cross training

[email hidden] (skott) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Cross training is an interesting subject in exercise physiology. The bottom line is if you want to
be a fit biker you must bike. Rowing will be goodfor your health and well being and train you to
row well but will do little for your biking.

An interesting experiment was done by a famous Danish exercise physiologist. He took a group of
untrained men and trained them on a one legged exercise bike. He tracked their fitness and watched
marked improvements in their VO2 max( ml of oxygen consumed per kilogram per minute).He then put
the pedal an the other leg and measured their fitness via VO2 max. It was only a little bit above
their baseline untrained level and nowhere near the level of that attained on the trained side.

Hence to train for one legged biking ride a one legged bike. To train for biking bike. To train
for rowing row.

But by all means cross train for your general well being but do not expect it to help your biking.
Runners don"t bike and Lance does not run.

Skott

WIth at least one exception: weight training. Getting stronger helps every sport. Across the board.

"MLB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (skott) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Cross training is an interesting subject in exercise physiology. The bottom line is if you want
to be a fit biker you must bike. Rowing will be goodfor your health and well being and train you
to row well but will do little for your biking.

An interesting experiment was done by a famous Danish exercise physiologist. He took a group of
untrained men and trained them on a one legged exercise bike. He tracked their fitness and
watched marked improvements in their VO2 max( ml of oxygen consumed per kilogram per minute).He
then put the pedal an the other leg and measured their fitness via VO2 max. It was only a little
bit above their baseline untrained level and nowhere near the level of that attained on the
trained side.

Hence to train for one legged biking ride a one legged bike. To train for biking bike. To train
for rowing row.

But by all means cross train for your general well being but do not expect it to help your
biking. Runners don"t bike and Lance does not run.

Skott

WIth at least one exception: weight training. Getting stronger helps every sport. Across
the board.

So true.

As for the stuff about running. Cyclists don't run because they don't have to.

Doug Thomas

doug thomas said:

As for the stuff about running. Cyclists don't run because they don't have to.

I cycle. I run because I like to. Many triathletes seem to enjoy both, too.

-- Robert

doug thomas said:

"MLB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (skott) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Cross training is an interesting subject in exercise physiology. The bottom line is if you want
to be a fit biker you must bike. Rowing will be goodfor your health and well being and train
you to row well but will do little for your biking.

An interesting experiment was done by a famous Danish exercise physiologist. He took a group of
untrained men and trained them on a one legged exercise bike. He tracked their fitness and
watched marked improvements in their VO2 max( ml of oxygen consumed per kilogram per minute).He
then put the pedal an the other leg and measured their fitness via VO2 max. It was only a
little bit above their baseline untrained level and nowhere near the level of that attained on
the trained side.

Hence to train for one legged biking ride a one legged bike. To train for biking bike. To train
for rowing row.

But by all means cross train for your general well being but do not expect it to help your
biking. Runners don"t bike and Lance does not run.

Skott

WIth at least one exception: weight training. Getting stronger helps every sport. Across
the board.

So true.

As for the stuff about running. Cyclists don't run because they don't have to.

Right, but athletes in other sports often find cycling beneficial cross-training. Jerry Rice, the
great wide receiver for the 49ers, now with the Raiders at age 41, is often seen cycling, either
alone or with his trainer, in the hills of the San Francisco Peninsula. And Robin Williams, who
lives in San Francisco near the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge, is often seen on his fancy road
bikes in the hills of Marin County....well, I guess stand-up comedy is a sort of sport.

Ron

[email hidden] (Robert Stevahn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

doug thomas said:

As for the stuff about running. Cyclists don't run because they don't have to.

I cycle. I run because I like to. Many triathletes seem to enjoy both, too.

-- Robert

I believe I read somewhere that running and cycling tend to shorten and stretch different muscles;
i.e. they can be complimentary and reduce the chance for injury.

JR

[email hidden] (skott) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

But by all means cross train for your general well being but do not expect it to help your biking.
Runners don"t bike and Lance does not run.

I have read that Lance started as a swimmer and has participated in triathlon events.

I know a former swimmer that is now a decent triathelete and swears by cross training over single
sport training. Claims it helps him in each sport to do the others.

