Now we have a reason to SCR

NGale

Now DDD has a reason to increase his 'awesomness' while those of us who pootle better get our arses into gear

Wallace1492

http://lifestyle.aol.co.uk/2011/08/30/cycling-quickly-leads-to-longer-life/

FTFY

NGale

ta

dhope

I thought this was common sense :?
Exercise helps. Short sprints are better than long meanders. See interval training.

NGale

ahhh but think about it, the next time a pootler glares at you when you cycle past you can at least shout

'I'll live five years longer than you dammit!'

Rich158

dhope wrote:

I thought this was common sense :?
Exercise helps. Short sprints are better than long meanders. See interval training.

Holds his head in his hands :roll: Not so, short sprints and interval training only are a sure fire way to over training and fatigue. Long meanders build the endurance needed to benefit and recover from harder training sessions.

tbh that article is awful, what constitutes fast? It depends on the person, your level of fitness and where your particular HR zones lie, you may think you're riding fast but if you never stray out of zone 3 or 4, and most people don't, then you're not going fast. For example I take fast to mean 30-35mph plus (a full on sprint), to someone else at a similar level of effort (ie similar percentage of max HR) they may only be doing 20.

dhope

Rich158 wrote:

dhope wrote:

I thought this was common sense :?
Exercise helps. Short sprints are better than long meanders. See interval training.

Holds his head in his hands :roll: Not so, short sprints and interval training only are a sure fire way to over training and fatigue. Long meanders build the endurance needed to benefit and recover from harder training sessions

But below average fitness to above average fitness is more quickly achieved through higher intensity training I thought. Not saying that HIIT is exclusively the way to win races or go from casual cyclist to serious cyclist, but if all you're doing is 6 miles a day (a short one way commute for example) then for overall fitness makes sense to do it in 20-25mins rather than 35-40.

Rich158

I guess it's the same as the old advice that raising your heart rate for 20 mins per day is hugely beneficial and leads to a longer life ie taking a brisk walk or even a slow jog at lunchtime rather than a slow stroll, not new news. My main gripe with such reports is the definition of fast is so wide reaching it is completely open to misinterpretation. The quickest most sustainable way from below average fitness to above average will be a period of base training and then intervals. This way you build the structures required for higher intensity work and then use them thus forcing the body to rebuild itself faster and fitter. Repaet this and you have the basis for a periodised training plan that is widely used from amateur athletes through to gold medal winners

rjsterry

That would certainly fit with me feeling way more knackered at the end of a week than 170miles deserves. It's pretty much all SCR 'intervals' and I almost never get to go out on a longer ride in the lanes. When I do, I tend to head for some steep hills, so again, not exactly base training. Is the only way to work some base training into the commute to do a couple of weeks of slow commutes? This would take monumental self control to just set there and let everyone go, and I'm not sure the distance (17 miles and an hour and a bit each way on the current route). Hmmmm.

Rich158

Yep the only way to a decent base is through self control and miles. Use a HR monitor to keep in Zone 2, look it up on t'internet to get an idea of your zones. You'll be surprised how fast you can go and it still count as base miles, and of course over time you'll get fitter so your average speed will go up for the same effort. My top end of zone 2 is about 35-40kph on the flat now which feels amazing. The other thing is to concentrate on cadence, learn to spin at over 100 rpm for any given HR and it will have a huge effect on your CV fitness. The ideal is 12 weeks of base training, but give it a few weeks and then work a few days of base mileage into your commute, it'll work wonders. Notice how I rarely talk about outright speed, it's all about effort measured on a HR monitor, the speed will be a natural side affect albeit a rather nice one

Kieran_Burns

Rich158 wrote:

