stapfam

Many of us get this feeling- out for a ride- mileage is higher than usual and the hills are suddenly steeper than they were last time out. I know I have and it is not always on the long rides that I get this. It is a lack of fitness on my part that makes the rides hard so to this end I have been going to the gym this winter. Good job I did as since Christmas I have only done one ride and although I did not struggle- I did not meet my full potential either. Weather just has not been kind to me and it has been that way since October.

But joined the gym-set out a routine in that I would do a spinning session a week- do a full cardio session for an hour and do a mixed cardio and weights for another session. Spinning was OK but those Cardio work outs took some getting into. Not enough effort going in to get th best result from an hours hard work- the expected increase in weights to build the body wasn't happening and to cap it all-they started "Modernising" the gym to improve the facilities, The gym still had full facilities but reduced area- reduced machines and just as many people using it. Even the Spinning classes started to get full and you have to book lessons 8 days beforehand to get a place. But I got the bookings in and transferred over to spinning classes almost exclusively. Getting 4 sessions a week now but get there a bit early to do some cardio beforehand if the gym is not crowded.

Spinning classes are not hard but they do take a bit of "Technique" to get right. That took about 6 sessions to get right and then I could start working properly. Last Sunday and I felt that things were starting to happen for me and noted the stats after the session and the pressure I was using at various parts of the ride. They had gone up drastically from when I stared going to the gym but nothing special. Tuesday night and My son-in-Law was there and He is far fitter than me-but I burnt more calories than before- and the average watts went up really high. Difference that night was the brain. At some points in the session there is a challenge- may not be official but raise the cadence a bit more- put the pressure on a bit higher or do the "Hills" at a higher cadence with the same pressure. I was not only doing as the instructor was "suggesting"- I was going higher and deeper into my reserves. To work as hard as I did on that night has taken some training and I do not only mean to get the fitness up. It is the bit of the brain that would normally allow you to slow down- that has to be overcome. It happened on Tuesday and I did not expect to see those highs on the stats again for a while.

Today and my neighbour Mick was at the session and Mick is fit. He has a job that is allowing him to do 6 sessions a week and his stats are way above mine. His fitness on the bike is way up there aswell so it was good to have someone on the bike next to me that I can judge myself up against.

It was not a full class but this instructor is good. She warned us that we may not like this ride as it was going to involve some high cadence sprints-not my favourite- some low cadence steep hills- not bad- and some raising of cadence on the hills--Definitely not easy for me. And as we were all experienced spinners- she did not want us to slacken off. Put it this way--I have never sweated so much in my life-never pulled that high a resistance up the hills- never spun that fast before and that was all with the pressure lever at least two above what I have done before. I tried to kep the watts recording at above 200 for the whole of the ride and almost managed it but I did have to take advantage of the rest breaks of cadence of 90 with low pressure. My previous aim was to stay above 160. Max watts and it is not recorded and the max I have seen on previous rides was about 260.Today was l over 350 and that was for a minute or so.

End of the session and Calories burnt was 698-Previous best was around 600---Average watts was 174 and before Tuesday was up to 135. I thought Tuesday was good at 160ish but Today I excelled.

Now I know that the gym work has put back some of the much needed fitness that I have lost but Tuesday and today cannot account for that increase. It is the re-training of the mind that has done most of the work. When it was hurting- I used to slow down and take a bit of a rest although I was finding that the rest breaks were becoming shorter. Today and at one point I thought My thighs were going to burst and I am certain that the lungs did at one point. It hurt but I managed to shut out the pain and keep going.

So next time you feel that you have to train to find the Fitness you have lost-don't just concentrate on the body-Get the Brain into gear and train that before you blast up the road at 140 cadence and pulling 54/11.

Artmo 

I'm out of breath just reading that, Stap! What was your HR max?
I'm finding that since my cardiac ablation I seem to have an inbuilt governor on HR. If I sustain 140 for a short period, it might suddenly go to 200, so I have to slow down. It's frustrating, as my brain is telling me I could/should go harde, but I don't want to die yet!

stapfam

It has taken since the beginning of January to work myself up to the stage of working harder when it hurts. Obviously some "Extra" fitness has come into that aswell in getting to that stage but to overcome that hurdle of not slowing down when it hurts has taken a retrain of the brain. On HR- I have no idea what I am reaching as the Gym uses Polar chest straps and I have Garmin so have to take the Garmin in to see what I am doing. perhaps I need to retrain the brain to remember to take the Garmin in at each visit.

Dudelsack 

What can one say?

pursuance

That there is a time & place to push one's limits in training for the ride.

Well done Sir!

I was pushing it on the bike path Sunday, made a mistake because I was not of sound mind at the time.
Now I sit here with a hot-pack on my left shoulder and will be contacting Bontrager for helmet crash replacement. I was knocked-out for 15 seconds down for the count as it's said.

might be time for a trainer.

europa

Cor, a heavy work out for me is remembering I actually have push bikes.
Maybe there's a message there

stapfam

One advantage of spinning bikes- You can't fall off them unless you do something completely stupid. And yes I have done that.

