Leg conditioning , paying off !!

[jefmcg]

as this morning my lungs are still "disturbed" by the effort.

That doesn't sound right. Do you have asthma or some other pulmonary condition?

 

[ayceejay]

So last night we went out and rode as fast as we possibly could for an hour. I know I reached my ceiling as I simply could not go any faster unless I was gasping on my faster buddy's wheel.

So I can only conclude that the only way to become faster is to build more muscle, which will enable me to pull a higher gear. However I'm not sure my cardio-vascular system will support the extra oxygen requirement as this morning my lungs are still "disturbed" by the effort.

I think you have that back to front, if you can't supply the muscle you have with the necessary oxygen how will having more muscle improve that?

 

[Globalti]

That doesn't sound right. Do you have asthma or some other pulmonary condition?

No. Thanks. After a big effort I get irritated bronchia and I produce a little green phlegm, which I take as a natural reaction to the cold air and natural cleansing. Taking ibuprofen helps as it's an anti-inflammatory. I don't want to get labelled with something and put on an inhaler, my brother in the USA had the same and realised after a few weeks that there was actually nothing wrong with him and the medical profession was shafting his insurers. Same thing as when they diagnosed his tingling palms as MS and put him on monthly shots of beta-interferon at $5000 a go, which he also later realised was making no difference. In the UK they have given up on the asthma disagnoses and recently it's been revealed that over a million adults may have been wrongly diagnosed. I can't help wondering if the same isn't happening with some of the 500 new cases of diabetes a day.

 

[Globalti]

I think you have that back to front, if you can't supply the muscle you have with the necessary oxygen how will having more muscle improve that?

Er.... I thought that was what I wrote!

 

[ozboz]

There has been quite a lot of debate as to how the best way to build and sustain muscle for cycling, I personally use the gym and on the road/track and ever since I began conditioning in the gym my overall performance on the road/track has well improved , hence the original post .
Ive been dogged for two weeks with a viral chest and airway virus I caught in Newcastle,( some form of broncia ) so got to get on with something now , the gym is first for a week and then on the road ,
I have included this link , it is interesting , although no doubt some may well pull it to pieces

http://balancedtrainingsolutions.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/muscles-used-when-pedaling.html?m=1

 

[ayceejay]

Er.... I thought that was what I wrote!

Then I apologize

 

[OskarTennisChampion]

If you are a regular cyclist,then muscle mass will develop(in the right muscles)
I find fuelling your body the right way before and during(on a break), benefits you on the climbs.
I have porridge oats about an hour before I go out,and it gives me a slow release energy.
On a break,I have a cereal bar and just some orange barley.
I went out today without having the oats,and my legs ran out of puff
Maybe coincedence,but it's never happened before .
Just another angle.

 

[ozboz]

I do not think it's coincidence, porridge is also one of my ' tigers in the tank' ! I like to do eggs , boiled or scrambled, or just whisked in with eggs , Bananas I have on route , and or choco milk
And like you say , a good hour before the ride ,

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

So last night we went out and rode as fast as we possibly could for an hour. I know I reached my ceiling as I simply could not go any faster unless I was gasping on my faster buddy's wheel.

So I can only conclude that the only way to become faster is to build more muscle, which will enable me to pull a higher gear. However I'm not sure my cardio-vascular system will support the extra oxygen requirement as this morning my lungs are still "disturbed" by the effort.

If this were me I would conclude that my functional threshold power was less than my mate. Don't think adding more muscle would make any difference unless it were as a by product of training to increase your threshold power.
You're always gonna get that searing lung sensation when you've been pushing as hard as you can for a sustained length of time, whatever your power output.