Roadbiking vs Running 4 Crosstraining

Which is better- roadbiking or running, for crosstraining for hiking (4-5k in the ADK, 12-14k out West)?

Unfortunately, we don't even have anything like the Blue "Hills" in Boston. The only "hills" we have in my location are hwy. bridge overpasses, so I can't "hike" in any parks, etc.

I think running is better for a couple of reasons.

Running simulates the impact that hiking (with a pack) has on your body in a shorter amount of time. 1 hour of abusive running could = 8 hours of hiking if you are pushing yourself. Also, running can be done on trails which can help your footwork.

Secondly. A good friend of mine did a bike tour from LA to DC and he was in great shape from all those road miles. A month after his ordeal, we were hiking in the High Peaks and he was getting toasted. His body was not used to the impact.

Lastly. I find road biking to be a riskier endeavor then road running or trail running. People just don't see you. I had a nasty bike vs. car accident a few years back. Not too much road riding since then. Consider that when you choose your daily method for staying in shape.

The best solution I think would be a combination of both. When your joints are bothering you, hit the bike. When they feel good go for a run. When you are bored hit the trail runners.

Hope this helps.

-percious

lx93 said:

The only "hills" we have in my location are hwy. bridge overpasses, so I can't "hike" in any parks, etc.

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Funny, that's how my brother (in south FL) trained for the Boston Marathon, by running back and forth over highway overpasses.

I think both running and biking have their place, but running is going to better simulate hiking. The important point IMO would be to do whatever blend works to keep you motivated to exercise. Maybe try biking to work if you have a commute that allows it.

-dave-

I've been doing stairs to try to get in better shape, lots and lots of up and down flights of stairs. You can run them if you want. I like doing laps around my yard on a cheap, old mountain bike also.

Personally, I hate running and always have. I love biking, but it ain't hiking.

Hiking with a pack puts much different demands on your musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems than running. So, here's some advice that many of you will probably decry, to your disadvantage IMO.

Load the pack. Put the pack on. Walk up and down steep stuff for long periods of time. (If your local terrain is too flat, then you probably have a tall building nearby with stairs. Yeah, it's boring and hot. Get some music for your headphones, and get at it.) Repeat until you feel good doing it. Then repeat some more.

You will feel much, much better in the mountains. And you can smile snidely as you pass me on the trail, because I haven't done enough of this lately.

I'd do a bunch of different things. Cross training. Your body has to do a lot of strange things when you hike.

I bike and run because they're fun by themselves... the side effects of some better performance in other sports is the bonus.

For hiking you need to work your uphill and downhill muscles - unless you're running up and down good hills you won't get that - I've seen level ground runners get pretty worked when they hit the hills hiking.

Get a pack on and go up and down stairs or hit a stairmaster if you really want to train specifically for hiking.

But between biking vs running - running is harder on you and your muscles, so better for training IMO.

cbcbd said:

But between biking vs running - running is harder on you and your muscles, so better for training IMO.

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If it doesn't break something...

A significant number of people can hike and bike, but develop wear-and-tear injuries from running. More as you get older.

Doug

DougPaul said:

A significant number of people can hike and bike, but develop wear-and-tear injuries from running. More as you get older.

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... like me!

Running more-closely simulates hiking, particularly the descending part. Specifically, it trains the essentric contraction (lengthening) of your quadriceps. Where do you think all the potential energy goes when you come down from the top of a mountain? It is dissipated by those contractions.

Having been primarily a cyclist for the last 12 years, with some running in the winter months and for cyclocross, the two were complimentary off-season. I was always told by coaches never to run during cycling season because it messes with the suppleness of your muscles -- by training the essentric contraction.

Anyway last year (06) I stopped competing on the bike and started hiking with a vengeance and my knees retaliated -- my legs were in fine shape for cycling, but not hiking. I'm three months into recovery for patellafemoral syndrome, and it's not fun (right Doug? ). So, be careful about taking up large amounts of high-impact exercise. The straw that broke the camel's knees in this case was running, and downhill in particular.

