Can Riding Up Hills Be Considered Strength Training?

I live in New England where I can't go out on a bike ride without hitting hills. No matter where I go from my house, it is always hilly!

As I was huffing and puffing up a hill today (clearly in my anaerobic zone) with my quads screaming at me to stop, I realized that my muscles felt the same way as when I weight train. It was like being on a quadricep machine in the gym and working my quads to failure.

So, I was just wondering...

When you ride up a hill, is that like lifting weights at the gym?

And does that mean that biking is not only an aerobic activity, but also a strength building activity (like lifting weights)?

Thanks to all of you expert cyclists for all your expert advice.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I didn't stop today while going up that "killer hill" - I hung in there, even though my legs were killing me. :)

Yea Me!

Lynette

Unfortunately, it is not. You just aren't stressing your bones enough (muscles, yes). I am in a similar situation as you; living in New England, in a place where there is little flat riding. Those hills are tough, but they are not building bone density. In fact, there's research that shows many cyclists actually lose bone density because of all of the sweating, with no impact.
Not good for someone like me, who already has osteopenia. Weights, Pilates, hiking, maybe yoga will do it.

You've addressed an important topic, but I'm not sure you've answered the question the OP asked..... Climbing hills can be a strength building exercise - its just not a weight bearing one. My coach has me do big gear low cadence hill climbs for strength building and I can attest it works. It may not build my bone density, but it sure does build my muscles.

I alternate between biking and brisk fitness walking. The walking gets some weight bearing exercise in.

Climbing (or sprinting) out of the saddle is weight bearing (besides being strength building). It's still non-impact and less than full body weight (some is always in your hands and the other leg), so it's not much use for building bones, but it has all the other benefits of weight bearing exercise.

Exactly. It's weight bearing for muscles, but I wouldn't count on it to help with bone density. Believe, I know. No matter how many 15% grades I've climbed, the bones are still thinning. Well, until I started medical intervention.
Yes, my legs are stronger, but the bones aren't.

:confused:

Begging to differ, I don't see where weight lifting, pilates, yoga differ from cycling in terms of building bone strength, as they equally do not have "impact".

It definitely builds muscle. hell yes. They won't pump up as much - they will first get lean and efficient - and of course it will be limited to your legs - but you build calorie-burning meat.

maybe for the bones, MTB'ing would do it. Or riding cobblestones.

The research I have read says that mountain biking is slightly positive for building bone density, but you still need to do weight lifting!

Agree with Robin and Lisa. Adding weight training and some weight bearing exercise, like walking, running, etc. are essential to keeping your bone health.
Riding hills will make your muscles stronger but you also risk muscle imbalances (been there, don't want to go there again). Also, upper body and core strength is important.

Lynette, good job making it up that hill. By the way, it gets easier, just keep at it. :)

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Originally Posted by alpinerabbit

:confused:

Begging to differ, I don't see where weight lifting, pilates, yoga differ from cycling in terms of building bone strength, as they equally do not have "impact".

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When you do exercises like leg presses, step-ups and squats (that stress the legs, pelvis and spine), you're lifting more than your body weight, so the bones get slightly compressed. When you do upper body work with free weights in a standing position, then your spine and legs are again supporting significantly more than your body weight. Just like muscle, the way you build bone is by slightly breaking down what you already have, so your body builds it back stronger.

With yoga, you're doing body weight only, and with Pilates if you use resistance it's not a lot, plus it generally isn't along the length of the spine or legs. Same thing with upper body work in a weight machine (that is, it can be a lot, but you're not using legs or spine). So your bones don't get stressed beyond what they do in "real life." That's the difference.

So are pushups not weight bearing? (since you're only pushing your own weight up?)

:S

Here's a nice description of lots of activities and how they fit in the continuum
http://www.nof.org/prevention/exercise.htm

I don't think anything that is non-impact has a lot of effect on building bone density - but it all has other benefits including better balance and increased muscle tone, which both help to prevent bone breakage too. So no, cycling up hills, yoga, pilates, pushups and weight lifting do not build bone mass, but all can be useful for your overall health and for preventing the falls that cause fractures. Having strong muscles can help to protect weak bones!

That website said weight lifting and exercises using your body weight DO build up bones, so perhaps you meant to say something else there?

