Laura Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I've read a couple of posts here recently about how excessive cardio essentially eats muscle . . . Well, I'm addicted to my new road bike and am going to be doing a lot of riding this Spring and Summer. How do you cyclists maintain and continue to build muscle while cycling regularly? I'm currently weight training 5x/wk. Can I continue to build, or at least maintain, muscle mass by just eating more on the days that I do long rides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SyrLinus Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I've read a couple of posts here recently about how excessive cardio essentially eats muscle . . . Well, I'm addicted to my new road bike and am going to be doing a lot of riding this Spring and Summer. How do you cyclists maintain and continue to build muscle while cycling regularly? I'm currently weight training 5x/wk. Can I continue to build, or at least maintain, muscle mass by just eating more on the days that I do long rides? If all you did was cardio, then I suppose there'd be some muscle loss. The fact that you are doing weight training (free weights probably be the best and include your leg muscles as well in there), it should be fine. And add a little bit more (enough to keep everything fed and such). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I've read a couple of posts here recently about how excessive cardio essentially eats muscle . . . Well, I'm addicted to my new road bike and am going to be doing a lot of riding this Spring and Summer. How do you cyclists maintain and continue to build muscle while cycling regularly? I'm currently weight training 5x/wk. Can I continue to build, or at least maintain, muscle mass by just eating more on the days that I do long rides? I'm very muscular and I'm trying not to be. Cycling helped me at first but now I'm at a stalemate....and I ride specifically to break my body down. Putting in 300-400miles per week should make you lose muscle when you have a lot but its not for me...even though I have a daily calorie deficit of over 2000 calories pretty much every day. How much do you plan on riding. If you continue lifting...cycling shouldn't have much consequence. You can definitely maintain while doing longer rides...its the short intense ones that'll break your muscles down. Only really long rides where you aren't eating will break your muscles down relatively quickly(not for me though but it works for most). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 Right now, per week, I'm doing 2 2-hr rides, 1 1-hr ride, and 2 3-hr rides. I'm riding with people who are much faster than I am, so on most of those rides I'm pushing myself hard the entire time in order to keep up. Jeremy, you said you have a large calorie deficit on your ride days and it doesn't affect your ability to retain muscle mass. Do you add extra calories on those days at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Right now, per week, I'm doing 2 2-hr rides, 1 1-hr ride, and 2 3-hr rides. I'm riding with people who are much faster than I am, so on most of those rides I'm pushing myself hard the entire time in order to keep up. Jeremy, you said you have a large calorie deficit on your ride days and it doesn't affect your ability to retain muscle mass. Do you add extra calories on those days at all? That a girl Make sure you're carbing up, especially on your long rides. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I actually eat less when I'm riding a lot...largely because I'm on my bike and not near my kitchen. I try to do two 6 hour rides a week, two 2 hour rides, and a couple 3-4hour rides. All of my days are ride days so I have a calorie deficit every day...I've had one every day for nearly 3 years(outside of vegan vacation and the 2-3 visits I occasionally make every year to a vegan friendly buffet)...with that in mind I'd be -100lbs by now and not the overly bulky cyclists I'm trying to get away from. As for you thats great. Thats a lot of time considering you haven't been riding all that long and most likely work a hell of a lot more than I do. As for the people riding fast thats just the way things are when you start out. Don't worry though. Next year it'll be easy to ride with the groups and maybe by then you'll even be able to take some pulls in the front. I had a terrible time riding with others when I weighted 285 all the way down until I made it to 230 or so. The hills that I thought were terrible then aren't even hills I'd notice now...you just get efficient with lots of riding and you seem to be doing that so thats awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now