Here is where i am. Want to gain quality muscle on legs. I am 60 have been bb 6 months. I have seen improvement. Perhaps i am bieng impatient. Would riding a mountain bike (as liesure activity) be benefical for gaining mass on legs.
Probably not, but depends on how you ride your mountain bike. Mountain biking is a lot different from road biking. I’d compare it to short interval hill training in running.
Done leisurely however, I don’t think it would do a whole lot for leg size.
Maybe you could use it as a form of active recovery; just make sure you aren’t out there too long.
[quote]gramzilla wrote:
Here is where i am. Want to gain quality muscle on legs. I am 60 have been bb 6 months. I have seen improvement. Perhaps i am bieng impatient. Would riding a mountain bike (as liesure activity) be benefical for gaining mass on legs. [/quote]When I was in my 20’s (~25 years ago) I put on ok leg muscle riding a bicycle (road riding on a 10-speed). I kept it in the hardest-to-peddle gear regardless of how steep the hill was, used my legs instead of body weight (didn’t stand up on the pedals), sprinted as hard as I could until I had to rest (rested at about 85% effort until I regained my wind) then sprinted again, used toe clips to pull up and not just push, and raced every bike/car/bus that crossed my path.
I didn’t do the “Lance Armstrong” type of endurance/marathon riding.
I didn’t have big legs by the standards of the big guys here, but they looked like a speed skater’s. If I had known about a proper diet and eating ‘heavy’ I’d have had even better results.
I don’t know how effective mountain biking would be. Long, shallow uphill gradients, interspersed with steep hills, would be best.
Good luck!
Thanks for your response. I am working out three days a week perhaps four days a week with two leg days will be more effective.
[quote]Nick Danger wrote:
gramzilla wrote:
Here is where i am. Want to gain quality muscle on legs. I am 60 have been bb 6 months. I have seen improvement. Perhaps i am bieng impatient. Would riding a mountain bike (as liesure activity) be benefical for gaining mass on legs. When I was in my 20’s (~25 years ago) I put on ok leg muscle riding a bicycle (road riding on a 10-speed). I kept it in the hardest-to-peddle gear regardless of how steep the hill was, used my legs instead of body weight (didn’t stand up on the pedals), sprinted as hard as I could until I had to rest (rested at about 85% effort until I regained my wind) then sprinted again, used toe clips to pull up and not just push, and raced every bike/car/bus that crossed my path.
I didn’t do the “Lance Armstrong” type of endurance/marathon riding.
I didn’t have big legs by the standards of the big guys here, but they looked like a speed skater’s. If I had known about a proper diet and eating ‘heavy’ I’d have had even better results.
I don’t know how effective mountain biking would be. Long, shallow uphill gradients, interspersed with steep hills, would be best.
Good luck!
[/quote]
Thanks, I have 4 miles of dirt to get to pavement, but the ride from there sounds like what you are describing
Do BW squats every hour on the hour, alternate days. I do the same with pushups on the non-squat days. Do this every waking hour, with one day off per week.
Start with 25, which should be about 350 per day. Work up to 1500 per day.
Herschel Walker and numerous other have used this to build their bodies. Eventually you can throw in hill sprints for some of the squats like Walter Payton did.
Jhoon Rhee, who brought TKD to America, does this. He has the face of a 75 year old, but the body of a ripped 20 year old.
Some people I know got big legs with martial arts. At higher levels they do lots of kicks against sandbags. One lady commented last month that she will not wear a swimsuit because her legs got so big.
You must also eat right.
Hi Gramzilla. There’s been some anecdotal evidence that bb who have been squatting (and otherwise training their legs hard) for several months who then switch to cycling do notice growth in their legs.
This is probably due to the fatique in the nervous system from constant squatting and the change in set/rep parameters from the cycling.
Gramzilla: Muscular legs includes the quadriceps, biceps femoris and calves - therefore you need to hit them all in your leg program - just developing quads alone is only 1/3 of the equation.
A good leg program would center around the following:
Squats - all variations or Deadlifts
Stiff-leg deadlifts or lying leg curls
Lunges - all variations
Step-ups
Calf raises - all variations
Pick one quad, one bicep fem. and one calf exercise per session cycling reps/poundage/sets and finish off each session with a couple sets of 15 reps in the lunge OR step-up. One or two sessions per week depending on your recovery abilities - alternate exercises for each muscle group.
Do a minimum of other aerobic type exercise if you wish to increase mass. Yes, at 6 months you are being impatient - give yourself 1 to 2 years of consistent workouts - however novices will usually notice rapid gains in the first few months of weight training.
At “our” age we need lots of rest and good nutrition and recovery aids.
I hope this helps and good on ya!