So, a good thing you can crosstrain for hiking is your VMO (vastus medialus obliquus.) Lunges, squats, leg presses, wall sits, etc., are all good for that. My PT's favorite is "the four cups". Take four tall plastic cups. Stand on one leg. Squat down and put cup #1 to the right (for your right leg), stand up. Squat down, #2 to the left of #1, up... until you've arrange the cups in a half circle. Now, pick them up one at a time. DO NOT PUT YOUR OTHER FOOT DOWN! When you can put them down and pick them up twice, then stand on a mat or a pillow or a folded up blanket. He he he -- work on stabilizing your knees.

I am learning the hard way--ask my mentor Doug Paul -- he beat it but it took him years. I'm trying to learn from his mistakes. The good news is that they (my knees) are getting better. They are not 'better enough' for 4K elevation, but I can XC without pain, and do shorter hikes in the 4-600' range without problems. There is some light at the end of the tunnel... faint, but visible.

Tim

I have been using a treadmill 3 times a week alternating with weight training 2 or 3 times a week. Walking at 14o grade,2.5 mph for 30 minutes,working my way to 45. This pretty much maxes my upper cardio limit. I found that it made a huge difference doing trails. It also cut my "pack weight" by about 7lbs!

My advice is to do that which you ENJOY and make it a part of your everyday lifestyle. Have fun with it -- just get out there and MOVE.

Stinky.Ilovetorun.feet

Yiiipppee Stinky!

Stinkyfeet said:

My advice is to do that which you ENJOY and make it a part of your everyday lifestyle. Have fun with it -- just get out there and MOVE.

Stinky.Ilovetorun.feet

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I totally agree. I think it was sometime after a few high school track practises that I decided "working out" wasn't for me. The races were a blast and running has got to be fun or it isn't going to be part of my life.
Sometimes hiking even gets to be a drag - ok, it's not really the hiking, but the driving!
So I chill out on the long drive and stay around home to bike, bike, more bike, windsurf, a little long boarding, snowboarding or even chillin' out and knitting!!
If it aint fun, don't do it!

I try to hike, bike, road run, trail run and work out on a Nordic Track with a backpack. I think that mixing it up really helps and thankfully I have stayed relatively injury free. I haven't biked in a while though, due to the recent cold spell.
Marty

Jogging at an incline on the treadmill helped me take it to the next level. I do 5 minutes of stretching, 5 minutes of warm-up on the treadmill, gradually increasing the incline to 5%, then I jog (4.5 - 5.0mph) at 5% for 30 minutes straight, followed by a 5 minute cool-down. I perform this routine 3-4 days per week. When I'm not up for jogging, I'll toss on my pack (~ 25lbs), and just walk at an incline on the treadmill for 40 minutes. (0-10%) Prior to jogging, I was using the elliptical as well as walking at an incline on the treadmill, and I felt I had reached a point where hikes weren't feeling any easier and I was starting to get discouraged. Once I started jogging at a incline, not only do my legs feel much stronger, but my cardio has improved considerably. I attribute this to the impact of running, as percious had mentioned, as well as maintining a higher heart-rate that I wasn't achieving on the elliptical or walking on the treadmill.

Thanx

Thanx for all the responses.

I particularly appreciate bikehikeskifish's response.

However, visualizing these things is kind of difficult for me. I read about core workouts (arms & shoulders), but never did them cuz nothing eve made sense until I came across 5 pix on how to do them. It must work- I find that using poles helps me more since these workouts.

So bikehikeskifish, do you have some links to some diagrams where I can do the exercises you mentioned?

I have found that for both cycling and hiking (well, this is mostly based on the knee recovery process), that "functional" exercises are better then "boutique" exercises. The latter includes that reverse preacher bench curl to make your forearm bulge. The former include multi-joint, weight-bearing exercises.

My three-times weekly gym routine, modified from my bicycle racing days to include knee recovery (VMO-specific) looks like this:

5 minute treadmill, stepper, or something involving limb movement to warm up. Just to the point of a light sweat.

