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Posts Tagged ‘cycling’

Bike riding is one of those sports that anyone can enjoy and the benefits are almost limitless. Some use cycling as a means of getting from A to B, whilst others cycle to boost their fitness and tone up their muscles. The fitness benefits for your muscles varies quite a lot depending on which type of cycling you do. If you cycle very long distances at relatively low intensity, your muscles will become very good at endurance and will build many slow-twitch fibres. Conversely, it is powerful fast-twitch fibres that are built when your riding style is of high intensity but over shorter periods of time. So which muscles get worked the hardest when you ride a bike.

Quadriceps (thighs). When cycling, its is the muscles at the front of the legs that provide the majority of the forces and thus are worked hardest. These are the muscles that straighten out the leg and produce the down force on the pedals, which in turn rotate the crack. Racing bikes in fact are designed to locate the quads directly over the crack so that maximum efficiency is achieved. When travelling at speed the quadriceps contract and relax at an incredible rate and a great deal is demanded of them.

Gastrocnemius (calf). The calf muscle is a great deal smaller than the quads, but no less important when it comes to propelling the bike forwards.  Flexing the calf muscles when the leg is in a straight position, points the toes towards and adds a small boost to the overall power output. Pinarello make pedals that dynamically pivot to squeeze every last bit of power juice from the calf muscles.

Hamstrings. After the quads have forced the leg down and helped move the bike forwards, the hamstrings work to to pull it back up again and reset the leg ready for another push.  This doesn’t require much force on a standard bike as the rotation of the pedals pushes the leg up but when you use cycling shoes that clip to the pedals, a large amount of additional force can be generated by these muscles in the upward movement

Technorati Tags: bikes, cycling, fitness, muscles, riding

For those of you who don’t know CV (cardio vascular) fitness refers to the ability of the heart and lungs to provide the body with enough nutrients (mainly oxygen) for it to function during activity and remove waste products such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid also. A CV system that is in good shape will allow an athlete to work harder and for longer periods of time. Sports like sprinting and discus do not work the CV system very much at all, as muscles do not use oxygen in fast powerful events. But there are sports that work the CV system more than others. Here are 3 of the top sports for this type of fitness.

Skiing. The variety of this sport known as cross-country skiing is actually the most demanding off all sports on the CV system. The is partly due to the cold air reducing the amount of oxygen that can be absorbed by the lungs (forcing them to be even more efficient), but also races take place over many miles and difficult terrain. On top of this, there isn’t a muscle in the body that is not required during the action of cross country skiing, meaning that the CV system needs to work overtime to provide them all with fuel. So if you’re looking to build your CV system, switch your snowboards for skis next time you’re on the slopes.

Cycling. Riding a bike, especially in competitive road racing, can cause the heart and lungs to work overtime as they attempt to feed the large leg muscles. The 7 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong is testament to that, having one of the highest VO2 max scores of any athlete. This means that his body was able to take in and process more oxygen per minute than almost any other athlete on the planet.  Based on that evidence, if you’re thinking about getting rid of your old cycling machine or second hand bikes, you might want to think again.

Kayaking. Although kayaking does not use the lower body as much as other sports do, it still punishes the heart and lungs more than most. This is largely down to the fact that kayakers use their upper-bodies a vast amount and there are hundreds of smaller muscles here demanding the large supply of oxygen and removal of lots of carbon dioxide. For second hand kayaks and surfboards check out EST.

Technorati Tags: CV fitness, cycling, kayaking, skiing, sports