Viewing 38 posts - 1 through 38 (of 38 total)
  • Getting fitter
  • penny1971
    Free Member

    Anyone got any top tips for genuinely becoming much fitter from cycling? I’ve always loved cycling, but think I could focus on pushing myself much harder..

    Signed myself up for a deal on magazine.co.uk where I got 4 copies of Cycling Fitness for £21- but feel it’s not going to help unless I’m already motivating myself to push further beforehand?

    So.. who can give me some advice?
    What’s a reasonable distance I should be setting myself and how often should I ride my bike without over-doing it?

    I stopped smoking a few months ago so I’m motivated to give it my best.

    Looking forward to your help 😀

    Blurboy
    Free Member

    Riding with others helps, especially if it gets a little competitive. Even in the middle of winter none of us want to be the first to call off the Sunday ride in the snow and ice, so we don’t and we end up riding anyway.

    crosshair
    Free Member

    I think you hit the nail on the head. Focus. Set yourself a reasonably hard goal in the not too distant future and work your way towards it. Eat well, sleep well and ride your bike lots! Get as scientific as you think you want to. Everyone’s a training hero these days and its all ‘threshold this’ and ‘Z3 that’ but much more important is just consistent training. Allowing yourself recovery time is important too so don’t let your enthusiasm trick you into over-training. Instead, use rest days to read lots, drool over new kit and fiddle with your bike, then you’ll be even more fired up.
    I use hills as intervals, push hard right to the crest and just over, then recover on the downhills.
    Logging your rides is important too, especially when you look back at how far you’ve come.

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    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Ride with sOmeone just slightly faster than you. You will both improve

    06awjudd
    Free Member

    I think you hit the nail on the head. Focus. Set yourself a reasonably hard goal in the not too distant future and work your way towards it. Eat well, sleep well and ride your bike lots! Get as scientific as you think you want to. Everyone’s a training hero these days and its all ‘threshold this’ and ‘Z3 that’ but much more important is just consistent training. Allowing yourself recovery time is important too so don’t let your enthusiasm trick you into over-training. Instead, use rest days to read lots, drool over new kit and fiddle with your bike, then you’ll be even more fired up.
    I use hills as intervals, push hard right to the crest and just over, then recover on the downhills.
    Logging your rides is important too, especially when you look back at how far you’ve come.

    This, and cycle with friends as above.

    Without sounding like too much of a twit, Strava may help as you’ll end up competing against others as well as yourself, take care not to take it really easy on unsegmented parts of the ride just to get a good segment time though.

    ac282
    Full Member

    Ride lots. 5 days a week every week. Try to push yourself, in terms of speed or distance, regularly.

    Everything else is garnish.

    Bregante
    Full Member

    buzz-lightyear – Member
    Ride with sOmeone just slightly faster than you. You will both improve

    So he could also ride with someone slightly slower 😉

    rickt
    Free Member

    On a positive, you have lot 21lbs already…….

    Just as much as you can and eat “correctly ” I guess

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Ride your bike everyday, some days ride it dead fast.

    Also, get a bike fit.

    richpips
    Free Member

    Set yourself an attainable goal in distance/time.

    Build up your rides in mileage towards that.

    Mix up your rides. Longer steadier ones with shorter ones which focus on speed.

    Plenty of hills.

    Strava.

    Imho riding anything less than 3 days a week with some structure, and your improvement will be slow.

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Ypu, you’ve got to be consistent

    dobo
    Free Member

    yes be consistent but dont think that you have to cycle at all costs, like if its pissing down, why not substitute that cycle for a run or if its snowing substitute that run for a spinning class or circuit class or home work out. it all helps
    if youre just skipping your exercise and hitting the fags and wine then your wasting our time 🙂

    brooess
    Free Member

    Lots of riding. Commuting is a great way to get the miles in + long rides at the weekend.
    Join a club – you’ll ride more often, further and harder and learn lots from the accumulated experience of everyone else
    Build up your core strength and stretch lots to keep injury at bay
    You can’t out-train a lousy diet.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Set yourself a goal that’s some distance off, and work out a structured plan to make it feasible.

