As the Tour de France gets underway and we all watch Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, exercise physiologist Elizabeth Quinn from About.com says we should be watching out for our bones, too.
According to her article, the excessive calcium losses (through sweat) from long hours on a bike coupled with the lack of load-bearing aspects of the exercise can contribute to Osteopenia (low bone density). That’s one reason collar bone fractures are such a common occurrence among cyclists.
Yeah, a few extra pounds of muscle on elite, Pro-Tour level cyclists can make or break their climbs and GC standings. For the 99.99999% of the other cyclists (aka “the rest of us that don’t make our living by racing bikes”), some regular pushups, pullups and core work is unlikely to kill your results at the local races. In fact, it might just keep you racing through a few wrecks.
Besides, who wants to look like a scrawny cyclist, right Joseph?
