jakemoffatt

I thought some might find this useful.

I present this with a question also.

When one works out with weights at the gym, does that use the same muscle fibers (Slow/Fast twitch fibers) that cycling uses?

In other words, if I were to go to the gym with this chart, and workout each muscle seen here, would it help me on the bike?

If it would help, what aspect of cycling would it improve the most? Sprinting | Climbing | Distance | Power?

jfmckenna

Thats a cool graphic. From what I've gatherd about weights is that they are really no good for racing cyclists. It's a pretty hot debatable topic though. At least most people I think can agree that if you do weights they should be done in moderation so as not to bulk up too much. I am certainly no expert. I just don't think you can simulate the musle usage and target muscles in the weight room.

dstrong 

Jeez...no wonder my butt, i mean my Hip Extensor, is gettin' big!

HereNT

I wonder how different that would be for us brakeless fixie riders?

huhenio

For fixed riders ? It is the same, but backpedal pressure will work you little frontal muscles more. Abdominals and lumbars are not shown, erectors and other muscles are missing.

Brian

Nothing much you can do at the gym that will take the place of putting in plenty of miles at steady and varying intensities. Get your core strength at the gym, and combine that with saddle time for best effect. Unless you're a sprinter, or a mad trackie, huge leg muscles actually hinder performance. They require more of that precious oxygen-rich blood to feed them. Not a good thing. Lean is good. Oh, look into Pilates too. A long muscle is better than a big muscle.

YamacrawJ

What a cool and informative graphic! Thx for sharing!

bluecd

you shouldnt have to isolate all the different leg muscles. do the leg press machine (hack squat) for your thighs, glutes. hamstring curl machine for the hammies. riding the bike will take care of your calves and shins. do regular sit ups or leg lifts (not crunches) as this will work both the abs & your hip flexors at the same time. id work for strength and endurance, not just strength. sets of 12-15 reps instead of 6-10 should be a happy medium between strength & endurance.

throw in some lower back extensions, low cable rows for the lats/bicepts, & some tricept extensions.

DannoXYZ 

It depends upon where you are now with your fitness. Strength/weight training in the gym gives the most benefits to new riders with less than 5-years under their belt. Gets them up to speed to the level of the more seasoned riders VERY quickly. However, if you've got more than 5 serious years of riding under your belt, it may not help as much. So the answer is "it depends". Check out Lance's and Carlmichael's book, they advocate 8-10 weeks of weight-training 3x a week in the winter. This is what Lance himself did, so i'd say that the average cyclist with less development could probably use a little more, 10-12 weeks 3x a week in the winter.

However, just because you've got those strong muscles, doesn't mean you'll automatically be faster. Vitally important is being able to contract them at the proper time during the pedal stroke as well. So that means lots of spinnning practice on rollers and being able to use ALL those muscles at the right time. I'd say you'd want to put in just about as much time on rollers as you do on the weight machines. Being able to hold the white painted line on the road, riding no-hands and spinning 120rpms is a good test of an efficient pedaling form.

Brian

Couldn't I just pick one or two?

XChosen

Based upon the diagram wouldn't it be different with clipless pedals?

HereNT

I don't know about that. I feel like I use the backs of my legs for slowing down most of the time, especially on a long downhill. As the pedal comes up on the backstroke, I push back on it. They've been burning on a couple of hills...

DannoXYZ 

Coaster brake???

gudel

that's a very useful pic. thanks.

jur

They must have used Arnie as a model when making that drawing...

"Aus!! Evryboddy gett aus now!" - Conan the Barbarian with Austrian accent.

Polonswim

What a cool graphic. Where did you get it? I would love to see that for other sports and activities. Thanks for sharing.

N_C

Great graphic. But is it the same for those of us who ride a recumbent? I have learned, through being told from personal experience some of the same muscles are used. But there are some muscles that are either not used, or not used as much & there are muscles that are not used on a wedgie bike that are used on a recumbent. Did whom ever created this graphic disclose whether or not it is for a upright, diamond frame bike rider?

DannoXYZ 

No, completely different for recumbent due to the different angle of your legs vs. pedals vs. ground. A major factor in the pedaling motion is the pull of gravity. We use body-weight to push down on the legs and get extra push our of the quads and glutes. We also have to use semimembranosis & tibialis anterior to overcome the weight of the legs on the upstroke first, before any additional force is applied to the pedals. In the majority of people's pedal strokes, they don't have enough force during this phase and actually have to use the quads from the other opposite leg to push the crank up on leg that's on the upstroke. This is really obvious when you try to ride one-legged.

When you're on a recument, you no longer have gravity working with your upper-body to drive down on the quads, so that portion of the stroke will be weaker. It will actually be the across-the-bottom pull/scrape with the biceps femoris & semimembranosis that will be the most powerful part of the stroke because that motion will be in-line with gravity now. In a way, due to the lobsided development of most people's pedal-strokes to favor the quads, going to a recumbent will naturally smooth out the pedal stroke to be more even.

bikejack

When one works out with weights at the gym, does that use the same muscle fibers (Slow/Fast twitch fibers) that cycling uses?

In other words, if I were to go to the gym with this chart, and workout each muscle seen here, would it help me on the bike?

You have to define workout to get the answer, gaining improvement with weights in a gym you have make sure you are working the muscle you want and work it < 8 reps. Not the sort of thing to try on your own or without experience.

For building overall strength dynamic load training is more efficient than static load (Gym) excercise. You can achieve this with a heavy mountain bike and a good hill.

One trouble with targeting and developing cycling specific muscles is you neglect the muscles that help you do things like walk which can lead to alignment and joint tracking problems. If you are going to work any muscle concentrate on the green ones F hip Flexors, notice that they are at the top of your recovery which means all they are doing is stopping your leg falling off but another thing they do is track your kneecap straight as you walk and run, I currently do a specific excercise with ankle weights for this group.

The most effective use I've seen of gym training is to correct imbalances to athletes with highly loaded training schedules, for us normal riders/racers I think the time is better spent on the bike.

N_C

Thank you very much for the explanation. Using the graphic that is originally posted what do we put where in terms of muscles used & when in the "circle" part of the graphic? In other words what muscles are swapped out with other muscles because of the differant riding style on a recumbent? Or would a new & differant graphic be required & it is not as simple as switching muscles on this particular graphic?