AngryScientist 

due to various excuses i have fallen completely out of shape. this weekend i set my bike up on the trainer in the basement, and i am determined to ride through the winter to enter spring ready to do some long rides. (i plan to complete my first century this coming spring)

i am at a loss for where to start. i dont want to go at it too hard up-front and wind up not wanting to ride anymore. i also dont want to not work hard enough to realistically get the most benefit out of the indoor winter training.

tools available are my bike computer with basic functions attached to the rear wheel, mag. trainer, and my trusty polar hrm.

can someone suggest a realistic training routine leading up to the spring riding season. assume i am at ground zero right now...

KillaModerator

1. Man up

2. Ride outside, HARD

3. Repeat

ls01

also eat less.

AngryScientist 

^^^not helpful.

i'm resigned to be inside most days, i need a realistic program. i will, however ride outside if the weather is notably good.

ls01

awwww, seriously, just get going work up a good sweat. cool down . repeat . I should have said eat sensibly in the earlyer post. dont feel bad many of us are where you are and having the same struggles. you know what to do just trust yourself, do it but only take one day at a time. as long as you do today correctly you wont ever hve to worry about a tomorrow. and ride outside as much as you can stand. I have found it helps.

koop

To get a proper idea of a recommendation I will always start by asking a few questions.
1. What are your cycling goals?
2. How much time are you willing to commit to cycling on a daily and monthly basis?
3. What are your biggest constraints? I can only go for 20 min at a time before my kids need me, or my right knee is prone to failure.

I find things like this are needed before a realistic recommendation other than something like ride lots can be given which is always good advice. My recommendations from personal experiences almost always include interval training, hill climbs and long distance (50-100 mile) riding.

s4one

Saddle time, intervals and mixes of hill repeats. Layer up and ride outside.

Randochap

You've already given up.

AngryScientist 

i like to do long distance stuff. as i mentioned i would like to complete my first century this spring, in a respectable amount of time.

above all, i enjoy cycling now, and i dont want to lose my enthusiasm for the sport. for those who say man up, and ride outside - thats a no for me. i ride because i enjoy riding, and i simply will not enjoy riding when the conditions are harsh, period.

i am in reasonable shape. i completed a marathon this past summer(in august) and have pretty much taken off since then. during my marathon training, i rode the bike to cross train. it definitely helped my marathon time, and didnt kill my body.

again, as i mentioned, i really enjoy riding. this spring i would like to find a local group ride to do and stick with it, but forget about riding in cold wind. if that makes me less manly - so be it.

as for time, i dont have kids yet, and i get home from work around 6pm on weekdays, i can easily devote a solid hour or two per night to the bike, more on weekends.

BigSean

Set amount of hours a week u can ride.

Start at about 50% of that time spread out over the week with a longer ride or two. Then add 105 to the time each week until you reach yer peak time. Then once u have done that u can add in some intensity. To begin with keep the HR in the 130 to 140 zone.

gMoneyYo :)

You don't need to ride outside. I don't at least.

You only need an hour; do alternating days of hard and easy intensity.
Make those the hard days HARD.

If you want the most bang for your buck (in an hours time) you'll have to do intervals at your hour race pace or just below (using your hrm). LT or "Tempo".

Your easy days could be at the pace (or heart rate) that you'd like to do for that century in the spring.


If you don't like doing the intervals that's fine. Just remember people who never ride fast, shouldn't expect to race fast.

StephenH

One thing I have learned is that it is always easy to find excuses not to exercise. It's too cold, or too hot, or too humid, or too dark, or too windy or too expensive or too time consuming or something. What I figured out is that if I'm going to get any exercise, I've just got to do it anyway, regardless of how cold/dark/wet/hot etc. that it might be. And I think that's what the posts above are getting at- it takes the right attitude, not just the right routine.

I've ridden a couple of centuries now, and figure if I can, just about anyone can. The main thing is just get to riding. Any kind of leg movement you do is going to help, but if you can just get out and ride actual hills in real wind, that'll do as much good as anything. It'll also help a lot in knowing where you stand and how fast you're going to be.

Machka 

If you're starting from scratch, start by just riding. Get on the trainer for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for a couple weeks. Then increase 2 of those days to 45 minutes for a couple weeks. Then increase those 2 days to 60 minutes for a couple weeks. Then pick one of the 30 minute days and start doing intervals ... you might opt to try commercial intervals where you watch a 30 minute show, and each time a commercial comes on, you ride as hard as you can.

