Leg strengthening...

martyc5674

Been upping the pace recently... Going out with stronger riders.
Am keeping up for the most part but legs seem to lose strength towards the end of spins and I'm hanging on for dear life!
Don't think it's just fitness it's like the legs just weaken....
So looking for good leg strengthening exercises.
Marty.

Beasty

Something that simply strengthens your legs may well simply bulk up the muscle which could be counterproductive. The best way to improve your endurance is to go out for longer rides - the more you practice the stronger your legs will be

martyc5674

Cheers for that.
My problem there is getting time.
At best I can get out twice a week.. An hour high intensity midweek then a long spin the weekends.
I'm new enough to cycling really(was into it for a year or two a good few years back and getting back into it last few months)
I think I could benefit from some type of weight traing for the legs.
Marty.

petethedrummer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_fb6Kz7FQg

They don't have to be done topless.

Brian?

petethedrummer wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_fb6Kz7FQg

They don't have to be done topless.

A fine exercise, no doubt about it. But it's not going to solve the OPs problem. Beasty is right, more cycling is the answer.

OP, losing power at the end of a cycle is a matter of fitness and not strength.

Cookie_Monster

hills, lots and lots of hills.

rollingscone

@op how's your cadence?

mathie

Doing some hills in a high gear?

(hoping someone can chime in on if this actually works as I only started doing it myself yesterday)

Idleater

mathie wrote: »

Doing some hills in a high gear?

Climb stairs two or three at a time?

mathie

rollingscone wrote: »

@op how's your cadence?

Does that equate to ...

faster cadence / low gears = not strengthening the legs?
slower cadence / high gears = strengthening the legs?

martyc5674

Cheers all...cadence averages between 90 and 100 usually.
And its pretty steady...if i see it getting close to 110 say on a long fast stretch I typically change up.

petethedrummer

Brian? wrote: »

A fine exercise, no doubt about it. But it's not going to solve the OPs problem. Beasty is right, more cycling is the answer.

OP, losing power at the end of a cycle is a matter of fitness and not strength.

Au contraire mon ami, I was in A4 and struggling to finish races and then I started doing topless air squats. After about 6 months I got a pro-contract and won the king of the mountains in the Giro d'Italia.

pelevin

petethedrummer wrote: »

Au contraire mon ami, I was in A4 and struggling to finish races and then I started doing topless air squats. After about 6 months I got a pro-contract and won the king of the mountains in the Giro d'Italia.

You're sure you're not just trying to conveniently explain away this incredible & very unlikely boost in performance & ability with that old "topless air squats" chestnut? Once bitten, twice shy.

quozl

You're asking what he's on? He's on his feet, topless air squating 8 hours a day every day. That's what he's on.

nordicb

Perhaps a rowing session on erg twice a week doing it properly, staying under 2min/500m for 10km.
Get out on an a mountain bike twice a week for, say, 10-20km and climb 500m+.
Squat jumps in the morning before breakfast, like 50+ of them.

These take very little time, I find them helpful.

rollingscone

mathie wrote: »

Does that equate to ...

faster cadence / low gears = not strengthening the legs?
slower cadence / high gears = strengthening the legs?

It equates to you can have fine fitness and suffer for poor technique over distance but going by the OPs reply he isn't mashing himself into a state of exhaustion.

That said I've noticed improvements in stamina from my last month of commuting on increasingly spin-centric single speeds.

@OP I also find Kettlebell circuits to be an excellent companion to cycling, lots of squats and good for flexibility too.

endacl

You'll just have to find the time if you want to improve, op. That's what the riders who are dropping you do. The best way to train for going faster for longer is to go faster for longer. You can't train for leapin' by jumpin'!!

AstraMonti

http://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2013.4116

An interesting read.

martyc5674

AstraMonti wrote: »

http://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2013.4116

An interesting read.

Ill take your word for it!!!..too long for me...ill have an hour on the bike instead

RV

AstraMonti wrote: »

http://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2013.4116

An interesting read.

Au contraire. It is boring beyond belief. And as for the pictures - WTF. He should be shot by the fashion police. I lost the will to cycle by the third line and the will to live by the fourth. You are kidding us - right?

AstraMonti

RV wrote: »

You are kidding us - right?

I apologize for boring you :pac:

kathyroseus

It is a useful exercise for legs and hip joint. It makes muscles of legs very powerful and potent.

RV

AstraMonti wrote: »

I apologize for boring you :pac:

You actually wrote this article? In a moment of weakness surely.

AstraMonti

haha no that's not my area of expertise

RV

AstraMonti wrote: »

haha no that's not my area of expertise

...nor the writers, from the look of it.

boege

martyc5674 wrote: »

Been upping the pace recently... Going out with stronger riders.
Am keeping up for the most part but legs seem to lose strength towards the end of spins and I'm hanging on for dear life!
Don't think it's just fitness it's like the legs just weaken....
So looking for good leg strengthening exercises.
Marty.

Watch some Valverde race videos, seriously,




.....well not really, but learn to suck wheels as much as you can until you have the strength. As others have said, practice makes perfect.