Strength and weigtg gain.

Seanohea

Hey guys, I'm trying to get fit, gain weight and strength and bought a bike yeasterday with the intention of using it for cardio work and leg strength. I bought a carrera virtuoso in halfords. How good is cycling for general fitness, keg strength and perhaps weight gain. Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Lumen

Weight gain?

Seanohea

I mean leg strength, surely that helps promote weight gain while also doing weights. I have no intention to confuse anyone. Any comments appreciated

Captain Havoc

Lumen wrote: »

Weight gain?

Muscle weighs about twice as much as fat.

Lumen

Seanohea wrote: »

I mean leg strength, surely that helps promote weight gain while also doing weights. I have no intention to confuse anyone. Any comments appreciated

Power = force x speed. In cycling, much of the power comes from the speed of your feet, the forces involved are quite low because it is not possible to use high-force fast-twitch "gym muscles" for thousands of pedal strokes in a typical ride.

It is therefore possible to cycle fast over a long distance without putting on much muscle mass. Just look at some pro cyclists or triathletes (sorry), they're pretty skinny.

You can develop larger leg muscles by cycling at very high intensity (e.g. sprint intervals), but if your mission is to impress the laydeez with your rippling muscles then you're better off spending time in the gym, although cycling is great complementary exercise (and arguably vice versa).

dave.obrien

As Lumen says, it is great complimentary exercise. I started cycling to compliment weight work in the gym with the goal of getting bigger, stronger, fitter, etc. Problem was I started to enjoy the cycling too much and noticed how the larger lads amongst us just couldn't keep up with the lightweights. Since then, I've toned down the weight work to almost nothing, and while not intending to, have lost loads of weight. While I'm still far from skinny, I'm surprised by how much weight I had to lose without starting to look and feel weak. Now I can stay close enough to the lightweights to see them reach the tops of hills while I'm lagging far behind, instead of getting completely dropped and wondering what the fastest way home is from the wickllow gap alone.

If you're cycling to supplement weight work though, you might be best to look at combining high intensity work, like the sprint intervals that lumen mentioned, with some low intensity, long distance cycles, I'd be thinking maybe 60-80km solo rides on flat ground. The former will improve leg strength while the latter will be purely about improving cardio fitness.

petethedrummer

Don't look at this too soon after you've eaten.
http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009/01/serious-cycling-serious-legs-serious.html

Seanohea

Cheers guys, thanks for the advice, funny pictures