aaronlulz

Well heres some info.

-i'm new at cycling
-i'm not in shape

Over the summer i will be commuting around to places including my first job that i'm hoping to get

I also will be going to a Gym for the first time to.

I'll also ride my bike to and back from school most days next year.

Alright, so right now i am 15(sophomore in high school) but when i'm out of college (hopefully in 6 years ) i want to go on this really LONG tour with my friend covering europe + asia. But i will probably be taking some smaller tours in the states so i can get used to it.

Basically i need a general idea on how to train/condition myself at the Gym and on my own when i am riding around.

Note: I have around 6 years to get ready for the big thing and im starting from being out of shape and im trying to get INTO shape and then INTO the shape i need to be in order to do some serious tours.

Any training/eating help will be greatly appreciated.

tdbmd

Start out with some basics. Good nutrition and some regular exercise, whether at the gym or on the bike. Start with 3 or 4 days a week. Don't overdo it and then see where you go from there. Maybe mix up the gym workouts and the bike to keep it interesting. Good luck.

$ick3nin.vend3t

Crank it up, watch the calories & don't worry what anybody thinks. Enjoy it, don't kill yourself, stay strong, look better, feel better, you'll come good.

ericm979

Yep. Go ride and have fun.

There isn't a lot that you can do in the gym to prepare for cycling, but working out in the gym can be good for you.

JMallez

Take it nice and slow, 6 years is plenty of time to get in shape, out of shape, and back into shape. Build a good overall base fitness level, then gradually increase intensity and length of workouts. Focus on it being a lifestyle, not just a short or long term goal.

Best thing I can recommend is educate yourself about food, healthy eating, and every type of workout from weights, muscle building, to aerobic exercises. The more you understand about how this all works the better decisions you can make...good luck.

aaronlulz

thanks for the advice, is there any gym equipment / excercises that will be beneficial?

JMallez

I like to do workouts for my chest, tri's, biceps, shoulders, back, and abs at the gym. Dumbbells or cables only, other "machine" exercises create an unnatural range of motion and limit the use of muscle stabilizers. These exercises have helped me develop a good upper body strength to maintain the cycling position for a longer time without hurting as much. But mainly they "developed" my body structure for the ladies ;-)

Here's mine, the names of the exercises might not be the official ones, maybe more so a description...i only use dumbbells and cables, i do it in blocks of 4 exercises with no rest in between, once i finish a block i move to the next block, total A or B day takes 30 minutes, then i run 3 miles...i personally would rather go with lighter weights than sacrifice form or slow down my circuit

A Day
Dumbbell Bench 4x10 @50
Seated Crunch Machine 4x25 @150
Rope Tricep 4x8 @80,90,100,110
Db Curls 4x8 @35

One Arm Chest cables 4x8 @40
Ab Sides w/Db 4x8 @35
One Arm Cable Tri 4x8 @40,50,60,70
Cable Curls 4x8 @40

Cable Rows 4x8 @80
Ab Leg Lifts 4x8
Lat Pulls 4x8@80

B Day
Db Side Fly 4x8 @20
Seated Crunch Machine 4x25 @150
Db Front Fly 4x8 @25,25,20,20
Db Curls 4x8 @35

Db Pulls 4x8 @35
Standing Db Incline 4x8 @35
Ab Sides w/Db 4x8 @35
Cable Curls 4x8 @40

Ab Leg Lifts 4x8
Lat Pulls 4x8@80

Other than that i just cycle and run for the legs...

$ick3nin.vend3t

In no way is the upperbody as important, as strengthening both The Posterior & Anterior Chain. Emphasis should be placed here when it comes to strength training. The Posterior Chain consists of the (Hamstrings, Glutes, Hips, Legs, Lower back/Erector spinae), “A strong man is strong on the back of his body.” The Anterior Chain consists of the (Abdominal muscles, the Illiopsoas, Hip flexors and the Rectus Femoris). Front & back of the core/lowerbody.

