Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

what are the best leg workouts for cyclists?

squats, lunges?

off season or during season?

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PLANT BASED PERSONAL TRAINING - VEGAN POSITIVE ATHLETIC GEAR - MOTIVATION

MONTHLY CONTESTS - NUTRITION - GROUP ACTIVITIES - TRIATHLON - MARATHON

both, actually, would be helpful

i dont recommend doing any leg exercises during season or if you are doing serious race training. most people i know, myself included, can't do both. if you are doing sprint intervals and hill repeats, you are basically doing leg workouts. i have tried at the beginning of the last 3 seasons and always have to stop after 3 or 4 weeks because my legs wont have enough energy for cycling or running when i am doing lower body weights. just my 2 cents.

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PLANT BASED PERSONAL TRAINING - VEGAN POSITIVE ATHLETIC GEAR - MOTIVATION

MONTHLY CONTESTS - NUTRITION - GROUP ACTIVITIES - TRIATHLON - MARATHON

Interesting! I meant more along the lines of building muscle and endurance to keep going, but I guess that really comes with training, eating. I've seen bikers with tiny leg muscles yet still able to perform long distance rides. Thanks for your input! What type of rides do you do?

yeah if you look at any of the pros or really advanced cyclists, they have huge legs, sometimes not in girth but they are cut. lots of cycling will do that, especially with hills and sprints.

i do triathlon normally. last year i did vineman (ironman). i injured my back in that race so i'm almost ready to start running again and was hoping to do a 60-100k in 2012. most ultra runs are only $100 or so...same price as a marathon so might as well do a crazy long race.

you?

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PLANT BASED PERSONAL TRAINING - VEGAN POSITIVE ATHLETIC GEAR - MOTIVATION

MONTHLY CONTESTS - NUTRITION - GROUP ACTIVITIES - TRIATHLON - MARATHON

mad props yo! that's seriously awesome. how did you injure your back?
I haven't done anything too serious yet, just started cycling a couple of months ago. most mileage i've done at once is 29 miles. my husband is going to train me on some hills soon.

It gets confusing too, going from weight lifting, where they push MORE PROTEIN!!! to cycling, where its all about carbs.
i'm trying to level things out.
making sure I don't OVERDO carbs, pre and post cycling.

anywho, I just wanted more strength in the legs, my mind is like KEEP GOING DAMNIT! but my body and legs are sometimes wanting to give up.
not to mention I was underweight not too long ago, so I am just now getting use to a real healthy body

brendan braziers books have leg exercises that are a bit less traditional and geared towards fitness and tie in with cycling. rich roll has some stuff online too.

carbs before, protein afterwards, for the most part. even if you think its different than say doing squats, cycling or any exercise still breaks down the muscle and you need that protein for recovery.

robert cheekes book was very helpful to me in terms of the nutrition. i use that and brendan braziers books to experiment with food for lean muscle and recovery ideas.

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PLANT BASED PERSONAL TRAINING - VEGAN POSITIVE ATHLETIC GEAR - MOTIVATION

MONTHLY CONTESTS - NUTRITION - GROUP ACTIVITIES - TRIATHLON - MARATHON

brendan braziers books have leg exercises that are a bit less traditional and geared towards fitness and tie in with cycling. rich roll has some stuff online too.

carbs before, protein afterwards, for the most part. even if you think its different than say doing squats, cycling or any exercise still breaks down the muscle and you need that protein for recovery.

robert cheekes book was very helpful to me in terms of the nutrition. i use that and brendan braziers books to experiment with food for lean muscle and recovery ideas.[/quote]


so weird, I JUST literally checked out Brendan's book from the library, woohoo!

so weird, I JUST literally checked out Brendan's book from the library, woohoo![/quote]

where are you located in CA?

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PLANT BASED PERSONAL TRAINING - VEGAN POSITIVE ATHLETIC GEAR - MOTIVATION

MONTHLY CONTESTS - NUTRITION - GROUP ACTIVITIES - TRIATHLON - MARATHON

all are helpful and can take some advice to your friends here..

BlueDuckXX,
Are you looking to increase your mileage/endurance or get stronger/faster? or both? I'm a firm believer in cross training and weight training to aid in performance. I like to add in a day or two a week of low to medium intensity lower body lifting. We don't really have much of an "off-season" here in Florida, unless you are stick pretty firmly to one discipline. I'm not sure I would hit the gym too hard if i had a race that week, or maybe even the next, but in between and while training I think it's a great idea. Cycling and running use very specific muscles and neglecting the rest of the legs, and body, can be detrimental to performance and health. Mix it up! Keep yourself entertained! Flip some tires, do squats and front squats, presses, etc. The ERG is a wonderful tool for cyclists, too!

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I commute on my bike to work 8 miles round trip. I find that Forward/Backward leg squats then dead lifts help on the cold mornings (below 30 degrees)
Don't forget shoulders, this allows me to stay flexible & relaxes my neck before the ride.

I ride every weekday. Anywhere from 80 to 180 miles a week, every week, all year round. I too, was under the assumption that any cross training would be detrimental to cycling performance and recovery.

At the start of the year I decided to start incorperating a kettlebell strength circuit into my life, just to improve my overall health, strength, and physique. I've put on about 15lbs since then, but I'm also faster on the bike, especially climbs.

http://youtu.be/avajxRtF0bo

Glad this thread popped up. I was going to start one if I couldn't find anything. Anyway...

I plan on making this the year that I do a bike race or two. Once I finish my current weight lifting plan I want to start my bike training for the spring/summer.
I should have been training over the whole winter but oh well.

Anyone have any plans to follow or anything?

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