If I don't go to the gym, I actually lose weight, which makes me faster on the bike. When I go to the gym regularly, I put on upper body muscle, which definitely weighs some pounds. I definitely like having a decent amount of upper body strength and like having the biceps, so off to the gym I go.

Biggest variable in the quality of the gym is the equipment, not what other people are doing. Long as the "text for an hour" people don't sit on the equipment while they dawdle, I really don't care if they're there.

Building all around athleticism, strength training, mobility, agility and conditioning is more important to me than cycling performance and I prioritize those things over cycling...I usually workout 3 times per week and ride my bike 3 times per week....I train at home and do outdoor workouts all year round with Kettlebells, Clubbells and bodyweight exercises such as weighted pull ups, weighted dips, weighted push ups, walking lunges and squats...I am a minimalist when it comes to workout equipment, the less the better...I can build and maintain a high level of fitness and conditioning without any gym machines and I don't even own an indoor trainer. My training is very unconventional and I hate traditional bodybuilding style gym workouts and I never liked commercial gyms with all their fancy complex machines and stupid big screen TVs and music in the background, I much prefer to go outside and get my workout done outdoors with few basic exercises.. .I would rather do a Kettlebell workout outdoors while its snowing than use an indoor trainer or a treadmill in a climate controlled gym.

They are fit for running and cycling.

I don't mind gyms per se, but what annoys me is that it's replacing proper sports and is beeing presented as a sport itself. It often doesn't make people fit for anything but looking like an athlete. I avoid them anyway because there is nothing I want to do I need a gym for, but I recognize they could be usefull and efficient to build up muscle to improve performance is the sport of one's choice. But it's becoming a goal in itself, and is presented as a sport itself. I believe people would enjoy themselves a lot more and become happier and healthier if they'd compete, play a skillfull game in a social environment, maybe even in the fresh air and the weather, using their brains and their reflexes at the same time, instead of slaving away at some peace op equipment to sculpt their body.

Everybody should do as they like of course, but as a society let's not forget about the real thing.

Being fit to ride a bike doesn't mean you're fit in other areas. Bike fitness doesn't have a lot of carry over to other activities...Try running an obstacle course and tell me how fit you are.

I think you're probably using a bad form or too much weight or too much volume or doing exercises which you shouldn't be doing...Start with few basic exercises and learn proper form before doing more damage to your body... Weight training should make you feel better not worse.

Very few people can do 10 strict pull ups with proper form. Majority of people cheat on their pull ups or end up doing partial reps.

Their fitness is very sport specific. They prioritize developing running or cycling fitness because that's what their main goals are.

:lol: priceless

I'm working on it!

My perspective, as a weak, skinny, physician in his 60s, who spent a lifetime in endurance sports, is that we're all cyclists until we get seriously ill or break a hip or something, at which time a muscle reserve and some conditioning above the quads will come in quite handy. I also do another sport where upper body strength is important for speed and safety and I keep burning it off on the bike. I have found that work on the core and the posterior chain groups, i.e., the hamstrings and glutes, which cycling does almost nothing for, has helped with speed, power, and endurance on the bike and cured my lower back issues.

Weight-bearing exercise prevents bone loss, for which little ginks such as I are at risk. I can't run anymore because I had my gnarly old C-spine rebuilt surgically once and I don't want to risk more damage, so I'm left with floor exercises.

There is also an accumulating body of data relating resistance training to mental and emotional wellbeing and it's a good complement to the trainer in the dark and slippery days of winter.

I like my gym. It has all the types an urban setting can provide and the users are almost all friendly and considerate. My wife is comfortable there and we can go together. Yes, some of the mooks grunt and moan orgiastically, some matrons park enormous bags in the middle of the floor, and everyone sits on the equipment and looks at their phones, but I fart.

I certainly agree. In many areas of their lives. And they likely are overusing body parts. There is a point too much use will not build you up.

I don't see symmetry as a part of fitness. The rating is somewhat difficult, as I agree with you it may not mean healthy. 3% body fat may be less healthy than 7%, but the 3%er is fitter, although few would say the 7% is anything but both (fit and healthy).

Overdoing things is a real issue, especially in an activity that has a pro sport that is focused on overdoing things to win.
I see too many miles, too lean much more often than too much sleep. And for some, the more sleep, less exercise would make them both fitter and healthier.