When it comes to an upperbody workout, I feel JMallez is performing way too many exercises, too much volume, when a lot of time could be saved. (Although in no way is any respect lost)

A good upperbody workout will be based around one compound exercise, either: 1. Bench press or 2. Floor press or 3. Indoor Arm cycle. A compound exercise is one exercise that is literally going to hit all the muscles in the upperbody.

Then all you need is 2-3 additional strengthening exercises something for the upperback/lats (One-Arm Dumbell Rows?) and shoulders/deltiods/chest (Upright Rows/Press-Ups?) Yes, this would be only 3 or 4 exercises for the whole workout (2-5 sets per exercise/5-12 reps per set). No strength endurance sets/reps here.

Don't ever forget the core.

May look a little something like this:

Bench press: (Shoulders/deltiods/chest): (3-5 sets x 8-12 reps)
Upright Rows: (Shoulders/deltiods/traps/abs) (x-5 sets x 12 reps)
Push-Ups: (Shoulders/triceps/deltiods (x-5 sets x 30+ reps)
One-Arm Dumbell Rows: (Upperback/Lats) (x-4 sets x 8 reps)

I hope your not getting any images of what a bodybuilder looks like. Far from it. Your not going to kill yourself, just work hard enough for your body to register a new stimulus.

Upperbody doesn't take preference over strengthening the Posterior chain or The Anterior Chain. Gains in great strength can't come via just cycling & running alone.

Use https://www.youtube.com/ & https://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html for exercise instruction.


Indoor Arm cycle.

$ick3nin.vend3t

Just one piece of home equipment & one exercise that is king...




Performing...



Thats the whole Posterior Chain...

See the old guy at 2:59?. Way too go.

$ick3nin.vend3t

Can't be no excuses now...

jimmuller 

Great way to start! Just being conscious of conditioning is a state most people never get to. Now for some specific thoughts.

Don't get too hung up on getting into shape in a hurry. It's a slow life-long process, and conditioning goes away if you don't stay steady. Rather than getting in shape you should be thinking of staying in shape. The conditioning you maintain next year will be where you start for the following year, and for the rest of your life. And anyway, it can be easy to burn out. Overtraining or having to cram for an exam or just one really bad cold can make you lose focus. So develop an image of yourself as being fit and take pride in it, then try to live up to your own self-image!

You asked about food. Alas, much of the stuff people love to eat isn't so good. If you want to be a food weenie, check out the saturated fat content on the labels of most pre-packaged food, especially the "junk food" and burgers. Check what's listed as serving size too, because they could list 2g per serving but a serving of only 2 potato chips, knowing full well that people will eat 2 dozen in a sitting. (I'm exaggerating only a little.) I'm not saying stay away entirely but be cautious. What you eat now will still be affecting you 20 years from now.

One final note. It is awesome that you are looking toward such an aggressive goal. Most of us never get to tour around our own country, let alone two continents. Time and details get in the way. Six years from now is a long time away even for us oldsters for whom situations don't change so fast. Don't be surprised if six years from now your tour dreams evaporate. After all, things happen. You get an irresistable job offer that starts in two weeks, you prefer to stay closer to a girlfirend or wife, you decide to attend graduate shool, your friend doesn't stay in shape, or he/she accepts a job offer, or he/she gets married, or your collective interests diverge, or a whole bunch of other things happen. I don't know you so I'm just offering hypotheticals, but maybe your prospective riding partner is the person you marry and you decide to settle down.

Even so, getting, err, I mean staying in shape starting now will still be the best way to stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Good luck on your journey!

JMallez

Oh man just looking at someone do deadlifts hurts my back! Got a weak back from an injury back when i was a teen so i stay far away from deadlifts, squats, powercleans, etc.. I've been slowly building the strength in my back with low weight back exercises (not listed above) and the ab exercises (listed above). My workout might be a bit, but i started with only a few exercises and have slowly added more as i gained strength, so now i have those.

