MTB_SRH

I try to work out about 2-3 times a week at the local gym. I usually do some cardio and some upper body for about an hour. I recently got back into riding for a couple reasons.

1) More fun to ride outside and actually get somewhere than ride on a stationary bike for 30 minutes and get nowhere

2) Exercise, I get a good lower body workout and cardio at the same time

But I have noticed my legs tend to get worn out before the rest of my body does... standing up while climbing hills and riding 15+ miles offroad will make my legs feel like rubber by the end of the ride. What can I do to condition my legs to be able to ride longer without fatigue. Squats, leg machines, and so on? I want to be able to ride longer, faster, and harder without getting burned out in a hour. What do you all do?

twahl

Ride smaller gears.

cort

Workout consists of the following:
(1) Daily mtb ride
(2) A cold beer
(3)A tug on the chain (if I'm feeling frisky!!)

MTB_SRH

Well I would ride the lower gears but that gets me worn out that much faster. Thats why I was wanting to try to condition my muscles in the gym first. But I guess the more I ride the better I'll get.

twahl

It's very hard to duplicate the work you do on a bike in the gym, just enjoy the ride, and you'll get stronger.

Machka 

Hmmm ... interesting ...

I was into bodybuilding before I started cycling seriously. I enjoyed bodybuilding, but after a while I started enjoying the cardio aspect more than lifting weights ... and then I got into cycling more and more ... and here I am now.

I still do weightlifting, but only during the winter.


To condition your legs, you just need to ride more. It'll come.

MattP.

I ride to the gym, then do my upperbody there. I refuse to take a car to the gym, seems hypocritical if you ask me...

el twe

Not as much as I should, but yes, I do.

allgoo19

I have a chin-up bar bolted on the door frame. Everytime I go through it, I go 1,2,3,4,,,
It takes no time and quite effective. Another thing I do is occasional push ups. Other than that, no upper bory work out.

InfamousG

If you want your riding to be harder, wear looser fitting clothing. A normal or baggy T-Shirt, baggy shorts over your riding shorts (so that you still have the padding)... put a front pouch on your bike to store your stuff.

The less streamlined you are, the harder you'll have to work. If you typically do a 25 mile ride and average 15mph, then de-streamline and do that same 25 miles at 15mph, you've really just done the streamlined work of 30-35 miles in the same amount of time as you used to do 25.

The key to exercising is making the exercises gradually harder.

My workout regimine starts August 21, after I get back from taking my girlfriend up to college. I won't see her for about 3 months and want to try and WOW her.

Cycling: 3-days/wk, starting: 90mi/wk, goal: 150 mi/wk
Weights: 3-days/wk, starting: bench 75lbs, goal: 125lbs
Ab-stuff: 2-days/wk, starting: 200 crunches/week, goal: 600 crunches/wk
(yes I know that adds up to 8 days, some days I'll be doubling up)

YingYang

I just recently got a road bike a month ago and bought the shorts and helmet for it this last week. Ever since my job ended over the summer, I have started working out everyday alternating between upper and lower body after being on a one year hiatus from weight training. So far, I haven't had an endurance problem with biking with the likely reason because I ride a mountain bike to and from college 2-3 times a day for the last year. Endurance takes time.

My main problem seems to be the inability to gain weight. I can take in 3000 calories a day and do minimal cardio but gain nothing in mass really. However, my goal is to get up to maybe 170lbs (from 160lbs now) with 7-10% body fat then start taking up Krav Maga because I wanted to learn martial arts for awhile now. My desire it to have a lean, compact form without excess muscle or fat.

iamlucky13

If you want a full body work out from biking, try trials riding. Pushing the bike around really works out the arms, back, and shoulders.

Or, you can augment your riding with calistenics or lifting. I personally lift 2-3 times per week. The last couple weekends, I rode to the river swam for a while, then rode back (the weather's really hot right now and the water's probably up to 55 degrees here...perfect). That was pretty good, but I don't plan on making a regular thing out of it due to time and the impending end of summer.

sbeatonNJ

I used to lift at a gym, then the school gym, and now my garage. I only do upperbody, high reps, low weights. I use a curl bar, as it is all I have room for, and just got from exercise to exercise, curls to tricep extensions to rows to shoulder press, without stopping, pause after each cycle then repeat. I also have a heavy bag I beat up on everyday (usually fueled by frustration of idiot drivers, "F&*^ cars") and I do some crunches and push ups. The 40 dollars a month or whatever I would put into a gyme membership I'd rather put into parts.

pinkrobe

Take a look at "The Mountain Biker's Training Bible" by Joe Friel. When I was still racing [before I realized I had no talent], I used it to plan my workouts for the winter. The leg workouts helped tremendously, and I got a lot stronger. One thing I did that made a big difference was to do "single-leg" exercises. For example, do the leg press one leg at a time with half the usual weight. This will help you to figure out if you have a strength imbalance between your right and left legs [most people do]. You can also join a gym and ask them what to do. Most gyms have decent staff, but watch out for Juice Monkeys.

