Getting the most out of short workouts?

[baldingboy]

Hey all,

I'm a college student who usually rides recreationally most of the time. Recently, I've noticed my weight, strength, and stamina slipping because I haven't had as much time to get to the gym. Long story short, I've tried to start riding a little more and use that as my primary terms of getting back in shape.

What do you guys do to get the most out of shorter rides? Like I said, time is kind of a premium and whatever methods you have would certainly help! My buddy does MMA and uses something called an elevation training mask, so I pre-ordered a new version of it on this site (http://www.fundable.com/training-mask). I have high hopes for it. Do you have any experience with products like this?

Thank you!

 

[FrankDay]

Hey all,

I'm a college student who usually rides recreationally most of the time. Recently, I've noticed my weight, strength, and stamina slipping because I haven't had as much time to get to the gym. Long story short, I've tried to start riding a little more and use that as my primary terms of getting back in shape.

What do you guys do to get the most out of shorter rides? Like I said, time is kind of a premium and whatever methods you have would certainly help! My buddy does MMA and uses something called an elevation training mask, so I pre-ordered a new version of it on this site (http://www.fundable.com/training-mask). I have high hopes for it. Do you have any experience with products like this?

Thank you!

The problem is not what you do when training but how much time you have to train. This is a time management issue. The best solution to this problem, in my experience, is to make training part of your everyday routine. The easiest way to do this is to commute by running or biking, depending upon the distance. A 30 minute run or bike commute each way everyday will do wonders for your weight, strength, and stamina compared to spending that time in a car.

 

[baldingboy]

Thanks FrankDay! I certainly will be trying the best I can to work in the time, but even with my best time management efforts its a real challenge some days.

 

[elapid]

Finding enough time in the day to cycle and exercise can be difficult. As Frank Day says, fitting incidental exercise in to your normal routine helps. Interval sessions are good to maximize gains in fitness and power when you only have short amounts of time to spend on the bike.

Check out Chris Carmichael's "The Time-crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week (Time-Crunched Athlete)". I have not read it, but the author is obviously a well recognized figure in cycling, his training programs are well established and accepted, and the reviews of this book on Amazon are good (4.5/5 stars).

 

[JayKosta]

If your training time is limited to short periods - e.g. 1 hour, then you need to make the level of exertion very high and still leave enough time to get cleaned-up & be able to go onto your next activity.
I don't think you can do it if you are cycling at a 'recreational level'.
Maybe by doing serious hills and/or hard intervals would work.
A good non-cycling exercise would be running up steps.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[DirtyWorks]

uses something called an elevation training mask, so I pre-ordered a new version of it on this site (http://www.fundable.com/training-mask). I have high hopes for it. Do you have any experience with products like this?

Thank you!

1. Don't confuse altitude effects with what this device does. They are not the same.

2. It appears the device provides breathing resistance. Maybe someone can post some links to some research regarding results of training the diaphram(??) for endurance athletes.

3. I do cycling workouts in less than an hour several times a week using the programmable resistance exercise bikes at my gym. These are maximum efforts with a focus on absolute maximum power output with varying resistance including low-cadence high resistance moments using the bike's pre-programmed workouts. When I can ride, I have at minimum maintained my power output. It's not fun, but makes riding fun when my schedule permits.

 

[STODRR]

Hey all,

I'm a college student who usually rides recreationally most of the time. Recently, I've noticed my weight, strength, and stamina slipping because I haven't had as much time to get to the gym. Long story short, I've tried to start riding a little more and use that as my primary terms of getting back in shape.

What do you guys do to get the most out of shorter rides? Like I said, time is kind of a premium and whatever methods you have would certainly help! My buddy does MMA and uses something called an elevation training mask, so I pre-ordered a new version of it on this site (http://www.fundable.com/training-mask). I have high hopes for it. Do you have any experience with products like this?

Thank you!

First the elevation training mask is a bad name. It does not replicate higher elevation. If you suck your lungs full, the ratio of the mixture of oxygen and everything else at that altitude, is the same whether you have the mask on or not, it is just harder to suck it in. It does help build your diaphram muscles but there is conflicting info whether that really helps.

I personally like this guys site http://www.training4cyclists.com/

and this one http://www.crossfitendurance.com/ for when I have to have extended periods of short workouts.

 

[usedtobefast]

shorter workout=more intense workout
getting your heart rate up to various levels. interval training is what you want.
you can do ladders like track(running)guys do, but tailored to bike riders. still going to need a long ride in there once a week to have any stamina.

 

[durianrider]

Get a power meter if you want to stop play'n and start train'n.

Play'n is great, Im just say'n that training will get you where you want to go quicker though.

 

[rgmerk]

Trainers

Obviously, riding to work/school is a great way to get in extra kilometres, but beyond that if you've only got a limited amount of training time and you're living in a densely populated area some kind of home trainer can be a handy tool.

Yes, they can be as boring as bats**t, but you can program your workout to get exactly the type of training you need without getting interrupted by traffic lights and stop signs.

 

[T-Rav.]

Running off at the keyboard here....

To me the answer to the initial question depends on what you mean by "shorter rides". I'm not talking about in terms of distance, I'm talking about in terms of time, and also in terms of frequency. If you're riding for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, you'd have to do different stuff than you would if you were riding 60 minutes a day, 3 days a week. So a bit more in the way of details would be good.

The answer also depends on your fitness goals. In the beginning, you will develop better all-around fitness simply by being more active, but you will hit a plateau eventually in terms of muscular endurance, muscular power, aerobic capacity, top-end speed, etc. With limiting training time, at that point, you'll have to start prioritizing what you do during your workouts based on your fitness goals in order to continue to improve.

This is pretty much true in any individual training-based sport, be it cycling, running, swimming, weightlifting, or whatever. It's easy to say a short workout requires high-intensity intervals, but it isn't wise to do that every day once you reach a certain point. It depends on what you want to accomplish.

Here's what I say: Start by simply getting more active. Once you've hit your first "plateau" (maybe you can't ride any further in 30min, or you can't cover your ride any faster, etc) that's your signal that it's probably time to start changing up what you do each day. Identify the 2 areas of fitness you want to improve, and prioritize them. With a short workout, you can focus on one area per day. Rotate your focus each day so you aren't hitting the same area on back-to-back days. In a way it is similar to how people in the weight room train when they have limited time, alternating focus on different parts of their body.

The TDF is a perfect example of the concept of rotating what you focus on. Morkov was in the break on the first three stages to earn the polkadot jersey. None of those stages had tough climbs though. Even then he had to spend the next several days in the peloton. On a stage with HC climbs like today's, the guys on the break like Voeckler are unlikely to do anything tomorrow, more likely they'll stay in the peloton or even the grupetto. Recovery is needed from high-intensity performance. This is why all the GC guys talk about managing themselves for a 3-week race. You can only repeat high-intensity endurance training so often before you lose the ability to perform at that level. Elite athletes can't do it, at least not cleanly.

And yet the average Joe will train himself to a wall and then spend forever knocking his head against it because he's trying to do too much all at once.