Training & Nutrition - Am i weird? legs are too strong ;)

No jokes people :D

Seriously though, one thing i noticed when i was out with the club the other day, EVERYONE else was spinning a lot faster than me. When we were cruising, i was in the large rings, and everyone else was in the lower gears.

I seem to have strong, slow legs. At the gym, i can lift huge weights on my legs for a long time, while everyone else cannot match it. Are my legs just geared (pardon the pun) towards strength and not speed? They are pretty huge for someone who is just started the sport, always have been.

On the sprints (25-30mph), i was pretty much in the hardest gear, found it hard to stay that fast for the time we did (8-10 miles), but i enjoyed it.

After thinking about this for a while, instead of lifting heavy weights at the gym, i tried some of the smaller weights, and i pretty much cramped up after a very short time.

I was thinking, what is the best angle of attack for this?, should i work on my low weights, and try spinning faster on the bike for a while to improve on my weaknesses?

Thanks for taking the time to read. :)

Cheers:beer:

First of all, happy birthday! :bday: :fun:

Second, if you want to work on building up the speed, move to lower gears and faster spinning. You seem to have a good amount of fast twitch fibers, since you do train heavy with the weightlifting. Cut back a bit on the weightlifting so your speed work isn't compromised until after the end of the cycling season, and work on developing your spin instead.

I bet if you'd been working on spinning in lower gears, and less on the weights, you would have kept up quite easily with your pals there. As it stands now, your speed is being compromised by your strength training.

I like working with the heavy weights too, but my legs tend to get big pretty fast, just like yours, so I make sure to limit my strength training to light weights in the summer. In the winter, when I'm not cycling as much, the weights go up, and my cycling is not compromised. Consider doing that from now on- increase weights in the winter, and gradually taper off going into the late spring as you increase your cycling.

Over time, you'll notice a marked change in your performance, as your speed will increase over time. Consider doing more tempo training and interval work in the meantime to help you out, and remember- it's lower gears!

Koffee

There are a number of things you need to do. One of the first is to get a book (or a trainer) that will teach you how to do the work. I like The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Indoor and Outdoor Cyclists, but I'm not sure it has one legged pedalling and such. Prob a book on training to race would be better.
Plan on spending some time in the gym over the winter. Once a week, go just a few rpm faster than the week before in a sprint. Do that consistently averaging a 2 rpm increase for about 3 months, and you have a big jump in leg speed. Spinning classes also seem to be conducive to speed; not as much resistance I guess. Or maybe I'm lazy. But it's defintely something you can learn to do.

Thanks!

Yes thats good to hear i can improve on my problem, the gym is not a problem, im there 3 times a week anyway, plus its free to me so thats fine, ill try and ease off the big weights, and try some speed training.

Thanks again people. :)

Yes happy birthday.

I always thought the same of myself - high torque low rpm. And I like lifting heavy weights with my legs. I'd been hearing about this spinning stuff so after my work out I would get on an exercise bike and spin. Has helped a bunch wihout having to stop the lifting - which means when you need to standup and crank up a hill you can do that too.

Joe

Cheers folks. Ill try your suggestions tomorrow, me and a few friends are going out for a 50mile ride. Cant wait! :D

Go to the track and do sprint races! try the kilometer...

what track lol.

I was out on another club run today, 55miles, kept 18-22mph the whole way so i was spinning pretty fast, my legs are dead now. Ill go for a short ride tomorrow, maybe a few sprints.

Cheers

Oh went 45mph today, nice feeling :D

Well generating sustained power on the bike seems to require the ability to produce high RPMS. I recall that Eddie Merkx (sp?) broke the hour record whilst averaging an RPM of 115. Even people who are fond of pushing big gears at low RPMS like Gregg Lemond still ran cadences of around 80.

Think about it. A cyclist is going to do about 30000 reps in a century. How many gym weight lifters do that many reps? They don't.

I have gone cycling with nationally competitive body builders. These guys can handle pretty impressive weights. Maybe not like a power lifter but still quite a bit. And I just waited until we got up around 24 mph and I would look over and see them pushing their big gear and then I would drop them like a hot potato by using RPMS. They just could not turn their legs over that fast. Interesting enough, in a pretty short time, I could get to lifting as much as they did with my legs in the gym - upper body was a whole 'nother story of course. It takes training and miles to develop a good sustained cadence.

Now when I just started out, I had a low cadence. But I discovered that I do better if I run a high cadence. It takes some training for a rider to figure out if they are a spinner or a grinder.

By pushing big gears at low rpms, it stresses more of the muscles which would fatigue sooner. However pedalling at high rpms with lower gears allow more cardiovascular effort which can last for hours.

I can spin fast and smooth, but the problem is that I lack strength in my muscles. I hardly ever use the 53 at the front, prefering to use the 39 instead. I just do not have the strength to push the 53-12 at all, well, I do have the strength but maybe for a couple of revolutions. hehe. Even by using 39-23, I can go at 25kph and my cadence is rather high, didn't bother to count but I know it's high. Hopefully I can get a cadence sensor soon. I have been trying to build up strength in the gym, but too bad the leg press machine is out of order. Instead, I have been trying to climb more hills in order to make up for that. I used to be a grinder though, strangely I had plenty of strength back then, but I didn't quite like it at all. When I heard about spinning at high rpms, I was able to get into it very quickly and started to love it. I guess I prefer spinning.

My dad was laughing at me when he saw me back with the bike in the 39-21 combination. He's only a recreational cyclist who knows little about cycling. He said that I would be looking like a clown spinning so fast in public. I told him that yes, I have seen clowns spinning fast on the bike, but those were totally rocky pedaling technique. Those who can spin smooth and fast are respected compared to "clowns" on bikes.