[Closed] does cycling to work improve fitness much?

I think it probably depends how fit you are in the first place.

Might be worth reading Time Crunched Training Program from Chris Carmicheal (he who trains mr. armstong) he reckons with some pretty intense intervals you can get fit in under 6 hours a week. So in theory with your hour a day it should work, you might need a slightly longer route home?

I'm trying it now, I have a 9 mile commute, and doing the intervals definitly helping my fitness, I'll let you know in a month or twos time if it really works.

In my experience yes, it will very appreciably improve the fitness of an average person. And massively improve the smugness ratio too!

It'll keep you ticking over but to get fitter you'll need to go longer and harder. My commute is the same length but on the way home I take a different route - about 20 miles - with some hard hilly intervals mixed in.

I do 6 1/2 miles each way a day, via a fairly hilly route by road over the bottom end of Cannock Chase. It takes ~22 minutes one way and 30 minutes the other (there's a particularly big hill at one end!). This is by far the majority of the exercise I get and it certainly keeps me fit. I sink in swimming pools because of the size of my thighs which I take as a fairly good indicator.

yes.

I do three miles each way. I finished the Kielder 100.

might look at longer ways home then, i could include red bank from grasmere or the kirkstone pass via struggle!

- what do want to achieve? stamina, power??

Not all about how far, but how fast too...

I never thought it did much when I was doing 34 miles a day at ~17mph average, my MTBing never improved. But having switched to shorter hillier routes and maintaining the same average I seem to see a fairly quick improvement.

Your body responds to the regular demands you make on it, and the more you demand the fitter you become. I have a tentative theory that if you then reduce the demand, the added muscle is torn down again because muscle has a higher metabolic demand than other tissue, even when resting, so it's inefficient to have more than needed.

plain and simple
yes!

you're doing 40-50 minutes exercise each day,

I bloddy hope so, i've just spent a grand on a bike to do just that!!!

yes, I do 3.2miles each way, doesnt sound much, but it's 30 extra miles a week.

and as it's little and often I dont get sore the next day. So I guess maybe I'm not stressing my body enough to get any benifit, but equaly its not taking time to repair, so maybe its a good thing.

You will need rest days now and then though. Don't go totally crazy.

Too blimming right it does. I commute 120 miles a week and my mtbing fitness has vastly improved.

You will need rest days now and then though.

you only need rest days if you're pushing the limits. Fit means "fit for purpose" - it wouldn't be much cop if you had to stay home and have a lie down every few days 🙂

I do three miles each way. I finished the Kielder 100.

AND he's a sponsored rider 😉 So yes riding to work can make you into a professional athlete. FACT

I found that although there probably was an improvement in my fitness the fun off road rides at the end of the week were compromised because I had ridden 12 miles a day for 5 days a week.

the fun off road rides at the end of the week were compromised

did you mean:
a) fun [b]of[/b] road rides
or b) fun [b]of off[/b] road rides?

I have an 11-mile each way jaunt. I have been very lazy and not done it on the bike very often this last few months. My fitness has definitely declined quite a lot.

Since begining of Aug I have been commuting 15 miles each way to work & try to push it quite hard (HR generally averaging 150)- I dont seem to be gaining loads of fitness & my legs seem to be constantly aching but it must be doing some good given that I am now doing 10 hours more riding a week than I used to do!!

Depends if it all gets skewed by increased pie consumption.

Also watch out for riding a lot in Zone 2 - its not good training, Zone 1 (or balls out HR bouncing off max for the non HR monitor bods like me) or Zone 3/4 (taking it dead steady) FTW. Sounds like you're riding a bit too hard/not hard enough if it is going to become habit.

I'm doing about 22 - 26km a day commuting with a good bit of that off road.
I vary the route a bit depending on what shift I'm on.
I reckon it's helping with both fitness and riding skill.
Some days I go for a sustained steady plod, some days I attack the hills, some days I go for a flat out sprint along the tow path and sometimes I go for an overall PB.
Mix it up,that's the way.

I has improved my track standing and general fitness. I try to push as hard as I can up the few hills that there are and take it easy.

anotherdeadhero - why is zone 2 riding (for prolonged periods) not good training?

You're probably better off asking someone that knows more about it than me. It's just what I've heard/read everywhere (it isn't fourm-recieved 'wisdom' though, running articles etc).

[i]Also watch out for riding a lot in Zone 2 - its not good training, Zone 1 (or balls out HR bouncing off max for the non HR monitor bods like me) or Zone 3/4 (taking it dead steady) [/i]

Sounds like someone has their zones the wrong way round... Z1/2 basic, Z3/4 intensive, Z5/6 maximal

Fella I used to work with was a pretty reasonable time trialist, and used to ride to work every day - as well as using his bike for other errands. When he passed his test and started driving to work, his 10 mile times suffered noticably. I would say it makes a difference

I do 9 miles to work and it takes me about 25-30 minutes. Over the years I have done it, I actually found it started to have a negative effect on my speed. I now vary it a bit, so I do some longer rides home which has made an improvement on my fitness and speed. The trouble was that I wasn't really get warmed up till about 25minutes in, and then I wasn't really able to ride hard enough to improve.

