Advice on gym workouts
 

I've returned to biking primarily to get fit, lose weight, and have fun. A month in, and I'm loving it. I ride a low-end mountain bike almost exclusively on pavement, and currently do about ten miles a ride, 4-5x a week. I plan for longer rides on weekends.

I also belong to a gym, but haven't been going. I'm wondering if I would see much benefit from a 2x a week routine. I'm just not a "gym guy" but I could talk myself into 2x in addition to the cycling. I'm thinking of starting with a simple circuit on machines (similar to what Curves does but this is a 24 Hour Fitness gym). Would you agree this is a good way to get started, or should i concentrate on lower or upper body exclusively? Maybe work with free weights instead?

Basically, I'm trying to decide whether to add the gym to my new regimen so any advice would be appreciated. I'm 54, 5'10", 265 pounds.

No one has any advice? :-(

I just started with a personal trainer who is a cyclist, and used to be semi-pro triathalete etc. The gym/company is mainly geared for endurance sports, and uses the "core performance" stuff for the most part. It's all about core strength and preventing common injuries in your sport, so as a cyclist I do lots of hip flexor strengthening, and building the glutes, etc.

Hit your local book store and check out the book, "Core Performance" by Mark Verstegen (spelling fairly close). I've noticed a difference after only a few weeks, and it's way easier to stick with than the usual weight type stuff.

I'm no Gym expert but I guess you have to first identify what you want to achieve. Weight loss that's complements your cycling? Maybe a spinning class or two to help improve endurance. Something that helps with flexibility, core strength and recovery? Try Yoga and pilates.

I ride about 150-250 miles a week (commutes to work + long weekend rides) and I do the above excercises is purely for the above reasons. Well that and it's something my wife and I can do together.

For weights, I believe lower weigh and high reps should help with the toning.

I just try to avoid anything that may make me sore ebefore my rides.

When I started back at the gym I started with a two day routine on machines. One day for upper body and one day for lower body. After doing that for a few months I then wen on to free weights. However, since you are just starting I would suggest sticking to the machines since the machines will help you to keep the correct form and gain strength and then you can move on to free weights if you want. At my gym I got one session with a trainer free when I joined to get me started on my routine, if you can get something like that I would reccommend doing that since they can help you with the proper form and setup on the machines.

you can also do a search or just scan several pages of this forum for lots of ideas and information.

I am lucky enough to have a small gym at my workplace and use it at lunch time. I only work one body part per day and I work mostly on flexibility and toning. So I do moderat weight weight and high reps.

My routine is something like this
Monday Legs, core
Tuesday chest, core
Wednesday back, core
Thursday arms/shoulders, core
Friday - just stretching, core

By core I mean abs and lower back. I only do 1 or 2 excercises per body part and my entire work out is under an hour with warm up, cool- down and stretching.

I also use Friday to lift if I missed any other day during the week. I do not lift on the weekends, just ride.

This seems to be working for me.

Does your gym have instructors or counselors who can help you to formulate a program? I've gotten about 5 programs over the year I've belonged to my gym, and it's really helpful to have a plan handed to me!

I can do a full body routine in about 30-40 minutes, and twice per week is enough for me to notice improvement. It's amazing what strength training can do for you, I highly recommend it unless you have some compelling reason to save all your energy for the bike!

As the others stated core strength is the most important. I focus on the waist up(abs, arms, back, etc.) when i'm in the gym and not to much on the legs as I run or ride 5+ days a week. Two days a week of dedicated gym workout should be a good starting point to help develop strength and build lean muscle(when done in conjunction with diet)