I'm 49 years old and I'm out of shape. I'm going to start riding my bicycle every day to get into shape. How far should I ride each day and how much to add over time?
Tags: time, riding my bicycle, ShapeHow Far to Ride Bicycle Each Day to Get Into Shape?
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I’m 27 and I ride about 35 miles a day. I was overweight as a teen and I used to drive everywhere. When I turned 21, I asked for a bike for my birthday. I rode that bike every where. I lost 55 lbs and now I feel a hell of a lot better. I can now make it up the stairs without feeling like I’m gonna pass out. Anyway, start out with at least 7 to 10 miles a day. Ride your bike to work or the store. Anywhere. Over time, you will feel more energetic and will probably be able to ride even further. I’m doing a ride in a couple weeks around the area where I live. I do it pretty much every year because I love bike riding and it’s a really nice ride.
Start out with short rides until you butt gets use to the saddle. You want to take it easy for the first 10 min to warn up. After that you want to pedal at a high cadence 70-90 rpm’s with a lite pressure on the pedals. That will get your cardiovascular system going and wont kill your legs. You want to be breathing hard enough to be able to talk but not sing. If you need to catch your breath or you legs start to hurt drop down a gear or two and keep going.
Get a cyclometer and keep track of you rides, increase the distance a little each week. Ride for distance not speed, you will get faster as you get stronger. Watch what you eat, a protein shake right after a ride will help build muscles.
If you are currently out of shape you will have to start slowly, slow rides of a few miles, gradually building up speed and distance. The hardest part is to learn how to pedal properly, many novice cyclists make the mistake of thinking it works best to pedal slowly in a hard gear, when it is better to turn the pedals at higher rpm in an easy gear. You also have to start out on a bike that fits you well, with a saddle and handlebars adjusted to position you comfortably on the bike. An improperly fitted bike can be pure drudgery to ride, which could discourage you from continuing with your program. To get in shape, proper rest is just as important as the exercise. If you overdo things, especially at first, you could injure yourself. Start out with short rides, aim to get back home without exhausting yourself, so that you will be able to ride again the next day. Don’t be afraid to take a couple of rest days each week, or just do a very short, easy ride to stretch your legs. Distances will be relative to your fitness. At first 10 miles will feel like 100, but you can quickly progress to distances 2 or 3 times as far. I rode about 120 miles in the last 2 days, and feel almost no fatique, but I have been doing this for 37 years. This is an activity you can do well into your senior years, I have friends in their 60′s who think nothing of doing 50 miles with people half their age.
For getting into shape its not a matter of a certain distance each day, but rather a certain amount of time. Start out riding for 20-30 minutes just at an easy pace. This is because the ATP (a source of energy) in your body will bring you through the first 20 minutes, and after it is burned up you will begin to burn the fat stores. Its important that you pick an interesting route because you want to enjoy the ride. After the 20-30 minutes starts getting a little too easy, you should begin to pick a slightly more difficult route, you can do this by finding some small hills in your area. The next most important step is to start DECIDING THE ROUTE YOU WILL BE RIDING BEFOREHAND. Make it a loop, this means that you will ride in some kind of circle so that you don’t ride on the same street twice. By making it a loop there will be a point where, even if you want to turn back, it will be easier to just finish the loop rather than turn back. This is very important because it will begin pushing you to finish the ride and you may find yourself going faster. Gradually increase the length over time and start eating healthier and you will get into shape in no time.
Start with a slow ride around the block and slowly increase how fast and far you ride. Good luck.
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