    Last January my niece could barely ride 16km at a 9kph average. By last Summer she just about managed 100km at 20kph although she was pretty destroyed by the end of it. This year we are aiming for 100 miles, her weekly long ride is normally just over 100km which she now finishes as strongly as she starts. Total combined distance for the week is currently around 200km.

    This was all achieved by having a plan and sticking to it. Our plan was pretty simple, over the course of several months we just added a little distance on each week. Sometimes the focus shifted a little to either hillier rides or some speed work, or turbo intervals during the really rainy months but the overriding target was always to gradually increase the weekly distance covered.

    tinribz
    Free Member

    Ride with sOmeone just slightly faster than you. You will both improve

    Eh!!!?

    I love all these vague ‘just ride a lot’ or ‘ride a bit faster’ comments.

    Follow a training plan. Google ‘century training plan’, read a few and see what they have in common.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Google ‘century training plan’, read a few and see what they have in common.

    Generally they all have a once a week long ride normally not exceeding 70% of your target distance and a gradually increasing combined weekly mileage starting from where you are currently and not increasing by more than about 10% per week up to a peak of around 140-150% of your target distance. Then taper, then do the century.

    Most plans adopt a 10-12 week programme but depending from what level you’re staring from this could be heavy going so don’t be afraid to have a training plan that gets you to the start of the 12 week programme.

    richpips
    Free Member

    yes be consistent but dont think that you have to cycle at all costs, like if its pissing down, why not substitute that cycle for a run or if its snowing substitute that run for a spinning class or circuit class or home work out. it all helps

    If it is raining or snowing ride your bike. Being a fit cyclist requires all year round commitment.


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    flippinheckler
    Free Member

    I got fitter by cycling around small hills over short distances and kept on increasing this by riding bigger hills and longer distances whilst getting fitter and faster and pushing myself. I have now done 3 100 mile sportive with lots more miles in between. Hoping to do more interval training and when the nights draw in I plan to go circuit training and spin classes and get some rollers and do more mtb winter night rides for when the weathers crap and I’m not out on the road bike.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Goals, targets, measured performance…

    get Strava as mentioned above and join the challenges – this summer we had ride half the tour distance in a month and climb 7000m in a week. There are monthly km goals and more fun ones. Use the training diary and keep check of what you do.

    ride more (see above) as it’s winter down under and it coincided with lots of work I have had a couple of slack months, I know I need to be on the bike more and need to engineer more riding opportunities. The road bike is great for breaking things up and getting longer/easier rides in.

    I entered a few events got a 70km/2000m climbing race in 8 weeks, maybe a 3 day stage race 120km I think in about 8 if I enter and the big one of a 4 day 200km race in January. It’s sort of working to keep me feeling guilty when I’m not riding (like this morning)

    Join a ride group – again said above, I used to go out every Tuesday I was at home, I can’t remember the weather ever stopping us from doing at least something. Knowing there will be someone else there is great motivation.

    Final bit of advice
    Keep it Fun

    Dibbs
    Free Member

    Goals, targets, measured performance…

    get Strava as mentioned above and join the challenges – this summer we had ride half the tour distance in a month and climb 7000m in a week. There are monthly km goals and more fun ones. Use the training diary and keep check of what you do.

    Strava also allows you to judge your performance against people you know (disappointing a lot of the time in my case, but I’m getting there). 🙂

    orangeboy
    Free Member

    On my commute 15-20 miles each way depending on route
    I try to target at least 3 starva segments each week rather than just plod along
    I don’t ride every day but try to do 5 days out of 7 between road and mtb

    When I went back to racing a few years ago doing hill reps made a big differnace to my seated power bit it’s very dull

    weeksy
    Full Member

    I have a buddy who’s training for the Brecon Beast this weekend.

    Essentially his training started 6 weeks ago, he’s been on-off riding for a few years, but this year hadn’t put the time/effort in much until 6 weeks ago really.