Stretching - in my case, hamstrings, ITBs, calf

Twice around a circuit, rolling out of one machine and into another to keep my heart rate up ('free' aerobic workout in the process.) The circuit goes:

Single-leg extension, VMO-focused (30 degree bend), each leg, using the weaker leg first, and matching the rep count with the stronger leg, hopefully removing any imbalance.

Double-leg extension, full (90 degree bend), using half the reps of the VMO (as per my PT)

Prone hamstring curl

Bench press / chest press (alternate incline, flat decline during the week)

Inclined leg press, single leg (VMO focused, weaker leg first)

Inclined leg press, both legs

Standing z-bar curl, knees slightly bend, ab muscles (core) holding you stable

Ab "suite", crunches, hanging leg lifts

Tricep + Shoulder pull down, combined (great simulation of poling for XC skiing)

Back extensions

Side extensions

closed-chain VMO suite (one or more of: lunges w/ dumbbells, side lunges, step ups, step downs, wall sits (resist-a-ball), or squats using a Smith machine)

Wood chop / reverse wood chop

Repeat. The entire process, beginning to end is 90 minutes. No time to socialize.


An often-neglected muscle group is your "core". Wood chops are a "functional" core exercise. A weak core will cause all kinds of problems. It's not just for "washboard abs". Your core isn't your arms and shoulders, but rather everything below your pectorals and above your hips.

My gym includes three personal training sessions with membership -- use them -- learn to do things right.

A few interesting links:

Core exercises you can do at home (plank and bridge are both good ones):
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/abdominalcorestrength1/Abdominal_Exercises_and_Core_Strength.htm

I also find these interesting

http://www.joeprofitness.com/

http://www.exrx.net/

Google with give you some good hints, but you really have to be careful not to hurt yourself. Poor technique is easy to pick up if you don't know what you are doing.

Also, most trainers and coaches recommend "training to train" before "training". This means use light weights and high (25-40) reps. This helps the muscles learn the right movements, prepares and strengthens connective tissues, and keeps you from "cheating" in a way that will hurt you. In particular, the essentric (lowering) contraction is the way you are most-likely to get hurt.


DISCLAIMER: I AM NEITHER A DOCTOR NOR A TRAINER. THE ABOVE WORKS FOR ME. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. SEEK MEDICAL ADVISE BEFORE BEGINNING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM. ETC.

Tim

Lots of really excellent advice !!!

Tim and Doug, thnx for the reminders about patellar tracking!!!


Regarding running vs cycling, I totally agree with the comment on doing which ever you most enjoy. Long before you can begin to worry one way or the other about long term adaptation to one sport or the other, you realize the the core benifits of either are fanstastic. But, working them into your life on a day to day basis is very, very hard. Because of this, the activity should be like hiking in that you look forward to it.

My joints have ruled out road running. But honestly, I always hated it.

I love cycling on the road. It's a really lovely, lovely sport.
My thoughts on finding a good bike are here:
http://home.comcast.net/~pinnah/dirtbag-bikes/bike-buying.html

I have the book by Lance Armstrong's olympic coach. He states that running is 4 TIMES!! the workout that cycling is. He says 1/2 hour of running would equal 2 hours of biking. I think this is a very honest opinion from a guy that could easily be pushing cycling. I like to get on a treadmill, put it on maximum incline(usually 15 percent) and walk 4.5 miles per hour for an hour. going at an angle like that simulated hiking uphill, and there is nothing like going uphill to get a workout. The reason I started going at an angle is to cut my speed down, so that I don't get shin splints. I could also do my jogging motion on the treadmill, as opposed to walking. A matter of preference.

I think it's well understood that in terms of burning calories and producing aerobic benifit, the more weight bearing the excercise is, the better. Cycling is better than swimming. Running is better than cycling....... in this narrow regard.

I'm not dissing running in anyway shape or form. Some of my best friends are runners (ahem). Or mostly *were* runner as several gave it up in their late 30s as injuries took their toll.

Here's an interesting take on excercise as a life-style.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgestone/1994/pages/12.htm

Dave, that was great!!
I wholeheartedly agree with everything the author said.
Thanks for posting the link.



Stinky.Ilike2ride2.feet