Training ideas ?

[Justen]

I am trying to work up to cycling 100 kilometers by beginning to the middle of August so I can take part in some of the local bike club's day tours. So far, I am only up to 50 before my bum knee starts to really throb and feel painful and for some reason, my asthma deteriorates at that point.

I love cycling but am wondering if cross training could help my cycling and perhaps improve my endurance ? I am also trying to lose more weight in the midst of all of this.

So, I am working out at the gym 3 times a week - basically just 20 minutes on the Elliptical trainer (for a change from cycling) and then I do the weight circuit program. I am also cycling between 30-50 km/day.

Is it possible for your body to become tolerant to a particular type of exercise to the point that you no longer have the same benefits ?

I was losing about 3-4 lbs a week before and now I am only losing about 1 lb a week.

Justen

[MediaCreations]

Sounds like you're losing just what you should. You're putting on muscle which weighs more as well.

You will always lose lots more weight in the beginning but a lot of that is just fluid.

If you're serious about long term weight loss then you're right where you need to be.

[RWTD]

I agree that you should just stick with what your doing and not get frustrated at losing weight at a slow steady pace.The initial high rate could have been water weight and like MediaCreations said you could now be adding some muscle.If you are having problems pushing above your current milage just focus on continuing to build at base at that level of milage for awhile longer and perhaps work on intensity.Most of my rides were around the 30 miles when I was training for my first tour and I did those types of rides some time before I developed the fitness to gradually push on.
Also like I said in the other thread perhaps you can clean up your diet some to lose weigh a little faster but generally a slow steady rate is actually the best way to go and you have less chance of gaining it back this way as well.

[sebring]

Yes, the body can adapt to doing the same exercise every day. The body will adapt and become very efficient at performing any activity you do on a regular basis, so weight loss will slow if you do the same thing. For bike training I would do a distance, base mile ride for overall endurance, a day of intervals, then a day of rest. On my days off I usually run 3-4 miles before breakfast and will still take a bike ride later that day. If I'm at my place I just do a long base mile ride on the road or trainer. If at my parents place I will hit the trails. On my day shifts I will do a quick spin on the trainer before going to work as well. Most days I do 30-40 minutes of cardio before I eat. If you mix itup a bit but focus mainly on the bike, you will do fine.

[Guest]

If you want to strengthen the knees, you may want to consider doing isolated leg lunges, squats, and also the leg extension machine for the quads at the local gym. Throw in some inner/outer thigh machine exercises (adductor/abductor machine) to top it all off. If you can build the muscles around the knee, they will be stronger so that you can endure longer exercises at higher intensities. Start with light weights and lots of reps so you don't overstress the knees. As you build up strength, you can increase the weights.

[RWTD]

I agree with Koffee with the leg training focus to strengthen the area around the knee to help you push on to higher milage in fact after my previous post I thought I should have mentioned that and was going to do another post mentioning it.Just make sure you do a pain free range of motion at all times and avoid full lock out with heavy weights.

[Justen]

Originally posted by RWTD
I agree that you should just stick with what your doing and not get frustrated at losing weight at a slow steady pace..

Yes..I guess a slow steady weight loss is better. I had heard that the slower you lose weight, the more likely you are to keep it off..especially if the weight loss is due to exercising and eating a healthy diet (i.e. not the huge weight losses claimed by places like Jenny Craig, or crash diets).

It's kind of funny but I used to think 10 kilometers (I live in Canada so we use metric calculations) was pretty outstanding :-)

I increased it to 20 kilometers and now am up to 30 on a consistent basis but twice a week, I am now able to do 50 kilometers !! I can't believe that 10 km's seemed like such an achievement.

I plan to do some in-line skating in the next couple of weeks (after I get my skates fixed) which will give me a bit of variety. I am pretty good on my skates so I can actually skate for fitness..not just fall all over the place. We have a pathway system that threads throughout the city here and it is fantastic so I can keep up my pace quite well..it is the same path I cycle on.

