Cycling and those damn skinny arms...
#276
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My arms have always been skinny but surprisingly not weak. I would like to work out on my arms more often but I'm a cyclist and that's what I choose to do. I ride and ride and then ride some more. Is it unhealthy? I don't think so. Maybe an imbalanced workout but my heart rate is low and I feel rather darn good. Isn't that important. If I was to work out my arms, they get more tone, but I really don't really think my arms would gain serious mass.
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Funny thread. Who cares? I don’t. Now I’m ordering a double meat Whataburger with cheese and large fries but I’m not concerned. I will ride the calories off on the bike. What about us medium arm guys?
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I'm genuinely curious what compelled you to awaken a decade old zombie thread with the white hot take of "who cares"???
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#286
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#287
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Ok, I was looking up information about how emaciated some pro riders appear. This thread showed up from the dead. I am interested about being on the line of being super fit or super sick. Since I post on this forum frequently I figured I would add something. It’s an old thread so what not worth getting all bent out of shape over.
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#289
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mich...ssen_(cyclist)
What an ironic time to revive the zombie thread.
#290
Senior Member
I'm built very similarly to this guy (same height, weight, and arms) and am probably one of the few that isn't too fat for the sport...
Up until a few years ago I was an apprentice machinist and it was a extremely physically demanding job with a great deal of heavy lifting... a common task was to drill out hydraulic brake discs which weighed 120 pounds (I weighed 145) and because of their design had to be dead lifted and set into the jig.
I did hundreds and hundreds of these and there wasn't much in our shop that weighed less than 40 pounds... and we were always wrestling with steel.
I'd shovel tons of slag every day... that's hundred and hundreds of reps with significant weights.
I only gained a little bit of weight but got totally ripped doing this for two years... at 43 I now know that short of using steroids, all the weight lifting in the world will not bulk me up as I have a genetic pre-disposition to be lean and compact which make cycling an ideal sport.
I never found my size to be a detriment when I trained, taught, and competed in martial arts and as a rock climber, lighter and stronger was always better than carrying any extra weight.
Up until a few years ago I was an apprentice machinist and it was a extremely physically demanding job with a great deal of heavy lifting... a common task was to drill out hydraulic brake discs which weighed 120 pounds (I weighed 145) and because of their design had to be dead lifted and set into the jig.
I did hundreds and hundreds of these and there wasn't much in our shop that weighed less than 40 pounds... and we were always wrestling with steel.
I'd shovel tons of slag every day... that's hundred and hundreds of reps with significant weights.
I only gained a little bit of weight but got totally ripped doing this for two years... at 43 I now know that short of using steroids, all the weight lifting in the world will not bulk me up as I have a genetic pre-disposition to be lean and compact which make cycling an ideal sport.
I never found my size to be a detriment when I trained, taught, and competed in martial arts and as a rock climber, lighter and stronger was always better than carrying any extra weight.
One of the toughest son-of-sams I've ever known ...had skinny arms. Well, skinny arms, skinny legs, skinny all over. But you know what, he kicked some serious a$$ in the years I knew him. Big musclebound jerks, that thought because they were bigger than him ...they were better (sound familiar?). But they were sadly mistaken. Yeah, he was quite frail, but frail doesn't equate to weak.
If you ever get over being shallow, you realize it ain't the size of the dog in the fight ...its the size of the fight in the dog.
In every aspect.
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1) Seek counseling. Your reaction to another person with whom you have had no interaction of any kind is a violent act?
2) The fellow in the photo is wearing the maillot jaune and you're obviously, um, not. Jealous? See #1 .
3) Great post. Keep it up.
#293
I got a fever.
My thoughts:
1) Seek counseling. Your reaction to another person with whom you have had no interaction of any kind is a violent act?
2) The fellow in the photo is wearing the maillot jaune and you're obviously, um, not. Jealous? See #1 .
3) Great post. Keep it up.
1) Seek counseling. Your reaction to another person with whom you have had no interaction of any kind is a violent act?
2) The fellow in the photo is wearing the maillot jaune and you're obviously, um, not. Jealous? See #1 .
3) Great post. Keep it up.
#294
Fredly Fredster
I have skinny arms and skinny legs... and a beer gut.
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#296
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I agree with their choice because they do not need bigger arms for their healthy lifestyle. For myself, my body choices are different. I don't want my arms and upper body to look like that so I do bodybuilding as an amateur because I am not competitive enough to do things like taking steroids and I don't want to look like Ronnie Coleman either. I would never be willing to shrink the muscles in my upper body to save weight so I could be lighter and pedal faster just as I would not want to put on body fat to excel in sumo wrestling or have more momentum to hit harder in football, cumulative cognitive as in IQ damaging concussions and all. Still, in the case of bike riders who develop their leg muscles and economize on weight by not building upper body muscles, I can't find fault because it does not damage anything.
Last edited by LAJ; 09-28-20 at 07:55 AM. Reason: Deleted off topic portion.
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Got you beat on the Popeye look: 5'8", 120 pounds, a total of 55 years of fast training rides with a lot of climbing out of the saddle (including on track bikes in very hilly southern Connecticut and Baltimore County), and my upper arms persist in being no larger than my forearms.
#299
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What an interesting style of how to compose the muscles in your body. I can do chin-ups, 6 reps with 75 pounds added to a weight belt and 8 to 9 with 50 pounds added but I only weigh about 155 pounds which is not much to pull-up. I have been working out for years. I am in my 70s and my squat and bench press ire far less impressive but they keep me from getting sarcopenia so my chest and quadracepts look they way I want. Few people in modern culture accept that we get more choice than we might think in what shape body we decide we want to live in.
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