too strong???

iansmay · Nov 18, 2003

OK all, I posted a while ago wondering if I really had to do weight training over the winter and you all convinced me that it was important if i wanted to do my best. So I started out following Friel's guidelines and today I did my 7th AA workout. I'm planning to do the MT over the next couple of weeks before moving into the MS phase.

I thought I would just test a little today and found that on all upper body stuff I already have the strength to do the upper limit goals. I had suspected my upper body was a bit stronger than the average cyclist and it was confirmed. I don't want to cary this extra weight into next season so what should i do. I'm considering cutting out the uper body stuff all together and adding a lower back excercise to take the place of the seated and bent row for the back muscles. What makes sense to me is to just work the hip extentions and hamstrings (personal weakness)and then only do core upper body stuff to try and shed the extra muscle. Maybe doing upper body stuff once a week and following SM guidelines for that. what do you all think? thx by the way, I'm 6", 180 and about 12% body fat. I want to be 165-170 my the end of JAN.

Aztec · Nov 18, 2003

Originally posted by iansmay
OK all, I posted a while ago wondering if I really had to do weight training over the winter and you all convinced me that it was important if i wanted to do my best. So I started out following Friel's guidelines and today I did my 7th AA workout. I'm planning to do the MT over the next couple of weeks before moving into the MS phase.

I thought I would just test a little today and found that on all upper body stuff I already have the strength to do the upper limit goals. I had suspected my upper body was a bit stronger than the average cyclist and it was confirmed. I don't want to cary this extra weight into next season so what should i do. I'm considering cutting out the uper body stuff all together and adding a lower back excercise to take the place of the seated and bent row for the back muscles. What makes sense to me is to just work the hip extentions and hamstrings (personal weakness)and then only do core upper body stuff to try and shed the extra muscle. Maybe doing upper body stuff once a week and following SM guidelines for that. what do you all think? thx by the way, I'm 6", 180 and about 12% body fat. I want to be 165-170 my the end of JAN.

By 'core' do you mean abs/low back? Have you added much muscle mass by lifting? However much you'd added in your upper body is probably about how much you can lose. I'm guessing it's very little. A friend who is naturally muscular has been trying to lose some mass. At about 175, he stalled out. You can only take off so much, apparently, before the body refuses.

I'm curious to hear what the upper limit goals are. Do you have them handy?

I'm a big believer that lifting -- or any kind of strength training, including certain parts of yoga -- are important. Nah, it might not make you faster, but it can sure improve your comfort and long term posture on the bike. That means stuff like neck work, incline shrugs, chins, back extensions, and all kinds of abs. I doubt that a monster bench, dip, tricep/bicep curl, etc., would do much good.

Duckwah · Nov 18, 2003

Unless you are a track sprinter i'd say that you would be better off without a lot of upper body muscle mass.

I'd stick to care stability exercises like ab/lower back work and then any specific imbalances you have.

iansmay · Nov 18, 2003

the upper limits for a 180lb male are : 144 seated row and 126standing row. I can do 3 sets of 10 easy and @ both and i havn't even done the MT or MS phases yet.

Aztec · Nov 18, 2003

I'm assuming that's in pounds. I'm not sure what a standing row is -- you mean a bent-over barbell row? Are these the only exercises on which they 'test' you? Are you certain you are using good form?

Anyway, back to my original point... unless you GAINED a lot of mass by lifting, you probably aren't going to lose much by stopping lifting. It is *extremely* hard to gain muscle, or even maintain gains of muscle from previous lifting, when performing endurance work. Cardio KILLS muscle gains. Yeah, there are freaks out there who can do it, but not many.

ric_stern/RST · Nov 19, 2003

Originally posted by iansmay
OK all, I posted a while ago wondering if I really had to do weight training over the winter and you all convinced me that it was important if i wanted to do my best. So I started out following Friel's guidelines and today I did my 7th AA workout. I'm planning to do the MT over the next couple of weeks before moving into the MS phase.

You can't have posted here and got that answer (unless you're a track sprinter) as we'd have given the opposite answer, as for endurance cycling (i.e., any cycling > ~ 2-mins) strength is *NOT* a limiting factor.

I thought I would just test a little today and found that on all upper body stuff I already have the strength to do the upper limit goals. I had suspected my upper body was a bit stronger than the average cyclist and it was confirmed. I don't want to cary this extra weight into next season so what should i do. I'm considering cutting out the uper body stuff all together and adding a lower back excercise to take the place of the seated and bent row for the back muscles. What makes sense to me is to just work the hip extentions and hamstrings (personal weakness)and then only do core upper body stuff to try and shed the extra muscle. Maybe doing upper body stuff once a week and following SM guidelines for that. what do you all think? thx by the way, I'm 6", 180 and about 12% body fat. I want to be 165-170 my the end of JAN.

If you want to loose muscle, then don't use them.

Unless you're a track sprinter or have some functional disability (which it doesn't sound like you have) then leg strength exercises may well be detrimental and certainly won't help your cycling (unless you're untrained).

assuming no changes in lean body mass, then a weight of 167.5 lbs is going to be very hard to achieve as it's a body fat % of 6%, which is as lean as the best TdF riders (who can only maintain this level for a short period of time, e.g., couple of months maximum).

Ric

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