Training & Nutrition - 6 miles daily or 45 over the weekend?

whats better?

6 miles daily for a week or 45 at a stretch over the weekend...

Unfortunately I take 3 days to recover from long rides over the weekend...so I end up doing only the weekend rides or spreading 6 miles daily over the week.

Any input from the forum would be greatly appreciated. Im trying to be just fit, not become an expert rider.

Thanks

I think you should ride over the week as opposed to the weekend rides. If you keep up the daily rides, you will recover easier and should you ever want to go for an extended ride, it will be easier on your body.

Both.

If it takes you three days to recover (really?) from the 45 mile ride, do a 25 or 30 mile ride.

Try to just work on time in the saddle instead of worrying about mileage.

example: Start slowly & ride for 1 or 2 hours on the weekend rides (example: 1 hour on Sat and 1.5 Sun.) and then add time as you progress month to month. Weekdays try riding 2 or 3 days (intervals, climbing or spinning for 1 hour) and use the off days to rest or do core.

The long weekend ride does entirely different things in and to your body than do the short weekday rides. In this situation, what I advise is: do both. Say you do the long ride on Sunday. You can either take Monday off or not. I'd at least take a fast walk on Monday or do the same as Tuesday. Tuesday, ride for 30 minutes, but quite slowly. Keep your effort down to where you just barely breathe deeply. Same on Wednesday, though you might be able to ride further. On Thursday, you might think about doing a couple intervals of some sort or at least ride up a couple hills. Friday, take a nice hour's ride, not too hard, not too slow. Take Saturday off.

After 2-3 weeks of this, you should be able to make all your weekday rides a little longer, but keep the effort the same. The main thing is not to stop riding to recover. Instead, just ride easier. You'll find that this will make your weekend rides easier and you'll recover from them faster.

Depends on your goal. Principles of periodization tell us that overload, followed by rest / recovery, is the way to train -- but you'll train what you're riding. So you will train to ride longer riders.

If you're just trying to burn calories then I would guess just ride based on your schedule. But even then, I think having some sense of overload and rest is a good idea -- that's when you build fitness like aerobic strength.

Im trying to be just fit, not become an expert rider. No your not.

If you are silly so as to ask this kind of question, you are indeed poorly educated or just ignorant of even basic health and wellness issues.

There's no way to tell from your post whether your bicycle riding will increase your fitness or over all health.

In general regular daily exercise is better than just going out trying to get "fit" in one or two days per week. Good luck, you need it.

Daily exercise, at least an hour a day if possible. Some of your exercise should be fairly vigorous. How much? That depends on your age and general level of fitness. Don't kill yourself, but do challenge yourself. For general fitness, get a variety of forms of exercise and a variety of intensity of exercise. Mix it up and keep moving!

I had a 7 mile (each way) commute when I started riding again. After a few months of that, I heard about a club that does breakfast rides on Saturday and often ride with them, typically about 35-40 miles of riding before lunch (the actual ride is shorter, but I also ride to and from the ride). At first the breakfast rides wore me out and I'd be less likely to commute Mondays, but now it doesn't bother me at all. I don't see it as an either-or thing. Do both. If the weekend wears you out, just ride on Tue/Wed/Thu during the week. take Monday off to recover, take Friday off so you're not tired when you ride on Saturday or Sunday.

I had a 7 mile (each way) commute when I started riding again. After a few months of that, I heard about a club that does breakfast rides on Saturday and often ride with them, typically about 35-40 miles of riding before lunch (the actual ride is shorter, but I also ride to and from the ride). At first the breakfast rides wore me out and I'd be less likely to commute Mondays, but now it doesn't bother me at all. I don't see it as an either-or thing. Do both. If the weekend wears you out, just ride on Tue/Wed/Thu during the week. take Monday off to recover, take Friday off so you're not tired when you ride on Saturday or Sunday.

+1

whats better?

Better for what?


Do both. But why only 6 miles daily? That's barely a warm up (well, it could be an entire workout of you're doing intervals, but I digress)

Better for what?


Do both. But why only 6 miles daily? That's barely a warm up (well, it could be an entire workout of you're doing intervals, but I digress)
Even for interval training, 6 miles would be a short ride. By the time you do a warm-up, 5 minutes between intervals, and a cool-down--you might be going more than 6 miles.

New riders equate bike miles with running or walking miles, so six miles seems like a good workout. Actually, as you know, t's the equivalent of running or walking less than a couple miles.

