- Right, brace yourselves.
I'm gonna put a quite controversial case to you.
Why cyclists should run.
- Run?
No, I mean, I know I'm dressed for the occasion
but surely you've heard the old saying,
never run if you can walk, never walk if you can stand,
never stand if you can sit, never sit if you can lay down
and if you're laying down, why not have a nap?
- Yeah, okay I agree.
So traditionally, running is seen as chief evil to cyclists.
But there are plenty of good reasons why you should,
just occasionally go running
and I'm gonna try and convince you, Chris
and you guys - I'm not sure.
It's gonna take a lot of convincing.
- Okay, well I'm gonna try.
- Let's go!
I guess the main reason cyclists don't run is
a bad experience.
- Yeah, I think a lot of cyclists maybe in the off season
or to try something different, they try one run
and then they hobble around with their legs in agony
for weeks afterwards cause their muscles just ache so much
and trust me, I know how much your legs ache if you go
for a run after months and months of just cycling.
But I also know that that feeling, does not last forever.
Running gives you sore legs if you're not used to it
because the muscles are loaded eccentrically,
ie while extending.
Now, cycling uses the same muscles but they're almost
entirely loaded only while contracting which is called
concentric loading.
Now when a muscle works during extension,
it causes much more damage to the muscle fibers,
the muscles do adapt and get used to it
but it takes a little time.
So if you only ever ride a bike and never ever run,
then the first run you try is going to make your legs
hurt like crazy afterwards.
- Running is really great for balancing out your muscle
groups, cycling is a great sport that's very specific.
And by working these other muscle groups,
you help build your long terms fitness
that's great for other aspects of your life.
- [Emma] Cycling is not weight bearing so if it's the only
sport you do than it can lead to decreased bone density.
Calorie restriction can contribute to this.
If you're super strict with keeping your weight low,
and why is low bone density a problem?
Well because it means your bones are weaker and you're
at higher risk of fractures when you crash.
Now, supplementing your cycling with any weight bearing
sport will help to increase your bone density.
Now that could be weight training, or running,
or any sport involving running to avoid these problems.
If you hit a low spot with cycling and you're fed up with
training or even simply riding your bike,
it might be that you're in need of a mental break.
Doubling in a different sport can be really fun
and refreshing.
- The off season is a classic time to try a different sport.
But even if you're in the middle of season
working scores are ready to go,
it can be beneficial to try something a little bit different
- Yeah, I used to take a week off mid season most years,
normally after the Giro in July.
And I always used to go for a few runs
that we can, even though I did feel pretty slow
running and my legs hurt like hell afterwards,
I really enjoyed it and then afterwards,
second half of the season, I've come back feeling
really mentally fresh and much more
enthusiastic about racing.
- I hope I'm gonna feel the same after this run, Emma.
Cause my legs are killing me!
- Yeah, you're gonna feel great for the mariturner.
- If you have to travel for work,
or you're going on holiday with family or friends,
it's not always possible to take a bike with you.
- In fact, it's often really hard,
especially on those short business trips
where maybe your hotel doesn't have a bike high scheme
or your gym isn't state of the art and doesn't have those
really cool spinning bikes.
- Yeah, and time is often really short in that kind of
trip as well, whereas running, is a really time efficient
way to maintain your cardiovascular fitness
and run shoes and a running kit,
they just don't take up very much space in your luggage.
So it's perfect really.
- [Chris] Yeah, and you can take two or three sets,
you can run three times.
- [Emma] And no stink
- [Chris] Come on, we better get going.
- If the only exercise you do is cycling and lots of it.
You might have noticed that when you get stronger at
cycling, you don't necessarily get any better at
day to day activity.
- Absolutely, when I was training and racing full time,
I used to find it absolutely exhausting taking the dog
and the kids out for a walk.
- Yeah and when I was racing full time,
that was a sacrifice I had to make,
but nowadays, not pro anymore,
I want to be able to be sociable I want to you know,
go for a hike with my parents or go for a run with
my boy friend or you know, if you've got kids
you might want to learn to run so you can run alongside them
so if you can run, you can do all those things
and be sociable!
- Makes good sense to me, Emma.
- It does. - How bout we get going?
- Oh man, I'm knockered, we're running--
- It's your idea!
Let's talk about the weather.
I don't know about you,
but I'm not a big fan of cycling in the rain,
especially now it's not my job.
Even with the best kit, I still don't fancy
getting a wet bum.
- No, it's true.
Riding in the rain really does suck
but running in the rain is strangely fine.
I mean, don't even get me started on cycling in the snow
or worst of all in my opinion, sleet.
- Uch! - Uch!
But now it's not really my job to try to be fast on a bike,
I actually love the fact that when the weather's crappy,
not like today.
- I don't know, there were clouds over there.
- Yeah, I'm not too worried about those clouds
but anyway, when the weather's bad,
I don't have to go out and freeze my backside off,
on a bike, I can go running and stay warm,
and enjoy it!
- [Chris] Yeah, that kinda makes good sense to me.
- Did I fail to mention already that running
is just really fun!
- But it hurts!
It hurts like mad!
- Yeah, that only lasts a few weeks, Chris.
Then you'll feel fine and you'll be so much stronger!
- A few weeks, Emma?
- I need to get him tired for the maratona.
- A few words of caution though if you're starting out
running for the first time
and you're a pure cyclist.
Your cardiovascular fitness will be of low limit to you
but your joints and muscles will need time to adapt.
So, start small and build up gently.
- Yep, in fact I would advise against
starting running in the middle
of your season or before a target event
because that muscle soreness will really
tip the top end off your cycling pace
so maybe try starting off in the off season,
as cross training or in your mid season break.
And if you come and keep running like maybe once a week
during the cycling season,
you won't ever get that muscle soreness again.
But just taper off before any big events.
- Sensible advice, Emma.
Hopefully this video will inspire you to try and mix up
your training just a little bit more than normal.
- Yep, let us know in the comments if you love running
like I clearly do.
Or if you like any other kind of cross training.
And if you like seeing cool videos on how to run
and how to get into running, click down here for some of
GCN's really good content.