Regaining / improving fitness

tjdixon911
tjdixon911 Posts: 110
edited October 2010 in Health, fitness & training
I feel lately that I have become a bit of a lazy rider and as such have lost some fitness, I wasn't the fittest rider to begin with but would be able to complete a 10-12mile (off road) ride in one hit in a bit over an hour in one hit - But as freinds/familiy drop out from riding for whatever reason and having started riding with different people riding different styles I seem to have lost my fitness at XC.

As the Thetford MTB series opened today I have decided to enter and the first race is on the 7th November, I am hoping this will push me to regain some fitness and loose a little weight....

Anyway I would like some tips on what i can do to improve my fitness, currently my weekly routine does not incl much actual bike riding due to lack of time (commute to London) but I play Squash a couple of times a week and try to get on my exercise bike (spinning type) a couple of times then Off Road rides at the weekend. What else can I do?

Any advice / decent links would be much appreciated.

Comments

  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    How long and at what intensity are you riding on your exercise bike?
    My London Road
  • tjdixon911
    tjdixon911 Posts: 110
    MountainMonster wrote:
    How long and at what intensity are you riding on your exercise bike?

    I try to go flat out for as long as possible, only had it a few weeks and really have lacked use, I do about 25-30 minutes.....
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    I would recommend a bit of interval training using the home trainer. Flat out for shorter periods of time are good for TT's or sprints, but you need to be able to operate at different intensities throughout a XC race.

    I'd say a good bit of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) would be good, and since you say you already go flat out for approx. 30 minutes at a time, I reckon 30 minutes of HIIT training wouldn't be too hard. And once done you can always add in some low cadence high power spinning. For the HIIT, get yourself in a large gear on the trainer, go flat out for 30 seconds, literally as hard as you possibly can, then give a 30 second pause, then another 30 seconds flat out.
    My London Road

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