2 Month Forced Bike Break - How to keep fit!



tuney

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Feb 1, 2004
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Hi All

Winter is here, and Im just about ready for the break!
Ive had a good season and made some solid gains over the last year(350-370 watt FT and some good results in UK National and USPRO events).

Im taking a break for 2 months from the bike(travelling) but dont want to loose too much fitness.

Im thinking of doing some Running and Swimming to compensate for the lack of cycling.

Has anyone done this type of thing before, and if so did you have any tips so when I do get back on the bike it wont be as painfulgetting fit again!

Any other tips would be great!

Thanks in advance
Chris
 
Too bad you have a "forced" break, because it's always good to keep riding a couple days a week at least, even during the off-season.

If you are truly a national caliber athlete, forget the running or any other sport that involves jumping and sprinting around on your biggest limbs.

Go for the non-impact, less traumatic sports. Swimming is great. If you can find a spin bike, go for that too. Calisthenics, yoga, pilates, etc work well year round.

Remember, supple muscles win the weekend tussles.
 
Is spinning an option?
tuney said:
Hi All

Winter is here, and Im just about ready for the break!
Ive had a good season and made some solid gains over the last year(350-370 watt FT and some good results in UK National and USPRO events).

Im taking a break for 2 months from the bike(travelling) but dont want to loose too much fitness.

Im thinking of doing some Running and Swimming to compensate for the lack of cycling.

Has anyone done this type of thing before, and if so did you have any tips so when I do get back on the bike it wont be as painfulgetting fit again!

Any other tips would be great!

Thanks in advance
Chris
 
9 weeks without running, biking, or using a trainer totally erased my performance gained from my first season of biking. I hit a top speed of 32.9 mph (flats no wind) before my break and then when I tried training again at the start of this year I could only do 26 mph top speed and 14 mph avg @ 80% MHR. Right now after about 2800 miles this year I can do about 16.8 to 18 mph at 80% MHR. Top Speed this year 31.1 mph flats no wind.

Maybe you should try running while on vacation. Tell us about what happened to you after your break, especially your performance decrease.
 
Holy cow! ... you loose ALL your performance!!

To the threadmill it is .....
 
wait a second, someone claiming to have gotten good results at "USPRO" events, with a claimed functional threshold of 350-370 watts is soliciting cyclingforums.com for training advice? i don't know who else here has raced an event with NRC status (presumably what this guy is referring to) but just finishing requires someone to have really good insight into the reaction their body has to training...
 
rouleur said:
wait a second, someone claiming to have gotten good results at "USPRO" events, with a claimed functional threshold of 350-370 watts is soliciting cyclingforums.com for training advice? i don't know who else here has raced an event with NRC status (presumably what this guy is referring to) but just finishing requires someone to have really good insight into the reaction their body has to training...

if tuney is who i think he is then he's a first cat over "here" in the uk, which confirms his claim to that FT! (with or without sodium phosphate?!)

i'd say that on training matters we can never confer with other cyclists enough, so why not ask?!

from what ive read the aspect of fitness you'll lose fastest is cardiac output -the strength of the heart muscle over and above the sort of sedentary baseline is beleived to waste at about 1/3 a week, for each successive week after the first inactive one, hence its pretty much all gone in a month. you could/should prevent that by doing other sports at intensities similar to those you train at on the bike.

the other aspects of fitness that are more specific to cycling - capiliarisation in the leg muscles, motor skills in the same muscles, apparently will not waste so fast.

what I would do if in this situation - running for 2 months, some almost evey day, with 2x 20 min "time trials" per week.
 

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