working out/weight lifting

[caligurl]

i was wondering if any of you work out other than riding your bikes?

i have been doing dvd's at home and love it.. combo of aerobics (step, hi/lo, kickboxing), weight lifting upper and lower body, and circuits.

now that i've taken up cycling i'm wondering what i need to change about my morning workout sessions? i'm assuming the obvious is i will cut way back on the aerobics parts as i get more and more into cycling...

i know the men argue about weights to no end on other forums... but i also have read that the posties workout with weights.. so there has to be benefits or i can't imagine them doing it!

soooo what do YOU all do?

[yogabear]

Hi there caligurl,

I mostly bike (road mainly and some mountain) as well as doing yoga (classes 3-4x week and daily mini sequences). I also like to lift weights, but I tend to lift more in the October-April time period during the off-season (a.k.a winter here in Michigan). In the off-season, I do full-body weight workouts 3x per week with a lot of core muscle type of work. I also ride my indoor trainer with my road bike on it in the offseason. I try to incorporate yoga as well but maybe not as many classes as during the bike race season. During the bike race season, I tend to not lift many weights other than upper body type of stuff.

Cool discussion idea you had...

Happy Ridin',

Lisa

[pedalfaster]

At this stage in my life I don't really think of it as "working out". Being physically active is just...part of who I am, part of my daily routine.

I ride: road, mountain and bike-commute. I run. I walk my dog. I do yoga. I swim. I XC ski.

I know that off-season weight training is great, but I just can't make myself go to a gym. I like to be outside.

[fultzie]

i lift weights (focusing on upper body, but still including some leg work... hamstrings especially) two or three times a week-- two during race season, three in the winter. last winter i also took a yoga class (loved it! helped a ton with tight shoulders and bad bike posture) and swam a few times a week.
this year i really want to take kickboxing- i've heard it's great for your abs and legs. i'll probably take another yoga class, and i was a swimmer before i was a cyclist, so i'll keep swimming too!
a lot of the guys on my team are string beans who don't want to gain pounds because of lifting weights, but they naturally have a higher muscle to fat ratio than women. the other two girls on the team do lift weights, and a number of the guys do too.
i guess that's not really a hard and fast answer, but in my opinion, just staying in good physical shape will help your cycling, however you look at it

[Dogmama]

I'm a huge proponent of weight lifting for women. Muscle is metabolically more active than fat - so the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism is 24/7. Women lose a lot of muscle as they age, and since we generally outlive our mates, we need to be able to hoist grocery bags, walk up stairs, etc. It is important for osteoporosis prevention. I could go on & on.

I lift regularly, albeit less during riding season. I find that I don't make improvements during riding season, so I focus on maintaining what I have. Like others, I concentrate on upper & do some lower, especially hamstrings.

I do supersets - two different exercises, one right after the other. Then I wait one minute (I time it on my HRM watch) & repeat the superset. I'll do that for 3 -4 sets & then move onto my next superset. You can get a bunch done in a short period of time and improve your endurance, since you never really rest. Here is an example (what I did today)

Abs (upper, lower, oblique, one set of each)
Chest pullover and military press
Lat pulldown and tricep pushdown (use the same machine)
Repeat Ab sequence
Incline chest press and reverse side lateral flyes (deltoids & upper back)
Bicep curl on pully machine and ab crunch on same pully machine
Side bicep curl (standing sideways to the machine) and calf raise holding onto handle on same pully machine
Ab sequence

No legs - did a bunch of hillwork this weekend & still sore.

It took exactly one hour.

Supersets are a great way to work on endurance. Wear a walkman with some kick a** music & it's great.

Here is a great website: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html
It has exercise programs and descriptions (with moving pictures!) of the exercises themselves.

[ausgirl]

I totally agree with yogabear about weights "I tend to lift more in the October-April time period during the off-season (a.k.a winter here in Michigan). In the off-season, I do full-body weight workouts 3x per week with a lot of core muscle type of work".

When i work out i do the following exercises sometimes different combinations on different days:
Squats (not assisted), Deadlifts, Leg Press, Leg curls, Calf raises, Lunges, Dumbell press, Lateral db raises, bicep curls, chest press, push downs, chin ups (assisted), tricep dips (assisted), crunches, knee raises

These aren't all on the same day of course or else i would never leave the gym, but it always works the legs, works on core stability and upper body strength.

[maryellen]

Given my schedule and location in NYC, I rarely get the opportunity to ride other than weekends. So I do the cardio thing at the gym 3x during the week (stairmill so I can read while I'm working out!) and try to do weights 2-3x per week. I don't do leg weights on Fridays tho--don't want to tire my legs out for the weekend!