Bit of help needed

[kelvedon wonder]

After a winter lying on the sofa eating chocolate and staring at snow, I decided to be honest with myself and accept that I am a fair weather cyclist, so I have joined a gym.

As the age of 50 approaches I accept that the only thing that could make me look good in a bikini is major surgery, so I have decided to make my goal the ability to ride my bike up the pimples that pass for hills locally without worrying that my family might not be able to find my life insurance documents when I expire halfway up.

So I am after some help from the experts on here. I am aiming to shift at least 6kg to help with the gravity side of things, and am doing spinning-type exercises on the static and recumbent bikes (and gravitate back to these when things like the treadmill start hurting), but what else should I be doing? What resistance type exercises are important, for example? I have a competitive nature and want to give the old man a shock when the sun finally appears and I join him on a bike ride.

Can anyone help?

 

[CoachFergie]

Spin Classes and does the gym run a yoga class?

 

[Bike Boy]

I'm probably not the expert you are looking for, but I'm sure those who know more than me will be very eager to give som advice.
In any case It will much easier to help you if you write in a few words what kind of equipment you hve for outdoor activities, and what kind of training experience.

Judged by your post you only recently joined a gym. If you don't have any prior experience than that you are probably starting at square one and in that case you will benefit very much from the advice people in here are more that willing to pass on to you.

For the hills you are woried about "killing" your self. a mountain bike could be the answer (if you don't have one already). I don't know what kind of gradient we are talking here but hills are very much about choosing the right gear. Especially for beginners, then of course build up your aerobic capacity so you will be able to climb faster.

 

[fatandfast]

If you are close to 50 and you have a family and questionable life insurance you need to go...way slow.. If you go to the gym everyday at the start do non-impact stuff until the chocolate and cookies start move in what is a rock solid form in your body. Spinning is great for lots of reasons..you can get a high heart rate and do something w a limited range of motion..so you will not start w an injury. Yoga depending on the type is good for injury prevention..but so is swimming.Jumping rope for 2 minutes will amaze you with results. Diet is key.Writing down what you are eating makes it lots easier to get to your goal..Space foods like water, and veg and fruit are very friendly to shedding the pounds...One thing for sure if you shift from neutral into gear..you are going to get gas..I mean gas so you better hope your wife likes you and your wallet is never empty or your kids will ditch you because of the smell.. I have been helping a guy that is 47..and after a big increase in exercise and good food the guy sounds like a minibike wo even trying. Make friends with fruit

 

[L'arriviste]

People here have given good advice, so I'll weigh in on the subject of diet. Not going on one, but improving the one you have. If you recognise that you're carrying a bit too much weight, then you probably already know that greater physical exertion will put a lot of unwarranted stress on your heart.

Dropping weight steadily will help your exercise be more relevant to what you want to achieve. I would suggest learning more about food.

Start by really examining the labels on the food you eat - reckon on an extra half-hour for the time you'll need down the supermarket initially - and minimise the saturated fat you consume. Note that we're talking here about saturated fat - other kinds of fats are essential to your body. As a rule of thumb, until you reach the weight you want to achieve, try to keep your foods below 1.0g per 100g and once you're done, try not to go above 3.0g per meal.

In real terms, this will mean lots of rice, beans and pulses and, if you're a meat eater, "white" meats like chicken and turkey. Also try to eliminate foods that have undergone a lot of processing - refined substances can be harder to digest.

 

[kelvedon wonder]

Thanks for the advice. I should have been a bit more honest there - I'm a diabetes nurse by trade so know the nutritional side very well already and I'm not exactly a cycling virgin - I do about 30 miles most weekends in the summer, and cycled across Holland last year (like I say, don't do hills!). I own a fairly decent if a little heavy Orbea hybrid.

It was more advice on things like resistance exercises I was after - the gym where I go is suitably convenient but doesn't seem particularly cycling orientated. Unfortunately they don't do spinning classes as such but I've been often enough in the last couple of years to work out some DIY climbing/sprinting routines.

Any more suggestions?

 

[CoachFergie]

There are no important weight training exercises. To drop the weight burn more calories than you consume. Aim for .5 kg per week of weight loss.

 

[kelvedon wonder]

It's not about the weight loss - I can deal with that side of things. I just want to be able to ride a bike uphill without thinking that I'm going to be sick or die.

 

[the student]

what are the gradients of those hill you are looking for? You wont just die on those little hills we have here... it just takes some experience to tackle them. Just start with a relatively easy gear... just dont start of like a madmann. Each time you go you put the effort in just a little harder... after a while you will know what gear and leg speed works the best for you...
The spinning classes are probably a good idea, a lot of speed changed and it increases aerobic performance.
My dad about the same age started of from zero and 1 year later he could take part in alp D'huzes... he managed to go up 5 times that day... so its not impossible and you wont just die on those climbs( hills ), just take it easy at build up the exercise.

Most important of all is to listen to your body... you dont want to follow the more experienced riders from day 1.

 

[CoachFergie]

Does the gym have exercise bikes? There should be some that offer variable resistance so you can simulate climbing hills till the weather picks up and you can do big gear work on the road. Of course nothing beats riding hills fast to get better at riding hills fast but you do what you have to do in your circumstances.

 

[kelvedon wonder]

I don't want a spotty Jersey, just to be able to handle the lumpy bits of north Essex/south Suffolk will do. I'm fine on the flat - I can keep up with anyone unless they're on a road bike or are Dutch and have been riding a bike since before they can walk. I go downhill like a maniac. I just go backwards when I go uphill and want to change that a bit. I thought that now I have access to some flash weight machines I might be able to do some stuff to my puny little legs (I look like a Roger Hargreaves character) to get me up the hills.

Anyway, back to the low fat, low GI lunch....

Very grateful for the help!

 

[durianrider]

Diabetes nurse? Then read this book to help your riding and your patients.

 

[CoachFergie]

I don't want a spotty Jersey, just to be able to handle the lumpy bits of north Essex/south Suffolk will do. I'm fine on the flat - I can keep up with anyone unless they're on a road bike or are Dutch and have been riding a bike since before they can walk. I go downhill like a maniac. I just go backwards when I go uphill and want to change that a bit. I thought that now I have access to some flash weight machines I might be able to do some stuff to my puny little legs (I look like a Roger Hargreaves character) to get me up the hills.

Anyway, back to the low fat, low GI lunch....

Very grateful for the help!

Getting better on the flash weight machines will make you better at using the flash weight machines. They will do nothing for your climbing.

In colder climates the winter challenge is to find ways to maintain your cycling fitness using exercycles, spin class, MTB, trainers, ergs etc.

 

[kelvedon wonder]

OK then, I'll do that - I enjoy being on the bikes anyway and I can run through last summer's 2-wheeled pub crawls in my head while I'm at it. I'll keep the machines for the bingo wings