Yep the only way to a decent base is through self control and miles. Use a HR monitor to keep in Zone 2, look it up on t'internet to get an idea of your zones. You'll be surprised how fast you can go and it still count as base miles, and of course over time you'll get fitter so your average speed will go up for the same effort. My top end of zone 2 is about 35-40kph on the flat now which feels amazing. The other thing is to concentrate on cadence, learn to spin at over 100 rpm for any given HR and it will have a huge effect on your CV fitness. The ideal is 12 weeks of base training, but give it a few weeks and then work a few days of base mileage into your commute, it'll work wonders. Notice how I rarely talk about outright speed, it's all about effort measured on a HR monitor, the speed will be a natural side affect albeit a rather nice one

I just get on my bike and cycle to work

The Rookie

Here here, I ride the whole 6.7 miles at the speed (near enough) I'd do the first 6.7 miles of a 10 mile race (so no winding up at the end) so I arrive in the office in a still vaguely presentable state!

Simon

Rich158

The Beginner wrote:

Here here, I ride the whole 6.7 miles at the speed (near enough) I'd do the first 6.7 miles of a 10 mile race (so no winding up at the end) so I arrive in the office in a still vaguely presentable state!

Simon

there's nowt wrong with that, I view any time on the bike as training and treat it as such but that doesn't mean everybody should. However if someone wants to know how to use their commute as oart of a training programme whether it be for sportives, racing or just generally improving their fitness the geek in me comes out :oops:

rjsterry

Rich158 wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

Here here, I ride the whole 6.7 miles at the speed (near enough) I'd do the first 6.7 miles of a 10 mile race (so no winding up at the end) so I arrive in the office in a still vaguely presentable state!

Simon

there's nowt wrong with that, I view any time on the bike as training and treat it as such but that doesn't mean everybody should. However if someone wants to know how to use their commute as oart of a training programme whether it be for sportives, racing or just generally improving their fitness the geek in me comes out :oops:

Ta for the advice. It is as I had feared. Stupid bloody competitive streak. Oddly when I went for a ride with my brother the other day, I managed to only 'race' him two or three times in 30 miles. That that counts as an achievement shows that there is some way to go.

clarkey cat

I've lost my chest-strap transmitter thing for my Polar HR monitor. Can you get replacements. I accidentally pilfered one from the gym (this is the truth, it wasnt intentional theft) but it doesnt work with my watch.

Id like to know more about HR training.

Rich158

clarkey cat wrote:

I've lost my chest-strap transmitter thing for my Polar HR monitor. Can you get replacements. I accidentally pilfered one from the gym (this is the truth, it wasnt intentional theft) but it doesnt work with my watch.

Id like to know more about HR training.

You should be able to get a replacement without too many problems. There are a couple of different types so check up which you need on the Polar website and order one from Wiggle. As for HR training there've been whole books written on the subject and there's a huge amount of information available on the internet. Rather than hijack this thread any more I'll start a seperate thread gining my two pennorth when I get a chance. I realy am a geek in this area so any questions just PM me

clarkey cat

Thanks Rich.

cee

exercise is good hmmmkay.

Initialised

Great how they don't define 'fast'. Do they mean 100RPM for half an hour or do they mean 15mph average? Typical almost scientific BS the not quite tabloids like to spout.

dhope

Initialised wrote:

Great how they don't define 'fast'. Do they mean 100RPM or do they mean 15mph average? Typical almost scientific BS the not quite tabloids like to spout.

Fast enough to get your heart rate up to a certain % of its max I expect. i.e. cardio

Initialised

Define riding fast before saying that it is good. Fast as I see it isn't fast for someone else and what someone else thinks is fast I'd consider slow.

The lack of understanding of basic scientific principle in the article is a reflection of Google's commentary on the UK's poor scientific standing on the World Stage.

dhope

Initialised wrote:

Define riding fast before saying that it is good. Fast as I see it isn't fast for someone else and what someone else thinks is fast I'd consider slow.

The lack of understanding of basic scientific principle in the article is a reflection of Google's commentary on the UK's poor scientific standing on the World Stage.

Not sure it really needs definition. Fast is by definition subjective, it is not absolute.

As before
Fast enough to get your heart rate up to a certain % of its max I expect. i.e. cardio zone