Training & Nutrition - Breaking plateaus in training

Hi,

I am 23 years old and female. I LOVE cycling and am now using it for fitness purposes as opposed to just doing it for leisure.

I am just wondering...is it better to change your route on a regular basis ?
Can your body become used to the hills and flats on the same route day after day to the point where it is not longer benefitting from the exercise or burning off as many calories ?

I don't cycle at a leisurely pace and am always pushing myself 100 % for the whole route but I am not losing weight - even when I double this route each day.
I am eating a much better diet than I was before but I seem to have plateaued and have stopped losing weight (although I have not gained any in the past 4 months either).

How do you break this kind of plateau ?
Any suggestions you have with regards to changing routes or training regimens each day would be much appreciated.

I do take one day off a week for complete rest.

Justen

i'd recommend geting a heart rate monitor, and a book about training with them. "The Heart Rate Monitor Book" gets recommended a lot here, and seems to be pretty good. pushing your self 100% all the time isn't the way to go. the best solution maybe to do some slower aerobic work for awhile. but i think the best bet is to get the monitor and a book and go from there. you may also want to do a search on heart rate monitors here. you'll find lots of good info.
:)

Originally posted by shaharidan
i'd recommend geting a heart rate monitor, and a book about training with them. "The Heart Rate Monitor Book" gets recommended a lot here, and seems to be pretty good. pushing your self 100% all the time isn't the way to go. the best solution maybe to do some slower aerobic work for awhile. but i think the best bet is to get the monitor and a book and go from there. you may also want to do a search on heart rate monitors here. you'll find lots of good info.
:)

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion. I am certainly going to check this out. I guess I need to moderate my cycling somewhat to get the most out of it. My main goal is to lose weight and gain more muscle mass. I do go to the gym but love being out on my bike. It is the only activity that I have really stuck with consistently.

I had always thought that training/cycling to the point of absolute exhaustion would mean I would burn more calories and be in better shape.

I now find that quitting when I feel that I could easily do another 5 KM seems to work better for me. I feel alot better afterwards and feel more excited about my next ride if I quit without reaching that point where you just can't cycle anymore.

Justen

Originally posted by Justen
I don't cycle at a leisurely pace and am always pushing myself 100 % for the whole route but I am not losing weight - even when I double this route each day.

Justen, remember that muscle mass weighs more than fat mass. Therefore, you could just be increasing muscle and zapping fat, while staying about the same weight. You really need to measure the change in your body fat to see if your training is working.