Lifting and Road Cycling. Bad mix?

[rand0m]

Hey boys and girls my first post here.

I have a bit of a dilemma where I enjoy two hobbies, cycling and lifting, which I believe conflict each other...

Although I've gymmed for a few years, its only in the past year I've taken lifting seriously. By no means I want to ever compete but I enjoy the gym and want to achieve my goals of gaining mass and getting STRONG. At the moment I weigh 81kg and I'm 183cm tall. Lightweight I know

On the other hand, I've been road cycling on weekends for a few years and reaally enjoy going out on rides and it gives me my cardio fix.

But its a bit of a catch 22 because the heavier and bigger I get at the gym, the more it hinders my performance on the bike. Bulk definitely makes a huge difference on the bike (aerodynamics, power/weight ratio etc etc.).

What should I do? Ditch a hobby and focus on one? Is it possible to take both seriously simultaneously? Do both and MTFU?

 

[Kyle Aaron]

You can certainly do both. But best performance in any one thing is got by focusing on that one thing. Doesn't matter which two things we're talking about, could be tennis and cricket, x-box and your accountancy job, whatever.

You must put one of the two first, and accept a lower performance on the other one. Which is more important to you, your cycling speed or your body mass and strength?

If cycling comes first, you can shape your lifting to that. Explosive lifts like clean and jerk will be better than slow lifts like deadlift. Front squats will be better than back squats. 20 rep squats will be better than 5 rep squats. Pressing strength will be irrelevant. And so on.

 

[lozzo]

Gaining a couple of kilo's of mostly muscle isn't going to effect your aerodynamics that much. I say keep doing both.

 

[Goosey]

Weight train in the winter, bike in the summer.

You can still do both, just be smart and place an emphasis on the primary activity.

Your weight training should be a template focusing on strengthening and protecting the musculature used in your other pursuit.

Your objective here is to find out how many days a week you can train and your ability to recover from one workout to another.
Whether it's road work or weight work, recovery comes from the one source.
Doing both can be tricky, but you do need to do both, the balance is through trial and error.

 

[Goosey]

Just to add to lozzo, you would need to add a considerable amount of muscle to inhibit your performance.

What sort of cycling do you do?

 

[TGM]

Have you ever considered sprint cycling?

If you do that then having a strong squat will be beneficial and you can get your BW up as high as you want. This way you can lift and get on the bike but both activities will complement each other.

If you live in Melbourne I can refer you to a good coach or you can go along to a meet or something to see what it's all about.

EDIT:

I have a similar problem, I love hitting up some singletrack but most of the times on weekend I just want to rest.

You can do both, you'll just progress slower in one or both activities. But it's not a race anyway. (Unless you're competing, in which case focus on one or take up sprint cycling.)

 

[brendon]

just do both still... cycling is something you really enjoy so why stop? as said just be smart about it.

ive been doing a lot of swimming lately 3+ times a week i go with another friend but i do differently to him, he can go forever and just swim 30 laps or so at a slow steady pace, where as me ill do 2 laps at a time but at a quicker faster pace. kinda like interval training. that way it wont hinder as much as. well thats what i think anyway

 

[Christian]

No problem, they are hobbies... Your not a pro. There is no drama.

As much as people like to say it is the end of the world here it really isnt as long as you are eating. The extra calories burned during cycling will allow you to simply eat more food and more protein. Your not going to be melting muscle unless your not eating incorrectly.

 

[TGM]

Oh, and keep in mind that sprint cyclists can still do distances like you might do for fun whilst still maintaining good lifts. They just won't handle them as well as enduro guys.

IIRC the sprint cycle coach I know commuted into the city (~30km) every day along with other training.

 

[Admin]

I do both , i love my cycling both road cycling and mountain biking

 

[rand0m]

Thanks for the responses guys - very helpful!

As I said, I don't compete in either of them so I guess I will continue to do both and accept the fact I'll probably progress slower than I'd like in both. If I had to choose a higher priority, I'd say the lifting is higher.. but only by a fraction.

Silverback, at the moment I'm hitting the weights 3x a week Mon, Wed and Fri. Then do a 60km ride on Saturday morning and sometimes another 70-80km ride on Sundays depending on how I feel. I live in the northern suburbs of Sydney so there's a lot of climbing involved. I don't race but I'm not (that) slow.

Lozzo, from a weights perspective, I'm looking to gain at least 10kg of muscle and maintain a weight of 90kg. This is considered HEAVY in the cycling world and makes a big difference to climbing speed (although I might be quicker descending )

Kyle I like the idea of explosive lifts. And I also only do front squats at the moment. Haven't done a back squat for months.

TGM, sprint cycling really isnt my thing. I've tried sprint training before but it was too intense haha and find myself more of an enduro type of rider. I guess it wouldnt hurt to try again. Thanks for the info

 

[rand0m]

Will the amount of cycling I do stop the growth of muscle at the gym?

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Will the amount of cycling I do stop the growth of muscle at the gym?

Not if you eat enough.

You need food to grow.
You need food to cycle miles and miles.
To grow AND cycle miles and miles, you need LOTS of food.

Clear as mud?