trekking_TW

Sounds like a sham to sell protein shakes! And, watch his show!

btw, was it 1 rep with full range of movement?

Cypress

Without his hands on his knees... I could gain about 200-300 lbs on my press by using the hands on my knees method. I could also be doing 500+ per leg if I wasn't doing a full range press.

I can't get that vid to work... anybody else?

DrPete 

Try this one... https://www.wonkette.com/politics/pat...gth-176378.php

I'm not a weightlifting expert, but isn't there supposed to be a bit more range of motion in 1 rep?

voltman

It's usually more impressive when you actually disengage the locks so you can actually begin the exercise.

DrPete 

Yeah, I noticed that too.

Cypress

Sign me up for a world record attempt, boys.

DrPete 

Cypress vs. Pat Robertson... I can see the BF religious right getting excited already...

voltman

As long as it doesn't lead to another "post you leg pics" thread.

Cypress

Seriously Mike Miller better watch out. 1220 lb squat - HERE

People claim Mike is depth challenged, so HERE is another guy going full parallel at 1003lbs.

DrPete 

And here I was pretty happy that I was squatting 280 for 6 reps...

Of course, I've been weight training for all of 2 1/2 weeks now...

NomadVW 

all rounder, my leg workouts are pushing pedals.

voltman

ATG? That's pretty good for starting out!

voltman

Miller's looked more like a wobble than a squat.

toshi

All one-legged presses with some serious weight and reps...

Evidently Lance was doing one-legged stuff up past 250lbs for offseason work. With both legs he would press between 4 and 500lbs. I think that is totally insane and I sometimes wonder about the benefits of weight training since I have watched some upper level crits where there are some seriously twiggy guys putting out serious jumps.

That said I've been doing squats (225lbs max), leg press (same), hamstring curls (30lbs max) and lunges, which I think are great for strengthening those little stabilizer muscles. Here in Northern California we can ride through the offseason... if I were to do weight work more than once a week the intensity of training rides would seriously suffer, my legs get pretty fried especially day after. I always hop on the bike and spin for an hour after weights.

I'm a climber who can't climb and I am definitely not a sprinter, but I have seen what non-existent sprint I do have improve in training crits after weight work and once-weekly intervals. Core work and stretching (I'm about as flexible as a 2x4) is helping tons too with overall form.

DrPete 

Cool--maybe I'll actually win a sprint this season.

What's ATG? I go parallel...

Cypress

I hate hamstring curls. But when I do them it's usually while in between leg press sets (the machines sit next to each other). When I do them it's usually 120x15.

voltman

Ass to Ground. Past parallel.

If you do win a sprint, would it be the squats or the bike? Hmmm.

toshi

I do too.. and I think I know what you mean. When I do them between leg presses, things feel so tight that I really don't push too much weight at all.

DrPete 

I don't know, but the F4:13 sure does make suffering fun.

Different question related to lifting--I seem to have a bit of a Valverde-esque leg build, i.e. my calves aren't particularly big in the typical cyclist fashion. I mean, there's some mass there, but not as pronounced as some that I've seen. Would doing isolated calf work do me any good, or would it be purely cosmetic? Just curious...

Cypress

Cosmetic. If your calves feel weak on the bike, lift, if not, it's just extra weight. (I know this)

pedex

How many miles do you have in your legs, and how long have you been riding?

and cypress is right, all your calves do is hold your foot steady so you can apply torque to the cranks, if they can handle that then they are doing their job

DrPete 

Been at it recreationally for 10 years or so, but just started racing last spring.

trekking_TW

Just watched that video... 2" of travel and cheating with the hands.... c'mon.

I'd hate to see the weight I could lift with only 2" of travel and using my hands on my legs to help push!

Actually, I'd run out of space on the bar for more weight.

pedex

well in my case, I went from zero to 200+ miles a week, took about 8-9 months before I saw anything noticeable appearance wise in my legs, and they got smaller at first

now almost 6 years later and doing even more miles, most of it fixed gear these days you could probably say I'm starting to get a decent pair of "bike legs", dont sweat it, it takes time

tell you what though, if you cramp up after or during hard sustained efforts or even feel the hint of any leg burn, ride more, alot more, cause if you dont, guys like me will literally ride away from you, all the time in the gym in the world wont do anything to fix it

grebletie

Funny thing is, because of cycling I pretty much had to stop doing squats with free weights. My upper body muscle has pretty much atrophied, meaning that while I can squat a certain amount of weight, I certainly can't support that weight with my upper body.

Amazing what will happen once the biking goes up, and the upper body work goes down. I went from almost 170 at 5'8", with significant muscle buildup from a couple years of serious weight lifting. Now I'm a feathery 142.