BUT there is nothing like riding a bike to get fit enough for riding a bike. I may be able to get some good figures on the spinner but there are others at the gym that get higher stats than me-and they don't even own a bike. I am just hoping that my "GYM" fitness will transfer to the bike when I eventually get back on it.

Bikey Mikey

It certainly will more than not riding anything all this time. I wonder if a trainer translates better?

GeorgeBMac

I'll be the contrarian: I tend to think the body knows better than the brain. The brain is filled with ideas and concepts about what it needs to do with the body and what is good for the body. The body just knows about what is actually happening right now, this second. When it says it's time to retreat, I tend to listen...

I'd rather have a long term series of enjoyable, mildly challenging rides than a few over the top that push both the body and the brain to their limits...

It seems to me that a lot of people believe pushing the body beyond it's limits is a good thing.
... I would rather work on gradually expanding those limits...

Biker395 

Sooner or later, any endurance rider reaches the point where they've had enough suffering for no good reason and asks themselves "Why"?

I got there last night. The challenge wasn't speed ... it was pedaling into a headwind on a flippin hybrid at midnight.

dbg

I think the brain often convinces us that the body is done. I have dropped off the back of a group because I thought I'd had it, and popped some favorite music onto my ears --only to discover that I felt like riding again and would sometimes catch the group again.

rumrunn6

I have a routine at the gym. sometimes I go and don't think I have the motivation or endurance for thr whole routine. however I start up and always finish the routine. for me, getting going can be the challenge

stapfam

Last night and I overdid it at the gym. Back of the thighs hurt and Although better this morning-The legs are not good. Stats were still good though not as high as Thursday.

I Know this is probably due to overwork But the brain wasn't pushing me- and the legs did not feel bad till I got off the bike. In pain as I walked to the car-Struggled to get out of the car and upstairs for a bath-had a Voltarol massage and it eased a bit but I was beginning to think I had damaged something. This morning the ache is still there but at least I can walk now.

As much as I would like to- Bike riding is out due to the weather. Seem to have lost the cold but plenty of rain forecast for the next week accompanied by high winds so it looks like a gentle cardio and weights tomorrow to try to get mobility back. That is unless I have no pain and get sucked into that spinning class again--They are addictive.

And I have a mate -Mick- that is doing the spinning classes.He was there Thursday and I beat him on Watts and calories and I think I annoyed him. He is competitive and I could see the look in his face when he saw my Watts figure. Well he doesn't have to worry now. End of the session and he had done an average of 213 watts- and at a cadence of 86. Calories and he went round the clock and did 1024 in the session. He was already on a bike when I got there last night warming up.

So he did not cheat- those were his figures but he did 20 minutes before I even got on the bike.


Micks Readout

So although I am not feeling that good this morning-I bet Mick is but I just hope he aches as much as I do.

GeorgeBMac

I've never been able to out-smart my brain. The darn thing is sneaky and crafty and, eventually, it always seems to manipulate me into doing what IT wants to do...

billydonn

-That's true of trainers too. I very rarely ride as hard outside as I do on the trainer because you have to drive.

-It will for awhile but it isn't permanent. What you are gaining is only part of total fitness and it's the part that needs refreshing and cannot stay at a peak all year long. You are still slowly losing "endurance" fitness over the winter but some long rides will bring that back and it can stay at a high level for longer once gained. (I predict that at first you will go up hills better but will find you are still fairly tired after more than 90 minutes or two hours of riding.)

-As for the theory of "mind over matter", I just don't know. True, you can usually do more than you think you can but it is likely unwise to ignore the great regulator (brain signals) too often. Experience on the edge of this decision making process may be help us learn when to go on and when to stop. so perhaps that's also why we train. As someone famous (I don't recall who, maybe Vince Lombardi) once said: "Fatigue eventually makes cowards of us all." [paraphrase]

chasm54

If you want to be as fit as you can get, your strategy isn't going to cut it. "Mildly challenging" will certainly get you quite fit, and give you enough exercise for health purposes, but you will plateau. If you want to be really fit there comes a point at which incorporating high-intensity training is essential. It doesn't "push the body beyond its limits" - to be pedantic for a second, that isn't possible - but it certainly hurts. Unavoidable, and ultimately beneficial, but not for everybody. It really depends what you want.

osco53

Best Info on spinning I have seen to date OP,,tanks..

I'm glad I don't feel the need to 'Train' Like that.

I walked 6 miles non stop one morning,,I biked 15 on another morning..
I feel good but see no need to push like a 25 year old, I see no advantage

I seek a balance that I can sustain till i die.


I would never push an old car to Its limits and I will never push my 54 year old self that far.
A blown engine is one thing,,a blown heart is another...

jyl

Great spinning training!

