Old 10-21-05, 10:23 PM
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sestivers
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Location: Seattle
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Hey, I think this thread will be helpful to me...

My issue is this: I just bought my first HRM (sorry Koffee but it's the Timex). I've only used it a couple times, but I think on the bike my leg muscles tire out way before my heart/lungs. However, while running, they seem pretty even. Here is the data:

While riding, I cannot get my HR above ~160 BPM without my legs burning. I would say that if I raised my HR very much above this, my leg muscles would reach failure in about 90 sec.

While running 1.5 miles for a physical test for my job, my HR was ~180 the whole time (8:40). I probably could have held this pace for another 6 minutes, not including the sprint at the end. My legs felt comparably as stressed as my heart/lungs. I'm guessing that I was at about 90% of my max HR for this, but I don't have that measured yet.

I think that if I did weight training this off season that targeted cycling specific muscles, I might be able to ride my bike at the 180 BPM for longer periods of time and would theoretically be faster. Is this correct?

I'm thinking of working mostly leg presses, squats, hamstring curls, and calf presses. Also need to work abs/core since cycling has essentially zero effect on those muscles unless sprinting/climbing.

Any suggestions?
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