Needing some training advice ASAP



Jumpit007

New Member
Feb 21, 2011
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Ok so idk if you guys read my other post, about doing the Fuller Center Bike Adventure this summer. It's 3600 miles over 2 months for charity. Now I am REALLY going out of my mind trying to think of ways to get myself ready. It starts June 10th, and goes through August 13th. I have a gym membership (It's completely necessary during the winter in Ohio), and my current bike (which will be completely useless for this trip). I am in the process of getting a new bike, but for now, all my training has to be done in the gym until all the snow melts!

What I need, is suggestions on how to get the most from my workouts at the gym. What I can do to get my strength and stamina to where they need to be in just over 3 months. My main limitation is not being able to run. I will be allowed to soon, but as of right now, I am recovering from a hip surgery that limits the amount of high impact workouts I can do. I've been told that I can bike as much as I want, and everything else is just a, "if it hurts, don't do it" type thing.

I feel totally crazy for attempting something like this, but my surgeon told me I am all clear to go ahead and try! So, I'm going to try.

I just need to get serious. Get some suggestions from people who know what they're doing, and set up a training schedule to stick to.


Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Stacey
 
Simple, ride the gym bikes for as long as you can tolerate and at an intensity that's hard, makes you breathe deeply and steadily, makes you sweat buckets but an intensity you can actually sustain for the session. Start with one or better yet two 30 minute efforts where you ride solid sustained pace and try to work up to 90 minutes or more per session. Bring extra water and a towel, you'll need both. Keep doing this four or five days a week until it's warm enough to ride outdoors. Be willing to back it down a notch rather than skip days when the legs or head just don't have it but try to ride consistently and try to ride with as much sustained focus as you can muster for each workout day.

That's your best bang for the buck in terms of using the gym to prepare for a long cycling tour. Get on the bikes and don't just doodle the pedals while watching TV or reading magazines or chatting with friends. Ride the bike at your own best sustained efforts that are hard but manageable and stick with it for until you can ride the same way outdoors.

No weights, stair steppers, treadmills or elliptical machines are going to prepare you as well for long hours in the saddle as well as riding the gym bikes. Yeah, they're not very exciting but they do the job and they do it well.

Good luck,
-Dave
 
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