Mix it up or stick to riding more?

AllezAllezAllez

As it's a new year it's that time of year that we all go again with our riding and training. However, I'm caught between mixing my training and wanting to improve on my road and mountain bike.

Current activity:

Monday - 5 a side footy
Tuesday - Circuit training
Friday - Gym
Sat/Sunday - 40 miles on road or 20ish off road

I want to improve my riding speed and and endurance but I also want to mix it up. I suppose my question is will I gain anything from a more rounded approach or is it better to just get miles under my belt?

njee20

To get better at riding you need to ride more. A more rounded approach may stop you getting bored, but won't be as beneficial to your riding.

craker

Are you training for anything? It's good to have goals.

huytonhead

personally if you are focusing on riding that is a little bit to mixed up, as said before add another days riding and do wieghts in between to improve your strength which in turn will help your bike handling i would cut out the footy and the circuit training as you would be gettig enough cardio from riding, you have to be carefull not to overtrain, that can be more detromental than anything in the longrun

.blitz

njee20 wrote:

To get better at riding you need to ride more.

^^ this

I have tried walking/running/swimming but although they are beneficial in their own way, they don't help (me) with riding.

njee20

Be careful of weights too. Some light weights can help, but it's easy to bulk up, and it's virtually all just dead weight. Core stuff is better than upper body.

rock_hopper

I think it comes down to what you want out of the sport and yourself/lifestyle. If you enjoy 5-a-side, circuit training and the gym and would prefer to do that rather than ride your bike then there is your answer. Eg your out on your mtb on a Monday and wish you had gone to 5-a-side, you should have gone to 5-a-side.

If you really want to improve your fitness/skill/speed/endurance in cycling, like the other said ride your bike more.........lots more :-) If you really love doing it, it will never really feel like training anyway.

AllezAllezAllez

thanks all, food for thought. I'm never going to be a legend on a bike so I think I'll keep a good mix and enjoy the weekend rides. Probably drop in more rides in the longer summer days.