Le professeur de trail
All of you runners who also bike...need your 2 cents.
What benefits does biking have on running?
Obviously the cardiovascular but are there other benefits to the muscle groups that biking hits?
For instance, biking helps the quads, right? Does this benefit the pounding the quads take on downhill runs?
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Refurbished Hip
I have no idea. But my body is definitely happy to have an option for cardio that doesn't stress my joints.
Running is dumb.
I've found that biking definitely helps my running.
1). When I get tired of running I can switch to the bike. So instead of bagging a run and not getting any exercise I'll be getting some type of workout in. After spending several days on the bike I find I'm more motivated to run again.
2). Helps with rehabing certain injuries. After rolling my ankle I wasn't able to really run for 16 days. I was able to bike at a pretty high level within one week. I don't think I lost much overall fitness.
3). For some reason I find I run faster after spending time on the bike, but only if I don't totally quit running. I haven't quite figured this one out yet but I think it has to do with working different leg muscles. Saturday I did a 40 mile ride. Afterwards the muscles on the inside of my legs were obviously fatigued, enough so that squatting down would cause me to cramp slightly. My glutes also were more fatigued then they would have been from a 10-12 mile run. Biking also works your calf muscles more. When I was mostly biking I had some seriously defined calves. I think that working these three sets of muscles makes me faster on the hills, at least on hills that I can run. I'm not sure it helps with my power walking ability, for that I like walking lunges.
One thing that biking will absolutely not do for you, based on my experience, is toughen your legs up for the downhills. For that I think you just have to run down the hills or find some other type of exercise that provides shock to the legs.
Just remember I'm a bicyclist at heart, a runner second.
Faster Than Your Couch!
3). For some reason I find I run faster after spending time on the bike, but only if I don't totally quit running. I haven't quite figured this one out yet but I think it has to do with working different leg muscles. Saturday I did a 40 mile ride. Afterwards the muscles on the inside of my legs were obviously fatigued, enough so that squatting down would cause me to cramp slightly. My glutes also were more fatigued then they would have been from a 10-12 mile run. Biking also works your calf muscles more. When I was mostly biking I had some seriously defined calves. I think that working these three sets of muscles makes me faster on the hills, at least on hills that I can run. I'm not sure it helps with my power walking ability, for that I like walking lunges. One thing that biking will absolutely not do for you, based on my experience, is toughen your legs up for the downhills. For that I think you just have to run down the hills or find some other type of exercise that provides shock to the legs.
Agree.
With the first, I found this to be true especially when I did not run longer distances (less than 10 miles), but used to bike for 50 to 100 miles regularly. I think biking has a big effect on the heart, and on lung capacity. I always found it easier to breathe on my runs after I had been biking regularly for a few months.
Second, unfortunately so. The impact that running downhill creates on the legs is hard to simulate in any other sport, especially the hard effort for an extended time (e.g. an hour).
I also find that biking is more of a whole-body exercise than running, when you "pull" as well as you "push" on the pedals on hills, and when you use your whole body (including arms and upper body) to get up a steep hill fast on a road bike, or race down a hill fast on a mountain bike.
Run for fun.
Maybe I am biking wrong? I use my quads a lot when biking. Or maybe it's just a different use of the quad (biking versus downhill running). My assumption was that by pushing the pedal, the quad muscle is engaged and therefore over time it becomes fairly strong. In downhill, the quad is used to stop momentum. But I guess this is a different motion or skill than the engagement of the quad during biking??
And Mandy - thanks for your insight!
Anytime! I am full of informative comments like that!
Also, I read somewhere that an elite runner didn't like biking too much because it made her quads too big. So perhaps you're onto something in your observations.
I think any good cross training on a regular basis makes you fitter and stronger and that will indirectly benefit your running but the laws of diminishing returns will eventually take over. Basically if you want to be a better runner, you run. If you want to strengthen your quads for downhills you should do hill repeats powering up some days and other days attack the downhills. Certainly biking can/will develop the large quads but how much that translates to your running is debateable.
In proper pedaling the idea is to have a stroke that is a perfect circle in theory at least assuming you are in some way locked onto your pedals, basically pushing down and pulling around and up. A cadence from 85- into the 90's rpm. I believe maintaining that cadence and working the effort does correlate to a better/faster turnover in running. One nice thing about the biking is that it is a non-impact workout(hopefully) and you can pile on some varying type intense workouts. When your engine is running peak on the bike and you feel like you just crank out the miles hard and go forever it is a feeling of euphoria. I also agree with Couch in that it is a whole workout. You will feel it in your arms and shoulders too. Road biking is great for just getting into a comfortable position and cranking but I think mtn. biking is just a much better workout, makes you a lot stronger.
While I certainly get a nice workout from biking I mainly do/have done it because I just find it so enjoyable. I knew I was never elite so I didn't care if it helped my running or not.