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Thread: Benefits of cycling?

  1. #171
    Headmaster Grouse's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    Rob Jebb? Who's he?
    Tao begets one. One begets two. Two begets all things.

  2. #172
    Master nikalas's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    I'd read back through the thread from the beginning... sure we've been over this before.

  3. #173

    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    a question, for you more experienced cyclists out there: do the legs ever stop hurting? I mean I know I'm a novice, but as far as I can see if you're pushing it, your legs will always hurt, no matter how fit you are. Is that pain in the quads just part of cycling that you have to tolerate? Cos it's worse than anything I've had running.

    It maybe cos a) I don't ride enough cos I'm still doing a lot of running and b) I don't do any long, steady endurance rides - they are either all-out 45min threshold / interval sessions, or hard 90min rides.
    Last edited by ZootHornRollo; 10-03-2011 at 05:26 PM.

  4. #174
    Member Axeman's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    Thanks for the replies, they a very helpful.
    Zoothornrollo, having being a cyclist before a runner I have the oposite to you where running gives me various leg pains but cycling doesn't.
    I have never had a cycling related injury in all my years(apart from when falling off) but as soon as I started running they came thick and fast, mainly because of my fitness level I had the energy to run all day but my muscles had different ideas, but that was my fault for going too far too soon.

    So moving on from my earlier question, could I substitute some of my running for cycling. My next event is The Fellsman and I am alternating between 75 miles and 45-55 miles a week.

  5. #175
    Master nikalas's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    This is what I wrote on the subject on a different thread


    In simplistic terms it all boils down to the one of the three basic rules of training:

    1) Progression
    2) Overload
    3) Specificity

    (some folks also like to add recovery)

    This states the very obvious fact that the best training for a particular activity is doing that activity. Therefore, for a healthy runner, cycling can never be a 100% satisfactory substitute. Muscle recruitment, impact etc are all very different. However, for an injured runner (especially an impact related injury) cycling can be ideal for keeping the CV system working effectively and maintaining muscular strength/endurance.

    Where cycling can also be useful is to supplement running training. it is possible to add cycling training to increase training volume but without the associated risk of injury of ramping up the running mileage. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of it being very effective for improving climbing strength in particular. Personally, I often use an easy road spin as a recovery session from a hard/long run on the previous day and always find it to be beneficial.

    Any form of cross-training (including weights etc) therefore will not have as much direct benefit to your chosen activity as actually doing it. However, and this is the best reason for including a variety of cross training activities, they will make you more robust. Because of the very specific demands of any sport, your body become very strong through the required range of movements of it. But, for movements outside of this range, it can really be quite pathetic. This is why many "sports injuries" are often traced back to events/stressors outside of the sport... sitting badly, picking up a child or kicking a football. I recently talked to a sports physio who worked with the GB canoe squad and their training motto was "robust or bust". This referred to the broad range of cross training activities to supplement the specific canoeing work.

    Triathletes and Duathletes will always tend to bias their training to favour cycling volume. Long course triathletes (Ironman) will often ride longer in training than the 4-6 hours required in a race but will very rarely run for any longer than 2-2.5 hours (a sub 3 hour marathon at the end of an Ironman is pretty tasty). The main reasons for this are not that cycling is the best all round training or that cycling transfers to running but not vice versa. It's simply that 1) the bike leg is the longest and so will yield the greatest potential time gains. 2) The stronger you can get off the bike the better you will run. 3) Longs runs of more than 2-2.5 hours will not give you satisfactory fitness returns relative to the increased risk of injury.

    OK... hypothetical time. Take an elite road cyclist and an elite road/track runner (as opposed to fell) and get them to swap disciplines. Who would perform better assuming neither had any previous experience/training in the others sport. We'd get the runner to do a flat 40km time-trial on the bike and the cyclist to run a flat 10km road run (although the run time would be shorter both events require working at a similar CV intensity). We'd then swap them back to their specialist sport and make comparisons. Well, this has been done a few times, and the consistent result is that the cyclist comes out on top. The usual reports back from the athletes are that the runner on the bike felt his heart/lungs were absolutely fine but he lacked the leg strength and that, although the cyclist running felt fine during, he was in tatters the next day. The runner lacked the muscular strength to push the big gear required for a fast 40km and the cyclist's muscles had never been exposed to repetitive impact before.... specificity.

    What hasn't been tested, as far as I'm aware, is the same protocol but with a fell runner rather than a road runner. My prediction is that it'd be a much closer run thing because of the greater leg strength required for fell running. Again fell running has very specific demands. So a trained road runner wouldn't necessarily perform on the fells and vice versa.

    Finally, don't ignore or discount personal experience. if it works for you stick with it. I've found that, for me, single-speed mountain biking compliments fell running well so that's what I do.

  6. #176
    Master nikalas's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    Hi Chris,

    Wasn't Trafford Park it was St Helens.... www.theendurancecoach.com

    Good to see you back on here,

    Nik

  7. #177
    Member Axeman's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    Thanks for that.
    So after a three month lay of cycling I started riding to work again this week. I have always been the sort of cyclist who pushes hard gears at a slower cadence. But trying to do that early this week I had lost most of my strength i this area. After reading back through some of the posts on this thread, today I went with easy gears and a high cadence and I was flying along, even making extremely light work of the hills. After some hard running this week my legs were feeling pretty stiff, but after my ride today they feel like new legs. So I wont replace my running with cycling but I will keep doing it as an extra.

  8. #178
    Senior Member Tuffer's Avatar
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    Re: Benefits of cycling?

    Had recent calf and foot injuries so running was not possible, walking okay, reverted to cycling was able to train pain free essentially. Whilst its not specific enough to do solely for fell/hill running the cardio and leg work meant the return to running was easier and fitness loss was less.
    Tuffer

    Is enjoying the running

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