One thing i've learned is the more complicated the exercise/form is the more general strength you need to do it right without injury. My recommendation is to start with basic exercises targeting areas you need to strengthen, then gradually go to the more complicated exercises...of course you can always go light weight from the beginning, but how much does it help? It's like you probably shouldn't do sprints if you don't have a general fitness level to do 5-10 of them, 1-2 won't help, so do longer distance workouts build your fitness, then go advanced with higher intensity...but just my thoughts, in the end do what works for your body.

ks1g

Starting out, just ride. Lots. I suggest reading beginning commuter threads on the commuting forum for tips on dealing with weather, traffic, bike maintenance, carrying stuff, and securing your bike at work, school, etc. Check the touring forum for ideas on touring. With parental OK, plan some closer in trips/weekends to get used to the idea and to start figuring out what you like and what gear you will need. If you are in Boy Scouts, earn the Cycling, Camping, Hiking, and Backpacking merit badges. If your high school has an outdoors club, get involved with them to develop the same skills. By the time you're planning your big trip. you'll be ready.

$ick3nin.vend3t

Have you ever considered/have access to a reverse hyper machine???... I have one & even though I have never suffered low back pain, I've heard nothing but good things about it rehabilitating bad backs.

Start low or no weight... No fast movements...

Take note from 0:39




Very much a Erector spinae exercise. All the fastest sprinters (runners/cyclists) have these highly strengthened to propel them forwards.

JMallez

I'll have to try that move out on a makeshift machine, i.e. edge of my bed, never thought of doing the reverse of my leg lifts for the lower back, but i'm sure it will help. I think the lower back is also limiting my strength on the bike, for long rides, hills, or sprints this area always starts to ache...will start incorporating into my rotation, thanks for the recommendation!

$ick3nin.vend3t

Or off the edge of a high table laying on top of a cushion. High enough for the feet to be off the ground. Make sure you have somewhere to grip & you could use ankle weights/weight plates for more resistance if it starts to help.

Roody

I disagree with the "go slow" advice. The OP is 15. He should be physically active for at least 2 hours a day. His recovery time is so short that us old fogeys can only dream about it, and he can be active every single day. Adolescents do need more sleep than adults--probably 9 or more hours a night would be good, if possible. Also, talk to PE teachers, coaches and health teachers. Might as well take advantage of that professional advice when it's available for free at school.

aaronlulz

^ Very good point, i should take advantage of this . Thanks for the help everyone im going to keep note of it and use it to get to where i want to be.

Richard Cranium

What a mess. Does anyone think this collection of misguided efforts will really be of any benefit to the OP?

Hey kid, look around you - you don't need the Internet to find a training program. See if you can make friends with some one who is on one of your high school teams. You must have some interest in sports.

You don't need exercise advice yet. You need to find an activity you will be interested in for life. Find out what bicycle clubs are in your area. Ask you parents what they think you should do to "get in shape."

Maybe they can help by getting you to slow down on snacking and fixing up situations for you to go on long bicycle rides. After you can ride 50 miles, you can start to find out how to make all the parts of your body stronger through gym exercises.

But for right now - the advice is so simple - just ride!

RiPHRaPH

plus one.

You've got plenty of time. Mental burnout is common with someone trying to overreach too fast. A baseball swing takes years to hone.
Stick handling in hockey takes years.
Your pedal stroke will take about a million revolutions. That could be as little as one year or a bit more of cycling.

It is great that you begin now. Treat life as your cross training. You can/will only get better.

$ick3nin.vend3t

The OP did state: "Basically i need a general idea on how to train/condition myself at the Gym and on my own when i am riding around". & "I also will be going to a Gym for the first time to".

Gym goers don't need to ride 50 miles, 10 miles or no miles to step through the gym door.

A combination approach almost always beats out any exclusive method in most sports.

$ick3nin.vend3t

Have a go with these...

https://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a...the_glute_myth

Video's down the right handside.