Bone strength and cycling
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Bone strength and cycling
Postby Calvin27 » Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:27 pm
http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutri ... rkStrength
Apparently over emphasising cycling at the expense of other activities reduces bone strength. Scary stuff seeing that I mainly got into cycling because, my body couldn't hack impact stuff. Looks like back to some heavy lifting at the gym then.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby lobstermash » Tue Mar 25, 2014 2:47 pm
But seriously, there are so many factors not controlled in that 'study' that it's hard to credit it with much more than a slightly raised eyebrow.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Constantheadwind » Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:57 pm
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby clackers » Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:48 am
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby trailgumby » Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:58 am
+1. 52yo here. I have been neglecting this the last 12 months and have paid the price with a few imbalances that have contributed to a knee over-use injury through improper muscle recruitment. A stack a few weeks ago didn't help either, but was not the sole cause.clackers wrote:Cycling's not weight bearing so shouldn't be the only form of exercise, especially us more senior/revered folk.
It doesn't need to be massive weights, nor lots of sessions a week.
A focus on it for a few weeks say twice a year during the transition phase of your training program followed by a once-weekly maintenance session when your base building phase gets underway should be sufficient. Set your weights so you can achieve a minimum number of repetitions of 10-15, and then build the number of reps rather than the weight. I only up my weights when I get to 20.
Joe Friel's book Cycling Past 50 has good material on this. It is getting on a bit now, but there has been no material close to it in quality that I can find published since.
Bone density is certainly a concern, along with loss of muscle mass as testosterone levels decline with age. Weight bearing exercise is a great help for not only maintaining both but improving them.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby toolonglegs » Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:48 am
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Calvin27 » Wed Mar 26, 2014 5:09 pm
Seriously though, I avoided impact stuff because my bone was hardening so much that even my tendons decided to join in (not good at all!). Looks like I am going to have to cough up for that gym membership after all.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby trailgumby » Wed Mar 26, 2014 8:42 pm
Spin classes are awesome for bike fitness. If they have a few classes, I reckon a couple of weeks of them in place of midweek road workouts prior to any event you're doing will lift your pace considerably.Calvin27 wrote:I always knew MTBrs are a tougher mob. All those stacks haha.
Seriously though, I avoided impact stuff because my bone was hardening so much that even my tendons decided to join in (not good at all!). Looks like I am going to have to cough up for that gym membership after all.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Squashed » Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:47 am
Walking is a good exercise to help increase bone density. It is low impact but causes enough stress on the bones to help them become stronger.
Weight bearing exercises will improve bone density and help reduce osteoporosis. However, you must ingest a lot of calcium, milk, yoghurt, etc, and you must be able to digest and absorb the calcium. Vitamin D is also required to help you absorb the calcium more effectively.
The article in the link suggests 1000mg of calcium per day. Most nutritionists suggest 1400mg of calcium per day for an average adult. If you are exercising or working outdoors or in a hot environment, you should double that amount to replace what you lose due to sweating.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Alex Simmons/RST » Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:24 am
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Calvin27 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:21 am
Really, I thought weights was the ideal? It's one of the reasons why a lot of people tell growing kids to stay away from weights - because their ones are still growing and soft. Or is that an old wives tale?Alex Simmons/RST wrote:Best exercise for anyone concerned about their bone mineral density is anything that provides some form of light jarring, like walking, jogging, skipping or similar. Gym weights/lifting are somewhat less effective for this.
I would have thought weights contribute massively to bone density - bloody hell I am sick of changing up my routine.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby piledhigher » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:17 pm
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Alex Simmons/RST » Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:56 pm
I'm just basing my statements on the balance of studies assessing the impact to BMD of various forms of exercise in those whom are reasonably fit/healthy (and not the elderly/infirm/children), and exercises which involve some forms of "jarring" or impact that generates short duration higher load stresses on the bones usually come up trumps, somewhat more so than weightlifting which tends to report relatively neutral to positive impact to BMD (it tends to have more impact to muscle strength and size than BMD) and endurance cycling often comes out as not of being much help wrt BMD / similar to sedentary control.Calvin27 wrote:Really, I thought weights was the ideal? It's one of the reasons why a lot of people tell growing kids to stay away from weights - because their ones are still growing and soft. Or is that an old wives tale?Alex Simmons/RST wrote:Best exercise for anyone concerned about their bone mineral density is anything that provides some form of light jarring, like walking, jogging, skipping or similar. Gym weights/lifting are somewhat less effective for this.
I would have thought weights contribute massively to bone density - bloody hell I am sick of changing up my routine.
Hence why I suggest people do something that involves a bit of light jarring/impacts if BMD is of concern for them since it has the greatest probability of positive impact, as well as consider their diet. Of course individual responses vary and what's right for you is specific to you.
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby mikesbytes » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:12 pm
1. Good nutrition
- Vitamin A, which stimulates the activity of osteoblasts, the cells that build bones
- Vitamin C, used for the synthesis of collagen the main component of connective tissue
- Vitamin D, increases the absorption of calcium
- Various minerals including calcium and phosphorus which are used in the bone structure
2. Regular exercise, of the right sorts[/b
- Weight bearing activitives, ie impact exercise like walking, running, dancing. Note that extreme levels without adequate recovery may lead to stress factures.
- Resistance training, ie making the muscles work hard to overcome a resistance such has living a heavy weight.
Swimming has no weight bearing and cycling isn't a hell of a long way behind
3. Balanced hormonal environment
Testosterone, Oestrogens, etc etc. This is a topic in itself, it can be influenced by lifestyle choices in particular diet and exercise.
Weight bearing (impact) vs Resistance. There's a lot of information on this out there so its rather confusing. Unless we are modelling our body's specifically for competition, the ideal position for most is to be an all rounder and that means doing a bit of everything. Resistance is more confusing as the body adapts to the stress its put under, I'm of the view that light weights high repetitions has considerably less effect than high weight low repetitions as the bones adapt to the maximum stress
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Abby » Thu May 01, 2014 12:04 pm
Just wondering, as I've just started a running program, partially as I'm middle-aged and thinking about my bones... Just o be clear though - I'm not gonna stop it just because it means I may have 'increased bone weight' *lol*, just wondering out loud...
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby Calvin27 » Thu May 01, 2014 1:29 pm
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Re: Bone strength and cycling
Postby mikesbytes » Thu May 01, 2014 2:20 pm
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