Cut back on leg weight-training?

jshelton said:

[font=Verdana][font=Verdana] I have been following the Body-For-Life weight-training schedule for months (M W F alternating upper and lower body) but have some concerns about doing too much on my legs. On Thursdays, I usually do a 10-20 mile bike ride which usually consists of a few big hills. on Saturdays I usually do a 50-60 mile ride that always has quite a few hill climbs. I usually ride on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

I'm considering skipping quad and hamstring exercises when they fall on a Wednesday or Friday because that would cause me to to have 2 days in a row of intense leg exercise. My weight-training buddies think I should stay with the schedule and just cut back on biking. No way Jose!!!

What do you guys think?

Jim
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IMO only cut back on (or stop) weight training if you want to be a better cyclist. If you want to be a better weight lifter, keep lifting.

jshelton said:

[font=Verdana][font=Verdana] I have been following the Body-For-Life weight-training schedule for months (M W F alternating upper and lower body) but have some concerns about doing too much on my legs. On Thursdays, I usually do a 10-20 mile bike ride which usually consists of a few big hills. on Saturdays I usually do a 50-60 mile ride that always has quite a few hill climbs. I usually ride on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

I'm considering skipping quad and hamstring exercises when they fall on a Wednesday or Friday because that would cause me to to have 2 days in a row of intense leg exercise. My weight-training buddies think I should stay with the schedule and just cut back on biking. No way Jose!!!

What do you guys think?

Jim
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I think there is room for both weight training and cycling, especially for a person who is pursuing a fitness lifestyle and not for someone who is interested in competing in either one.

I think the trick is to know when to emphasise one activity and back off the other. It's a real balancing act to try to excel at both and I honestly don't belive it can be done effectively. For example, if a person wants to emphasise weights and cut way back on aerobic work (time AND intensity) during the Winter months and emphasise cycling and cut way back on the weights during Summer that would probably work out well provided they both don't become a priority.

Like an idiot I started doing some weights about 7 weeks ago after a lengthy layoff. It was a very bad (and dumb) idea as I was also trying to improve my cycling by doing more intervals and quality work. The result was I just spent a week off feeling terrible. Even though I was doing a beginner's weight routine, when combined with more intense workouts on the bike it was just too much for my body to recover.

With only 4 - 6 weeks of decent Indiana weather left, I may have just shot any possibility of besting any personal records on the bike. 😠

wilmar13 said:

IMO only cut back on (or stop) weight training if you want to be a better cyclist. If you want to be a better weight lifter, keep lifting.

Thanks for the input!

I don't care about being a weight lifter/bodybuilder. My main goal was to restore my basic fitness and then to focus on cycling. Going forward my only interest in weight training is to support my cycling and to maintain reasonable upper-body fitness.

I think I'll stop weight-training for my legs and continue the upper body for now. Next year I'll have much less focus on weight-training and more on cycling...

Jim

Doctor Morbius said:

I think there is room for both weight training and cycling, especially for a person who is pursuing a fitness lifestyle and not for someone who is interested in competing in either one.

I think the trick is to know when to emphasise one activity and back off the other. It's a real balancing act to try to excel at both and I honestly don't belive it can be done effectively. For example, if a person wants to emphasise weights and cut way back on aerobic work (time AND intensity) during the Winter months and emphasise cycling and cut way back on the weights during Summer that would probably work out well provided they both don't become a priority.

Like an idiot I started doing some weights about 7 weeks ago after a lengthy layoff. It was a very bad (and dumb) idea as I was also trying to improve my cycling by doing more intervals and quality work. The result was I just spent a week off feeling terrible. Even though I was doing a beginner's weight routine, when combined with more intense workouts on the bike it was just too much for my body to recover.

With only 4 - 6 weeks of decent Indiana weather left, I may have just shot any possibility of besting any personal records on the bike. 😠

As I mentioned in my other reply, I only lift weights to support my general fitness and cycling. I have no interest in being 'buff' or a muscleman. My focus is on being an athlete. I too have been trying to juggle both weights and cycling and it was pretty easy until I started to build my weekly miles. Now that I'm at 80-100 weekly miles and increasing, I have to cut back on the weight training to allow for recovery.

Thanks and good luck with the rest of the outdoor season.

Jim