Vittel Posted September 25, 2007 Share Okay, so these might seem like silly questions but lets give it a try. Had anyone ridden their bicycle while being a smoker then stopped smoking and noticed a differance? According to studies in the US, divers that smoke use less air from their tanks as their bodies have acclimitised to getting less oxygen. Does smoking really hamper your performance that much? Secondly, what does on use a powermeter for? You train, you see the power....but then what. Can one structure a training programme around the power you push out or is this more of a gimmick. Thirdly I just bought a cadence meter, what would you say is the optimal cadence for riding, i found i am comfortable between 65-75.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witrot Posted September 25, 2007 Share The experts around here can answer the questions.But a candence of 65-75, wow. Did that in the old days, but was not very effecient. Now i enjoy a candence of 99-104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fandacious Posted September 25, 2007 Share According to studies in the US' date=' divers that smoke use less air from their tanks as their bodies have acclimitised to getting less oxygen. Does smoking really hamper your performance that much? [/quote'] are you serious? Do you really want comment on this? or are you just pulling our leg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruxpearl Posted September 25, 2007 Share Nahhh, he's just pulling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vittel Posted September 25, 2007 Share Sadly, I am serious. I know smoking is bad for you, but will stopping really make a huge diff. on a bicycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delgado Posted September 25, 2007 Share from experience mate......the difference is night and day!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted September 25, 2007 Share sadly started rooking again after a bit of a layoff. definitely makes a difference. climbing in particular. do divers put in that much aerobic execise under water. woulda thought you'd move fairly slowly to conserve as much oxygen as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cocaine Posted September 25, 2007 Share Well, ask yourself why none of the top riders smoke... oxygen is one of the most important things required to cycle well... hence the reason EPO has become cyclings drug of choice...Mechanically I believe they reckon the most efficient cadence should be around 60, but for cycling its actually closer to 90 in practise... however that is just what the "experts" say... Through experience I have learnt that the best advice is usually to just do what comes naturally to you... if you feel comfortable riding a cadence of 75rpm then by all means continue riding that cadence... ever since Lance Armstrong every keeps hammering on about how good high cadence is, but what is good for one rider is not always good for another...my 2c worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vittel Posted September 25, 2007 Share Okay so the smoking issue has been cleared. Next, why do cyclist have such low muscle mass. If you take someone who is 60Kg with a bodyfat of 10% and max power of 2hp. Then take someone who works out at gym and weighs 100kg with a bodyfat of 10% and say a max power of 5hp. With this they would have roughly the same power to weight ratio, which would mean the big guy is safe on the climbs but on the flats he should ride away from the smaller guy??? Please understand i am asking these questions to learn so please dont be rude Vittel2007-09-25 10:57:58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumpole Posted September 25, 2007 Share You're right - the big powerful guys do ride away from the small guys in a timetrial. In a race it is difficult for them to lose the little buggers because they hide in the slipstream behind them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishj9 Posted September 25, 2007 Share You're right - the big powerful guys do ride away from the small guys in a timetrial. In a race it is difficult for them to lose the little buggers because they hide in the slipstream behind them! yes..until the big powerful guys decide to storm through an unsurfaced road on 53*13 like it was the Forest of Arenberg ( Roubaix). Then all the light little skinny buggers get bounced around like crazy, so that they have no strength or inclination left to attack on Malanshoogte or even Vissers!! hehe Then the big powerful guys go on to win and they laugh at the skinny little wheelsuckers when they come home ten minutes down....hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted September 25, 2007 Share You're right - the big powerful guys do ride away from the small guys in a timetrial. In a race it is difficult for them to lose the little buggers because they hide in the slipstream behind them!yes..until the big powerful guys decide to storm through an unsurfaced road on 53*13 like it was the Forest of Arenberg ( Roubaix). Then all the light little skinny buggers get bounced around like crazy' date=' so that they have no strength or inclination left to attack on Malanshoogte or even Vissers!! heheThen the big powerful guys go on to win and they laugh at the skinny little wheelsuckers when they come home ten minutes down....hehe[/quote'] not geting caught at a railway crossing also helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cocaine Posted September 25, 2007 Share Cyclists are continuously breaking their bodies down and as a result tend not to build muscle as such... When you have a particularly strenuous ride your body starts to break down muscle as a form of fuel (which is called muscle catabolism)... this makes it even more difficult for your body to build muscle...Why is a big body builder not going to make a good cyclist... well body builders tend to build a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers which are good for short high intensity bursts... so even though a body builder could produce loads of power he wouldn't be able to sustain it that long... as we know cycling is an endurance sport... which is probably why the big guys usually make good sprinters for the last 200m of a race... its also probably why cycling is suited to guys with smaller builds with more slow twitch muscle fibers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted September 25, 2007 Share Cyclists are continuously breaking their bodies down and as a result tend not to build muscle as such... What you are describing here is muscular hypertrophy - which is actually what body builders do - they break down muscle fibres' date=' which grow back to be bigger. When you have a particularly strenuous ride your body starts to break down muscle as a form of fuel (which is called muscle catabolism)... this makes it even more difficult for your body to build muscle... This is why it is important to ensure that you consume enough carbohydrate - so that you minimise this effect. Using muscle as a fuel source is your body's last resort after glycogen and fat. Why is a big body builder not going to make a good cyclist... well body builders tend to build a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers which are good for short high intensity bursts... so even though a body builder could produce loads of power he wouldn't be able to sustain it that long... as we know cycling is an endurance sport... which is probably why the big guys usually make good sprinters for the last 200m of a race... its also probably why cycling is suited to guys with smaller builds with more slow twitch muscle fibers... Our muscle fiber composition is largely genetic, which predisposes us to certain types of exercise. A body builder is pre-disposed, i.e. he already has a high percentage of fast twitch. An endurance athlete has a large percentage slow-twitch genetically. There are three types of fibres Type I, Type IIa, and Type IIb (they have re-classified these but I can't recall the new classifications). Depending on the type of exercise, Type IIa's can exhibit the behaviour of fast twitch or slow twitch, i.e. they adapt. But overall, muscle composition is what we are born with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cocaine Posted September 25, 2007 Share My point with regards breaking down of muscle was not refering to typical workouts that a body builder does. A body builder will never work out the same muscles 2 days in a row... where as it is nothing special for a cyclist to do 5 or 6 hours a day meaning that the muscles never get a chance to "build"... Okay, your explanation with regards muscle fibres is far better then mine The information about Type IIa's is interesting, definitely gonna read up a bit more on that... thanks. My point although incorrectly made was just that big guys with loads of fast twitch muscle fibres aren't suited to endurance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted September 26, 2007 Share My point with regards breaking down of muscle was not refering to typical workouts that a body builder does. A body builder will never work out the same muscles 2 days in a row... where as it is nothing special for a cyclist to do 5 or 6 hours a day meaning that the muscles never get a chance to "build"... What I am saying is that cyclists do not apply enough force per repitition to induce hypertrophy - i.e. cyclists muscles do not actually break down during riding' date=' and hence they don't grow bigger. When a body builder does maximal force repititions to the point of failure, hypertrophy occurs which is why the bodybuilder should not train the same muscle group repetatively within a short period of time. Okay, your explanation with regards muscle fibres is far better then mine The information about Type IIa's is interesting, definitely gonna read up a bit more on that... thanks. My point although incorrectly made was just that big guys with loads of fast twitch muscle fibres aren't suited to endurance Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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