine
about biking and sore knees.

As I said, these folks haven't done any loaded knee bends in more then
20 years. Their knees are atrophied and right now there isn't much to
rejuvenated them. The squat jump, however, was able to damage many
young men with at least average knees, ones that would otherwise serve
them well on military marches.

That may well hold true for the modern couch potato/gamer but not for my
generation who was looking at Viet Nam. I never made the military even
though I volunteered for the dreaded draft. Passed all the tests at the
Oakland pre-induction center but got a letter that my personality was at
odds with taking orders.
Figure that one out.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What many cyclists should do, but probably can't is to get out in a
row boat where you can row both pushing and conventional pulling of
the oars. I used to do that when I didn't feel like riding and had
the distinction of being the most overly muscled engineer at work,
and this at 45 years old back in 1993. Outdoors exercise is the
best kind and I feel like a gym membership is a waste of my time and
money when I could be outside biking, hiking, or rowing. Just do
something, and get rid of all that television stuff.

People generally like to be told what to do. That's why they go on
organized rides rather than head out on their own. A fitness center
offers that sort of guidance.

OK,
That single point alone makes me different than the majority. I hate
being told what to do. Maybe that's why I hold to MTBs and don't put
much into my road bikes. I am not anywhere near the middle of the bell
curve, and definitely not on the left, personality wise or other.
Bill Baka

Quoted message said:

Jobst Brandt

Bill said:

I never made the military
even though I volunteered for the dreaded draft. Passed all the tests
at the Oakland pre-induction center but got a letter that my
personality was at odds with taking orders.
Figure that one out.

Bill Baka = Ernest T. Bass

HTH, BS

OK! We are talking about apples and oranges. You are discussing squat
jumps and I am discussing squats. They are quite different in terms of
speed and control. I also think they are quite different in terms of
athletic performance benefit (and risk).

I do agree with your point that a major contributor to knee (or other)
problems is lng periods of inactivity which then requie a slow reentry.

Bill Sornson said:

Bill said:

I never made the military
even though I volunteered for the dreaded draft. Passed all the tests
at the Oakland pre-induction center but got a letter that my
personality was at odds with taking orders.
Figure that one out.

Bill Baka = Ernest T. Bass

HTH, BS

No,
Got 100% on the stupid Army IQ test and was accused of cheating.
Who in the hell cheats to get drafted?
Actually to many speeding tickets in my car days.
Bill Baka

Bill wrote:
::
:: That may well hold true for the modern couch potato/gamer but not
:: for my generation who was looking at Viet Nam. I never made the
:: military even though I volunteered for the dreaded draft. Passed all
:: the tests at the Oakland pre-induction center but got a letter that
:: my personality was at odds with taking orders.
:: Figure that one out.

🙂

Bill said:

That may well hold true for the modern couch potato/gamer but not for my
generation who was looking at Viet Nam. I never made the military even
though I volunteered for the dreaded draft. Passed all the tests at the
Oakland pre-induction center but got a letter that my personality was at
odds with taking orders.
Figure that one out.

I don't think that comes as any surprise to any regular reader of this
group. Actually, seems rather consistent. How were things on the
Group W Bench (for those too young to understand that, you really must
listen to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant".

- rick