Please tell me that this bike riding lark is doing me good!!

A snowHead

Megamum, Go for it - when I took up running again in my early forties I became addicted to getting fit, it makes you feel great, and improves your confidence at everything.

As far as shorts go, you don't have to go for the slinky lycra roadie look - mountain bike shops sell conventional baggy shorts with padded liners.

A snowHead

Megamum, I blame the endomorphines (sp?).......................get yourself a cheap bike computer and then you'll know for sure how far you went!!

It'll make your achievements even sweeter!!

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third the mountain shorts, although I prefer the lycra

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As far as padded shorts go, if you don't like shorts you can get padded tights or under pants to have leggings or tights worn over, but padding definately helps. One other point that may not have been mentioned is make sure your saddle is straight, tilted back or forth virtually guarantees discomfort and not all bikes are properly set up from the retailer.

It's well worth learning how to change tubes quickly I am hopeless, but even so leaned how to be pretty quick when surrounded by midges, fine on the move but hellish if stoping for any time. Evil or Very Mad

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Had a busy day today - dad finally went into hospital for his operation and I've been running round since about 05:30 sorting out the smallholding, kids at school, work, etc. However, it got to about 21:30 tonight and I was back home and it was getting dark, but it was lovely warm night with no breeze and looked ideal biking weather so I thought why not? I have lots of bright clothing and lights on the bike so I went for it. Last week I went different routes, but I went back to the first 7.7mile route tonight and..........it seemed easier Very Happy

. OK there was no breeze tonight, but I don't think I was as puffed as usual, and the legs didn't ache so much tonight. This might mean I'm getting a bit fitter Very Happy

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My shorts are a combination of a removable Coolmax padded liner shorts, and outer baggier ones, which I wore nearly all the time on holiday. They wash quickly, and are dry in about half an hour after washing. Halfords have some very similar ones.

After all it is free

Megamum, sounds like you've cracked it, if you get out on the bike after such a long busy day. Congratulations; I kept telling myself I should get out, until I told myself it was now too dark without lights. Embarassed

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Megamum, to get fit takes a long time. I'm coming up to two years now, and it still hurts a lot. As you get fitter, you also have to push yourself harder in order to get the same gains in future, so if something starts to feel easy you need to up the intensity. However as you get fitter, although it still hurts, you will get to enjoy the feeling of having really pushed yourself.

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Kramer, if you have a look back at what I wrote (possibly in subsequent posts after the one you quoted, I can't remember now) you will see that I suggested to Megamum that she could bike for 3 times a week as she is now (more than that and she might get bored perhaps...also as others have suggested) and then do some lower intensity exercise at other times in the week, perhaps swimming for example to keep it varied and interesting.

I am quite surprised by your comments actually because I think for the general population who are looking to maintain their weight, enjoy themselves while exercising, and who are not training for a marathon or for any sporting event in particular, 5-6 times per week of 30-45 mins of intensive exercise seems a little high in my opinion. I'm not saying it going that much won't make them fitter than 3 times a week sure, but it doesn't have to be like that week in week out or nothing to see a lot of really good benefits. I'm no expert mind you, I'm not a fitness professional nor a doctor, I'm just going on what I have been told by my own GPs over the years as well as every fitness professional I've encoutered in gyms etc. Have I been given incorrect advice by all of these people? I do see people down the gym who seem to be there every day or whatever and 99% of the time they are competitive triathletes training for a race.

What do you think about rest time, surely as a doctor you must endorse that? I've read a lot of different articles saying that rest time is when the muscles grow and become stronger and is vitally important to a healthy exercise plan as it were. 5-6 times per week assumes only 1 rest day per week from intensive exercise.

If people can go 5-6 times a week, week in week out then credit to them but I've had thought for Megamum's purposes 3-4 times a week of doing an exercise she enjoys must be fine for what she wants to do i.e lose weight provided she obviously watches her energy intake/diet.

Out of interest, do you go 5-6 times per week week in week out or do you have a "low" week as someone else has described somewhere else on this thread?

