Fifty Plus (50+) - Working Out In The Gym

How many of us work out in the gym to improve our cycling? There's only so much I can do on
the bike. Going to the gym has improved my cycling, less neck and shoulder pain, stronger
legs, more stamina.

May I ask what kind of exercises you do? Thanks!

I only get out on the bike on Sunday so get down the gym twice a week to improve/maintain what fitness I have. Bike ride is normally 25 to 30 miles offroad over around 3 hours, and normally leaves me quite shatterred afterwards.

Gym is done Tuesday and Thursday, and normally consists of the same routine,

10 minutes on a recumbent to get warmed up at a level that gets HR up to around 130 and breathing hard.

20 minutes walking on a treadmill at 7 kph on a hill routine that is mainly interval training.
In fact all of the routines are the same hill that gives me one minute of a progressive hill and 1 minute at a lower level. HR generraly gets up to around 150 by the end and I am quite comfortable but know I am working.

20 minutes on the bike doing the same hill but one level higher. Hr will get to 150 quickly and I try to maintain this HR

Finally 20 minutes on the crosstrainer where I do the same hill one level higher again, and by the end I do know that I have been working.

Then I go into the weights room and mainly do leg exercises and do repetitions. 20 at a weight that I initially find comfortable, but start to strain with at the end.

Then the best bit which is 30 minutes Sauna, just to relax.

In a few weeks time, I shall be swopping the thursday night to a 1 hour spinning class, and that will be after a 30 minute warm up

Does it work? YES.

I have only been on this programme for 11 weeks now, and the test I did last week shows that HR has dropped at the test level and the Maximum weight I can pull or push on the legs has gone up by 85 to 110%, depending on the group of muscles I am working, And I can spend longer in the sauna.

Only problem is afterwards as I have to replace the 600 odd calories I have lost so is it going to be a Kebab or a curry.

I work out in the gym (my home gym and the "real" gym) regularly, have for years. But, it is not specifically to improve my bicycling. It is for overall fitness, to prevent osteoporosis and because I thoroughly enjoy weight lifting, etc. and like to see how much I can improve my strength and body through the weight lifting and resistance exercises. Sort of a competition with myself. I love to lift "Heavy" and push myself really hard to near failure. I do low reps and heavy (for me) weights.

My home gym includes a bicycle trainer and training videos, etc. I use the "Body for Life" protocols, among others. One of the best "bicycling" exercises at the gym is the back extensions machine, which I do at the full 300 pounds max. It is GREAT for my lower back, and helps with my riding a lot. I do a lot of "Abs" exercises at home, but don't have the right equipment for really good lower back exercises, hence the gym!

On the home bicycle trainer, I have variable resistance, and do "standing up" pedaling to a high resistance.

My home gym:

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/wtroom.jpg

May I ask what kind of exercises you do? Thanks!
I belong to the YMCA. They have free weights and weight machines. Normally do lat pulls,
shoulder presses, abdominals curls, tricep extensions, seated rows, innner and outer thigh
machines, overhead press,back extensions,bicep curls, I normally don't do any knee extensions or knee
presses because I don't want to hyper extend my knee.

I work out in the gym (my home gym and the "real" gym) regularly, have for years. http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/wtroom.jpg
Wow, you're home gym is mighty impressive! Good for you!

Well, Marge, you got me on this one.

I don't work out although I probably should: a while back, on a whim, I decided to impress my wife by doing some chin-ups. Hilarity ensued :lol: . The last time I'd tried to do a chin-up, I was 40 years younger and 100 pounds lighter--and I assure you that the 100 extra pounds is not all ( :rolleyes: ) muscle mass.

Since then, I've intensified my training regimen of 12-oz curls :beer: .

I do weights to supplement my cycling, to prevent loss of muscle mass in upper body, and in leg muscles such as calves that are not helped by cycling. 2x/week, 1 set each. I also cross train on an elliptical trainer. With it set at an appropriate inclination it feels like out of the saddle climbing. Since the trainer has power and heart rate feedback it's good for doing intervals. I also do about 15 minutes of yoga stretches at night to keep the old bod limber.

While my youngest daughter was still in High School, I worked out at the university where her club swim team practiced. I usually did treadmill, elliptical trainer, stairs, and some yogalates and spinning when I could catch a class. Now that she's away at school, I work out at home on treadmill and elliptical trainer, but less diligently. That's why I started riding again in the fall. I really look forward to riding with group on weekends. Will be focusing more on riding after work as daylight increases, but plan to formalize my in-home training next winter by sticking to set routine, getting some Spinerval dvds and doing some weight training. I'd really like to find a good spinning and core training class nearby too.

I am 60 years old and had by pass 4 1/2 years ago - before than, I did very little conditioning. Now I work out in a cardio rehab gym 3 times a week. I do weights, weight machines and 20-30 minutes on either the elliptical or treadmill to get my heart rate up. I try to bike 2 or 3 days a week.
The gym work is important and goes hand in hand with the biking to keep the body in an overall good shape.
My wife and I went skiing 3 weeks ago. I skied better this trip than I did 20 years ago due the old bod being in better condition.

Joined my local YWCA at the end of February and have been attending Body Pump classes 2-3x a week ever since.

How many of us work out in the gym to improve our cycling? There's only so much I can do on
the bike. Going to the gym has improved my cycling, less neck and shoulder pain, stronger legs, more stamina.

Now about that Gym work-- I have been at the gym twice a week for three months and for the last month have concentrated on building up leg strength. I am now pulling or pushing far higher weights on the leg exercises and so far have been delighted in my improvement. However that is in the gym, and the proof would be when I get out on the bike.

I have not ridden the tandem offroad for about 2 months as the ground has been a little too slippy to chance a fall on what is a very difficult bike to controll. plenty of time to check it over though and new chain and rear cassette has been fitted in preparation for the coming summer. Today I felt the ground would provide just enough grip to make the Tandem safe.
The ride still had plenty of moisture in it but the tandem stayed in control with not too much speed downhill, wait for the solos on the flatter bits, and we were steaming up the hills. Good ride until we were on the way back and I lost two gears on the cassette. thought it was mud, or a stone in the gears, so just carried on. Pity it was the two large sprockets on the cassette we lost but that just meant we had to work harder to enable us to get up the hills. Got home and checking the Tandem-- we have bent the two largest sprockets on the new cassette. Actually bent them.

Gym work does pay off, or it has for me, but I do wish it hadn't hit my wallet for parts that will have to be replaced to get the bike to stand up to my new leg strength

My husband and I both go to the gym 3 days a week, not really to improve our cycling but to improve our overall fitness. He has been going for over 3 years and I have almost completed a year. Some of the leg extension exercises and the leg curl I'm sure have helped my cycling, but over all I'm stronger then I was before when I just worked out at home. I can out do (weight machine wise) just about any woman in the gym (I'm 5'3 - 108 lbs. and 53 years old), that really makes me feel good. We also do a lot of stretching and I have just started some yoga.

For me gyms suck! I hate exercising in-doors; it is always too darn hot, humid, and boring. I ride hills to improve leg-strength, lead a Saturday club ride, do the hard A-ride on Sundays, and have started to commute to work 3-4 days a week.