I remember some years back when this same debate was aired back and forth in Runner's World
magazine. There were plenty of experts on each side of the coin.

When I was assigned to Bremerhaven, Germany, some years back I made a good friend of the local army
veternarian. He had been a rower in college. I was a runner. We found a common sport in cycling.
With my running, I took to spinning. With his weight training for rowing, he hammered. We biked
quite differently but still together. It was our other sports that seemed to decide how we
approached cycling.

My conclusion: cross training is applicable. But, the debate will go on.

Gary McCarty, Greenspeed GTO, Salt Lake City

Well maybe. See this regarding strength vs power. bill g
home.earthlink.netid4.htmlOpen ↗ From that article: "So what's the bottom line? It
is this: maximal power is generated when large muscles contract simultaneously, forcefully, and
quickly. Weight training is an excellent way of increasing strength, because not only does it lead
to an increase in muscle size, but also to improvements in synchronicity (simultaneous activation of
multiple motor units) and activation (therefore more force from the same muscle). In fact, these
neural adaptations are the primary mechanism leading to increases in strength, at least over the
short (and even intermediate) term - but since they do not transfer to other modes of exercise, only
the hypertrophic response has a beneficial effect on cycling power..Specificity, specificity,
specificity.... "

MLB said:

WIth at least one exception: weight training. Getting stronger helps every sport. Across
the board.

--
"There are three truths: The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But The Truth"- John Muhammad

[email hidden] (Robert Stevahn) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

doug thomas said:

As for the stuff about running. Cyclists don't run because they don't have to.

I cycle. I run because I like to. Many triathletes seem to enjoy both, too.

-- Robert

Hi, I live in the N.E. (Boston suburbs) and cycle year round save heavy rain, snow and temperatures
below 20. If you dress properly, ther should be no impediment to extending your cycling season. I
also recently took up kayaking and find it a wonderful compliment to bent riding. Cycling favors
the legs, while kayaking favors the upper body mostly. Like cycling I will paddle the rivers until
they freeze. I won't however do any ocean or coastal water paddling until spring, and then only
with a group.

Gene

Rich, Yeah and it's a complex thing. And the ongoing RBRacing thread on the strength vs power thing
even further muddles the issue. Seems like the bottom line is you gotta do what you want to be
better at to get better, faster, whatever, at the specific intensity, duration, whatever, that you
want to be better at it. So like Dr. Coggan says, Specificity, Specificity, Specificity. bill, "got
'specific' on the flats with some 20yr younger shaved leg guy a few weeks ago and finally shelled
him at 37mph, thank you Bacchetta", g

RCPINTO said:

Quoted message said:

Well maybe. See this regarding strength vs power. bill g
home.earthlink.netid4.htmlOpen ↗

Great link Bill. Andy (Dr in EP) Coggan always has some of the best and most scientific
cycling and cycling physiology info anywhere!

Thanks, Rich

skott <[email hidden]> wrote:

: But by all means cross train for your general well being but do not expect it to help your biking.
: Runners don"t bike and Lance does not run.

There's lots to be said in favour of cross training I believe, even resistance training. For the
base building phase, specificity really doesn't matter that much. In addition, cross training has
other benefits than the actual training effect.

And sometimes cross training is actually useful. I am comfortable doing up to 200 km on an upright
and seems I can pull off the same on a bent, despite virtually no serious endurance training on the
bent. Maybe you could argue riding uprights is not cross training proper, but then you step onto a
slippery slope that erodes your concept of cross training in the end...

--
Risto Varanka | helsinki.fihpv.htmlOpen ↗ varis at no spam please iki fi

its all good, it good to have a selection of activities to switch off to when the weather is bad or
your body is injured and you cannot cycle.. weight training is always good for everyone. I have
seen many cyclist with no upper body muscle, like veal. kayaking canoeing or rowing works the upper
body, for cross country skiing try skate skiing on groomed trails if you want a full body workout.
swimming laps usually works when you cant do anything else snowshoeing is great winter activity,
the ones with the built in crampons work great for climbing mountains in the north east, very
little learning curve on snowshoes and easier to go downhill without crashing as compared to back
country skiing