otherself
Fully lugged in.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Hi
Been struggling lately to average above 23.4mph on a 10 mile course (flat as a pancake here in southern Lincolnshire).
I have good developed calves (16 inches) but I feel my front and side thigh muscles are lagging. I don't know the name of these muscle groups, i'll have to look it up. I'm just wondering if there's guys on here who have built their legs up through heavy gym work and seen an improvement in speed?
In a back copy of cycling weekly I have, there was a guy who lifted heavy weights and built 3.5kg of lean mass in 12 weeks, increased his thighs circumference by 1.5 inches, but it didn't help him maintain a higher top speed. So I guess it doesn't work for everyone. But looking at TT specialist guys in The Tour, they are def. bulkier than climbers.
At my age especially (41), I'm by no means old or past it, but we do lose about 5lbs of lean mass per decade after age 35 or so. So "use it lose it" is the word! The leg muscles are the first to atrophy with ageing as far as I've read, followed by the arms last (in fact a study of 60 year old men working as carpenters showed they had equal grip strength to 22yo men working in the same occupation).
Been struggling lately to average above 23.4mph on a 10 mile course (flat as a pancake here in southern Lincolnshire).
I have good developed calves (16 inches) but I feel my front and side thigh muscles are lagging. I don't know the name of these muscle groups, i'll have to look it up. I'm just wondering if there's guys on here who have built their legs up through heavy gym work and seen an improvement in speed?
In a back copy of cycling weekly I have, there was a guy who lifted heavy weights and built 3.5kg of lean mass in 12 weeks, increased his thighs circumference by 1.5 inches, but it didn't help him maintain a higher top speed. So I guess it doesn't work for everyone. But looking at TT specialist guys in The Tour, they are def. bulkier than climbers.
At my age especially (41), I'm by no means old or past it, but we do lose about 5lbs of lean mass per decade after age 35 or so. So "use it lose it" is the word! The leg muscles are the first to atrophy with ageing as far as I've read, followed by the arms last (in fact a study of 60 year old men working as carpenters showed they had equal grip strength to 22yo men working in the same occupation).