A while ago now, I managed to lose 2.5 stones over about a year so about 1-2 lbs per week-apparently a healthy amount to lose each week on average by going to the gym between 1-4 times per week so I didn't need to go 5-6 times a week to lose weight which is the same as what Megamum is after. Perhaps my body was quicker to lose my weight than others would be based on the same energy expenditure?

I'm not sure if Megamum's aim is to become super fit, I've not been keeping up with this thread of late, I thought it was to lose weight healthily hence that's why I said what I did originally. Megamum ignore what me and everyone else has said on the first page of this thread before the puncture discussion, if you want to become super fit and not have an ounce of fat on you then get working on that bike 5-6 times a week as Kramer suggests....... I think you might shift more than a stone that way too by my reckoning, but I'm not sure if you want to lose more than a stone or not.

Question for you:- Is 5-6 times a week of 30-45 minutes the same as going 3-4 times a week of 60-85 minutes provided the intensity of the exercise remains the same? Also when you started your plan if you like 2 years ago were you fat, unhealthy and overweight? Do/did you smoke if you don't mind me asking?

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Kramer, I bet to differ, based on my own experience.

When I started, I only bike to and from work, which was about 30-40 min. And I only get to do about 2-4 times a week, varying due to other constrains. It got quite a bit easier. So naturally I up the milage, which at first took longer. But soon it got to be 30-40 min again. So I did improved in speed. In other words, the exercise was doing me "good enough" that I got better!

If your goal is to compete at some level, you're right you need more than 3 times a week, probabaly more than 30 minutes. But to catagorically say 3 times a week is "not good enough", well, you better define "good enough" for WHAT? Puzzled

In fact, I challenge you if you work "HARD enough" in those 30 minutes, 3 times a week will be "good enough"! wink

My 2 euro cent ......

Doing the same amount of exercise a day can often see an initial drop in weight and improvement in fitness that then reaches a plateau. Reasons include ....

1) Weight loss plateau - The body adapts to the amount of exercise and increases calorie consumption to compensate.

2) Fitness plateau - The body remains over trained with no time to recover or the body is not stressed so it sees no reason to build/ develop muscles further.

For the above reasons I wouldn't totaly agree with Krammer. Exercise most days yes but at different intensities inc days of very light exercise for recovery. There's no one way, people react differently so give different systems a try and see what works for you - what you eat and when you eat also has a big impact on fitness/health.

(This info is based on my experiences of training since I was 14 inc boxing, mountainbiking, mountain walking/treking, skiing/ski touring - it's the big 40 this year)

You know it makes sense.

VolklAttivaS5, abc, the recommendation that exercising 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes was good enough originated in a program in America looking at what could be done for overweight African American girls in deprived urban areas. The original recommendation for 30-45 minutes of intense exercise 5-6 times a week was overruled for political reasons, as it was felt that being told to do that much exercise would be culturally unacceptable to the population. As in many of these health myths, it caught on, and is still repeated by many health professionals, despite it now being felt that such recommendations are ineffective.

Gym instructors and personal trainers, IME are very good at suggesting routines and workouts, and checking your form, however their knowledge of the science and research behind what they are recommending tends to be sketchy IM(not so)HO.

Yes you do need rest days, but only one or two a week. Yes you do need to vary your routine between cardio and resistance work, but there is little benefit in low intensity exercise, other than as a purely calorie burning exercise, and not a particularly effective one at that.

Part of the problem is that as a society we have become so sedentary and overweight that what is considered the 'norm' is at a very low level, we compare ourselves to those around us, and so the suggestion that you need to exercise most days is seen as excessive because very few people are doing it.

When I started 2 years ago I was fat, unhealthy, and overweight, and a smoker. Now I am merely overweight and a social smoker. Very Happy

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VolklAttivaS5, out of interest, have you kept the 2 stones that you lost off?

