Originally posted by laura
Do you work your legs with weights? If so, does it have a negative or beneficial effect on your riding? And what exercises do you do? The main reason I go to the weight room is to work my hamstrings and glutes. I ride seven days a week during Spring and Summer but notice these areas are a lot weaker than my quads and calves. If you build some mass there in the off season it will provide a better base for power and endurance and climbing will really improve. Of course I don't ignore the rest of my body and do two upper body workouts (one day biceps, triceps, shoulders and then chest, back and abs) per week and one leg.

I have terrible knees and can't really do lunges so I do wall squats, presses, and hamstring curls. I also do the step machine at two steps up each time. I don't do a hard ride within a day of the workout but will do a flat recovery ride. [/B]
Let me preface my reply with the note that I am a former body builder, former gym rat, and nowadays I have to make myself go inside and workout.
I don't do any weights with lower body. I ski hard and ride hard. I used to do a lot of preseason ski weight training, but since I mountain bike so hard I haven't felt a need for that. If I raced I'd put more thought into that, but I don't race.

Upper body: I concentrate on super setting opposing major muscle groups, and don't really do any isolation work.
chest press, overhead press, seated or bent rows, lat pulldown and upright rowing. Some times I add in some reverse flys but not always. I use free weights as much as possible, working on the core is a plus with free wieghts. Oh, and some ab work.

I'm very much into "functional " fitness. I do the weights for back health and being able to do things like lift my bike up on a rack. I spin for cardio and to maintain bike conditioning over the winter. There's the mental health aspect of a good work out.

laura, I am surprised if your knees give you trouble that you can do a stair climber, they just kill my knees. Spinning or an eliptical are the only things that don't hurt my knees.

Irulan