By Kevin Kolodziejski
But There’s a Remedy That Also Benefits Your Brain
You just need to love cycling — not ride 10,000 miles a year — to fear what these two, once quite-accomplished and now long-in-the-tooth, absolute mileage junkies, whom I consider buddies, fear. That lifting weights means riding less.
They’re right, you know. But they’re both really smart guys, so they have to know something else. Something they choose to forget. That the form of exercise they love and strengthens the heart is a non-weight-bearing activity that weakens most bones.
So if my buddies keep doing mega miles without doing a bit of weightlifting, they create what a 2012 systematic review published in BMC Medicine calls an “unsafe effect.” So unsafe that the review estimates two-thirds of master road cyclists suffer from osteopenia. Without corrective measures, osteopenia becomes osteoporosis, a medical condition that makes your bones far more prone to fracture.
And since doing mega miles make you far more prone to crash, I keep trying to sell my buddies on replacing 60 minutes of saddle time each week with two, 30-minute sessions of sets and reps, but so far no dice. And speaking of dice, what comes next is nearly as good as playing craps, dropping some serious dinero on the cash line, and then throwing a seven. Followed by an 11. Followed by a seven.
Hit the Weights and You Hit the Jackpot
As part of those past pleas to my buddies to pump iron, I’d not only state how lifting would help their cycling in the long term, but also the other physical benefits of doing so.
That those who lift have a lower rate of all-cause mortality. Fewer heart attacks and strokes. Lower blood pressure. Better body composition, glucose metabolism, and insulin sensitivity. Not to mention it’s the best corrective measure for those two out of three aforementioned master road cyclists who suffer from osteopenia.
And both buddies my would say, “I know, I know,” so you probably do too.
But here’s something you probably don’t — something I didn’t truly appreciate until I did some additional research for my weekly health and fitness newspaper column. Weightlifting benefits the brain as much as the body.
Weightlifting Benefits the Brain as Much as the Body
For beginners, consider how “Resistance Training Improves Mental Health,” a fine paper penned by Amenda Ramirez and Len Kravitz, Ph.D., ends: “For a mental lift, you should weight lift!” It then catalogs why.
Improved memory
Improved executive control
May lessen depression
Much less chronic fatigue
Improved quality of sleep
Improved cognition
Less anxiety
Improved self-esteem
This academic paper contains internal documentation to support each of these assertions, but my quest for knowledge didn’t end by consulting the citations. Instead, it first took me to a 2014 review published online in Frontiers in Psychology.
The Reviews Are In; Here Are 2
Review number one establishes the efficacy of all resistance exercise by mentioning that prior studies have found a reduction in anxiety — not only from the result of long-term training but also after a single session. That low-to-moderate intensity training (defined as using 70 percent of the maximum weight you can lift once, the way in which most cyclists are likely to lift) “produces the most reliable and robust decreases in anxiety.” Moreover, since this occurs “across a diverse range of populations and dependent measures,” the paper calls for “the design and implementation of resistance exercise-based treatments for anxiety disorders.”
Review number two is a 2107 meta-analysis of 16 studies that appeared in the December issue of Sports Medicine and validates the 2014 review that resistance training reduces anxiety symptoms. It is, however, wider in scope and found across-the-board improvement not only “among healthy participants [but also in] participants with a physical or mental illness.” Better yet, that finding wasn’t adversely affected by changes in the length of the resistance training program, its frequency, its intensity, or whether or not — and here’s the real kick in the pants — whether the participants improved their strength as a result.
There are equally compelling studies linking the lifting of weights with the delay of cognitive decline and my two buddies are on the north side of 55, but I believe my point’s been clearly made: They should be lifting weights and you should too. So all that’s left to stress is that when it comes to lifting weights, there are brain benefits galore.
Brain Benefits Galore
About two years ago, the Mind Pump Show podcast devoted an entire episode to “The Hidden Benefits of Lifting Weights.” While it’s worth a listen if you have the time, here are the ones that haven’t already been covered here in detail and would be a plus for you, whether you ride mega-miles or not.
Weightlifting: helps balance out and regulate hormone production; boosts libido and improves mood as a result; enhances mental functioning and physical mobility; leads to better sleep.
Kevin Kolodziejski began his writing career in earnest in 1989. Since then he’s written a weekly health and fitness column and his articles have appeared in magazines such as “MuscleMag,” “Ironman,” “Vegetarian Times,” and “Bicycle Guide.” He has Bachelor and Masters degrees in English from DeSales and Kutztown Universities.
A competitive cyclist for more than 30 years, Kevin won two Pennsylvania State Time Trial championships in his 30’s, the aptly named Pain Mountain Time Trial 4 out of 5 times in his 40s, two more state TT’s in his 50’s, and the season-long Pennsylvania 40+ BAR championship at 43.
Bill says
I’ve been doing P90x before breakfast weekdays for the past 12 years.
George says
Curious how non weight bearing cycling is? Last year I was on a bike ride and crashed breaking my hip. 3 months later the doctor cleared me to continue cycling. Cycling was pain free. I am 5 months out now, and walking still hurts.
larry english says
“Weightlifting benefits the brain as much as the body.:”
yes but–
“Cycling benefits the brain as much as the body.”
R. Groves says
I’ve found many of us old geezers unconsciously cling to the notion that “I could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been a PRO !!” and as a consequence still try and train as if they are, somehow, going to be one, as in every ride is a race. Once someone (of any age) realizes those pros are born that way and that no amount of training, chemicals, expensive equipment, dedication, etc., is going to turn someone into one sinks in, can a change in exercise philosophy take place. The race everyone should be training for, as Dr. Peter Attia calls it, is the “Centenarian Olympics”. That mind set broadens the exercise prospective and MUST include things like functional strength training, Yoga, meditation, etc., Let’s use another sport as an example. Basketball. would anyone under 5″9″ ever enter the pro ranks? Maybe one in 500,000,000. Everyone is constrained by their personal genetic bubble.
Ken Ryder says
I have been an athlete all my life: basketball, tennis, running and then took up skiing, rock climbing, ice climbing, surfing and after my hips and knees started to give out, I had to abandon running and I took up cycling (mountain and road biking). I love cycling, I really do but I also recognize all the benefits of weight lifting, how important it is to add that into the mix. Injuries have plagued me over the years but I find that functional weight training and doing body weight exercises are such a great (and necessary) compliment to cycling. I am 77 and still at it. Not smashing any records and I don’t want to, not even interested in personal bests at this time. I just want to be able to ride, lift and generally stay as active and pain free as possible for the rest of the journey.
Dragon says
Oh no! You’ve shared “my secret weapon” for strong cycling! Maybe my competitors won’t read this (fingers-crossed). ; )
Love weight-lifting and have been prescribed to do it by several doctors. As an ultra-endurance cyclist, I have bone loss. Weights, calcium, and vitamin D are all part of my regimen to avoid further loss.
Thanks for encouraging all of us to lift!
Dr. Matt Wachsman, MD PhD says
This is about number 86 on my forthcoming video series “100 reasons why humanity isn’t worth saving”; I usually have to pack multiple points into each of the 100. It will be at http://www.nerdpocalypse.net in the video section and utube and tiktoc depending on whether those exist.
So, how does one get to the gym for the weight lifting?
I’ve never seen a commercial gym with a bicycle holder of any kind.
electric bikes are lower exercise but I can tell you I am using 100-150 watts of power except when coasting and have no idea of my power output outside of the gym otherwise.
You do realize that the vast majority of adults–those who are or have work/worked for financial self-support–do basically zero exercise so any exercise at all is mathematically infinitely superior to zero.