    His fittness has improved MASSIVELY over that 6 weeks going from being easy pickings on the hills for me to kicking my backside last week !!! He’s been using Strava and riding a minimum of 2 hours per day as fast as he possibly can. The difference in him is immense. He goes out for 2 hours on the road setting Strava PB’s every day and every day he gets a bit better/faster.

    Whilst i thikn it’s mind killing what he’s doing as he’s not ‘enjoying’ the countryside IMO, i can’t argue with the results he’s getting.

    jonba
    Free Member

    Have a goal. Don’t just think about entering an event – put your name down and pay up. Tell people you are going to do it.

    Personally I can’t be bothered with going out and training. I just like to ride so do it as much as possible. However, on the road I go after strava segments, look to explore the biggest hills in the area, push myself to go further than I have before etc. (143miles is my longest ride now, 150 would make a nice number)

    On the MTB I plan to out all day. I got fit by just enjoying riding and always doing one more climb so I could enjoy the downhill once more. Basically stretch yourself to ride a little bit more than is easy.

    Try and incorporate riding into your everyday life. I do a 15mile round trip to work everyday. That adds up and gets you fit with minimal time loss.

    Try and find regular small events or a club. You need something to push you if you can’t do it alone. A local race series really helps – pinning a number on is good motivation. Riding with a group is the next best think if you are at the weaker end.

    Finally, plan to ride. Put it in a calendar, decide where you are going and get ready. Don’t wait till Friday night to think about it as you’ll probably sack it off when your mates invite you to the pub.

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Follow a training plan

    That sounds so boring!

    If you’re coming from next to no riding then just riding hard and riding alot will see your fitness increase fairly dramatically.

    mattjg
    Free Member

    If you’re coming from next to no riding then just riding hard and riding alot will see your fitness increase fairly dramatically.

    spot on

    unless you’re a pro athlete or unemployed, you probably don’t have time to get all scientific about training and diet

    ride when you can and ride as hard as you can every time

    don’t worry about targets and plans, if you doing what you love then fitness comes as a side effect

    as for magazines, I doubt anyone ever got motivated via a magazine subscription. cycling is hard and motivation is internal.

    Edric64
    Free Member

    I just try and do more riding ,never anything specific .Im doing Leroica which is 200km in a month so figured I need to get a few long rides in .Did 94 miles on Sunday and didnt feel too bad considering it was my longest ride by a good 25 miles this year .Reckon another couple of 100 milers this month should see me ok

    modig
    Free Member

    You might consider signing up for a race of some sorts. Preferably together with a friend.

    I’m extremely lazy and uncompetetive but some friends at work talked me in to joining them for a half marathon last year and although I wasn’t very keen on the idea it really helped keep my motivation up. I find running quite boring in itself but it’s very time effective so I still do a bit of both.

    Good luck
    /Johan

    Shred
    Free Member

    I’m not sure what is “scientific” about a training plan.

    This year I have massively improved my fitness and dropped a good amount of weight through setting a big goal (La Marmotte sportive in July)
    I got a basic training plan which was basically 4 week blocks with the 4th week being a rest week (not total rest, just an easier week). Each week had a bigger time goal and slowly built up the number of rides in it.

    This allowed me to improve steadily instead of doing too much, too soon. I was also able to track my improvement and know where I was on my way to the goal.
    I also used Strava to track my improvement on climbs etc.
    I mainly met my goals for the Marmotte but took longer than expected. I probably took it too easy as my legs we completely fine afterwards and the next day.

    tonyd
    Full Member

    Cancel your cycling fitness subscription and spend the £21 on something useful. If you want guidance and training plans then you’ve already started down the right path by asking people. All the info you need is available for free on the internet.

    Make sure you ride all year round, or rather exercise all year round. As above don’t be afraid to substitute a ride for a run, swim, etc.

    Riding through the winter has lots of benefits, particularly off road. You get a bit muckier but if it’s wet and muddy you’re working harder and your bike handling skills are improving, which means come spring you should be flying.

    penny1971
    Free Member

    Thank you so much guys!
    I know a couple of more experienced riders who would be happy to ride with me and push me 🙂
    I’m going to set my self 5 days a week. My rest days can be reading & research time- which should only make me more eager.
    I’m going to make sure I push myself all the way up and beyond the hills- although I may take it slower down the hills for that extra resting time ;)!

