How long before my fitness builds up?
newjumper
Posts: 32
Hi,
I am 59.
Returned to cycling after a long(very long) break , probably about 15 years or so.
Have been cycling again for about 2 1/2 months and don't seem to be making much progress although have lost nearly a stone in weight.
Have done a sportive(15 miles) and a 14 Mile ride,but most are 2 to 5 miles or so at least every other day,during week days.
Am I being impatient?
What should I be doing .
I am 59.
Returned to cycling after a long(very long) break , probably about 15 years or so.
Have been cycling again for about 2 1/2 months and don't seem to be making much progress although have lost nearly a stone in weight.
Have done a sportive(15 miles) and a 14 Mile ride,but most are 2 to 5 miles or so at least every other day,during week days.
Am I being impatient?
What should I be doing .
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Comments
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You are being impatient to be honest. If you had inherent fitness to start (just had a year off) then you would be reaping the benefits about now. If you've had 15 years off, I think that its going to be around the 1 year mark where you really feel the difference. That said, I bet you are already taking less time to recover, and also probably noticing diet effects and things like sleep patterns changing. All signs of improving fitness, even if speed/endurance arent that different just yet. Losing a stone is pretty good going to!
If you want it to go faster, you'll need to up the distance to around 30 miles on your longer runs (in increments obviously) - 15 miles is around the tipping point where your endurance capability starts to kick in, and maybe look at doing some intervals on your shorter rides. That could be just blasting up one hill on your 5 mile ride to start, it will make a noticeable difference in accelerating the fitness gain.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
A 2 mile ride isn't going to be doing much, you need to be doing a minimum of 6+miles to get any benefit.....Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0
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Get a road bike and focus on long steady efforts for the first several months.0
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Ride further and longer more often.
Cross train in a gym or doing some other sport.
Try classes at the gym (such as spinning although I know I will get shouted down and be told that you should "just ride" because the world is a beautiful place or some such hippy bs).
A stone in 2.5 months aint a bad start though, I assume the start weight was *ahem* high?Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
If you just want to do fitness stuff running is a lot more efficient than cycling.
Ignore anything anyone from Canada says - you know what they say about lumberjacks.
Don't do spinning, the world is a beautiful place, just ride.
Peace love and happiness.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
London Calling on Facebook
Parktools0 -
Yup. Impatient. Slowly slowly. Set yourself some goals. And just get out and ride as much as you can"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
I am kind of where you are now just somewhat younger, as everybody above has said it takes time, it's taken me about 6 months to lose a stone but I'm not that heavy to be honest. I have found with training is to vary it a lot don't get set into doing the same route/distance I am only now starting to feel as though I'm fitter and i'm no where near where I want to be, just keep on going and don't give up.0
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Read up on Zone training, long steady rides of 3 hours with a low heart rate will inprove fitness faster than blasting all out.
I try to do a ride like this every week, anything up to 5 hours non stop, keeping a HR of 122-130, my max being 186.
I'm 3 years older than you and over the past few years I've concentrated more on the quality of the training to keep improving.Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"0 -
I keep 'bike fit' by hitting the gym - however some of that is down to how often I get to ride my bike, which in the week isn't a lot!
Intervals, weights, squats/lunges and core work will all help. I run around 20k a week too.Giant Trance and Specialized Allez0 -
As Ben says you should be noticing your recovery rate improving. Thats usually the first sign. After a long sedentary period its going to take time to get "fit". My advice would be to mix up your riding and not do the same route all the time. Get a cycle computer and work out a circular flat route thats about 5 miles at first. Ride this twice a week and try and beat your time or at least match it. It doesnt matter if you are slow, just try hard to complete it each time. For the rest of the week go exploring on different routes and just lose yourself riding. Its amazing how the miles add up when you are just simply enjoying yourself and not treating every ride as a fitness run!
Enjoy and grats on the weight loss!0 -
I was 15 Stone before I started cycling again(or just a bit over)
I am getting a road bike as well as keeping my old Cannondale MTB.
