Originally Posted by
KittyBikes
Leisesturm - I do actually like weight lifting and even though the gym is not my favorite, once I get a bit more skilled at cycling and I'm not sore, I would like to get into the gym or do a home routine. I have always had an absurdly easy time building and maintaining muscle, so I think a home routine could probably be adequate for me.
ev780- I do think if you truly HATE the gym, though, you should find other ways to get exercise, even weight bearing exercise. Last year I worked as a Paraprofessional in a special education classroom with kids with disabilities and I was lifting and helping them all the time, so I feel like I got a good amount of weight bearing exercise. We all have to do what works for us and I think if you really hate something you won't do it.
Daniel4 - I agree. In Michigan it often snows sparsely in December and the really snowy season is from January-March. I don't mind the cold all that much, so if I can find a way to bike all year around, I will.
friday1970 - When you say the "chain rings" do you mean the gears?
CAT7RDR - Do you find that weight training would impair your ability to ride due to soreness? Maybe I need to just chill out on the weight equipment a little, as I usually work pretty hard at it, lift heavy. I won't give up because I can't - I have to do something about my health or I will not be around as long as I want to be. I am SO sorry to hear about your brother. I struggle hugely with eating issues, binging, emotional eating and it's been a beast to tackle all that; in a way I think exercising is the easiest part!
livedarklions- I have to agree that it's important to have something you will stick with. While weight training is good advice, I do feel using a simple home set up with some hand weights and benches is probably adequate. I build muscle easily, and I have never sustained any fitness inside a gym. It's just not for me.
Thank you SO much to everyone who replied to help me. It really did help - I feel more motivated, have practical tips as well as philosophical things to ponder about biking.
You're more than welcome! I think these threads are great because you are asking the sort of questions so many other people have, and a lot of us have practical experience in how we make this sort of change work. I want to offer my two cents on the question you asked [MENTION=460678]CAT7RDR[/MENTION] Other than unweighted squats, I don't do weight training that focuses on my legs For a couple reasons. One is that I do think at some point overuse of a particular set of muscles is probably not a good idea and I think my biking pretty much maxes that out, but more importantly, I find if I don't focus the weight training on my upper body and core, that those muscles tend to get progressively weaker as my leg muscles get bigger. I don't know if this upper body focus is sound from a preventing osteoporosis perspective, but the science doesn't seem to give a definitive answer on that.
Long story short, the upper body workouts don't cause soreness that makes cycling harder.
In general, though, I think the science is very clear at this point that soreness is a side effect, and that you don't need to make yourself sore to get gains from weight training. The notion that you need to actually harm your muscles to encourage hypertrophy has been thoroughly debunked at this point, and overtraining is a real thing that actually works against muscle growth. Some soreness is probably inevitable, but it definitely should not be seen as necessary.
As always, this is the answer that works for me, and I don't know whether it will for you.