1 hour of Rollers in Morning?

[travis200]

I suck right now with my fitness and weight. I am a 6'2" 190lb cat 4 that is just not seeing any gains only setbacks. Usually getting dropped or just geting in the way. I would like to be 175lbs where I feel I ride my best. I am thinking of doing 1 hour of easy riding on the rollers M-F before work. Then after work doing my regular rides (2 hours or so). Is this crazy thinking or will this help my fitness and maybe shed a couple pounds? My recovery days will be on the trainer then no ride after work.

[grebletie]

It might do something for your weight, as the ride will take about 500 calories. But for fitness, at an easy pace you need to go longer. If you're pressed for time, go harder.

[travis200]

Good point I thought about going harder in the AM ride but was thinking the after work ride would be where I work on my weakness points and do intervals and such.

[grebletie]

You've also got to work with the time you have. If the afternoon stuff is your harder work, 1 hour of spinning in the morning isn't bad. And it should help with weight loss.

[Snuffleupagus]

It won't hurt you.

In fact, I've seen claims that several short rides throughout the day are better than one longer ride for both fitness and weight loss.

[derath]

It won't hurt you.

In fact, I've seen claims that several short rides throughout the day are better than one longer ride for both fitness and weight loss.


Especially if doing several short rides throughout the day vs. no time for a long ride.

-D

[CoachAdam]

I think it's a great idea. You'll be burning more calories than before, but you won't be going so hard that you'll have to take extra days off. As long as you're eating right and keeping up with your other rides it should work.

[cbaronzzi]

I have a concern about burnout. It sounds like you are contemplating spending threes hours a day on a bike + work. That's a lot! Plus, an hour on the rollers five days a week is a fairly sizeable mental effort in itself. I have been riding rollers and/or trianer for at least 35 minutes a day/5 days a week for the last 2 and a half months and it is starting to wear on me. I am glad spring is here and I can get outside. If I have learned anything about training, motivation is key. You need to seriously consider if you can stay motivated to commit to a plan. Personally, I think a two hour ride after work is plenty on the weekdays. But, hey, if you can keep at it, go get em!

[Snuffleupagus]

cbaronzzi - I've had to spend A LOT of time on the trainer in the last few months, as recovery from knee surgery doesn't allow me to ride outside just yet.

As long as I have a workout goal, and stick to it I can suck up an hour or two on the trainer without too much drama. If I'm going to be doing intervals I'll listen to music or watch old bike races on DVD. If it's just a Z1-3 endurance/tempo day I'll throw in a DVD or watch the Simpsons and zone out.

If I wasn't trying to win races again this year it'd suck - but when I really get brain block I try to relive that beautiful moment that all noodle armed bike weenies love. Crossing the line. First. Without sucking it up on the trainer, I won't be seeing any of those this year :)

[travis200]

All good points I will start tomorrow morning and see how things go. if I see that I am starting to burn out then I will cut the morning rollers ride.

[roadbuzz]

If you're adding 5 hours of training a week to your schedule all at once, I'd look for performance to drop noticably for a while. You might try building into it, e.g. skip the morning rollers on days you ride hard in the PM. After you've been doing the AM rollers on easy days for a month or 6 weeks, you might try adding some morning work on your hard days. But maybe not, try it and see how goes for a week and evaluate. Even if the first week is okay, watch for accumulated fatigue as the weeks go on. More hours on the bike will help you lose weight, but overtraining will slow that down, and make the whole experience more unpleasant.

[Richard Cranium]

I suck right now with my fitness and weight. I am a 6'2" 190lb cat 4 that is just not seeing any gains only setbacks. Usually getting dropped or just geting in the way. I would like to be 175lbs where I feel I ride my best.Fifteen pounds is a lot. Forget all your pace work, do the roller thing in the mornings unitl you lose the weight.

You don't have to try, you just have to put in time. If you still have pep in the evenings then go for a ride, but make weight loss your priority. Rollers are tremendous weight-loss/recovery tool, but they can be misused.

[JollyMon]

Fifteen pounds is a lot. Forget all your pace work, do the roller thing in the mornings unitl you lose the weight.

You don't have to try, you just have to put in time. If you still have pep in the evenings then go for a ride, but make weight loss your priority. Rollers are tremendous weight-loss/recovery tool, but they can be misused.


I am intrigued. Can you explain further about the use of rollers for weight loss v. your thoughts on misuse?

I ask because I certainly can stand to lose at least 15 pounds. Were I to ride everday outside for an hour, I would burn at least as many calories as I would on my rollers. So, if the two kinds of rides are equivalents (and your point may be that they are not), why not get the added benefit of riding outside?

Thanks for the interesting discussion.

[Richard Cranium]

You either have to get a big picture view or keep banging your head against the wall. I could tell you stories about what the "pros" do - and an hour on rollers each morning with a cup of coffee is not a strange one.

The key is deciding to keep your priorities straight and not let attempts at short term "new gains" distract you from a superior goal. If you as big as you are, you have to be lean to road race........ end of story.

[SSP]

An extra hour on the rollers will definitely help you to burn calories...but, it might not help you to lose weight.

There are only two sides to the weight loss equation....Calories In and Calories Out. If you're already doing 2 hour rides most days, you have the "Calories Out" side of the equation under control.


So, if you're not losing weight with your current workout level, then your problem is with what, and how much, you eat. Based on that, I would predict that an extra hour on the rollers won't help you...you'll likely just eat more to compensate.

Bottom line...you need to look very carefully at your diet, and find 500 or so calories per day that you can do without. Don't starve yourself on your rides (especially longer rides), but look for ways to cut back on food intake. If you drink sugared sodas...stop right now. If you have "problem foods" (for me, it's cookies), cut way, way back. Also, educate yourself on what a "portion" is...you'll probably be surprised to find that you're eating 3000+ calories per day.

"Table Push Backs" is the exercise you should be focusing on. Best of luck.

[adamfresno]

An hour a day on rollers would drive me nuts, dont get me wrong I love them. Try using a training video if you are going to spend an hour a day on the rollers. Glad to see you using rollers and best of luck