Getting back into shape



GuyMontag

New Member
Jul 8, 2005
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I could use a bit of advice.

I'm getting back into shape for the first time in my life. I'm a 43 year old man who was very active and fit until about 8 years ago. With family and career I let my fitness level drop.

I used to ride road bike and mountain bike. I've been back in the saddle (I dusted off my old mountain bike - the racing bike was sold a few years ago) for about a month now and I'm enjoying the way my body is firming up.

There is one thing that I'm really concerned about. For the most part I've stuck to mostly level ground, with a few rolling hills. The daily ride is typically 10km, but can range to 20km. On the longer rides I've taken I've hit the hills a bit and I have really found myself out of breath. I mean, stopping and huffing and puffing for 30 seconds to a minute before I can move again. This is something totally new for me. Do any of you know when I might see some improvement? Like I said, I've never had to get back into shape before, I have no idea of a timeline.

Thanks
 
GuyMontag said:
I could use a bit of advice.

I'm getting back into shape for the first time in my life. I'm a 43 year old man who was very active and fit until about 8 years ago. With family and career I let my fitness level drop.

I used to ride road bike and mountain bike. I've been back in the saddle (I dusted off my old mountain bike - the racing bike was sold a few years ago) for about a month now and I'm enjoying the way my body is firming up.

There is one thing that I'm really concerned about. For the most part I've stuck to mostly level ground, with a few rolling hills. The daily ride is typically 10km, but can range to 20km. On the longer rides I've taken I've hit the hills a bit and I have really found myself out of breath. I mean, stopping and huffing and puffing for 30 seconds to a minute before I can move again. This is something totally new for me. Do any of you know when I might see some improvement? Like I said, I've never had to get back into shape before, I have no idea of a timeline.

Thanks
I've been cycling to build myself up from zero, having never been fit before. I found the hills were killing me so I started just doing what I could and walking the bike when I couldn't ride more; this keeps me moving and is better exercise than nothing. Naturally I got back on the bike as soon as I felt I could. Within maybe a month I was finding I could climb hills that were previously killing me.
 
The smart ass answer to your post is that if you want to handle the hills better then train on the hills. But, I'll try to help you understand why. Hills and headwinds affect the intensity of cycling effort enormously. The basic problem is that it requires very little effort to ride at a reasonable speed on the flat, and most of us are actually resting frequently so it's not a constant effort. For example, I weigh about 175 pounds and I generate about 100 watts of power with nothing more than the weight of my leg on the downstroke. On the flat, that's good for about 16mph. A very small push on the downstroke easily pushes up my power to ~125 watts and ~18mph. But, if I apply that same power on even a very slight grade of, say, 4%, my speed drops to about 6mph. On a 6% grade, my speed would be less than 5mph. Because that feels so slow, most of us increase our intensity to get up to a speed that "feels right." This can easily raise the intensity of effort to ~200 watts or greater. And, the effort must be continuous or the bike stops moving. So, when you think about it you've gone from virtually no effort (125w) intermittently to a considerable effort (200w) constantly. That additional 75w is huge, because remember that 125w is essentially zero effort. But, the training benefit is also huge and you will become much more fit much faster if you seek out hills. Your body will adapt quickly and you may come to love climbing (as I do). So, go find those hills and climb, climb, climb.
 
Struggling on the hills when coming back from zero fitness is natural. Without, as another poster stated, being a smartass, the solution is riding regularly and trying to integrate a bit of hill work in your rides on a regular basis.

Initially your objective is simply to 'not put your foot down' so don't try to race up. Slowly, over time, you will see a great improvement.

Welcome back and happy riding.
 
Today's ride was much better.

It's funny. Even though I've been off of the bike for the better part of a decade, my brain still knows what to do. I find myself dropping my elbows or rising out of the saddle at the right time. I guess it's true that you never forget how to ride a bike. :p Now all I need to do is wait for my body to catch up.