Hi folks, after not doing a huge amount of biking this year I have joined a group to do the west highland way at the end of October. I have reasonable base fitness but nothing to write home about, pretty decent stamina, but approaching my half century and had a few too many pies/ pints.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a fitness schedule for the task ahead, planning to get on the bike more obviously but what sort of cycling – off/on road distance/ intensity – planning to go to gym once or twice a week to boost strength, what sort of routine. Also looking to stop the booze and perhaps shed half a stone or so to help.

Cheers

S

I’m in a similar situation

Less of a target, just generally trying to dig myself out of the hole, probably less fit than you as well

But my rather 1990s style plan is

longer ride at the weekend (thats 2 hours for me). But trying not to go to fast. In the past I’ve done way better not trying to push on every ride)

Tuesday night an hour of riding “tempo”

Thursday night. Ride some where. Really go for it for 15 20 minutes. Pootle home

If you have more sessions then make them tempo

As you get fitter make the long ride longer and the fast ride faster but not longer

My plan will go to pot soon as the Autumn is rubbish for me as a teacher. But I’ll pick up in the spring. I’m just pleased to show myself that I can make progress
Anyone elses thoughts on my plan

I find it helpful to have a turbo trainer for this but…
High intensity intervals, lots of. Sufferfest videos are amazing for this as they make them interesting.

Mix up the high intensity with some longer very low intensity rides.

Remember to take 1-2 days break every 7 days or so, so your body can capitalise on the exercise without fatiguing.

My unscientific tactics earlier this year…
For weight loss: cutting out excess carbs\sugars, sugary drinks made a huge difference. I lost 6 or 7kg in about that time. I didn’t want a fad diet, just an easy change I could stick with.

Riding: I switched it up between short intense rides, increasingly longer steady rides, and a casual potter. Hills seemed to help a lot, regardless of the pace. As said above, don’t burn yourself out by riding too much.

I found Strava helped a lot, you can’t lie to yourself about the amount of riding. I intentionally rode the same route for the more intense rides hoping to be able see the improvement, it always felt as hard but it’s nice to see you did it quicker.

Give me a shout when you are home and we can go for a long ride or two if I’m not working etc…
You going with Ninja, Eck & co? Reckon you have enough reserves in the tank to keep up with that lot 😉
Used up my brownie points for the year with a trip to Wales this weekend and a trip in July. 🙄

You need to do lands end to John o’groats ASAP, like this week! If you time it correctly and Scotland votes yes on Thursday you will still be a fair distance away from the border, but soon a load of irate Englishmen will be chasing you down potential johnny foreigner, upcountry and across the border, you’ll make it across barely alive.

Think of the fitness benefits.

If its a no vote, then doing something boring like suggested above, and join strava.

Run three times a week for thirty minutes each time. This will primarily improve your cardio and burn a few excess calories.

One long, low intensity road ride on a weekend. This will maintain cardio but burn fat stores helping you lose weight.

Eat no more than 2000 calories a day (plus whatever you burn in exercise).

I’d be looking to build up to 3 days a week good strength training (kettle bell swings, squats, lunges) and three days a week mobility to get the glutes hips and shoulders moving (for the 4th and 5th week). 6th week would be mostly a few long rides but try not to do anything much for the last few days

First few weeks would be building up to that depending on your fitness levels. Maybe trying some HIT stuff to get a head start

Chuck in a few hours riding in the evening of the strength days as well or if you’ve got turbo / rollers do it indoors

TBH in 6 weeks all you’re liable to do is injure yourself if you try any serious upping of exercise.
Get in a bit of cardio, keep yourself stretched and loose and just do the ride – it’s only a bit of bridleway through the countryside after all 😉

TrainerRoad Sweet Spot Intermediate Base 2

A 6 week plan specifically geared to your fitness level.*
The ‘sweet spot’ is at an intensity that will yield good results but not tax or fatigue your body too much, meaning you’ll recover well for the next session.

To assist with sensible weight loss, log all of your food and exercise in My Fitness Pal.

I lost 5kg in 6 weeks doing the above while eating well, due to the additional calories the exercise allowed/required me to eat. FTP was at 300w at the end of the 6 weeks.

*assuming you do the fitness test properly – I recommend you do this at least twice before starting the 6 week plan

Thanks folks, yes if I get hassled by another campaigner the adrenalin will kick start a ten mile run thats for sure 🙂

Those comments align with what I was thinking, I do long commute at the moment so HIT stuff through the week with the odd gym session to stimulate the old bod, then a long ride steady ride at the weekend suits me fine. And no booze should trim the gluts and quads to reasonable level.

Trekster up for a longish road ride this saturday if your free? Yes going with Ninja et al., not a race but dont want to be “puggled” neither…

Back in August I decided there was no reason I couldn’t break out of my sloth-like existence and get to the point where I could do a 100 mile ride.

I found the century training plan below and with the aid of a turbo trainer in the week and a long ride at the weekend am now comfortably doing 60-70 mile rides – I’m a bit ahead of the target for week 7.

Using a turbo requires a bit of mental discipline but it does seem to be really improving my fitness and there’s no excuse for not doing it – I can always find an hour either before or after work. Or when I come back from the pub 😉

http://www.marincyclists.com/page-131128

Edit – forgot to say that I’ve used the MyFitnessPal app to track what I’m eating and make sure I’m eating enough to offset the exercise calorie loss.

ps meant to say I can put lights on the bike and get out, but really really dislike turbo trainer, sorry..