I also plan to go to the gym 3 times a week just for weight training and to use the elliptical.

I am a very competitive person by nature and tend to push myself to the limit all the time because I enjoy seeing what my body is able to do.

I certainly have a much better level of fitness now than I did before !!

Thanks for your reply and your suggestions !

Justen

[Justen]

Originally posted by sebring
Yes, the body can adapt to doing the same exercise every day. The body will adapt and become very efficient at performing any activity you do on a regular basis, so weight loss will slow if you do the same thing. For bike training I would do a distance, base mile ride for overall endurance, a day of intervals, then a day of rest. On my days off I usually run 3-4 miles before breakfast and will still take a bike ride later that day. If I'm at my place I just do a long base mile ride on the road or trainer. If at my parents place I will hit the trails. On my day shifts I will do a quick spin on the trainer before going to work as well. Most days I do 30-40 minutes of cardio before I eat. If you mix itup a bit but focus mainly on the bike, you will do fine.

Hi Sebring,

Wow..thanks for all the tips.
I think mixing it up is a good idea. As much as I love cycling, I do sometimes like a change. I love in-line skating so as soon as I get my skates fixed, I am going to be able to skate. Walking is too slow and boring for me. I like to do everything fast.

I have a pretty decent mountain bike but not a car so I don't get out to the trails that much. However, I have a pretty intense 4 hour course coming up in a couple of weeks. These courses are almost non-stop cycling, ALOT of balancing work, and alot of hills to go up.
It is a nice change from just cycling locally.

Thanks for your ideas !

Justen

[Guest]

Justen-

I am in the exact same situation as you-

Overweight and using the cycling to get my weight down. Got into cycling and thought that 10 miles was a lot to start! Now I'm up to 35 miles a day, 5 days a week, and I aim for 45- 50 miles on the weekends. Plus, I do my weights too.

My weight is coming off slooooooowly- like 1 pound a week, and sometimes even less. I don't weigh myself every week because sometimes, I wouldn't see a difference, and that would make me feel worse- I already feel impatient because the weight is coming off slowly!

I eat 5- 6 times a day, stay away from processed foods, no candy or pop or any crap like that, plenty of protein for the amount of lifting I do, and simple carbs just before I do my long rides, and complex carbs afterwords to restore my glucose reserves. I watch my fat content religiously. Through all this, it's slow going, but I am not going to get discouraged.

Good luck with your program. Why don't you send me a PM sometime? I'm always looking for a motivated weight loss buddy.

Koffee

[Pat]

For weight gain, I have heard that 1 lb per week is about as fast as one can go. Otherwise, you have to do something drastic and that can not be sustained. I have lost nearly a lb a day but that was doing really big miles and eating lots of carbos and avoiding fats. You eat so much that you don't feel deprived. But that is a very odd situation.

Now I think your knees may do better if you work on spinning. See if you can get your cadence up to 90 rpm. Get a computer with a cadence read out. Also when you ride, try pull on the up stroke. Lots of people push their legs up rather then lift them which puts more strain on the knees. One way to tell that you are lifting your legs is that the sole of your feet should feel slightly unloaded on the upstroke.

Walking up hills is great aerobic conditioning or if no good hills are around an inclined treadmill would work.

[Richard Cranium]

For sure, you'll only get as far training as your "weakest link" let's you.

If your knee is the problem, then it 'needs" all the attention.

I can't say this will help you, but it "cured" me. Get a trainer, and spin "easy" gears an hour a day. While you're doing it, pay attention to where and how you trigger unevenness or pain in your knee. Measure your seat/pedal combination over a range and find out where it quits hurting.

Believe me, "bum" knees don't have to exist. Most do not require professional intervention, you are the only one that can fix yourself. But it will take a lot of patience and attention to style and fit on the bike.

PS:often the trigger for knee pain is leg length discrepency, or pelvic or gate imbalance, but that's another post......your shoes are the first "clue" to this.