trainer

bikermartin

i have not been out on road on bike since end of noveember. i bought a turbo trainer before christmas and have used for 45 - 60 mins per day. i went fro spin thismorning at 8 am but had to turn back because road to icy. what i have found amazing is that i felt ok when back on the road and not wasted after 15 minutes . so my impression of the turbo training is good in maybe it is keeping up the fitness levels. i only started cycling last summer again after 10 yr break. the biggest danger was at the moment was to give up cycling again :eek:. i am only 2 or 3 weeks from buying a trek 2.5 so i need to make sure i aint on the verge of quitting.
i am on the bike essentialy to lose weight , hope to shed 3 stone this year. what motivates you all to keep going, especially someone looking for weight loss like me ?

martin

Beasty

I only started cycling at a semi-serious level around 2 years ago. I just wanted to get to a reasonable level of fitness by commuting (a 46km round trip) to work. I started perhaps once or twice a week, and built up from there.

The way I approached it was to effectively treat each commute as a time trial, trying to better my times every day. This way my (each way) 1hr+ commute was cut to 55mins, and then just over 50mins. I also built up so I was commuting 3, 4 or even 5 days a week, and my fitness continued to improve (and the weight dropped off).

I took the plunge on a trainer around a year ago - I went for a Tacx VR model, and I must say this certainly added an edge to my performance. The VR makes it much less tedious, and I have found it particularly helpful following injuries (I was on the turbo within a day or two of a knee cartilage operation last year, allowing me to complete the WW200 less than 3 weeks later - I was also able to maintain my fitness following a fall last summer when I was unable to get on the road)

My commute which was originally 1hr+ is now down to less than 45 min most days (I have been down to less than 40 min on a few occasions last summer, with a strong tailwind). I have extended my home commute so I am now doing around 58km most days, and I think nothing of doing this for a full 5-day week. I have also lost over 30kg (nearly 5 stone) since I started

Bottom line to keep it up is to set yourself realistic targets, and once you hit them, raise the bar a little and set yourself some new targets. When I started I never believed I could beat 50 minutes for my commute, and I have actually been able to improve even that target by over 20%

DirkVoodoo

bikermartin wrote: »

i am on the bike essentialy to lose weight , hope to shed 3 stone this year. what motivates you all to keep going, especially someone looking for weight loss like me ?:confused

I can't help with the weight loss, but for me motivation comes mostly from boards. When I see the amount of work other people are putting in, the fear of falling behind helps me keep going. If I weren't checking here, reading the cycling logs, then I would probably be doing even less and thinking I was doing ok.

More importantly, I know what my long term goal is: to be able to race, but looking in the short term, i.e. setting a weekly goal and trying to stick to the plan helps. The public flogging of the training logs also helps to motivate me as, while it is easy to deceive yourself, having a record here of your training that others can view and comment on provides that extra kick.

There are plenty of logs on there focusing on weight dropping, it might be worth your while reading some, copy a format you like and start your own.

There is also a wealth of online resources, blogs, etc. that can help you create a "time efficient" plan.

bikermartin

i must check the logs cool. training has been iregular of late for me. will try harder to get a routine going. not easy when you have a family with 3 children and try to get away for a few hrs. thats why i go by 8 am on sat and sunday. i also go on tuesday morning 8am. roads have been to bad here for a while too, too frosty this morning , i had to come back after 30 minutes too risky to fall off.

martin

petethedrummer

bikermartin wrote: »

what motivates you all to keep going,

I enjoy the act of cycling itself. I have a few cycling related goals at the moment but even if I had none I'd still be out on the bike anyways.

Lumen

bikermartin wrote: »

not easy when you have a family with 3 children and try to get away for a few hrs. thats why i go by 8 am on sat and sunday.

Don't worry about doing mega distances in the winter if you're pressed for time. Just use the trainer to do a few quality hours each week.