A snowHead

I don't think it's always a great idea to combine arguments about fitness and weight loss. There is a relationship, but it's not perfect and there are big downsides to a focus on weight, especially for the young. There are plenty of thin but unfit people. And even some rather chunky fit ones. It's perfectly possible to lose weight without doing much exercise at all - not that anyone sensible would recommend it. At present I weigh just under 10st. Every now and then it creeps above that, so for a while I eat a bit less, and try to exercise a bit more, so it goes down. I have been much the same weight since before I had 3 kids, though a couple of years ago the weight crept quite a long way above 10st - to 10st 10lbs to be exact, so it took 3 months to get it off gradually. I don't do enough exercise - I know I don't, but I am more active than most women my age (and a lot less fat). Telling people who are making a good effort and being moderately sensible that they're wasting their time unless they train at a really high intensity 6 times a week is discouraging and enough to send them back to evenings in front of the telly with a tub of Haagen Dasz and a bottle of rosé (real life example of sole contents of the shopping trolley of an extremely fat woman in the Co-op last week). Shocked

Kramer; if you're still overweight after 2 years of the regime you describe, there's something drastically wrong somewhere else in your healthcare routine!!!!!!!!! Are you really overweight or do you just have a distorted body image, like those anorexic 13 year olds we read about? wink

A snowHead

pam w, There was a government campaign here just before I left for Ireland.... it was designed to promote exercise..... the slogan was "you only need to take it regularly not seriously"..... wanted folks to walk the dog, take stairs instead of lift etc etc etc I think the general idea was as you suggest - that if people think they need to be gym rats they give up...

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guys, guys guys aren't we losing the topic here??

Surely anyone doing some regular excersice is better than none!!

Here we have a topic by a busy mother who is trying to do 30 minutes 3 times a week to get fitter. The implication that she's not been doing much and that she just wishes to get fitter and hopefully lose a little weight not to be an olympic athlete getting ready for the 2012!!

get a grip Toofy Grin

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It's funny before I read todays comments I had picked up a box of breakfast cereal and somewhat incredulously read the back of it to mum this morning. It reads:

Did you know: kids need 60 minutes of exercise each day. Adults need 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week

My point to mum was that ever time you read something it seems to have a different recommendation , also that it implied that unless you could exercise that amount it wasn't worth doing anything, which kind of conveys the wrong message. Also, I think the more the 'suggested' amount of exercise is increased the more it puts people off - I am out cycling at 9pm at night, but only because mum and dad are in the house with the sleeping children - I wouldn't have time to exercise otherwise and I doubt most busy parents could find 5 X 30 min slots to exercise as suggested, but they might be able to find the odd 2 or 3 during lunchtimes at work.

For me - I want to be slim enough to look good - I'd love another stone off, and be fit enough so that as I lose weight I tone up the muscles thus helping to keep my shape. The added bonus I'm looking for is to stay fit enough to ski particularly in my legs.

For the record, I don't generally drink during the week - only if I go out or to a party that I'm not driving at, or sometimes on a holiday - my party opportuntities are once in 7 or 8 blue moons. I don't smoke and have never even tried it, and have never done any other noxious substance either.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Megamum - keep it up..you're doing great...last nights 7.7m ride felt easier than when you started a few weeks ago and when you do it in a few weeks time you'll do it twice just because you can!!!

When you get to the slopes this season you'll feel better, your legs will still ache, your shoulders will feel still, your feet will feel strange and your cheeks will hurt (from smiling)...but in your head they will all be less becuase you've done some preseason excersise and you'll ski those you're skiing with into the ground!!

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After all it is free

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Kramer, I think you're letting the best be the enemy of the good here. Of course some regular exercise is better than none. Even if they ARE fooling themselves into thinking it's enough, it's still better than nothing, if only psychologically. Not that psychology is insignificant in this context. One strong response when people start exercising a bit, and feeling a bit better about themselves, is that they often want to do that bit more; it's a virtuous circle. And one which Megamum already seems well embarked upon. I, as I said above, admire a busy mother with lots of other responsibilities who gets out on a bike at 9pm. Nobody who has not spent day after day on the small drudgeries of child care and domestic responsibilities (even without the goats) can understand how difficult it can be to motivate yourself to do anything other than collapse in front of the telly once the kids are in bed. I have felt a lot more vital and motivated after a 12 hour day in a Ministerial private office than after dawn to dusk with a couple of toddlers.

