What should I focus on to increase endurance/stamina?
- Thread starter afk94
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Ride as frequently as you can. Ride longer on days when you have the time and energy to do so. Ride faster for extended periods when you feel good and ride easier or shorter on days when you don't feel great. Keep doing that and extend those longer rides as your fitness improves and your ability to ride longer rides and do so a bit more quickly should both improve.
There's no real shortcuts. Doing short very fast rides will not build tremendous speed or endurance and very long, very slow rides might build endurance but a mixture of distance and sustainable intensity is usually a better bet. But training consistency and training frequency trumps all else so don't just load up big rides on the weekends and then sit behind a desk all week. Ride as often as you can manage to get on the bike even if some rides are just easy recovery spins on days you don't feel as sharp.
Good luck,
-Dave
There's no real shortcuts. Doing short very fast rides will not build tremendous speed or endurance and very long, very slow rides might build endurance but a mixture of distance and sustainable intensity is usually a better bet. But training consistency and training frequency trumps all else so don't just load up big rides on the weekends and then sit behind a desk all week. Ride as often as you can manage to get on the bike even if some rides are just easy recovery spins on days you don't feel as sharp.
Good luck,
-Dave
I think there -are- shortcuts- and short fast rides ARE the key. I would recommend "The First 20 Minutes" which discusses the research on High Intensity Interval Training and why going out for even 30min of riding that consists of short bursts of very intense effort will increase your stamina more than long, slow even long "decent effort" rides. There's a ton of free information on the net regarding High Intensity Interval Training and in particular how it relates to cycling and I'd suggest you look at it. It's not fun, it's hard, hard work so it's just one aspect of training that you should be aware of and may choose to do, but again, it's not fun and never let training entirely replace fun if you're not a pro.
Seems to contradict to me, but I think I know what you are trying to say.
I've done a lot of HIT in the past for crossfit. For endurance cycling prefer to lean more toward what Dave posted as it seems there are far more people progressing this way in endurance cycling rather than just pure HIT.
Everyone I've met stronger than me on the bike usually have one thing in common... they spend more time on it. Different aspects of fitness require different intensities to build. Interval based training does indeed build fitness but to be a truly well rounded rider there are no shortcuts.
Get rid of all of your life's obligations. And ride hard and long.
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I do 3 hours a day when I bicycle. But I am old.
My usual route seems to have 30 minutes of alternating hard and easy, 30 minutes of hard and very hard, 30 minutes of very hard. Then I turn around and come home. 30 minutes of very hard, 30 minutes of hard and ver hard, 30 minutes of hard and easy. But that is due to the route not a plan.
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I do 3 hours a day when I bicycle. But I am old.
My usual route seems to have 30 minutes of alternating hard and easy, 30 minutes of hard and very hard, 30 minutes of very hard. Then I turn around and come home. 30 minutes of very hard, 30 minutes of hard and ver hard, 30 minutes of hard and easy. But that is due to the route not a plan.
"Ride as frequently as you can. Ride longer on days when you have the time and energy to do so. Ride faster for extended periods when you feel good and ride easier or shorter on days when you don't feel great."
Do this.
"they spend more time on it."
Do that.
"We build stamina by stressing our body."
Indeed.
"Get rid of all of your life's obligations. And ride hard and long."
Extreme, but some of the best racers I know did exactly that. No day job or a fake one, no energy sapping relationship. Just a car and a bike rack and enough cash to get to the next event.
Do this.
"they spend more time on it."
Do that.
"We build stamina by stressing our body."
Indeed.
"Get rid of all of your life's obligations. And ride hard and long."
Extreme, but some of the best racers I know did exactly that. No day job or a fake one, no energy sapping relationship. Just a car and a bike rack and enough cash to get to the next event.
Ride more! That's a good advice when looking for stamina and endurance in anything. Set daily (or weekly) goals, and keep track of them. Slowly try to increase those goals and point by point work your way up until you're satisfied with your stamina or whatever your goal is.
Just keep yourself on the bike as often as you can. My dad has been riding his entire life, and he advises one has to just focus on all aspects, but at a certain pace. Like many of the members have mentioned, it is important to reach out to do longer distances once your body is ready, fit and without cramps or muscle pain. You can always change the speed while you ride, and what I like to do is riding up the mountain. It is just my thing, I see it both as a challenge and it helps with working on my legs, putting some pressure on them by trying to get up the hill. 
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