Cyclaholic

I really enjoy lifting but not at the gym, luckily I have a 2 car garage where one car space is mine, my car lives outside and the space is my bike parking/workshop and home gym. 100% freeweights, a bench and a lat pulldown rack. A stereo and a bar fridge (stocked with water & a few sports drinks) life is good

I'll never understand the concept of going somewhere and paying to use a bike that doesn't go anywhere.

Roody

Sounds great! Now all we have to do is talk you into getting rid of the car altogether! Then you would get lots more exercize and lots more fun!

DannoXYZ 

I used to do A LOT of weight-training for soccer and track/cross-country running. However, with my switch to bike-racing, I only did 6-weeks of weight-training in the winter. Surprizingly, I actually double my strength in the winter to be even stronger than when I was playing soccer or running AND I don't build any mass and am trimmer and leaner than before.

That's helped me tremendously on the bike as my legs are operating at a lower percentage of their max for any given effort in Feb. as compared to the same ride in Nov. (muscle-strength naturally goes down as the race-season progresses).

Gym workouts also helped my back a tonne as well. My first month on the bike, I was gung-ho and rode way too much. My back would be sore and ache for hours. It got worse and worse each time I rode as well. The doctors' advice was bed-rest (which was about all I could do at that point anyway), take a lot of pain-killers and stop riding, which was NOT acceptable. Going to a PT and chiropractor was much more helpful. They put me on a training program on the gym to strengthen my back before I could get back on the bike. Started out with basic stomach crunches and back-lifts. After a month I was tripling and quadrupling the back-lifts with putting more and more weights on. Got back on the bike after that and WOW, no more back-pain, ever! Did 10-years of bike-racing and never had a problem with my back again. Might have overbuilt my back and upper-body though as when I got into track-racing, I easily ripped a couple of handlebars and stems in half in a sprint...

Blackberry

1. Core (back and abs) exercises all-year round keep me away from the chiropractor.

2. Upper body work all year round keeps me from turning into a soft bowl of jello since I work at a desk job.

3. Build leg strength in the winter.

Cyclaholic

You won't have to try too hard, I'm seriously thinking about it since I can't even remember the last time I drove it - I cycle commute fulltime and now do all my errands and visit friends on the bike too. Once the weather warms up a little I'll probably advertise it and see if I get any bites. (it's currently winter here in Australia)

norskagent

most bigger cities have an indoor climbing gym...bouldering (solo unroped climbing close to the ground) provides a fun upper body workout.

MasterSezFaster

Give this a try for your legs;

Use a leg press or squats (you can do dumbbell squats if you do not have access to a gym) and leg curls. Every other week pick a day, blast your legs with 5 or 6 sets of high rep (30 to 40) squats or leg press with no more then a 1 min rest between. Then do leg curls (a little higher weight and lower the reps a bit) then go out on your bike and ride for a couple of hours (or as long as you can). Then after the ride do 3 sets/2min each of wall sits with legs at 90 degrees Between these workouts you should still do/attempt your regular rides/workouts.

Your legs will not feel very good for the first few times, unless you enjoy the pain , but the endurance will increase.

lokerola

I do an upper body workout on Monday and Friday mornings (before I ride); pushups, situps, chins, dips, leg lifts, etc. Lots of body weight stuff. I don't know how much it helps my biking, but I feel lean and strong. And of course hill repeats twice a week using different sets of gears, always trying to push a bigger (harder) gear to build up my leg strength.

I've started to do a lowerbody workout on Wednesday mornings; high rep squats with body weight, squats with dumbbells, from 40 to 90 punds, always looking for good form and to increase reps. Also do lunges, hold squats (get in a squat stance and hold as long as possible - feel the burn!!!), and throw in some kicks from my martial arts days to work the muscles that don't get hit hard on the bike. Then I usually do a lot of stretches; splits, side splits, hurdlers, etc,etc. Then I do hill repeats. Those damn hills are getting a little bit easier, yea!!!!!

Bike nut

That's what I do also. I stopped working out for a while and just rode more but I hate having a flabby upper body

MTB_SRH

Thanks for the tips.... I worked out yesterday for 2 hours, doing a lot of high rep squats, leg curls, and then did some upper body with bench press, pull ups, dips, and some free weight curls, and ran on the tread mill for 20 minutes. I feel a lot better after I work out... I am sore but that lets me know that I did something. I think that cross training your body will help a lot on the trails. Get more stamina and strength for climbing.