Biking to increase endurance? Lower run?

[zelda]

I just picked up cycling last year and it's certainly been a great alternative to keeping in shape when I'm not running and awesome for building endurance. I was one of those poor folks where the constant pounding on the legs from running eventually got the best of my knees. I trained for a couple of sprint triathlons and just did my first half Ironman triathlon last weekend.

Others made a good point that biking will develop different leg muscles. However, doing ONLY running can also overdevelop some muscles and not enough others, which is a primary reason for knee and other leg-related injuries. Cycling will help balance you out a bit.

Check out a spinning class. While only an hour, a good one can seriously kick your butt! Also make sure you take a good balance of carbs and protein before and definitely after running and biking. It will help take your body and fitness ability to the next level.

 

[thull]

I spent five years (all of high school and one year in college) running cross country in the fall and cycling in the spring. in college i dedicated myself entirely to running year round.

If you are running a 23 minute 3 mile and want to get your time down significantly, biking a lot INSTEAD of running is not the way to go. but biking INSTEAD of NOTHING is better than nothing.

the muscles are entirely different for biking than running. biking you'll develop heavier legs and more slow twitch muscle. You will also develop your lower back muscles more than your abs, while becoming accustomed to leaning over, whereas efficient running requires very upright posture to open up the lungs as much as possible

The best way to use the bike to help your running is to climb a lot of hills in a fast gear, preferably in the standing position. This will work your legs closer to a running style while increasing your lung capacity and endurance which is more intense in running. Also, if you really want to mix the two, I'd say don't bike more than 2-3 days per week. try to run the other days.

doing anything where you get your breathing going and heart rate up will help your running endurance ( swimming as well), but training yourself to be a good runner can only be done with plenty of running. Get a good pair of cushy shoes to train in, stick to trails and soft surfaces as much as possible, and jump on the bike 2-3 times a week with plenty of hills. AFter you have a good base, start doing "pick ups" and speed work that develop your overall strength, lung capacity and recovery time. you'll drop a few minutes off that run time for sure.

Troy