OldCruiser

Since early retirement biking has been my go to exercise to keep my weight under control.
Four years ago I had my prostate removed soon after they discovered cancer in my biopsy. I’d had an enlarged prostate problem for years , and when it was removed , my bladder had to be reconstructed.
I’ve tried several times to start back riding , but I would give up after a week .
I’ve gained over 60 pounds since my surgery and now I’m at a point where I’m trying to do something about it .
Two weeks ago , I started to ride again . To begin with , short two mile rides daily gradually working my way up to four mile daily .
This morning I woke up with both hips hurting . From what I’ve read , I’ve over done it a little and the pain should go away after awhile . I hope . I dropped back to three miles this morning and went back to riding my Cruiser 1 , that seems to be easier on my knees and hips . Four days ago I was riding my Schwinn Cross Cut bike I’ve raised the bars on to help take pressure off my hands that want to go numb on me . The Cruiser 1 is actually the most comfortable to ride , and I’m riding for health ,enjoyment , and to get rid of some of this fat . I would love to get back to my goal weight of 225 or even lower .
Question :
Should I continue to ride every day I can or should I be alternating days to give my body a rest ? I’m in my upper 60’s and I’m in the mid 280’s in weight down from 292 .
I want to keep at it this time , but don’t want to cause damage that would require a doctors visit .
I’ve also cut back on the burgers , fried foods , and desserts .
Any suggestions on how often I should be riding to get me on track .
Before my surgery I averaged 50-60 miles a week on my Schwinn and other bikes .

Aahzz

I'd stay on the cruiser for comfort, and then go based on feel. When I started back to riding, my rule was that I could take a day off if I'd had a ride the day before, based on how I felt. It gave me the opportunity to take recovery days and kept me consistent - I rode more days than I didn't, but the recovery days were useful. Now that I'm conditioned to regular riding my rule is 6 days per week, but I'm glad I didn't start there .

Kedosto

It sounds to me like you’re starting back up a little over enthusiastically. Like the rest of us, your brain thinks you’re ready to go while your body is only beginning to snap to attention.

If you consider this to be a long term lifestyle change, there’s really no need to rush towards arbitrary goals or idealistic numbers on your scale. Recovery time is just as important as activity time. In the beginning, active days should be less than recovery days. Shortly thereafter the days can start to become more even. Much later, once you’re properly conditioned, the active days can exceed the recovery days - you will have slowly transformed your ability to recover into a higher state of efficiency.

You didn’t get into your current shape in a matter of days or even weeks. It’s taken you months to get where you are and if you’re honestly making a lifestyle change it will take months (or possibly years) to get yourself to a better place. But hey, if it’s a lifestyle change then the amount of time it will take doesn’t really matter, right? I mean, you’ll be living an active lifestyle years from now so hitting some arbitrary target today is pretty meaningless.

My best advice is to focus on the lifestyle. Throw away your calendar and arbitrary expectations. Eat right, exercise right, keep yourself well hydrated and give yourself plenty of time for quality sleep. Do that and eventually you’ll hit any goal you could possibly have set for yourself.


-Kedosto

OldCruiser

I’ve been gradually building up my distance every week . I had gotten to where I was averaging around 4-5 miles a day .
Today a good friend of mine invited me to ride with him on a cart path route he rides sometimes. It’s a nice ride , mostly covered along a lake then it cuts back between subdivisions with an occasional pond along the way .
Its definitely not flat , but it’s not mountainous either . Toward the end , there was a stretch that was a long upward slope follow by a steep section of about 150 feet . I’ll admit , the legs gave up and I walked it up the hill .
9.5 miles and we finished in slightly over an hour .
I road my Specialized Hardrock converted over to a Cruiser with Kenda semis .
Finally getting back to where I was before . It felt good !