Originally Posted by
Doge
I love the quote. I do not think cycling at the top level (or many other sports) is healthier than not doing the sport. We've all see the retired sports pros in their 50s.
Your assessment in the 2nd section is correct, but you can have imbalance without injury. Especially in the legs being significantly stronger. If the rest of the body can't take the strain in a squat that the legs can deliver - don't do squats. That bothers a lot of people to say that.
The stretching is also something I don't see needed to avoid weigh lifting injury, or needed for cycling. I don't agree Yoga will do what heavy weights on a leg press will do for peaking the power meter.
In many crashes where the limber rider may fare better, but that again brings us to the earlier topic. It is better for total health, but maybe not for going faster.
About that quote, you see it everyday at the level your son is at. It's not the sport itself. It's all the training, nutrition, and other things that come with being an athlete at that level. Not an easy life and very hard on the body.
I mentioned the stretching/yoga as a general injury prevention measure. Cycling is a non weight bearing activity, so the chance of a muscular injury is low. The injury risk will come from the repetitive strain on the connective tissue. That's where the stretching will help. Now if you are talking about other sports, the injuries will occur without the stretching. They might still occur anyway. Specifically, (and not necessarily cycling related) weighted calf raises without the corresponding stretching will put the user in danger of Achilles and Planter Fasca injuries. The same can be said for the other joints, especially during an explosive movement.
As for squats, form is everything. Without proper form, there is a high risk for serious injury to the knee joint.
I think at this point in the thread there has been some very good info for the topic. Your info is coming from a very high level perspective with highly trained professionals and very cycling specific. Very good info. The average Joe wanting to start should seek out high level advice. Talk with a trained professional about their goals in starting a weight lifting program. Find out the exercises you need to do. More importantly, find out the proper way to do them. Do some assessment, then refine the program if needed. The problem with just "jumping in" is that you can do a lot of harm as well.