Best training...

"Coyoteboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Would you agree that I may be better doign on direction only and
getting the train back - and doing that 2/3 times a week instead of one
or maybe at most two full journeys? I find i can push myself harder if
i only do one way, i have to conserve if i do both or i wont make it
home.

I'd do the exact opposite. Dial it back to a level that you can do both
ways without blowing up.

Coyoteboy said:

I've been riding to work off and on for a few weeks, its 18 miles each
way - pretty tough 1mile steep climb,one mile descent, one mile climb,
one mile flat...etc - loads of ups and downs for long distances. Great
for training. But i find if i do both ways in one day I end up with a
saddle sore bum and burnt out to a major degree and cant do it again
until maybe the end of the week.

Would you agree that I may be better doign on direction only and
getting the train back - and doing that 2/3 times a week instead of one
or maybe at most two full journeys? I find i can push myself harder if
i only do one way, i have to conserve if i do both or i wont make it
home. (found that out to my pain last month when i pushed both ways and
made it halfway home and couldnt ride any further for the continuous
burn and cramps lol).

Any advice appreciated.

J

Tough to say what's best for you, but maybe you should taper into doing
it both ways each day. Do it a couple times a week, then keep adding one
more time as you feel you can take it. No need to push it all that hard,
the road miles will do their thing even if you just spin it easily.
If you're feeling strong, push it hard on the way home when you can.
That way at least you'll be all sweaty and burnt at home instead of at work.

Matt

Coyoteboy said:

Would you agree that I may be better doign on direction only and
getting the train back - and doing that 2/3 times a week instead of one
or maybe at most two full journeys?

Well I'm no expert, but I find it difficult to maintain a training program
that is pure hell. I'd say ride one-way three times a week - it also saves
you from having to come into work all sweaty!

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address

"Coyoteboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been riding to work off and on for a few weeks, its 18 miles each

Quoted message said:

Any advice appreciated.

J

http://www.cptips.com/
--
DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest, I've just wasted.

The best way to learn and/or get in shape for mountain biking is to go
mountain biking. Go figure.

JD

JD said:

The best way to learn and/or get in shape for mountain biking is to go
mountain biking. Go figure.

JD

Naturally, but a) I'm not only looking to get fit for mtbing and b) I
dont have anywhere with a long (>8 miles) offroad ride within about an
hours drive so its impossible to do any fitness training on the bike
regularly.

J

Coyoteboy said:

JD said:

The best way to learn and/or get in shape for mountain biking is to go
mountain biking. Go figure.

JD

Naturally, but a) I'm not only looking to get fit for mtbing and b) I
dont have anywhere with a long (>8 miles) offroad ride within about an
hours drive so its impossible to do any fitness training on the bike
regularly.

J

Try a fitness newsgroup then. This one is about mountain biking.

JD

JD said:

Coyoteboy said:

JD said:

The best way to learn and/or get in shape for mountain biking is to go
mountain biking. Go figure.

JD

Naturally, but a) I'm not only looking to get fit for mtbing and b) I
dont have anywhere with a long (>8 miles) offroad ride within about an
hours drive so its impossible to do any fitness training on the bike
regularly.

J

Try a fitness newsgroup then. This one is about mountain biking.

JD

Or get a road bike.

/s
Muhaha....

"Coyoteboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've been riding to work off and on for a few weeks, its 18 miles each
way - pretty tough 1mile steep climb,one mile descent, one mile climb,
one mile flat...etc - loads of ups and downs for long distances. Great
for training. But i find if i do both ways in one day I end up with a
saddle sore bum and burnt out to a major degree and cant do it again
until maybe the end of the week.

Would you agree that I may be better doign on direction only and
getting the train back - and doing that 2/3 times a week instead of one
or maybe at most two full journeys? I find i can push myself harder if
i only do one way, i have to conserve if i do both or i wont make it
home. (found that out to my pain last month when i pushed both ways and
made it halfway home and couldnt ride any further for the continuous
burn and cramps lol).

Any advice appreciated.

J

36 mi per day is a bit much for most anybody. I commute about 12 mi 3x a
week on the average . Add that to 2 to 4 mtn rides/week, and that's enough
for this ole boy...

CDB

JD said:

Try a fitness newsgroup then. This one is about mountain biking.

JD

No.

JD said:

Try a fitness newsgroup then. This one is about mountain biking.

JD

No.

Put your bike on your car and drive it to work. Take riding clothes
and a change of work clothes with you. After work, change into the
riding clothes and ride home. Next morning ride your bike to work,
change into your work clothes, strap your bike to the car.

coop

Coyoteboy said:

I've been riding to work off and on for a few weeks, its 18 miles each
way - pretty tough 1mile steep climb,one mile descent, one mile climb,
one mile flat...etc - loads of ups and downs for long distances. Great
for training. But i find if i do both ways in one day I end up with a
saddle sore bum and burnt out to a major degree and cant do it again
until maybe the end of the week.

Would you agree that I may be better doign on direction only and
getting the train back - and doing that 2/3 times a week instead of one
or maybe at most two full journeys? I find i can push myself harder if
i only do one way, i have to conserve if i do both or i wont make it
home. (found that out to my pain last month when i pushed both ways and
made it halfway home and couldnt ride any further for the continuous
burn and cramps lol).

Any advice appreciated.

J

Over training can kill you. Once you have finished burning the fat, you
start burning muscle. Guess which muscle is one of the first to start
burning? The one that get's used the most, your heart. Over training
and burning muscle can cause arithmia and even cardiac arrest.

