gym

[sarahpink]

I've decided to join the gym for a few months over winter, im very prrone to getting colds , have quite a weak immune system. also come september will be starting college so wont have as much free time and the gym is right opposite the train station lol.

anyway, so any one have any suggestions as to what i could do to help my cycling. im trying to work on getting faster going up hills so thought of maybe some light weights for the legs although bit scared to do that incase i get big muscles but the guy at the gym says its really hard for women to get muscles unless their on drugs. obviosuly be doing cardiovascular. could i do interval stuff on the cycle trainers?

 

[TheBoyBilly]

I would imagine joining a spinning class would help your cycling no end. But there is nothing better than putting winter miles in on your bike, you'll really feel the benefit come springtime. Even though you will be tight for time is there really no way you can fit the odd evening ride in? I actually enjoy riding in the adverse weather because there is nobody about along the seafront cycle route so I can get on with some faster riding.

Bill

 

[nosherduke996]

Also agree to the above. As for winter colds, the gym is the most likely place to pick one up with all that contact with others.

 

[jimboalee]

There is a fantastic machine. A 'Stepmill'. Not many British gyms have them.
They are a four step downward moving escalator that never stops.

The trouble with gym bikes is they are unstable ( load control and the feedback parameters ) at low speed. Much below 50 rpm and they go fast and slow in fits and starts.
Spinning bikes aren't much better either. Load control is manual and you have to keep tweaking it to get it right, which is a big distraction.

Climbing hills is all about strength. Not many, and no road bikes have gearing for spinning up hills.

Many new cyclists are told low cadence is bad for the knees. Does this include climbing stairs with a bagfull of shopping? Its tosh.
I don't suppose there are many hi-rise blocks of flats in Devon, so go out and find a long staircase up a cliff and a 25lb backpack.

If you are lucky enough to have a stepmill at the gym, get a 25lb backpack anyway.

 

[jimboalee]

There is a fantastic machine. A 'Stepmill'. Not many British gyms have them.
They are a four step downward moving escalator that never stops.

The trouble with gym bikes is they are unstable ( load control and the feedback parameters ) at low speed. Much below 50 rpm and they go fast and slow in fits and starts.
Spinning bikes aren't much better either. Load control is manual and you have to keep tweaking it to get it right, which is a big distraction.

Climbing hills is all about strength. Not many, and no road bikes have gearing for spinning up hills.

Many new cyclists are told low cadence is bad for the knees. Does this include climbing stairs with a bagfull of shopping? Its tosh.
I don't suppose there are many hi-rise blocks of flats in Devon, so go out and find a long staircase up a cliff and a 25lb backpack.

If you are lucky enough to have a stepmill at the gym, get a 25lb backpack anyway.

http://www.cardinals...-step-mill.html

Here's the jobbie. Riding a bicycle is Api Sapis after training on one of these.
I thought I was fit, until I used one of these with a 6 kg belt and a pair of 3kg ankle weights.

 

[sarahpink]

bill- im hoping i will be able to cycle as well, its also more of a time thing as well if i take my bike out when its raining have to clean it, get ready for college etc and they gym is virtually opposite the train station hoping to do a mixture of the both.

jim-the gym i use doesn't have those, looks interesting though. they do have this cool toning machines though

 

[scott s10]

<br / Not many, and no road bikes have gearing for spinnining up hills. .<br />

<br /><br /><br /> yes they do. every road bike has gearing for spinning up hills , even a 42x 25 is a spinning gear !!

 

[jimboalee]

<br /><br /><br /> yes they do. every road bike has gearing for spinning up hills , even a 42x 25 is a spinning gear !!

How steep is this hill you 'spin' up on a 42 x 25 ? And is it a Scott S10 by any chance?

And what rpm do you consider 'spinning'?

 

[walker]

jump squats

 

[jimboalee]

How steep is this hill you 'spin' up on a 42 x 25 ? And is it a Scott S10 by any chance?

And what rpm do you consider 'spinning'?

