Upper body workout?

bigfloppyllama

Just wondering if there is any sort of upper body workout beneficial to riding. I'm not really sure if or how much arm strength is used, but it can help I'd be up for it. Nothing rigorous, just something light I could do to help. Thanks.

jkca1

Strong abdominal muscles are real useful for riding. The core muscle groups are the Transverse Abdominis, the internal and external Obliques, the Rectus Abdominis and the Erector Spinae. You can find information on how to strengthen these muscles and others by searching Yahoo/Google or purchase a book like Delavier's Strength Training Anatomy.

-Jim-

ric_stern/RST

Assuming that you are not a 200-m track sprinter, 1-km TT rider or take part in the olympic sprint (etc.) there is absolutely no need to do any form of weight training (unless you have a specific condition/disability). Strength requirements for endurance cycling are exceedingly low, and elite world class endurance cyclists are no stronger than age and gender matched controls.

please see http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=strengthstern

Cheers
Ric

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Brizza

I've done some weight training, and tend to agree with Ric that it doesn't help a hge amount.
I keep 13kg and 15kg dumbells in my room and do some shoulder and arm weights during the day (sometimes while reading posts on this board). I attribute my bone strength to doing weights. Despite many XC and road crashes I am yet to break a bone

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J-MAT

bigfloppyllama:

Unless you are a pro or dedicated amateur at the top level, lifting is good for you. Even for them, it's not that lifting itself is bad, it eats into recovery and can add weight.

I don't think it's good for a grown man to have the upper body of a 10-year old girl. If you are paid to ride, then every gram counts, but if you don't get paid to ride, what about the other areas of your life???

Lifting will help to keep you younger from extra bursts of testosterone and HGH. You will strenghten bones, tendons, and ligaments that will help to prevent injury as well. The benefits are many.

So if you are not a pro, consider a few upper body workouts a week or every other week. If it cuts into your riding, back off a little.

Good luck!!!

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CatSpin

Bigfloppyllama: .....Great handle!!!

It seems that this debate will potentially never end….so be it. Here then, are my two cents.

As a contributor to this the discussion over weights and cycling training, I too have bounced between doing the weights and not touching them. As crit racing is my forte, I have found that adding a bit of muscle mass does not slow me down at all, in fact, it really helps my power in the sprint. Forum members have cautioned be against it stating that "it will not only add weight but dig into my recovery"…and they are all right, but I would argue only to a degree

While reading Chirs Carmichael’s books, I was pleased to see that the “pros” (USPS) use weight training in their training seasons. Granted they may not have the time, nor energy, to do it during the race season, but then again they are pros riding/racing 600-800 miles a week.

In this literature, weight training was stated to contribute to the overall fitness of your body and can help you reduce body fat. If you don’t have the time to do all the miles on the road, weight training can, in certain instances help your overall fitness and strength. Being bold here, I would say if the pros advocate it, do it. If you have some doubts, just imagine what their “forum” looks like with 100’s of doctors, physiologists nutritional experts etc., etc., etc. If they say it helps, chances are, it will.

If you are not training for your Cat 3, 2, 1 or Pro card, experiment with some cross training with weights and see if your fitness, power and overall health improves. This is what is most important.


CatSpin

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ric_stern/RST

Total energy expenditure by weight training is far less than during cycling (and other aerobic sports), as the muscle mass engaged during cycling will be far greater and for longer periods of time.

I don't understand, why, if you are time limited for cycling you'd want to eat in to that time even more by doing weights?

Weight training will virtually always increase your strength, but the question for a cycling board is: does this matter? For endurance cycling not in the slightest (unless you have a specific condition/disability).

Most pro's don't weight train, and those that do, often do it for reasons not associated with bike performance:
1) some pro's are likely to bored with cycling at the end of the season and someother form of exercise is better than no exercise
2) often they do not train long enough to build any real strength gains (i.e., the first ~ six weeks, are just increases in neuromuscular coordination).

Catspin, please check your emails and private messages, thanks.

Ric

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Brizza

Certainatly it requires a few weeks for me to return to lifting/weight form.
My old schedule was race on Sat, do heavy weights twice a week (Tues/Thurs) (use the other days to recover) and ride to Uni every day.
In my early days as competitor weights where benefictial to my improvement.