Hello there, I have recently started using some weights with my future father in law. He is 71 but still very strong as he has done weights all his life. I have been ok with the upper body work but today we did abs, calves and thighs. Abs were no problem but the other two I was useless!! I ride 6 days a week and can climb hills for hours but after only a few reps of calf raises and squats i felt my muscles about to pop. I was really embarressed as I am meant to have really strong legs. Can anyone make me feel better by giving me a logical explanation?

MTFU you 7 stone weakling!

cheers, thought that might be the answer!!

mtfu

MTFU fo real, you had your weak leg supporting ass handed to you by a long time pensioner 😀

i am trying too! thats what the weights are meant to be doing. 😀

i am so ashamed!

“recently started”
“done weights all his life”

How would it be if you took him out on a bike?
You’re being daft, and he’s gonna screw your legs, fact.

Problem is that you’ll push on until you’re injured.

How recently?
How long did you spend making sure you’re doing the effort correctly using the muscle that’s supposed to be used?

Oh, I give up…… bon recouperation 🙂

different muscles 😯

You’ve been using different muscles in different ways from years of cycling. Squats and calf raises will probably work them slightly different thats all. You’ll be alright after a few sessions.

(I have a feeling that the forum oracle will be along in a minute to correct me….)

You can’t take your 71 yr odl father-in-law to be out on a MTB ride, there’s only 2 possible out comes.

1) He hands your skinny weak legged ass to you again and then it gives him even more ammo to question your manlyness/suitability to marry his “wonderful” daughter, thus letting everyone know when he does the father of the bride speach on your big day.

2) He takes up the challenge and being a man who regards himself as very fit and healthy (and apparently strong) fails big time and either nearly dies or actually does. Then your beautiful wife to be will walk out on you for killing/nearly killing her father and you have to use your understrength legs to walk to the pub every night.

Either way you loose, FAIL!! 😆 😆

steve b_77,
You are so right! 🙂

I agree with ChunkyMTB (that surprised you 🙂 ) also cycling, you warm up slower and more naturally than just starting bouncing up and down with heavy weights.
You’ll get bored with it anyway… it’s all so… exercise for the sake of it (personally, something I can’t stand)

A healthy dose of GAFG would appear to be the best solution here.

Making up your own acronyms now Smee?

Yes – someone has to make them up at some point or we wouldn’t have any.

“really strong legs” for a cyclist are nothing compared to a power lifter, you need to start off small maybe 20-40kg on both of those, you will soon work up. it’s just a very different action. same muscles, different type of strength, very different motion.

I go down the gym a bit, do a few weights, run a bit, peddle like fury, but never do weights on my legs. I found it was giving me knee trouble, and simply not worth it – my legs are good for what I enjoy as it is.

I’m just saying – be carefull you don’t mess yourself up for what you enjoy.

Ere

cycling is like weight training with thousands of easy reps……

In the Gym 30 is alot of reps

Cyclists are more fit than strong

Solution, go cycling and ignore the gym

You do not need massively strong legs for cycling. If you think about the actual forces involved in pushing the pedals round, it’s nothing compared to doing weights, even in powerful sprints. Cycling is about repeatedly pushing these relatively light forces as quickly as possible.

I seem to remember someone like Matt from Torq writing an article about this sort of phenomenon. As traildog and others have said, cycling is about pushing small weights lots of times, cyclists are more fir than strong etc etc and this was reflected in the awful performances put in by cyclists on shows like Superstars. There really is very little crossover between cycling and other sports.

Overall then I wouldn’t worry particularly and just be thankful it wasn’t your 71 year old mother in law who owned you!

Can someone on here define “fit”?

The opposite to “unfit”

you got beaten by a septagenarian.

Next week you’ll get beaten by a girl.

The week after that, a small child. And no, not Richard Sandrak, a proper small child that can’t even walk properly.

You are rubbish.

Fit in this case I would say refers to aerobic capacity

relative to an untrained subject, the power output you can sustain cycling for an hour is high

So that counts me out