You should talk with your doctor or find a well certified personal
trainer to give you an optimal training schedule. I used to ride every
day, with short yet fast road rides during the week. I am a picky eater
as well and wasn't taking in enough calories or protien. Bad combo and
luckily my doctor stopped me before it was too late. I know a few
people who were not so lucky and one now has a pacemaker.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

you have a gym close by...

try alternating spinning classes with controlled weight training...mtb
riding requires more upper body strength than roadies..so make sure you
focus on a overall body workout. Start sets with low weights, doing about 25
reps...adding weight and lowering reps as you go..about 3-4 step ups...that
way you warm up, train for lean strength and power. Arms, chest, ab's and
back...then legs....try vary training sequence as well....legs first one
day, upper 1st other day...

....just a guide...

HTH

"Coyoteboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

JD said:

The best way to learn and/or get in shape for mountain biking is to go
mountain biking. Go figure.

JD

Naturally, but a) I'm not only looking to get fit for mtbing and b) I
dont have anywhere with a long (>8 miles) offroad ride within about an
hours drive so its impossible to do any fitness training on the bike
regularly.

J

cc said:

you have a gym close by...

<snip gym rat jive>

One of the funniest things on the trail is a gym rat with no bicycle
handling skills. Pretty muscles combined with little or no
coordination sure makes for some stylish posing. There are a crapload
of gym rat wannabes out here in SoCal and it just kills them when
joeshittheragman passes them on a rigid singlespeed like they were
standing still. The huffing and puffing of them trying to keep up
sometimes ends with an audible biff, or just fades quickly.

JD

Coyoteboy:

If you are doing 18 plus miles 2x a day, and have in that some decent
hills - even if they are not perfect in length or grade - you have a
lot already. TM's reply to dial it back very sound. Do you have a
heart rate monitor? If so then be patient, ride your 2x daily commute
at 65 percent of max HR 5x week, take one long ride on the weekend
still at a 65-70% max HR, and take a day off. This will build you an
incredible base in no time.

Then, after some period of time - it will depend on where you are
fitness-wise - you can do the stuff you really wanna do - which is to
work harder.

But none of this will make you a better mountain biker, which means
time on the bike on the trails, which I am ssure you know.

Fitness is simple. It's so easy to over-complicate it. If, as things
turn out, you have a medical condition, then it quickly becomes
complicated. (It's also complicated to get the absolute maximum out of
your body, but who does that?)

Anything new you do will feel hard and kick your ass. "New" applies to
activity, duration and/or intensity.

Do the same thing more, and your body responds by getting stronger.

Failing to recover adequately between exercise sessions will hold you
back, and can easily result in one of a variety of overtraining syndromes.

I suggest: ride both ways to avoid the annoying car/bike interfacing.
Ride slow and easy when you feel tired, hard when you feel strong. If
tiredness lasts for more than a week, then you're either sick,
overtrained, or not recovering enough between rides. (The last two are
usually synonymous.)

Oh, and eat & hydrate properly.

This mtb-on-road riding WILL make you a stronger rider, so don't let any
purists rain on your parade. It won't make you a better mtb rider, however.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

Ride-A-Lot said:

Over training can kill you. Once you have finished burning the fat, you
start burning muscle.

Got enough fat on me and freely available in my diet to not burn it all
im sure - im all for eating a mixture of everything, fat included so i
doubt id reach a point, even during intense prolonged activity, that id
be burnign all my fat supplies?

Quoted message said:

You should talk with your doctor or find a well certified personal
trainer to give you an optimal training schedule.

My doc said im all fit to do whatever i fancy (after recent family
heart scare), and the more i do the better 🙂 No easy access to
certified personal trainers, but glancing around the training schedules
and suggestions on the net im far from over-training - 36 miles a day
twice a week is nothing for a fit youngun like me 😄 Used to do 20
miles a day every day, and badminton for 2 hours 3 times a week, and a
weekend of riding in the mountains. I'd consider what im doing very
limited but I have lost a lot of fitness since back then.

Quoted message said:

day, with short yet fast road rides during the week. I am a picky eater
as well and wasn't taking in enough calories or protien.

Ohh, im far from a picky eater lol, if its edible i'll eat it, im well
known for eating two people's worth of anything (and hated for still
having a low body fat percentage lol) - when riding to work and back i
naturally consume about 2500 cals a day extra just from hunger, in any
form i can find it - carbs, protiens and fats - i just have two lunches
- one at 11 and one at 3.

I think I'm going to keep doing one direction more often (building up
to every week day), monitoring my heart rates and other indicators to
make sure i dont start over-doing it. I think pushing harder in one
direction is going to help more to increase fitness, so then i can move
onto both directions less times a week - mon/wed/fri maybe.

Ta for everyones additions!
J
J

czb said:

Coyoteboy:

If you are doing 18 plus miles 2x a day, and have in that some decent
hills - even if they are not perfect in length or grade - you have a
lot already. TM's reply to dial it back very sound. Do you have a
heart rate monitor?

Decided to dial it back even further for a while - save killing myself
and having to recover for longer. I have a HRM but averaging about
18mph over the 18 miles i dont really get it up to 65% now.

Quoted message said:

But none of this will make you a better mountain biker, which means
time on the bike on the trails, which I am ssure you know.

True, very true - im only doing it to build a fitness base to allow me
to spend more time riding on the trails instead of having to keep
stopping every few miles for a breather!

J