Body shaping and Cycling



You're right, many people do deep squats and are perfectly fine, however what I meant to say is that when your doing 5000-plus repetitions on the bike every ride, why would it be worth the risk of injury to do leg exercises at the gym when your doing them on the bike already? I know they inherently train different muscles in a different way, but don't you think the low impact nature of cycling is a much better choice, such a better choice that it isn't worth jeopardizing with the aggresive nature of weight training. Any worthwhile mass-building routine for lower body is based around a 12-15 repetition set, being that which most effectively stimulates hypertrophy. That is alot more impact that pedaling a bike, putting you at a very high risk of eventually developing an injury, believe me I've done it, even under supervision on a NCAA track team.

One last thing for all you cyclists that don't know it already, eat PROTEIN!! everyone focuses on not bonking and eating enough carbs. But we forget that the muscles we use for hours on end are made of protein, and they catabolise with use.
 
"everyone focuses on not bonking and eating enough carbs."
I think I'll leave it to someone else to respond to that one but personally I'm not prepared to give up bonking before cycle rides. :p
As for the squats, they're fine for sprinting if that's your goal. Those folks who do opt for squats in order to supplement sprinting training shouldn't get knee injuries as a general rule.
Myself, I no longer squat heavy and I tend to go as high as 20 reps per set when I squat. I make sure I don't bounce and I go all the way down. The only thing I can share is that the day after my legs feel weaker when I pedal a bigger gear but I'm O.K. later on in the week.
Added to that, I've increased my cycling so I've dropped a bit of body mass and am quite slim. My joints are fine lately and maybe that's down to all the glucosamine I take.


tyler1212 said:
You're right, many people do deep squats and are perfectly fine, however what I meant to say is that when your doing 5000-plus repetitions on the bike every ride, why would it be worth the risk of injury to do leg exercises at the gym when your doing them on the bike already? I know they inherently train different muscles in a different way, but don't you think the low impact nature of cycling is a much better choice, such a better choice that it isn't worth jeopardizing with the aggresive nature of weight training. Any worthwhile mass-building routine for lower body is based around a 12-15 repetition set, being that which most effectively stimulates hypertrophy. That is alot more impact that pedaling a bike, putting you at a very high risk of eventually developing an injury, believe me I've done it, even under supervision on a NCAA track team.

One last thing for all you cyclists that don't know it already, eat PROTEIN!! everyone focuses on not bonking and eating enough carbs. But we forget that the muscles we use for hours on end are made of protein, and they catabolise with use.
 
Funnily enough, it's running and skipping that trouble my knees, at the back. I get a kind of jolt right at the back of the knee. Luckily squats and cycling don't bother my knees at all.

tyler1212 said:
You're right, many people do deep squats and are perfectly fine, however what I meant to say is that when your doing 5000-plus repetitions on the bike every ride, why would it be worth the risk of injury to do leg exercises at the gym when your doing them on the bike already? I know they inherently train different muscles in a different way, but don't you think the low impact nature of cycling is a much better choice, such a better choice that it isn't worth jeopardizing with the aggresive nature of weight training. Any worthwhile mass-building routine for lower body is based around a 12-15 repetition set, being that which most effectively stimulates hypertrophy. That is alot more impact that pedaling a bike, putting you at a very high risk of eventually developing an injury, believe me I've done it, even under supervision on a NCAA track team.

One last thing for all you cyclists that don't know it already, eat PROTEIN!! everyone focuses on not bonking and eating enough carbs. But we forget that the muscles we use for hours on end are made of protein, and they catabolise with use.
 
I gather that bonking has the same meaning in the UK as it does in Australia. Runners are safe, they hit the wall instead of bonking.

I eat 2.2gms of protein per kilo of body weight per day. Protein repairs the muscles, its as simple as that.

If you are a person that bonks (on the ride not before), then you need carbs. I don't bonk (on the ride). Why do some people bonk (on the ride) and others don't?
 
Bonking is when you are riding and your body runs out of energy. The most efficient source of energy being carbs. Some people bonk because they simply do not have a correct diet. I usu. eat around 100 grams of carb powder about 45 minutes before I ride and a carb gel every 45 minutes during the ride. I've never bonked.
 
tyler1212 said:
Bonking is when you are riding and your body runs out of energy. The most efficient source of energy being carbs. Some people bonk because they simply do not have a correct diet. I usu. eat around 100 grams of carb powder about 45 minutes before I ride and a carb gel every 45 minutes during the ride. I've never bonked.
In Australia it is also something I may or may not of done before I went for my Sunday ride.

See defintion in the Macquarie Dictionary of Slang. Scroll down to bonk
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not that this adds anything to the original topic of conversation, but is bonking a required part of cycling? if so, someone had better warn the wife!! :D lol
 
graycat said:
not that this adds anything to the original topic of conversation, but is bonking a required part of cycling? if so, someone had better warn the wife!! :D lol
I was a little bit slow on my bike yesterday morning.
 

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