Karen

In addition to being a cyclist, I'm also a personal trainer and indoor cycling instructor, and I often tell the people in my cycling classes that if they're using cycling as their main aerobic exercise, to add weight training....if they don't do enough of that, there are some studies that suggest jumping up and down 50 times daily (landing lightly) is enough to increase bone density, particularly in the hip region.

However, if there is any chance that you have osteoperosis, osteopenia or any other issues affecting the knees, hips or lower back...check with your physician before doing this.

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

That website said weight lifting and exercises using your body weight DO build up bones, so perhaps you meant to say something else there?

Karen

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No, my reading of the web site was that the 2 types of exercise that build bones are high impact and low impact exercises. The other types are good for you, but don't necessarily build bones in a significant way. I may very well have interpreted it incorrectly and be wrong about that. They say 2, don't tell you which ones and then follow it with descriptions for 4 types of exercise....

Wow, I guess this wasn't an easy question to answer after all!

Now let's see if I have this right:

• Bicycling up a hill will help build muscle strength, but not help increase bone density.

• But having strong muscles will help protect my bones, help my balance, and will help against bone breakage in a fall.

• I need to make sure that if I have strong quadriceps, I also need to balance that out by building strength in my hamstrings.

• And, like Grog, I also want to know if push-ups are considered a weight bearing exercise? And if the answer is no, then why are squats considered weight bearing? And what about pull-ups? All of these are done without weights - but you are lifting your own body weight. Are these exercises in the "resistance exercises" category? And, if so, does that mean that they help increase bone density, but just not as much as lifting weights?

And Velobambina, thanks for the encouragement. I do find that as I continue to do hills, they get a little easier each time! :)

Thanks everyone,

Lynette

Yes, the website wasn't very precise.

But I've seen over and over on this forum how we should lift weights because cycling does nothing for our bones. It's interesting. It leads me to think once again that as long as I do something every day, that's better than nothing, and variety is the spice of life!

(I'm glad those 100 jumping jacks have been doing something for my bones!)

Karen

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Originally Posted by Over50Newbie

And, like Grog, I also want to know if push-ups are considered a weight bearing exercise?

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Definitely! You're lifting your body weight with each push-up, otherwise they wouldn't be so hard.

"Weight-bearing" and "resistance" are two different things.

Cycling in the saddle, and doing upper-body work in a weight machine, are non-weight bearing, because you're not bearing your weight. Simple as that. Your weight is supported by a seat. But they're both resistance exercises, because you're using your extremities to push more than their own weight (excepting of course motorpacing and downhill intervals). The amount of resistance while cycling can be very small (spinning on the flats) or larger (pushing big gears up hill and/or into the wind) - maybe one of the engineers here can explain how to calculate the amount of torque we apply to the pedals.

Push-ups I suppose are technically weight-bearing because you're supporting your own weight. But I'm not sure why you're asking?? (i.e. what difference it makes) Because I've always heard the phase "weight-bearing" applied to activities where your weight is borne naturally through your spine, pelvis and legs. I would guess that push-ups would help strengthen the arm and wrist bones - since they're supporting considerably more weight than they do in a standing position - and so, help protect against arm and wrist fractures in a fall.

Pull-ups are not weight-bearing, because the bar, not your body, is supporting your weight against gravity. Neither of them are resistance exercises, because you're not adding anything to your body weight (unless you're Yellow or somebody like that who does pull-ups with weights attached and push-ups with someone sitting on your back). Just because they're body weight exercises doesn't mean they have to be easy!

Weight lifting in a weight-bearing position does build bone by the simple fact that it compresses and stresses the bones. That's why heavy people are at very low risk for osteoporosis. But you've got to be lifting enough weight, and supporting it through the spine, to significantly compress and stress the bones. A million reps of 5# lateral raises won't do your spine much good. 50# squats definitely will, either on the Smith machine (safer), in a squat rack (both safer and more natural) or with free weights (please use spotters!).

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Originally Posted by Over50Newbie

Bicycling up a hill will help build muscle strength, but not help increase bone density.

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True.

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Originally Posted by Over50Newbie

But having strong muscles will help protect my bones, help my balance, and will help against bone breakage in a fall.

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False! Balance exercises are a whole 'nother category - definitely low speed drills on the bicycle are good for your balance, but to protect against falls from a standing/walking position, you should do balance drills on one foot, because the proprioceptive muscles involved in balancing on a bicycle - and the ones that you use to correct your position when you're out of balance - are largely different from the ones you use standing/walking. And muscle strength alone won't do anything to prevent bones from breaking when they're subjected to an impact.

