Going to the Gym :(

Sgt_Pepper

Hi, the GF has decided to join the Gym so I said I'd go with her.
My first thought is, just sit on the exercise bike for two hours.
Or are there any exercises i could do to target particular muscles used for cycling.

trailstar

why sit on the bike? you won't do anything but burn calories.

if your at the gym get some weight work done on your legs & core. Do some really hard work on the rowing machine as well... Having a little bit of upper body strength doesnt hurt in cycling. Especially not at the amateur level.

meanredspider

Sgt_Pepper wrote:

Or are there any exercises i could do to target particular muscles used for cycling.

If they do a spinning class, give that a go - it's fun. Or circuits are great for cardio.

Other than that, any other cardio stuff (rowing, running, cross-trainer etc) will be great. The important thing is to enjoy it or two hours will feel like a lifetime.

Do they have a pool? Another good activity is swimming.

bcss

meanredspider wrote:

Sgt_Pepper wrote:

Or are there any exercises i could do to target particular muscles used for cycling.

If they do a spinning class, give that a go - it's fun. Or circuits are great for cardio.

.

+1 for spinning classes, great way to improve cardio and pedalling

Zachariah

+1 And the spin bikes will hopefully give you a power rating which would otherwise be very expensive to find out (OK it's not a SRM meter built into the cranks, but still).

Sgt_Pepper

Lol, just spoke to the GF on the phone and she said its not so much a gym, more a small room with some equipment in IE: a few cross trainers, a chest press, a rowing machine, 2 treadmills, 2 excersise bikes and a some free weights.

why did I say yes

ut_och_cykla

Sgt_Pepper wrote:

Lol, just spoke to the GF on the phone and she said its not so much a gym, more a small room with some equipment in IE: a few cross trainers, a chest press, a rowing machine, 2 treadmills, 2 excersise bikes and a some free weights.

why did I say yes

Cos you love 'er?

warm up doing something and then do 10 mins each on the cardio machines - row, bike, jog etc for x mins - 40 or 60 or 180
Finish off with some situps, pressups and chins, warm down & stretch. As spring approaches spend more time cycling - maybe take your own music with you - helps pass teh time and avoid conversation with people

shockedsoshocked

Hit the squat rack.

Get legs like Greipel.

chill123

i'm limited during the week to occaisional using the gym at work. as a result a fair bit of my training is done on a stationary bike there. i see it as a great opportunity to do some really specific workouts. using a heart rate monitor i can work exactly as hard as i want to (unlike club runs where I inevitably end up pushing it!).

maybe get some intervals work out to do, or just low intensity fat burning zone two rides. maybe some high cadence intervals to improve efficiency. in other words use the time to work on whatever aspects of your riding you'd like to improve.

i've written some more about what i do on the gym bike here:
http://www.bicyclecenturytraining.com/b ... -trainers/

prawny

Here you go

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/fitness/a ... bike-28320

Squats and deadlifts are good for your legs. Bit of core work, the gym is fun, wish I could go. :P