Hi all,
Just looking for some advice - I have recently
took up mountain biking as a hobby, and I love
it. The problem is that, am I compromising my
strength/size gains in the gym with this aerobic activity? My lifting program is every other day, concentating around squats as the Day 1 priority, and deadlifts as the Day 2 priority (then back to Day 1). I love doing these power exercises for strength and size, but am concerned that I may be throwing any gains out the window doing mountain biking on my off days. Any advice would be appreciated!!
Thanks.
Yes, if you’re mountain biking for a fairly long duration at relatively high intensity, every second day, you will compromise your strength gains. But so what? Does it matter if you end up with 15 inch arms instead of 16. I think it’s great that your doing something other than living in the gym. The guys who live in the gym, do no other activety other than lifting and constantly worry about nothing but muscle gain, need to get a life. If you really enjoy mountain biking, use lifting as an aid to making you a stronger rider. On the possitive side you won’t look like the typical cyclist with the big quads and no upper body and arms. You’ll also be able to eat more than the guys who just lift and do no other type of training. Have fun on trails brother.
Unless you are trying to become a professional bobybuilder, you shoulkd not let training stop you from enjoying life. Go mountain biking.
Keep your calories up, and get plenty of sleep. The gains you get from hitting the trails are much more important than the gains you get in the gym. Have fun.
remember, high-rep concentrics can lead to really good hyperplasmia. Work your legs with low-rep, high intensity (avoid failure) sets to maintain sarcomere density, and cycle those legs as much as you want. Then, in the winter, add proper leg protocol to see them explode!