Thanks for tips so far.0 -
newjumper wrote:Hi,
I am 59.
Returned to cycling after a long(very long) break , probably about 15 years or so.
Have been cycling again for about 2 1/2 months and don't seem to be making much progress although have lost nearly a stone in weight.
Have done a sportive(15 miles) and a 14 Mile ride,but most are 2 to 5 miles or so at least every other day,during week days.
Am I being impatient?
What should I be doing .
wow - a stone in 2.5 months. You're doing grand lad. Every other day is a cracking effort too. It's hard to find the time so just fit in what ya can. I try to do 1-2 hilly routes, some off-road and I have a gentle flat route for when I just want to relax and go for a gentle spin.
Just enjoy the rides - the fitness will take of itself.0 -
WTF?! A year to get some level of fitness?! I don't think so! Your body adapts really quickly, you should be seeing difference after 2 weeks, provided you're riding far enough each time you go out. It doesn't take a year to get fit, let me tell you!
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Concorde wrote:WTF?! A year to get some level of fitness?! I don't think so! Your body adapts really quickly, you should be seeing difference after 2 weeks, provided you're riding far enough each time you go out. It doesn't take a year to get fit, let me tell you!
Depends what you mean by 'get fit' - it's taken me a year of riding before I can comfortably ride 1,000m+ ascents"Why have that extra tooth if you're not using it?" - Brian Lopes
Votec V.SX Enduro 'Alpine Thug' 2012/2013 build
Trek Session 80 -
This. Fitness is relative. No one can get fitter in 2 weeks, unless you were inherently fit already. And exactly what difference would you expect to see after around 20 miles of riding? Seriously.A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
Been riding again 2.5 MONTHS not weeks! Done a bit more than 20Miles .0
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I realise that! Concorde's comment was that you should have been ironman ready at two weeks!A Flock of Birds
+ some other bikes.0 -
benpinnick wrote:I realise that! Concorde's comment was that you should have been ironman ready at two weeks!
Sorry,yeah I would be lol!0 -
benpinnick wrote:I realise that! Concorde's comment was that you should have been ironman ready at two weeks!
Yeah because that's exactly what I said isn't it?! Erm no, thought not! 2 weeks you'll see a difference. If you rode the same 10 mile route twice a week for two weeks, you'd be fitter the 4th time you did it. 100%! By fitter I mean need less breaks or do it quicker. Wouldn't take you a year to start doing that, that's for sure!
You can train to run a marathon in 12 weeks. But it takes you a year to get fitter on a bike?! Haha, good one! :roll:0 -
Concorde wrote:WTF?! A year to get some level of fitness?! I don't think so! Your body adapts really quickly, you should be seeing difference after 2 weeks, provided you're riding far enough each time you go out. It doesn't take a year to get fit, let me tell you!
And how old are you? This guys nearly 60 and hes getting off his arse and doing some exercise. He should just enjoy the hobby and fitness will follow. He's probably underestimating how much he's improved, so words of encouragement would be far more useful and intelligent. Put it this way - there are a whole lot of 60 year olds out there who do sweet FA by way of exercise.0 -
Then of course there's the sneaky part- where you get fitter, but you don't feel like it because all you end up doing is going ever so slightly faster, and still dying. The solution for this is to get a slow riding buddy.Uncompromising extremist0
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Concorde wrote:benpinnick wrote:I realise that! Concorde's comment was that you should have been ironman ready at two weeks!
Yeah because that's exactly what I said isn't it?! Erm no, thought not! 2 weeks you'll see a difference. If you rode the same 10 mile route twice a week for two weeks, you'd be fitter the 4th time you did it. 100%! By fitter I mean need less breaks or do it quicker. Wouldn't take you a year to start doing that, that's for sure!
You can train to run a marathon in 12 weeks. But it takes you a year to get fitter on a bike?! Haha, good one! :roll:
***k me some people on this site are just retarded.Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
12 weeks is a very long time to run a marathon.... Surely you could walk it in a day or two? Do we mean running backwards for 12 weeks?0
