Bike fitness?

[B0000M]

shit looks like theres some fit bastards in here-

are any of you any good at racing? with these sorts of fitness levels id hope so!

[flyingcr250]

shit looks like theres some fit bastards in here-

are any of you any good at racing? with these sorts of fitness levels id hope so!

fitness is one thing, bike skills are another...lol
i suck at racing, i usually end up finishing mid pack

[SpikedPunch]

I do powerlifting 3x/week which is really fun, being a bit stronger is really helpful on the bike. Also running 2-3x/week which is really suck, but good for cardio fitness. A little bit of bmx riding too.
Of course since it's the holidays I do nothing at the moment...Not looking forward to seeing how the max lifts have gone down when I get back

ETA: I used to get pretty bad lower back pain after riding, and while getting better positioning on the bike helped a bit, deadlifts and other back-centric lifts like goodmornings etc have pretty much eliminated my LB pain after riding and just in general.

[crazyxr250rider]

So, this is what ive come up with- ride twice a week for 3+ hrs,bang the mrs 8-9 times a week for around 45min and swim for 1hr hard out 3 times per week sound good??

[little.whittle]

to get fit you wanna do aerobic work. and for this you dont go hard out. You want to get your heart rate at about 130-150 bpm and try keep it there for a long period

[crazyxr250rider]

so going hard doesnt get you fit, eh???

[little.whittle]

so going hard doesnt get you fit, eh???

Nope as crazy as it sounds... but going hard on a bike helps for race pace =]

[crazyxr250rider]

only got limited pool time though opens at 6 and ive gota be at work by 730
not shure what hours the np/bbk pools are open

[rossrc]

to get fit you wanna do aerobic work. and for this you dont go hard out. You want to get your heart rate at about 130-150 bpm and try keep it there for a long period

So you're saying practice tantric love... 8-9 times a week... hmm... won't have time to go to work... sweet!

[camchain]

As a currently very unfit bastard I've found even a little bit of fitness work makes a big difference, so I reckon don't make "Getting Fit" a big daunting thing.

Often overlooked benefit is that it definitely makes your riding a lot safer too.

Before a 2man (pathetic, only event this year) I went for 5 or 6 slow runs of less than an hour duration. Without this I would have cramped up after a couple of hours. If you're in over the 40 crew, you get even more out of a bit of training than if you're younger.

Suggest starting out short duration and take it real easy, to try and set the excerise habit. Beasting yourself to begin with just makes it unpleasant and de-motivating.

Couple of years ago was keen and pretty motivated after first GNCC attempt nearly killed me. I used to be heavily into weights and they're good for basic strength and isolation of muscle groups, eg legs/back/triceps are used a lot on bike, but endurance plus a bit of cardio training more important for riding.

I figured if I needed to last a 2 1/2 to 3-hour race then training should reflect that, so I did half hour on each machine, for 3-hour circuit sessions on:

1. Elliptical Cross-Trainer (Quite similar to what muscles are doing while riding)
2. Rowing machine (really good for back etc, back used all the time on bike)
3. Stationary bike

I stuck my training plan up on fridge and stuck to it. Stepped up pace to bump heart rate for cardio every now and then, but no need to blow a gasket. I would have done less than 10 of these sessions and it made a huge difference in enjoyment and results. Still got very tired but I could ride properly for whole race.

(Then I slacked off - someone start a thread on where to find motivation?)