+1

Oh shoot..... umd actually agreed with me. Stop the presses!

Oh shoot..... umd actually agreed with me. Stop the presses!

I don't think I usually disagree with you except when you wander in the racing forum by accident.

Ah.

Thanks guys,

I finally decided after a lot of reading and your very helpful pointers, that I will ride out the 6 miles daily from Tue-Friday and do the 45s on Saturdays and rest Sun and Mon. But I guess as I continue to ride more, Ill recover faster and probably will do Sat rides and Mon-Fri.

Thanks fellas.

Yep. Not an either-or thing.

Why does your Sat. ride HAVE to be 45 miles? Why can't you do, as was suggested, a 20 or 25 miler on both Sat and Sunday, then keep up your 6 mile weekday rides? Can you add a bit to each weekday ride? Or do a couple of 6 milers, a couple of 8 milers then the slightly shorter weekend ride. What are your time constraints?

to 10 miles a day, it can' be hard to find the extra 15-20 minutes it would take...

I'd start with three 15 mile rides per week. Add 5 miles or so to one of the rides every week. That one ride will get up to a 45 miler in no time.

Try a 5 mile easy ride the day after your long ride day, sometimes it can help.

Thanks guys,

I finally decided after a lot of reading and your very helpful pointers, that I will ride out the 6 miles daily from Tue-Friday and do the 45s on Saturdays and rest Sun and Mon. But I guess as I continue to ride more, Ill recover faster and probably will do Sat rides and Mon-Fri.

Thanks fellas.
Sounds good to me. Have fun!

doesn't matter. the long ride sounds impressive and the 6 does not

+1

Concur.

Sounds good to me. Have fun!

Yeah - +1 on this. If you are enjoying it, you will ensure that you keep doing it and build up capability over time. I think many people are surprised by how quickly their body responds to regular cycling and the ability to do more miles.

Try to just work on time in the saddle instead of worrying about mileage.

example: Start slowly & ride for 1 or 2 hours on the weekend rides (example: 1 hour on Sat and 1.5 Sun.) and then add time as you progress month to month. Weekdays try riding 2 or 3 days (intervals, climbing or spinning for 1 hour) and use the off days to rest or do core.

Bravo. The most intelligent thing posted here in a while. Your body knows time, not milage. If you are asking this question, why not do both 6 mile dailies and 45 mile (or shorter, say 25 or 30 to start)

There is nothing that speeds recovery faster than an easy 6 mile ride AFTER a harder 45 mile ride.

No your not.

If you are silly so as to ask this kind of question, you are indeed poorly educated or just ignorant of even basic health and wellness issues.

There's no way to tell from your post whether your bicycle riding will increase your fitness or over all health.

In general regular daily exercise is better than just going out trying to get "fit" in one or two days per week. Good luck, you need it.

Wow it truly must be awesome to be you, so superior to others, your forum name truly fits IMO. :rolleyes:

To the OP - Just get out and ride. Find out what is comfortable for you and do that because you are truly the only one who knows what fits your lifestyle and time constraints. As some have mentioned 6 miles is barely a warmup though and probably won't do a whole lot for getting you fit. When I first started biking that was the extent of what I could do, but as I got stronger and in better shape I was able to go for longer periods of time/distance, maybe it's the same for you.

If you are really looking at getting fit I'd recommend what I do. I run every morning before work during the weekdays and save my rides for the weekends simply because I would have to ride for and hour to get the same workout I get from running in half the time. Good luck.

Why not keep up with the weekday rides, and cut down the distance on the weekend rides (for now), and slowly increase the distance?

Taking 3 days to recover seems to be a bit much, and possibly a sign that you are pushing too hard for your current fitness level.

It's generally better to try and get in physical activity daily - or at least a few times a week, instead of trying to cram it all into 1 or 2 days.

As your body adapts and gets used to it, the recovery time should also reduce.

If you are really looking at getting fit I'd recommend what I do. I run every morning before work during the weekdays and save my rides for the weekends simply because I would have to ride for an hour to get the same workout I get from running in half the time. Good luck.Or just ride harder. There's really no reason to ride slow and easy if you're time constrained.

Or just ride harder. There's really no reason to ride slow and easy if you're time constrained.

That is very true. I do enjoy being on the bike though and during weekends I am typically not time constrained as I would be during weekdays. Plus I love to get my rides in early and definitely do not trust drivers around here enough to be out on the roads as early as I can doing my runs. I may give a harder ride a try this weekend though and see the results.