Crosstraining?

[SARA]

 

agreed. gyms suck. bunch of miserable uptight people.

 

Hoe kan jy nou so s??  Ek is gere?ld in die gym en ek is defnitef nie 'n bunch of miserable uptight people nie.  Skaam jou om my so in die gesig te vat!

 

I was generalising. Most people in gyms are like that. Fair enough I had limited experience. I don't particularly want anymore. They just aren't for me thanks.

[Mudsimus]

Bruce.. The whole idea behind crosstraining is thats its an activity to do during a period of active rest. In other words...when your not busy with a cuurent training programme. I agree to get cycling fit you must ride your bike. But to prevent yourself from getting unfit during a rest period you must crosstrain.

 

You do rest...sometimes...right?

[SARA]

Doing some core strength stuff makes a big difference too.

that's my 2c. My back hardly ever gets sore anymore now that I use my stomach muscles effectively.

[dirtrider]

I really enjoy the gym !! And sometime I also do a bit of training in the gym .

[Marius]

Mud Dee, did you read your post, please read it again...when you REST you do what Class??? Yess, that's right Pietie, you Rest ha ha ha

[Mudsimus]

Jaa Marius.... So hoe ver is jy van jou cap af...?

[Marius]

...SHUT UP!!!!

[bruce]

 

The current thinking is that cross-training will not improve your performance as a cyclist.  So' date=' the 1 hour spent cross training would yeild less improvement as a cyclist than if you spent that hour riding your bike.  The best way to improve as a cyclist is to cycle.

 

Note that this applies specifically to a goal of improving cycling performance.  If your goal is to generally be in good physical condition, then sure, do whatever you enjoy.

[/quote']

 

Hi Bruce

 

What about gym work to target specific muscle groups which are known to be weaker? I think it has helped me but I only do two sessions a week max and then not when building for a specific event.

 

 

There is huge debate going on at the moment regarding this issue.  But what is being said by the most advanced physiology guys is the following:

 

The strength required to push the pedal once, even on a steep climb is equivalent of doing a leg press of 25kg - even the scrawniest wimp can do that.  The problem is, doing it 90 times a minute, for a couple of hours.

 

So, strength is not what is limiting you, endurance is!!  For muscles to adapt to the type of task you want them to do - i.e. turn the cranks 90 times per minute, then you need to train them with the same joint angle, and contraction velocity.  So, leg pressing 100kg 10 times does not cause your muscles to adapt to the requirement of leg pressing 25 kg's thousands of times.

 

To achieve the best muscular adaption for cycling - you should cycle.  To acieve the best cycling adaption, you should train in a manner than stresses your muscles in the same way that your target event does.  This is called the principle of SPECIFICITY.

 

BUT: it depends on your goal - I am talking ONLY about becoming a better cyclist.  I am NOT saying that other physical activities are not good for you.

 

[bruce]

 

Bruce.. The whole idea behind crosstraining is thats its an activity to do during a period of active rest. In other words...when your not busy with a cuurent training programme. I agree to get cycling fit you must ride your bike. But to prevent yourself from getting unfit during a rest period you must crosstrain.

 

You do rest...sometimes...right?

 

Agreed, if you feel mentally that you do not want to ride your bike all year round, or you live in a place where this is not possible (although with indoor trainers make this a non-issue) then doing some other form of activity is a good thing.

 

BUT, given two cyclists, one that does cross training and one that continues to ride his bike, the cyclist that continues to ride his bike will be in better cycling condition than the one that cross-trains, who would in turn be in better condition than a cyclist that did absolutely nothing.

 

[SARA]

2 c again. I'm no expert, this is personal observation...

So when you are cycling there are a bunch of muscles doing the majority of the work. Then there are a bunch of muscles doing a little bit less work but they are still important. These lets say "2nd order" muscles operate fine over a shorter training period, however if you do a 4/5 hour race as apposed to say the 2 hr ride you have time for everyday, these "2nd order" muscles are the ones that slow you down, they get tired/hurt. Meanwhile the 1st order muscles are still going fine. So by targeting these 2nd order muscles with some form of "cross training" you can strengthen them independently of the "1st order" muscles.

In my pleb opinion.

[Mudsimus]

I'm one of those cyclist that prefers to ride my bike year in and out. But i've found that if I take a week off before I start with a base program and do some crosstraining, I go into my training better mentally prepared and rested.

[Mudsimus]

On the dot SARA.. Thats exactly what happens. Its all about overall body conditioning,especially if you do MTB.

[bruce]

 

2 c again. I'm no expert' date=' this is personal observation...

So when you are cycling there are a bunch of muscles doing the majority of the work. Then there are a bunch of muscles doing a little bit less work but they are still important. These lets say "2nd order" muscles operate fine over a shorter training period, however if you do a 4/5 hour race as apposed to say the 2 hr ride you have time for everyday, these "2nd order" muscles are the ones that slow you down, they get tired/hurt. Meanwhile the 1st order muscles are still going fine. So by targeting these 2nd order muscles with some form of "cross training" you can strengthen them independently of the "1st order" muscles.

In my pleb opinion.

[/quote']

 

Agreed, but remember the following - those 2nd order muscles, things like your core etc, are becoming fatigued by doing something for 4 - 5 hours.  Now to improve them for that task, your would need to recreate the same fatigue etc and cross-train them for 4 - 5 hours.  They are not in the same fatigued state when you walk into gym fresh from a good nights sleep.

 

If you were to ride for 4 - 5 hours, then those muscles would also improve.

 

 

[SARA]

absolutely, if you have 4-5 hours to ride everyday.

[bruce]

 

I'm one of those cyclist that prefers to ride my bike year in and out. But i've found that if I take a week off before I start with a base program and do some crosstraining' date=' I go into my training better mentally prepared and rested. [/quote']

 

Mental state has a significant role to play in training and racing performance.  If doing some cross-training improves your mental state because you have become stale etc then sure, no one can argue that.

 

[Mudsimus]

I wont say your core muscles are second order muscles. In cycling most of your power are indirectly generated in the core. But agreed...this is something 90% of cyclist lack...core strengh. Core exercises ie pilaties,swimming..are also  forms of crosstraining.