Are you doing any cross training?

I train about 12 hours per week. 5 cycle sessions (200 / 250 km per week) and 5 swim sessions (12,000/14,000 m per week). I find the swim sessions give my legs a chance to recover, especially after a long ride. Most of the swimming is high quality stuff 😎

Seems to be a good all round balance 😄 and both swimming and riding are done for 'serious fun'

Generally ride alone and always use a Hear Rate Monitor (Polar S720i) 😎

I do a lot of water skiing, and a few rounds of golf in the summer. In the winter I play in a mens hockey league 2 nights a week. (Does that count?) 😄

Cross training is a great idea when you're in the training season. Biking is a great help, but I believe 4x's the amount of biking has to be done to be equivalent to running, and 3x's for swimming. Anyway, a combination of 2 of those a day will get you in kick ass condition. I don't wear a HR monitor (although I should) but I just stop every now and then and check my beats for 10 sec (x6 of course). Rollerblading and basketball are also activities that make you seem like you're doing less work than you really are, and that's usually a plus. Good luck with your training, let us know if you find any new activities that seem to work well for you!🙂

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by nightowl
Is anyone doing any cross training? How many training hours are you putting in per week, cycling included?
What are you doing? (swimming, running, rowing, weights, yoga, etc, etc)
Do you train for fun and fitness or are you working towards a goal?
Do you wear a HR monitor?
Do you ride in a group or alone?

Are you doing any cross training?

Hell yeah! 😎 I'm a firm believer in cross training. It keeps things interesting plus it keeps you from putting undue stresses on the joints. Most of the injuries I've had over the years were injuries of repitition.

I currently put in between 8 - 10 hours a week of cycling and weight training. In the summer I don't lift as much or as often as the weather is just too nice to pass up. I'd say that I'm only lifting about an hour every 4 - 5 days for upper body and abs. During the winter I'll do more weights and cut back on the aerobic exercise. Instead of stationary cycling I'll do a stair climber for variety's sake. I do not run or jog as I have a bad back and it's just to hard on the joints.

I train for fun, fitness and I'd like to complete a first century this fall with a goal of 7 hours. I feel fit enough to do one in 9 hours now but my [censored] hurts if I'm in the saddle for more than a couple hours. I've done a hilly 50 in 3.5 hours so I'm pretty much on target.

Oh yes, and I'd like to have 20" biceps! Only have 1" more to go.

I wear an HRM when I ride or do the stair climber. I don't when I lift but probably will this winter as I'll be doing supersets to keep the heart rate and conditioning levels up.

I drink alone... er uhm, ride alone. It's my think time.

Try to run about 2-3 times per week anything from 6-12 km per session. Riding about 300 per week. I also think you need to give 3-4 times the effort and time in cycling to equal run benefits. Provided effort is similar.

Here's a good web site to assist everyone in guaging their activity levels for different exercises.

http://www.primusweb.com/cgi-bin/fpc/actcalc.pl

Just enter your weight and the duration of time at the bottom of the page and, wallah! I can't vouch for its accuracy but it's a neat little tool.

It even covers sleeping and watching TV! 😉

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Cipher
I do a lot of water skiing, and a few rounds of golf in the summer. In the winter I play in a mens hockey league 2 nights a week. (Does that count?) 😄

GOLF??? No - the rest does though.

I know this is going to start a contraversy....so save it! But, I work out with RESISTANCE WEIGHT MACHINES (not free weights) at least 3x a week, have just picked up racquetball a couple times a week; play a double header softball game (coed--I pitch) every Monday night and am looking to add swimming laps at least 2x a week after a weight workout. No wonder I am having trouble fitting cycling in, huh? OH....forgot to mention...I'm walking 45-60 min's a night 4x's a week with my mother.

Is that crosstraining?
Kim in TN

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by SLS
GOLF???

Any golfing I do is work related... (It beats sittin' in a bar!) 😉

I just looked it up, and Runner's World said that this is the equivalency:
Bike 9 miles = 3 miles Running = 1 mile swimming

so, essentially, swimming 1 mile is just as cardio as biking 9 miles. And with summer approaching (finally, right 😄 ) then it'l be easier to do that, probably take less time too!

And yeah, I'm not so sure 'bout the golf 😉

Quoted post said:

The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you...

ooh ooh, I got the word yesterday that I'll be working at the Ironman Triathlon in Lake Placid, NY this summer (I'm not far away). I was so excited, I'll get to see really awesome athletes! Hopefully it'll make me want to be better :p

Well, it looks like I'll have to do some cross-training for at least a week or two. I've somehow twisted my ankle to the point where I can barely walk. Bummer! 😠 I was just getting to where I was doing some 50 milers too. What a disappointment. I have no idea what I've done to twist it either.

Guess I'll be hitting the upper body pretty hard for a little while. I picked a bad time to cancel that gym membership.

At least I've found a use for the frozen peas in my freezer!