What is better for you, Crossfit or cycling.
Crossfit is a great way to build some serious strength for life both on and off the bike. The benefits of Crossfit is that doing this form of exercise makes you athletic, strong, well rounded as an athlete and best of all it builds muscle that can slip away as we get older.
That being said, I am sure that most people who cycle for exercise won’t give up their bikes in a hurry, but now you can do both, as the two forms of exercise complement each other to a tee. Most avid cyclists will agree, but there is nothing quite like a good ride out in the open air to forget all about the stresses of the day.
Which Is Better – Crossfit Or Cycling?
Because this website focuses mostly on cycling, let’s examine the reasons why cyclists would choose cycling over Crossfit anyday.
Reason 1:
With cycling, you can enjoy a leisurely ride and still be able to talk to fellow cyclists as you go. With Crossfit, you would be too tired to have a conversation while working out.
Reason 2:
After a cycle, you can still pick up the kettle. Even though cycling is challenging in its own way, you won’t battle to perform everyday tasks, because your muscles are too sore.
Reason 3:
Cycling sounds better with the sounds of humming tires, whirring wheels and the wind rushing by, Crossfit sounds really dangerous with heavy weights dropping everywhere and people grunting and groaning all around you.
Reason 4:
You can zone out while you are cycling, but if you zone out while doing Crossfit, you could get seriously injured.
Reason 5:
A good cycle in the open air just makes you feel liberated and the scenery is much better than watching some sweaty person battle their way through pushups next to you.
Why Is Crossfit Great For Cyclists?
That being said, Crossfit, although a bit scary at first, has great benefits for cyclists. One of the main ones being is that when winter hits and it’s too cold to cycle outdoors. Crossfit will give you a totally different indoor workout you may enjoy for a change on a cold day. Most outdoor cyclists know how monotonous and boring it can be to ride a stationary bike for more than half an hour.
The combination of strength training, aerobic and anaerobic exercise will keep you in tip-top shape in the offseason.
Crossfit will help you to strengthen areas that you don’t normally use for cycling. Doing Crossfit will make your stamina improve and your cycling faster because of this fact.
High-intensity strength training will improve the reaction of your fast-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers create that burst of power that when sprinting. After 2-3 months of going to CrossFit classes, most people discover that their stamina and power were at higher levels. The explosive exercises utilized by CrossFit will boost your ability to accelerate and climb with greater ease, as the training leads to a significant increase in your power to weight ratio.
We all know that core training is essential to keeping our cycling form strong; however, spending hours a day in a forward-leaning position needs to be counteracted in order to keep our back and neck healthy. With Crossfit, you will train different muscles, and thus increase your core strength which in turn will improve your posture.
Slacking off is not possible in CrossFit. The differing daily workouts consistently challenge the core, while incorporating other key areas for cyclists. According to Brian McKenzie, founder of Crossfit Endurance, the program helps you to identify and fix your muscular imbalances that may be caused by hours in the saddle and thus fine-tune the body to work its best.
If You Want To Give Crossfit A Go…
If you are just starting a Crossfit regime, be smart and don’t push too hard until you’ve learned the correct form.
Being Pilates trained I have seen some horrendous things going on in Crossfit class that can just cause damage and injury over time. If you get tired, rather rest than forcing your body to go on and do the exercises with bad form is best.
Take your time to learn the ropes and the correct way in which to use your body. Start with lighter weights until you get the hang of it, and listen to your body.
Many cyclists benefit from CrossFit’s full-body treatment, either as an offseason filler or as a consistent cross-training workout. Even if you’re not intending to do Crossfit forever, beware, you could just find yourself addicted! Crossfit or cycling needn’t be a choice – there is room for both.
So when it comes to Crossfit or cycling, it seems that both are in order to become the best cyclist you possibly can.