Losing upper body muscle
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Losing upper body muscle
Postby Walsh95 » Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:58 pm
I've got a decent sprint, around 60kph, but i find that i am also a good climber, with good acceleration and endurance on up to 15km mountains, and i really love steep gradients. on top of all of that I've also heard that Lord Voldemort armstrong started out as a bulky time trialler of the likes of cancellara, before becoming a climber. So my question is, am I more a sprinter or can I drop the upper body muscle which I fear will become more prevalent as I develop. If its worth anything my dad hasn't got much natural upper body strength and I've always been pretty much the same.
Cheers hope for some good news.
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby QuangVuong » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:07 pm
The heavier you are, I guess you can say, the quickeer you can develop your legs.
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Walsh95 » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:11 pm
- winstonw
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby winstonw » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:12 pm
or alternatively, just go and race. sports performance is determined just as much by your competitive spirit and determination to train hard, and supportive parents, as it is genetics.
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Walsh95 » Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:17 pm
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Walsh95 » Thu Apr 11, 2013 7:19 am
- clackers
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby clackers » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:20 am
If you don't get enough calories, your fat goes and then existing muscle tissue. Sounds radical, though.Walsh95 wrote:I was also wondering of there were any methods to lose upper body muscle? Because phil ligget mentioned on last years tdf that wiggins had "slimmed" down from his days as a "bulky" track pursuitist
- foo on patrol
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby foo on patrol » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:01 pm
Go and train with commitment and race the same, don't go getting hung up on this hype.
Foo
Goal 6000km
- toolonglegs
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:15 pm
At 60 kg's I think it would be fair to say that your built to climb... even if you put on a couple more cms and kilos in the next couple of years, especially as you will lose your upper body mass once you stop using it.Walsh95 wrote:Ok so I'm about 176cm and weigh 60 kg, which is a lot lighter than my non biker mates. And I think you're right, fast twitch and slow twitch, as I was a good sprinter and long distance runner when I was younger, but never excelled at either
Start racing ... if your good you will make your way up and get noticed, good clubs will have people to advise you... and in a couple of years you will be over here in Europe with an amateur club. Hunt out races which suit your talents once you know what they are... but I will hedge a bet that they will not be flat crits .
- sogood
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby sogood » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:14 pm
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
- toolonglegs
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:23 pm
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- Derny Driver
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Derny Driver » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:32 pm
I agree with sogood and foo, you are talking rubbish mate, you are too young to have ANY idea what sort of a bike rider you may or may not be. You should not be aiming to be anything specific at your age. you should just be training hard, racing often and trying to be good at all aspects of the sport. That includes time-trialling, sprinting, and climbing. Whether or not you will be a champion depends not on your genetic makeup (as plenty of talented people do not make it), it depends on lots of other factors. Having a good work ethic in races is important, and the right attitude.Walsh95 wrote:As a (quite) junior rider, I've got the same dream as everyone else: become a climber/tt specialist and win the Tour de France as many times as Armstrong except without the drugs (:lol: I'll show him its possible), but I'm starting to wonder whether I'm built for it. I wouldn't describe my upper body as bulky, (actually I'm pretty skinny) but after years of cricket and rugby, I'm carrying a bit of extra muscle mass and, at 15, I'm not sure that I've reached full development.
I've got a decent sprint, around 60kph, but i find that i am also a good climber, with good acceleration and endurance on up to 15km mountains, and i really love steep gradients. on top of all of that I've also heard that Lord Voldemort armstrong started out as a bulky time trialler of the likes of cancellara, before becoming a climber. So my question is, am I more a sprinter or can I drop the upper body muscle which I fear will become more prevalent as I develop. If its worth anything my dad hasn't got much natural upper body strength and I've always been pretty much the same.
Cheers hope for some good news.
My uncle and a friend went to Europe as 18 and 24 year olds, my uncle thought he was a sprinter and his mate wanted to be a Tour de France rider. As it turned out, they ended up as a madison team and won 2 world titles among lots of other things. My uncle returned to Australia 18 years later as a millionaire.
So in short, you have no idea where cycling might take you so don't put your blinkers on at age 15. Keep all options open including track racing, mountain biking, cyclo-cross and road riding. The tour de France riders you idolise came from track (OGrady), MTB (Evans), triathlon (Porte) ...... if they can morph from one type of cycling to another in their 20's, then so can you. It is a mistake to specialise, especially at a young age.
Also, if you keep cycling you will lose your upper body mass anyway, and you will end up with the classic cyclists physique, all legs and ass and no arms or chest.
Good luck with it mate, love your enthusiasm and dream, but do what I said : Train hard and race often and try to be an all-round cyclist.
Cheers,
DD
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Metor » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:38 pm
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby Walsh95 » Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:17 pm
Thanks to everyone for your advice, haha having a crisis "what if?" But over that now
- toolonglegs
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Re: Losing upper body muscle
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:58 pm
What races?... Race everything till you know what you are good at. Just think bigger than club crits if you are good in the hills etc... If you are good you will get plenty of advice along they way.
Just have fun and work hard
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