I agree with you that weight loss targets can be damaging. My "ceiling weight" concept works fine, because I never have to shed more than a few pounds, after some self indulgent weeks. Big targets are just depressing. But I would certainly not be too happy if I was overweight after the kind of self discipline and effort you've displayed over two years. Or are there areas where the self-discipline is not so consistent?????

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Kramer,

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Im all for including exercise in your daily routine if at all possible. I cycle to work each day - thats about 25 minutes each way. But I'll often go the gym or for a walk or kitesurfing afterwards as I dont really see the cycling as exercise any more - just part of my daily routine. I dont cycle anymore as someone nicked my bike... I run instead Smile

Coming at this from a different tack. Imagine that half a dozen different people, all within the recommended norms for weight, hips to waist ratio and blood pressure, walk into a clinic to be advised about exercise and fitness. The doctors are given no history, no indication of exercise levels, just asked to rate each individual's fitness not for the Olympics, but for broad health purposes, avoiding heart attacks etc. How would their fitness be assessed? Is it possible that some people, maybe by virtue of a generally active life and a generous genetic endowment, might be "fit enough" (from the general health point of view, not for the Olympics) even if they did SFA in the way of strenuous, high intensity, organised "exercise"?

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Kramer

A snowHead

A snowHead

I did just cycle uphill to the village. But it's not very far at all, and I bought the makings of home made strawberry ice cream.... and free-wheeled back down. It would be much simpler not to like food very much, wouldn't it?

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pam w, I know, tell me about it! I have always liked food a lot although I was never overweight until I got to about 21. Probably because that was when I got my own house and was cooking my own meals, was able to go out and have a take away whenever I wanted instead of eating the food at home Mum had cooked and only having a take away when they were having one (not that often).

Thing is I have noticed lately that the less junky rubbishy food I eat, the less I want to eat. I have a long way to go though, although when I lost a lot of weight before I used to still have fish and chips or something like that once a week or once a fortnight. I found that worked well and still lost weight gradually. Just goes to show eh I've been having junk and takeaways way too often and not doing exercise-well you're bound to put on weight aren't you with all that scoff! Laughing

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pam w, also you were right earlier about if you put a few pounds on, work or adjust diet to get it off again. That's the secret because when it gets to a stone, or two, or even three it is much more difficult to shift.

Right speaking of which I'm just off down to the gym now!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Kramer, I believe you're totally missing the point of my post and the exercise routine of Megamum.

You wrote:

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For what it's worth I've been doing an increased exercise routine since may last year, I've also been watcing what I eat but not too hard, in that time I've lost arround 39kg or just over 6 stone, I find that I need to do about 4 1hr+ sessions each week to actually loose weight but I still loose inches off the stomach even without significant weight loss as the exercises are improving the muscle tone under the rolls of fat, I reckon I've gone from a 4x4 spare tyre arround my stomack to a medium sized cat sitting there, I still need to loose arround another 12kg but I'm getting there

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D G Orf, I hope you are still on target to get the skis back on next season Smile

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abc, I'm not sure how I'm avoiding the issue of intensity when I'm saying that the exercise needs to be [/quote]of an intensity that is enough that you need to shower and change clothing afterwards. [/quote]

I totally agree that intensity is important, but equally you cannot substitute intensity for frequency, which needs to be almost daily, with one or two days off a week. Exercising more intensely less often, IMV does not work. Additional low intensity exercise over and above the 30-45 minutes daily is also useful, but does not bring paticular additional benefits IMV, other than using up more calories, and possibly allowing active recovery. Longer periods spent exercising than 30-45 minutes do not give as good a return, other than possibly in terms of endurance, and even that is uncertain.

I may be misguided with my blanket statement of 3 times a week not being enough, but at least I am misguided in line with current rather than outdated advice.

VolklAttivaS5, I'm not concerned about my weight. It's a very poor goal, so I don't use it. When I say I'm still overweight, I refer to my BMI, which has dropped considerably, but is still well into the overweight band. I'm actually much happier to lose weight slowly rather than quickly, as my personal opinion is that sustained weight loss is more likely when it is done by creating a small calorific defecit rather than a large one.

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Lizzard, it's either salt, fat, or sugar that makes it so morish. Mostly all three together.

Help!!

Please tell me that this bike riding lark is doing me good!!

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