Posts Tagged ‘bikes’
The Muscular Fitness Benefits of Cycling
December 30th, 2009 | 
Author: 
If You Want To Discover The Best Way To Build Muscle Quickly, Then Watch This Short Video Now As I Take You Inside VinceDelmonteFitness.com!
In the video above, you got a sneek preview inside the members area of Vince DelMonte's No Nonsense Muscle Building program, so now you know why it's quite simply the best program for anyone wanting to build muscle quickly!
Go and take a look inside his site for yourself and take advantage of his $1 Trial Offer whilst it's still available!
Bike riding is one of those sports that anyone can enjoy and the benefits are almost limitless. The motivations for cycling vary, from just wanting to get a bit of fresh air, to wanting to dramatically enhance your fitness. The fitness benefits for your muscles varies quite a lot depending on which type of cycling you do. If you cycle very long distances at relatively low intensity, your muscles will become very good at endurance and will build many slow-twitch fibres. Conversely, it is powerful fast-twitch fibres that are built when your riding style is of high intensity but over shorter periods of time. But which muscles get worked the most when cycling.
Quadriceps (thigh muscles). Without doubt the muscles that produce most of the force when cycling are the quadriceps. These muscles work to extend the knee joint and provide a downward force on the pedals, which is then passed onto the crank. Racing bikes in fact are designed to locate the quads directly over the crack so that maximum efficiency is achieved. The quad muscles thankfully adapt quite quickly to exercise, which is lucky as bike riding forces them to work at quite a rapid rate.
Gastrocnemius (calf). The muscles of the calf work just as hard as those of the thigh, and relative to their size they produce a lot of power. Flexing the calf muscles when the leg is in a straight position, points the toes towards and adds a small boost to the overall power output. Pinarello make pedals that dynamically pivot to squeeze every last bit of power juice from the calf muscles.
Hamstrings. It may be the thigh muscles that provide most of the forward momentum when riding, but in order to flex the legs and prime them for the next downward push, it is the hamstrings that do the work. This doesn’t require much force on a standard bike as the rotation of the pedals pushes the leg up but when you use cycling shoes that clip to the pedals, a large amount of additional force can be generated by these muscles in the upward movement
Mail this post
Posted in 
Tags: 