    I’m off out for a long ride tonight. I want to see how far I can go. I’ve got to start somewhere so tonight is the night 😀

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Agree with shred. A training plan can be as scientific as it needs to for the person following it, at it’s most basic it will just be a series of target distances over a given period of time. It gives you small attainable goals that you can tick off on the way to the overall goal.

    The one negative point I would make is that a goal of ‘being fitter’ is far too broad and I’ll defined, pick something exact like an average speed over a set distance or to cover a particular distance or to get up a local hill climb. Then once you nail that goal set a new one. This way the fitness will come as a by product of reaching the targets.

    Some way of recording your performance would be useful. It’s very difficult to gauge fitness by feel on a bike as you tend to ride to the same effort level regardless of how fit you are but the difference is that you are quicker for the same effort. So it’s good to be able to compare times, speeds, averages, heart rates, power output, pretty much whatever information you can lay your hands on is useful. When things seem to be moving a bit slowly look back at what you were doing a month or two previous and you’ll probably see that the actual gain has been greater than it might feel. Hills never get easier, only faster.

    If you’ve got fancy equipment that’ll record all sorts of data for you then great, if not just use a watch and time yourself over a favourite route every few weeks and use that as a guide, or you might notice that you now climb a particular hill in a higher gear than you used to.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    A few snippets from Olympic level coaches (in a variety of sports) I’ve picked up over the years.

    You can get to full fitness in 12 weeks if you’re serious, committed and organized

    Frequency, Intensity, Duration – of these the most important is frequency. Intensity/Duration is a combination, you need a minimum duration of around 45 mins – the shorter the workout the greater the intensity should be

    Heart Rate Monitor – helps a lot to gauge intensity and to monitor progress, stops you cheating by working out too easily. Know you heart rate bands, don’t over exert yourself. Lots of phone apps can take heart rate input and they are a simple effective way of keeping a record.

    Variety – mix things up a bit to keep them interesting

    Targets/Goals – these can be hard to set yourself from scratch but you should have some reference routes/sections that you can time yourself on and seek to improve

    If you are training for specific event in the week (or so before) you should tail off the training so you are fresh for the event. If you can ride the course / sections of it in preparation that makes a big difference as you become familiar with it

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    You can get to full fitness in 12 weeks if you’re serious, committed and organized

    How would you define ‘full fitness’?

    ti_pin_man
    Free Member

    +1 for a lot of what is said here.

    set a goal for say december – make it hard, say to do a certain ride in a certain time.

    then work out what you need to achieve it, is it endurance miles or sprints or hill climbs, then right a plan on how you are going to get there.

    I think key to it is to find a mentor or two, a couple of people who will help and encourage you. doing it on your own is tough and you’ll likely give up.

    crosshair
    Free Member

    You definitely need a set route to monitor progress. Mine is about 20 miles and I ride it every 8-12 days. Since June 03rd, my average speed has gone from 15.3mph to 18.6mph and its deeply satisfying to see it expressed in such black and white terms!

    I personally get far more out of training alone. I can go as hard as I like without fear of embarrassment of the impending physical crash 😀
    I have been strangely motivated this year though ….

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    muppetWrangler – Member
    How would you define ‘full fitness’?

    I think the definition was in reference to a sort of “performance plateau” where further improvements are quite minor and require specific training. In this instance the coach talked about boxers some of whom get quite unfit between bouts.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    In this instance the coach talked about boxers some of whom get quite unfit between bouts.

    Does everybody think of Ricky Hatton?

    wonnyj
    Free Member

    Get yourself a few local loops to do. Bit of a mixture: some flat, some hilly, some technical etc. Then ride them lots and try to improve your times. These should be your shorter harder rides.

    Try to separate shorter harder rides from longer slower rides. Also if you find you’re doing quite a lot of days, make sure to do the odd shorter, easier spin as a recovery.

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