Hello, I’ve recently started cycling to work, primarily for convenience and money reasons.
My question may sound stupid so apologies if so,but will 6-8 miles of moderate cycling a day affect my lifting progress? There aren’t any massively steep hills but I work up a moderate sweat during the journey to and from.
I thought it may help improve my strength and flexibility, primarily in legs and lower back.
Thoughts?
Not at all. You’ll be fine.
Understand that training should be part of life, not your entire life.
Thanks, Jim
[quote]Pat_Pantera wrote:
Hello, I’ve recently started cycling to work, primarily for convenience and money reasons.
My question may sound stupid so apologies if so,but will 6-8 miles of moderate cycling a day affect my lifting progress? There aren’t any massively steep hills but I work up a moderate sweat during the journey to and from.
I thought it may help improve my strength and flexibility, primarily in legs and lower back.
Thoughts? [/quote]
6-8 miles a day won’t have any impact whatsoever on your lifting, more so if there are no steep hills during your run/commute.
Endurance cycling with hill climbs on the other hand…
I took that up during a bout of tennis elbow and ended up looking like I had stomach cancer.
[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
I took that up during a bout of tennis elbow and ended up looking like I had stomach cancer.
[/quote]
Do you mean you lost lots of weight?
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[quote]theBird wrote:
[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
I took that up during a bout of tennis elbow and ended up looking like I had stomach cancer.
[/quote]
Do you mean you lost lots of weight?
tweet[/quote]
Yes, mostly in the form of muscle
[quote]Pat_Pantera wrote:
Hello, I’ve recently started cycling to work, primarily for convenience and money reasons.
My question may sound stupid so apologies if so,but will 6-8 miles of moderate cycling a day affect my lifting progress? There aren’t any massively steep hills but I work up a moderate sweat during the journey to and from.
I thought it may help improve my strength and flexibility, primarily in legs and lower back.
Thoughts? [/quote]
Before I started lifting at the end of 2010 I had been a competitive bicycle racer from 1990-2005 training and racing 20-25 hours per week. I was skinny as hell at 165-175# at 6’1". The amount of riding you mention is nothing more than a nice warmup once you get fit for cycling. This won’t really apply to you but serious training for cycling will probably give you low bone density and a bunch of muscle imbalances. In college before I started riding I could bench 185 for at least 3 sets of 8 reps without any recent training. At the height of my cycling I could barely bench 135 but I could easily leg press over a grand going past 90º.
Thanks for the replies, guys.
Jnorton, do you do any cycling now?
[quote]Pat_Pantera wrote:
Thanks for the replies, guys.
Jnorton, do you do any cycling now? [/quote]
Not really. It’s for kind of a funny reason though. I’m about 45lbs heavier now than when I was racing and my old race bikes have a weight limit on the frames or components. I went for a ride a couple months ago and my poor bike was creaking and flexing. I mainly just ride the lifecycle at the gym now. The only reason I quit was my wife and I had a kid and I couldn’t justify being gone all the time. I got bored after a while and thought I’d try getting big and strong and it’s only taking 5-6 hours a week.
[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
[quote]theBird wrote:
[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
I took that up during a bout of tennis elbow and ended up looking like I had stomach cancer.
[/quote]
Do you mean you lost lots of weight?
tweet[/quote]
Yes, mostly in the form of muscle
[/quote]
Were you eating enough? Do you still cycle? Did you enjoy cycling?
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in my experience cycling will definitely drop a lot of weight off of you, similar to running. About 2 years ago i was riding a couple hundred miles a week, not competitively, just because i enjoy it and it gave me hours at a time to sweat it out and let my mind wander. At that time i was 6’ about 176-180, and doing circuit training to compliment my riding(read, VERY little heavy lifting).
I was weak, and didnt like it as i had lifted previously in college. SO i started riding less and hitting the gym more, and started CF combined with 5/3/1 at the beginning of this year. I sit right at 200 right now, carry much more muscle, am much stronger and feel better about the way i look honestly. Ive had a bunch of people at work notice and comment how much better i look with some muscle on me, and clothes just plan look better on people with muscles.
Long story i know, but the jist is i still ride once every week or so with friends and just to unwind a little. It IS a good bit different experience however, even though im stronger i also weigh 20lbs more, and my “strength endurance” i would call it is down from not riding 3-4 hours several times a week.
^ that was at you Bird.
To the OP, that amount of cycling round trip wont affect you in the least, even on leg days. It will basically count for your warmup before hitting the weights.
Thanks for the input,guys
I’m not a serious biker or in great shape, but 15-20 miles the day before leg days doesn’t seem to effect me much. My wrists and elbows bother me more than my legs, but that’s just handlebar set-up. If I bike the night after hitting legs over lunch, I’m not as sore. Also helps with recovery the day after leg day. I think biking is nice compliment to weights. A little fresh air and easy conditioning. We have nice trails around here that usually have a little talent in spandex to look at, which can’t hurt testosterone levels.
When I read this thread title I immediately thought elephant juice. My bad, obviously
[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
When I read this thread title I immediately thought elephant juice. My bad, obviously[/quote]
Youre not the only one