Can Riding Up Hills Be Considered Strength Training?

[Over50Newbie]

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

[Crankin]

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.

[Eden]

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.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

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

[OakLeaf]

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.

[Crankin]

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.

[alpinerabbit]

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.

[Crankin]

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

[Velobambina]

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.

[OakLeaf]

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".

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.

[Grog]

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

:S

[Eden]

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!

[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

[Raindrop]

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.

[Eden]

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

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....