Originally Posted by Brooke1687

1. Anything is better than a sedentary life style
2. Genetics and lifestyle off the bike are huge. I know someone who runs marathons and had a pulmonary embolism while training, she was a smoker.

With that being said....
After my wreck and injury last summer I finished the summer/fall in the worst shape I had been in a while so I really put in a lot of work at the gym over the last 5 months. I’m a casual cyclist but have been wanting to increase my speed and mileage. I’ve been weight training, stretching, various types of cardio, and putting miles in on the station bike. After 5 months (and an iron transfusion to deal my severe anemia) my work out routine is not nearly as intense. Normally when it gets warm out I back off of my gym routine but I won’t be doing that this year because I know I need to focus on more than just the bike. Your body adapts and unless you’re climbing serious hills it’s not going to be as much of a work out.