I will be very interested to hear your assessment of your fitness, on the first rides of the spring.

stapfam

I am a fairly slow rider in our group. Speed has never come for me and although I can sprint for those short sharp climbs- it has been on technique rather than fitness that allows me to be up the front on top of the rises. Drafting and I might be able to stay to 20mph in a pace line but rarely more. Average speed on a 20 mph flat ride is about 15mph and hilly ones do not drop it much but I am a very good descender when gravity goes the right way. I am not a fast rider in any way but I suppose that distance and endurance and I am better. Metric Centuries are done in around 4 hours but much more than that and I slow down so a 100 miler and I am around 7 to 8 hours. One strong point I have is that I do not walk any hills. I don't do them fast either but That bike is heavy when being pushed so I never walk a hill.

So as far as I am concerned- I am a slow rider.

About 8 weeks into spinning now and I have found my calorie count going up at each session. Those early lessons and no target but I was always around 500. As technique got better I approached 600 and now pushing towards 700. Pressure on the machines and these machines have 24. Flat road speed at cadence of 90 and I started the pressure (Gear) of around 10. About a month ago it raised to 12 and that is my warm up gear now and once into the session I am at 14. Cadence and I have found I can pull 14 up to 120 cadence and even go above the cadence and pressure at times. But Higher cadence and a gear lower than 14 and I bounce in the saddle. Can't do it for longer than a minute but sprints of 140 cadence and gear of 15 is enough to mean I need to rest for a while.

Hills though and I thought I was good. Normal cadence is around 70 for them and I rarely stand due to knee problems. Started on around 14 gearing but hills are progressive and I occasionally crept up to 18. I now start any low cadence at 16 and normally finish at around 20 which is about the max I can pull seated.

Only just got into checking watts But I used to aim for watts of no less than 120 during a session. It went up obviously in the session but I never looked at it. That raised to 160 although rest periods it did drop. I now aim for 200 watts as a minimum except the rest periods for water and I am looking at the figure to get above 250 when working hard.

So my figures on the Bike are looking good. Although down last night on my best and the injury obviously did have an effect-Every session my stats are going up. It is practice and training that are doing that.How it will translate into fitness on the road I do not know. Only thing I will say is that I am going to be in better shape after a winter of no riding and that is because of the spinning I am doing.

billydonn

It's watts what makes the wheels go round. But to interpret watts/power, knowing the timeframe is essential. Here's a chart from my really good ride of December 6th. I have improved a few of these data points in subsequent sessions.... but not all.



Graphically, it looks like the top part of this chart.

GeorgeBMac

"Quite Fit" is just dandy for me.

Until somebody starts paying me to do it, I have no desire or reason to be "Really Fit".

Actually, I probably wouldn't even then: If you did an echocardiogram on the pros you would find most of them have an "Athlete's Heart" -- otherwise known as an enlarged heart. Not only is that a trigger for arrhythmias but, if they were my age they wouldn't call it "Athlete's Heart", they would call it "Heart Failure".

No, 15, 20, 25 miles a day -- 30 if I get ambitious -- and stop when I get tired or too out of breath works just fine for me.
... Extremes are for extremists...

chasm54

No, they wouldn't. There's certainly evidence that extreme and intense levels of endurance sport scar the heart muscle in some -emphasis on some - participants, but there is also a lot of data to suggest that those who train intensively live longer, and retain greater functionality into old age, than the rest of the population.

As for enlarged hearts, there's no doubt that endurance athlete's hearts are different. Some are enlarged, and that can sometimes be a bad thing. Some are structurally normal but still deliver greater stroke volume - my own, according to an echocardiogram, is in this category. It isn't enlarged but my resting HR is around 46, dropping to 42/43 when I am in top shape.

The idea that it is unsafe to go hard when you are getting older is flawed. Like everything else, it depends on the individual. On balance, given my own personal circumstances and the evidence about fitness and its impact on health, "pushing the envelope" seems more likely to keep me alive than to kill me. Even if the risks and rewards are incalculable, I'm not ready for the pipe and slippers routine. I'll take my chances.

GeorgeBMac

Go for it! It's clearly working well for you...

Conversely, right now I probably have an under active Thyroid. I'm going to be retested in a couple weeks and, hopefully get me some of that there T3 & T4 stuff. So, when THAT happens -- watch out! I'll wait for you at the top of the hill!

stapfam

After Fridays PAIN- today was recovery ride. Flat Road cadence of 90 with pressure of 12. Couple of sprints with the same pressure and Max cadence of 110. Hills and cadence to the music of around 65 and max pressure of 16 and all climbs seated. Watts were way down- calories were way down but average cadence was up to 86. That little bit of pain I had left in the legs has gone.

I had to keep telling myself not to speed up or put in pressure as I did not want a repeat of Friday night but it has had the desired effect. Kept me working- exercised the body- and worked out the stiffness in the legs. Annoying thing is that I enjoyed the lower pace.

So recovery rides are not just when you are cycling on the road--They work at the gym aswell.

billydonn

Good decision... 6:45 Sunday morning and I'm off for my session of fun now.