I've been in and out of gyms my whole life. Sometimes I'll frequent them as much as 4-5 times a week and other times I may not step inside the place for 2 months. I've got a great deal with one of the local chains and my yearly payment is only $60, so missing a couple of months is nothing as far as hurting the pocket book. As I get older I find it harder to get motivated to go in for a workout. Also, I'm no longer trying to be the strongest I can be, I'm trying to continue with weight bearing exercises in order to keep my bones strong. That along with 3-4 days a week on my bike, I feel well rounded, flexible and healthy.

I think I disagree with your post as much as anything I've ever disagreed with on this forum.

The alternatives are not "train like an athlete for competition" vs. "train like an athlete for looks", it's train to establish or maintain a higher level of fitness than you would without training. Only you yourself can answer "fitness for what?"

I'm engaged in a job where I try to defeat people mentally all day long. My gym time and most of my riding time is a respite from that sense of needing to compete all the time. That doesn't make the fitness and emotional benefits I get from that time any less of a "real thing" than some arbitrary contest over who happens to be faster that day.

Yes, working a piece of equipment in a gym is mindless, but I bring my tablet and enjoy a movie while I do it, and I get a lot more fitness benefit from it than I would sitting on a bench, waiting to strike out..

Yeah, the pull up thing is no measure.
I could never really do them very well despite being quite good at technical rock climbing but for a lark did 1000 pushups one day. That was simply 20x50 while at work.

I don't hit the gym in the summer, preferring to just be active but do in the winter to focus or compensate. Last year I did a lot of focused spinning to increase my cadence and core and this winter I am swimming to augment trail running when it's too crappy outside.

If were to measure general fitness I think I would focus on cardio and core more than a particular extremities strength. Good cardio and balance/flexibility gives one a foot up on many activities.

Dad brag video, but significant to the thread. The trainer pictured above, now in his 60s trained two juniors. There is not a complete ROM, on purpose. These are some good all around cycling gym work that for other than a pure climber, will generally improve cycling, certainly short duration speed. Mine has since decided he likes more upper body weight, and that has hurt his RR and hill climbing. But he can sure do a lot of pull-ups.

To me, that's a weight room and not a gym.
Guess it's all perspective.

I am not a pro cyclist, I don't race or compete, cycling is not a sport for me.... Cycling is one of the activities which I happen to enjoy and I just ride for recreation and commute. Cycling alone doesn't meet my fitness needs that's why I feel a need to do other forms of exercise.



The health benefits of weight training and resistance training are well documented. It's more than just about looks...It's never a bad thing to have a little extra strength and muscle, extra speed, agility and athletic ability... plus it makes me feel great mentally.

.....and real gyms also don't have big screen TVs and people texting on their phones and surfing social media while they're working out.

As I said people should do as the like, but I don't believe that there are so many gyms because people like the mindless working of a piece of equipment better than playing some ballgame or other competitive sport that keeps them in good shape, nevermind the level of competitiveness. But they have to drag themselves to the gym instead because they find it harder and harder to fit an organized or social sport in their lives.

Would the presence of big screen TVs and people texting on their phones and surfing social media while they're working out prevent someone else from getting a little extra strength and muscle, extra speed, agility and athletic ability with more spartan routines?

I can recall a time when I worked up a nice amount of sweat on my shirt (wearing a t-shirt and shorts) from squatting while the person beside me constantly complained to her trainer that he was pushing her too hard. She was wearing a jacket (like a zip-up sweat shirt) on top of a regular shirt and sweat pants. There was not a drop of sweat on her so clearly, he wasn't pushing her enough.

Or, you know, they're like me and they hate participating in organized or social sports, and they live in a climate which limits them to winter sports that they loath much of the year if they want to do an outside activity.

I know I get a better and more intense workout at a gym than I would schmoozing with my "team" half the time.

Not all of us are jocks, and we don't aspire to become them. We just like being fit.

10 pull ups of any kind is not so easy at my age, near 60. I'll check it every week or two, or three, and doing that I've worked up to 9 and I was pretty proud of that. I can only do the "proper" ones a day or two after a set of "partial" pull ups - if I start straight in doing them right it feels like I'll strain the elbows.

I'm going to echo what others said. If everything is hurting as you say, particularly your joints and not just delayed onset muscle soreness, you probably need to change something.

Planet Fitness is a fine place for many people to go. Certainly, you can get a sufficient workout there in order to meet your fitness needs. But, having said that, their rules are sort of the lifting equivalent of making a cycling club and saying "no lycra allowed".

I guess we're all her, in my local fitness centers. I don't think anything of it, except that some of them turn the overhead fans off and I really need the airflow when running.