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Originally Posted by Over50Newbie

I need to make sure that if I have strong quadriceps, I also need to balance that out by building strength in my hamstrings.

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True - and that's not just true for those muscles, but for all the opposing muscle groups in your body. Biceps/triceps; calves/shins; chest/uper back; abs/low back; dorsal forearms/ventral forearms. It's also true within muscle groups - the quadriceps obviously is a group of four muscles; the hamstrings is technically known as the biceps femoris, a two-headed muscle; and it's important to avoid muscle imbalances within those muscle groups by doing a variety of exercises. Imbalances within the quadriceps often go hand in hand with knee trouble. I remember someone on here (Mr. Silver?) was having shoulder trouble because of imbalances in the deltoids. For examples.

HTH .... now, you want to get into open vs. closed chain exercises? And which category of those cycling falls into, and when? :rolleyes: :D

Wow, you guys (gals) just know all this stuff! No, not being facetious. I'm impressed and happy to tap in.

Um, can walking or running up 6 flights of stairs a couple of times a day be considered enough weight-bearing exercise to help against osteoporosis? I cycle enough that I don't really want to spend my time doing leg exercises if I can help it, and the other stuff I enjoy doing and training for (rock climbing, kayak paddling) doesn't help. I lift a little weights but usually concentrate on light weights and many reps. And I find running such a bore... I used to love aerobic or dance classes but I don't have the time anymore, so I was thinking of skipping the elevator at work instead.

When I think of weight lifting, I never think of using machines. I think of free weights, because that's what I use. That's why I have been confused.

My weight lifting routine works on strength, balance and bone health, because I do it standing and most of them are on one leg.

Karen

I am learning so much from this thread!

Oakleaf, your explanation was really clear - thank you!

Lynette

This is a great thread and I feel I really have nothing to add... Velo, Oak, Eden are women who really know their coaching/training stuff.

But, I do have a question. Yesterday I tried something new. I was doing reps of a false flat outside our house and instead of pushing a big gear "up" the false flat, I put it in my 50-11 and stood all the way "up", and then "spun" to come back"down.

So standing on 1km incline in a big gear - that would be weight bearing to some extent, wouldn't it?

(Yes, after doing 4km standing like that, my legs are tired this morning)

Riding out of the saddle is weight-bearing to some extent, as you said, but I doubt it's enough to build bone density.

Interesting journal article addressing this issue (study was for males, but I think we can still get some good stuff from it):

Medline Abstract
SE Warner, JM Shaw, and GP Dalsky

Bone mineral density of competitive male mountain and road cyclists.
Bone, 2002 30: [Abstract] [Full Text]
Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0920, USA. s.warner@m.cc.utah.edu

The purpose of this study was to compare the bone mineral density (BMD) of two types of trained male cyclists (n = 30) with recreationally active men (n = 15), aged 20-40 years. Sixteen of the cyclists regularly trained for, and competed in, cross-country mountain bike races. The other 14 cyclists trained and raced on the road. The cyclists had trained an average of 11 +/- 3 hours per week for 8 +/- 4 years. Fifteen recreationally active men volunteered as controls. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to assess BMD of the proximal femur, lumbar spine, and total body. Anthropometric, muscle strength and power, aerobic fitness, and sex hormone data assessments were conducted on all participants. Mountain cyclists were younger and weighed less than road cyclists and controls. BMD at all sites was comparable among the three groups (p > 0.05). When adjusted for body weight and controlled for age, BMD was significantly higher at all sites in the mountain cyclists compared with the road cyclists and controls. Some anthropometric, physical fitness, and sex steroid variables were predictive of BMD, but of these variables, only total body weight, total body fat, and aerobic fitness were different between the groups. In conclusion, endurance road cycling does not appear to be any more beneficial to bone health than recreational activity in apparently healthy men of normal bone mass. Higher BMD in the mountain cyclists suggests that mountain cycling may provide an osteogenic stimulus that is not inherent to road cycling. [emphasis added]

So if you hate lifting weights and running (i.e. me), would cardio kick-boxing be consider strength training? There's a lot of jumping, skipping rope involved. If that's the case, I would imagine dancing be similar?

I can see why road cycling wouldn't do much for weight-bearing training and might even cause problems in muscle imbalance. At least with mtn. biking, there's more lateral movement.