I think if you do 6 miles everyday there and back your fitness will plateau at that level. If you want to keep improving then doing some sprints within the 6 miles, or an all out blast, or doing a longer route back are all good ways to get faster/fitter.

Not to say that 12 miles, 5 days a week won't keep you fit and healthy.

Over the winter I did a lot a flat 10 mile commutes on a single speed this was good for putting in the base miles but when I wanted to start working in some speed and power training I had to change my plans.

Now I do a very hilly ride home and want to get a proper geared road bike for a bit more flexibility as well.

I wouldn't be surprised AndyP.

Either everyone on here is extremely fit compared to me, or you have very straightforward commutes (or both). My 4.5 miles generally takes about 20 minutes, closer to 15 if I really go for it/get lucky with traffic lights/people in the way etc, sometimes about 25.

[i]tifferz - Member
Since begining of Aug I have been commuting 15 miles...[/i]

Tifferz, It's still early days yet, keep going and it will come. Your body is still adjusting to the change at the moment.

Doesn't this depend on what you'd do it you weren't commuting by bicycle?

If you'd be sat in a car for an equal amount of time obviously thats worse for your fitness

But if you could do a dedicated training ride instead, maybe later in the evening, thats better.

Its a bit like asking does eating Mcdonalds make you fat.

If you have a super size big mac meal twice a day it will.

I started riding to work when my wife got pregnant 2 years ago . I was 109kg then and couldnt make it up the 1 mile gentle slope straight up.

I am now 94kg and I do 20 miles up to and around my local trails no prob.

My ride is 4 miles each way but I take the long route these days 🙂

I sink in swimming pools because of the size of my thighs

I have that.

However, the 5 miles between home and the office has no fitness benefit at all. I just ride it and stop. At best, it maintains the ability to ride 5 miles to work.

I add to it in the summer with evening rides, and in the winter with turbo rides or riding at the track. Which reminds me, where are the pedals for my blimming track bike? 😉

My experience is yes. Doing 5 miles a day and some biking at the weekend and I'm pretty fit. It's certainly going to get you fitter than not commuting by bike.

Depends on what you ride a bit. I have definately chosen a bike for reliability rather than weight. Puncture proof tyres, 719 rims, cheap steal frame, generally cheap and heavy components means my road bike and mountain bike feel feather weight by comparrison.

I'n the year I've been doing a proper commute I started off on 42:16 and now comfortably ride 42:14.

Started to add a bit of interest as well doing different/longer routes home in summer and generally doing things like sprints on hills or timed runs to see if I'm getting quicker.

However, the 5 miles between home and the office has no fitness benefit at all. I just ride it and stop. At best, it maintains the ability to ride 5 miles to work.

I think, long term, it does good things for your base endurance.

If you look at [url= http://mactually.co.uk/ ]my blog[/url], you can see how few non-commute rides I do.

As others have said, I find that commuting every day ups your fitness level overall, but can knacker your weekend. Your body needs recovery time. I now tend to lay off for a few days if I'm going to do a long ride at the weekend (on or off road). I'm doing 30km per day, with about 350m of ascent.

I've found mid-week rest days really good, and stop that knackered feeling at the weekend.

Worth adding I've been doing the road to and from work for the last 6 to 8 weeks (new baby mean't not much time for anything else) so hadn't been offroad in months, but managed to do 3h at Cheddar this weekend. So I'd say it definitly can help.

Of course does nothing for downhill skills!

personally, ever since i've started commuting to work just over a year ago my fitness has increased ten fold. My daily commute is now 75 miles ( see previous post) though will be going down to 40 miles soon but i will probably add another 20 to that on the way home. My endurance levels have increased alot, also my ability to push myself hard for longer has increased as well as looking forward to long distance runs. I feel riding alot of road miles on a road bike keeps my interest high but i always make sure i drink a protein shake/ frijj milkshake afetr every run to help recovery as well as some stretching.

My downfall is probably rest days. I can quite happily go weeks, maybe a few months being on the bike every day without taking proper rest days but this is down to

A/ i'm loving riding my bike everyday
B/ i feel guilty not riding my bike on my days off and
C/ i may have an addiction to bikes just now

Keeping a mix of road and mountain biking also keeps this interest high. If i was you i'd continue biking to work and you might find yourself taking different routes home to get more ride time in. In a girly way just being on the bike and seeing whats around you is a really good feel good factor rather than making yourself go out and do miles.