I am not sure I suggested, that you do not increase resistance. Although with some of what I said, I can see how it could be interpreted that way.
We have no way to know how fit you are.. or how much resistance you are currently using. Or how much more resistance you can handle, before that twinge in your right knee, causes a problem.
Learning to spin quickly.. is a skill probably only of value to a cyclist. Building a base, would be of value to everyone.
While I probably would not go do a century in 1st gear. I do often do group rides in very low gears. Many cyclist use to big a gear.. and they could go faster with lower gears. I will go for a ride and stay in the small ring for the whole ride.... for one.. to prove a point, and to set an example. It was also a skills building "thing" for me. One needs to constantly work at developing and keeping that spin.
Yeah.. I understand that bodies adapt.. to what is asked of them. Yet I think my leg muscles grow pretty easily. Back in school.. way back in school. I was a runner. I ran cross country, not marathon distance, but not sprints either. My legs got quite big, from that.
As I said my legs got big from biking.. yet some guys I raced with, as fast as I, had toothpicks for legs, some others were larger than me.
A pure marathon runner is like the body builder.. in that he is very very specifically focused, they don't want a lot of mass. There bodies do adapt to that, some on it's own, some with because of the persons intension.
As a competitive cyclist. I also did not want any more mass than necessary. I needed a certain amount of upper body strength, but to much mass would slow me down.
Some of it comes down to fast twitch vs slow twitch muscles. Your jogger.. or people that put all that time in the gym.. kind of mindlessly putting in their hours.. are not using their fast twitch muscles.
While I like LSD work.. low slow distance.. I am also a huge fan of intervals.. and very intense work.