And you gradually build up that way.

kache_98

+1. Couldn't put it any better myself, I've definitely been guilty of this too.

late

Wellll, no.

The best exercise is the exercise you will actually do.

Which means it's time to look at alternatives. Spinning classes, a trainer and Spinervals, or any other aerobic activity he feels like doing.

Just FYI, in winter I use a rower, ride the trainer, and shovel. It all adds up.
I bought a used Concept 2 rower and to my surprise I like it. I go harder and longer than I do on the trainer.

Then you need to build an exercise regime. Friel's books are good. I am going to try Base Building for Cyclists this year.
https://www.amazon.com/Base-Building-...0588512&sr=8-1

I need to do a LOT of base building.

bostongarden

1) Try to become less angry, or try to find a profession other than scientist;
2) Just ride on the trainer and stop when it feels right; after, maybe, one month, then think about something more formal; first, get back in touch with riding and exercising

SoreFeet

Always eat breakfast! The metabolism and lactic acid threshold demands a stable metabolic rate. Use common sense. If you are breathing harsh and your heart feels like it will explode...Stop. Take in some air.

Don't forget to stretch. The health and fitness of your body is for you and you only. Leave the "I am weak attitude" in the dumpster.

Interval sprints will help you condition the heart and lactic acid threshold. Sprint hard, take in some air, rest, sprint hard again.

Consider that most Americans...Not all but a good majority will not fathom that a little exercise of great intensity will heal most cardiovascular disease.

Wrap a filet mignon in bacon and cook it...Now go on a ride and get the heart pumping to clear all that wonderful fatty debris.

Keep at it. Take breaks when you feel the "bonk." Slow and steady wins the race. Your goal should be to enhance your fitness. You ought to feel great knowing that you are doing at least 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Hickeydog

Step 1: Ride hard

Yeah, that's about it.

rdclimbr

if you really want to be serious about cycling you have to treat it like any other daily activity. You don't skip meals all week long do you? you don't deprive yourself of toilet time, do you? what about
getting a reasonable amount of sleep...?

Same should be true when it comes to cycling (or any type of training for that matter, whether it be swimming, running, cycling, lifting..). You must get to the point where you do it w/ regularity...you *find* time in your day... just like you do for food, sleep, bathroom, etc.

heck, cycling/running/swimming keeps me mentally sane (which might be the reason im going crazy since surgery...) once you begin to think of it like this, it will be very hard to stop...which leads to getting/remaining in good shape for a lifetime

patentcad

Mix in daily trainer workouts when you can't ride outdoors. And you don't have to ride a cycling trainer daily, but 4-6 days of 40-90 minutes of aerobic activity is a must if you really want to get in shape. This can even take the form of a brisk walk, but the key is keeping your cardiovascular system in condition. Nothing will replace cycling, and the more you put into the sport, the more you will get out of it. At your level of cycling that's all you really have to concern yourself with - keeping your aerobic motor going. No need to be concerned about strength, weights, etc. in my view.

In the end, the more you can get out on the bike, the better your cycling will be.

tombailey

I have a spreadsheet of workouts, most of which are for the trainer or can be adapted. If you PM me your email address I wil gladly send it to you. I find the trainer boring, but mixing up these drills makes the time pass somewhat faster.

Tapeworm21

It's called self discipline. Some have it, some don't. If you don't have it, you're not going to force yourself to ride when you REALLY don't want to ride. Nothin we can really do about that.

mollusk

+1

You need to make riding part of your life, not just something that you do when the weather is nice.

While I now live in northern Florida where it is pretty easy to ride all year, I did bike commute while a grad student at the University of Illinois. And I did that all winter.

Machka 

+1

The recommendation for losing weight and getting fit is actually 60-90 minutes of moderate exercise every day.

brianappleby

Do you know your max HR?

Do three 10 minute intervals at 80% of that number. Including warming up, cooling down and resting between intervals, this should take about an hour. Use that as a baseline to find out what the highest HR you can sustain for 10 minutes will be. Do that for 2 weeks.

Then increase to 10-10-12 minutes instead of 3 sets of 10.

See where this is going?

Is this the BEST thing you can do for your training/health/riding? Maybe not but it's a good start and it will make you faster/stronger.

It's nice to find something to focus on so that you don't just dwell on your own suffering. I like to find music that I can keep exact cadence to (80-100ish BPM) YMMV.