Once the clocks go forward you can leave earlier and get 80-100km in before 10am no problem.

bikermartin

:eek: woww i wish i could go fast as that :eek:

i am on an average of 13 - 15 mph so i dont really know where im going wrong. my spin is about 45 km and it is the only one i have been doing and is taking about 2 hrs to 2 hrs 10. i need maybe to get an hrm as i am just working on how i feel, which obviously isent working well. i weighed my self last early last summer and i was near 16 st. i weighed again 3 - 4 mths later and as far as i recall i was in or about the same. this was very disapointing as i had been cycling the same route almost every day for so long. i wasent seeing any weight loss. although other people have told me i have lost weight... so with that i dont know how to get some improvements. i am going to set up my own multi gym at home before the summer because i really want to get in shape again. i felt much better over the summer after a spin everyday rather than 2 - 3 time max at the moment.

martin

Lumen

bikermartin wrote: »

:eek: woww i wish i could go fast as that :eek:

i am on an average of 13 - 15 mph so i dont really know where im going wrong.

You're not. You just have to leave earlier (light permitting).

In new money, 14mph is 22kph. Leave at 6am, four hours will give you 90km. I did a few of those last summer.

Whether you're up to that distance now isn't important. I'm just saying that (fitness permitting) it's possible to get decent distances in without abandoning your family all day.

Not sure about that multi-gym stuff. It won't make you lighter or faster on the bike (although might make you injury proof).

bikermartin

hope to later in the year to start earlier . 7 am wouldent be too bad.

the problem at moment is i am in final year in college 4th year architectural technology , and its not uncommon to be up working till 3 am. have had numerous all nighters in the last 4 years. finished in may 2010 no matter what no more for me anyway. home life and college work is leaving nothing left for anything else at the moment. so i am left just to do what i can for a few months anyway

i read some of the training logs of other people. i just would not be able to do as much. it would just be easier to move out ... rather than be nagged about why i aint babysitting on sat and sunday morning. if you aint got an active partner/ wife its nearly impossible to stick to a plan.

thats my opinion on the situation anyway.

it would make an intresting thread i think...... partners restricting training !:mad::mad:

Beasty

If you want, you can always find the time - I have a full-time job, involving extensive travelling, and a young family. I have no spare time to get on the bike at weekends, or even when I get home from work, because of family commitments

Instead of sitting in a car for an hour every day getting to and from work, I spend 1.5 to 2 hours on the bike - I set off between 6 and 6.30 and get home around 7. I only ever get on the trainer between around 10 and 12 in the evening. If I'm travelling I tend to get one or two sessions in the hotel gym every day.

bikermartin

will need to find the time along. i like to have a routine and stick to it. must do one and stick it on the fridge with time marked in red for daddy busy

Lumen

bikermartin wrote: »

will need to find the time along. i like to have a routine and stick to it. must do one and stick it on the fridge with time marked in red for daddy busy

I find if you escalate the "going cycling again" row to sufficiently epic proportions, you eventually get the response "...and don't come back", which I assume to mean "grand, take as long as you want".

bikermartin

maybe i should get herself a bike too...... or not :eek:

its some me time...... will get easier as we all get trained to a routine.;)

must start one of the train logs... everyone can comment on how little ivs done. roll on the longer days... everyone is happy when the sun is shining

poochiem

bikermartin wrote: »

:eek: woww i wish i could go fast as that :eek:

i am on an average of 13 - 15 mph so i dont really know where im going wrong. my spin is about 45 km and it is the only one i have been doing and is taking about 2 hrs to 2 hrs 10. i need maybe to get an hrm as i am just working on how i feel, which obviously isent working well. i weighed my self last early last summer and i was near 16 st. i weighed again 3 - 4 mths later and as far as i recall i was in or about the same. this was very disapointing as i had been cycling the same route almost every day for so long. i wasent seeing any weight loss. although other people have told me i have lost weight... so with that i dont know how to get some improvements. i am going to set up my own multi gym at home before the summer because i really want to get in shape again. i felt much better over the summer after a spin everyday rather than 2 - 3 time max at the moment.

martin

Forget about 'weight loss' and concentrate on 'getting in shape again'. Your weight can be the same as it was a year ago but believe your friends if they think you've lost weight it means you're converting useless fat into muscle.