for avoidance of injury and that?

I wouldn’t have thought so.

#IAmNotABiologist

Yes, IMO https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9927006

Particularly important for those with a predisposition towards osteoporosis or those who do little/no weight bearing exercise (e.g. a lot of cyclists!)

It will also make you more resistant to other kinds of injuries as your joints, tendons, stabilising muscles etc will get stronger.

but build up slowly.

In general yes. Running is also thought to be effective.

https://nos.org.uk/information/healthy-living-and-risk/osteoporosis-exercises/

good I’ll keep doing it then. Thanks

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/03/more-on-bone-health.html

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/healthy-bones/Pages/strong-bones-in-children.aspx

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/training/article/izn20161128-Off-the-bike-Strength-training-for-winter-cycling-0

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Osteoporosis/Pages/Prevention.aspx

5 Things Cyclists Don’t Understand About Strength Training

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/why-cycling-is-bad-for-bone-density-and-how-you-can-improve-it/

I wouldn’t have thought so.

How did you arrive at that conclusion…?

Just curious, not looking for a rough n’ tumble or owt.

Anything that gets put under stress will be made stronger. So yes; bones, tendons, joints, muscles… Even the Central Nervous System, apparently (although I understand that even less than the rest).

(I am also not a biologist)

I have read somewhere that exercising strenuously such as 4 hours hard cycling can deplete things like calcium in your body, and that can weaken your bones. But weight bearing exercises strengthen them. So for cyclists in particular who are one of the few groups who do long hard exercise without weight bearing then it’s important to do weight bearing exercises. Weights, running, but even MTBing is better because of the shock and virbation. I remember eading that MTBers of similar fitness and exercise patterns had 30% denser skeletons than roadies.

Yes. Wolfs law will explain why….

Do more bunny hops instead.

I took part in one of the original medical studies about 25 years ago that proved that high intensity exercise improved bone density in athletes.

Yes it will.
How much varies from person to person and according to the type and intensity of exercise.

Not really something you can measure yourself, unless you happen to have an MRI scanner at home?

How did you arrive at that conclusion…?

Just curious, not looking for a rough n’ tumble or owt.

No real logic other than I couldn’t immediately see how it would. Seems I was wrong anyway.

I have read somewhere that exercising strenuously such as 4 hours hard cycling can deplete things like calcium in your body, and that can weaken your bones. But weight bearing exercises strengthen them. So for cyclists in particular who are one of the few groups who do long hard exercise without weight bearing then it’s important to do weight bearing exercises.

Not totally conclusive evidence so far…

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3230645/

BMD = Bone Mineral Density

Two prospective studies showed a decrease in femoral neck, total hip, or lumbar spine BMD in cyclists over the study period. Four cross-sectional studies compared cyclists with sedentary controls, and 3 found cyclists’ lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD similar to that of controls, whereas 1 found cyclists’ BMD to be lower than that of controls. Seven cross-sectional studies compared cyclists with active controls: 2 found no differences in femoral neck and lumbar spine BMD between cyclists and controls; 4 found that cyclists had lower lumbar spine BMD than did active controls, including runners; and 1 reported a trend toward lower lumbar spine BMD in cyclists versus controls.

and

There is concern that nonweightbearing sports such as cycling and swimming do not benefit bone health. It is not known whether muscle strength and shear loading (muscle forces) of the bone from muscle contraction can effectively promote bone formation.16,32 The biomechanics of cycling (body weight mostly supported by the bike, repetitive lower intensity motion, and the prone position) may not adequately stimulate bone formation, especially at the spine and hip. Numerous studies have evaluated the relationship between the weight-supported sport of cycling and bone health. Our objective was to review these studies and assess the evidence that cyclists may have impaired bone health, specifically at the femoral neck and lumbar spine.