stapfam

I do a long hard ride in June each year and to get fit enough to do this, I have to do some extra training to build up muscle strength and stamina. This involves going to the Gym twice a week for 5 months before the ride. Well I am now about halfway through the Get fit again programme and I took a fitness test last night as a comparison to Jan 1st. Boy have I improved. Weights I can pull on the legs have almost doubled in the last 10 weeks, and repetitions are higher at training weights. Upper body exercises have only improved marginally but they have improved. Heart rate at test level is way down and I can get heart rate to a higher level. BP is down, but that was never a problem. Lungs still need some work on them though so a change of routine is called for to improve that side of it.

Don't get me wrong-- I do not lay off for the rest of the year, but I do not do the extra training after about september. I have a 4 month lay off, but if that little bit extra that I am doing down the gym has meant this big an improvement this year, I must force myself to keep working hard all year round

FarHorizon

Unfortunately, there's no free lunch!