Because,,,, 80 rpm on a 42 x 25 is 17 kmh. 17 kmh up a 10% requires 500 Watts on my SWorks which is 16lb.

It works out to 1700 kCals/hour, or 28 kCals/min.

I'd like to see an amateur cyclist ride for three minutes at this intensity.

To climb a 10% on a 42 x 25, the method is to slow down to 10 kmh and cruise up at 48 rpm giving 280 Watts. Now you are working in the aerobic condition and better chance of getting to the top.

So go out and train for strength and endurance at 40 - 50 rpm, because when you get to a 14% hill with a single chevron, your 42 x 25 will not allow you to 'spin'.

 

[scott s10]

i consider 100 rpm to be spinning my road bike has a 42 x 25 or possibly 26 lowest gear and i quite happily but breathing hard can holdover 17 kmh ( 10mph) i can happily hold nearly 15 mph on 10-15 % gradient , mind you im only 65 kg and i do quite a lot of road racing ect so im used to having to spin alot of the time. i spin in a tt about 120 rpm. and kgno its not a scott s10 any more i have a look 595 full carbon , only 6.9kg , kristian

 

[jimboalee]

i consider 100 rpm to be spinning my road bike has a 42 x 25 or possibly 26 lowest gear and i quite happily but breathing hard can holdover 17 kmh ( 10mph) i can happily hold nearly 15 mph on 10-15 % gradient , mind you im only 65 kg and i do quite a lot of road racing ect so im used to having to spin alot of the time. i spin in a tt about 120 rpm. and kgno its not a scott s10 any more i have a look 595 full carbon , only 6.9kg , kristian

I've adjusted the spreadsheet (Powercalc.xls on the CTC website) for 72 kg and 0.85 Cd with 99% geartrain efficiency.

To keep 14 mph up a 10% requires 560 Watts.

If you can "happily hold" this, what are you pratting about on this forum for?

BTW 14 mph on 42 x 25 is 105 rpm. Up a 10 % ???

On the pro tours, up a 7.5 % gradient, the riders ride on 39 x 21 at 80 rpm doing 11.5 mph ish.

When it gets steeper, they drop to 39 x 23 and climb up at 10.5 mph at 80 rpm.

You might have thought Cav was a 'spinner'. Nope. He grovelled up the 14% to the airstrip on 39 x 25 at 6 mph doing 48 rpm.

 

[scott s10]

yeh but they are going for miles on end not 3 quarters of a milel or less !!! i havent been on a road run in ages because of track nationals ect. but when i do illl get some numbers for you

 

[doddman]

There is a fantastic machine. A 'Stepmill'. Not many British gyms have them.
They are a four step downward moving escalator that never stops.

I second this.

Hardest machine in the gym.

Absolute sufferfest, just the way we like it.

It saddens me that my gym has 50+ treadmills\cross trainers\horrible stationary bikes etc etc , but only ONE of these wonderful things.

I would definitely reccomend it for some good cv/leg\core(no holding on) strength....personally i have never used weights whilst on it(i would probably die), but like Jimboalee says, i thought i was fit til i tried to go hard for any amount of time on this !!

 

[amaferanga]

i consider 100 rpm to be spinning my road bike has a 42 x 25 or possibly 26 lowest gear and i quite happily but breathing hard can holdover 17 kmh ( 10mph) i can happily hold nearly 15 mph on 10-15 % gradient , mind you im only 65 kg and i do quite a lot of road racing ect so im used to having to spin alot of the time. i spin in a tt about 120 rpm. and kgno its not a scott s10 any more i have a look 595 full carbon , only 6.9kg , kristian

Seriously fella, if you can churn out 500 Watts plus for 5 minutes and you weight 65kg then you should be world class pro cyclist. Chris Boardman averaged around 7.86 W/kg for a little over 4 minutes during his world record pursuit - your 500W for 5 minutes would be 7.69W/kg.

I sense a big fat helping of forum bullsh@t here

Might it be that you can churn out 500 Watts for more like a minute? That'd put you on a par with many a 2nd/3rd/4th Cat racer.