Talkinghalls

Howdy!


This upcoming summer or fall I am planning on doing a 280 mile ride in 5 days (average 56 miles a day). During this trip I'll be camping at the different state parks in the area. The most I've ever ridden was 36 miles (last summer), admittedly I am slightly out of shape (round is a shape right?), so I need to find a workout regiment and stick to it ASAP to reach my goal. This is what I have so far.


Monday
250 Push ups
500 Jumping jacks

Tuesday
Rest (college/work no time to workout)

Wednesday
250 Reverse Lunge
250 Push ups
250 Crunches

Thursday
100 Burpees
100 Squats

Friday
2-3 mile jog with dogs

Saturday
Short ride high intensity (5 miles)

Sunday
Long ride 20 miles


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Between going back to college, kids (two under the age of four), and work I don't have much free time to work with.


Thank you for your time
-Charles

JanMM

More biking. Can you ride to work or school?

caloso

If your goal is to ride, then you need to ride more. Burpees are great, but they aren't going to do much to help you achieve your goal.

mstateglfr 

Yeah...saddle time is whats needed. Double saddle time and cut the pushups and lunges by...a lot.
Your core is needed for comfort when riding, yes, but your butt needs to acclimate to riding.

Perhaps a few rides of 60mi in the weeks leading up to your event? You know, so you get the experience of it.

Legs pedaling for 60mi is seriously different from doing a bunch of lunges each week.

coominya

Do some pushups by all means but riding riding riding is much more important. If time prohibits this then find more time somewhere.

Flip Flop Rider

like everyone has said, RIDE!. That is the workout

work up to 10 miles, 20 miles, 30 miles a day if you have time

on the weekends, or off days of work, try 20, 30, 40, 50

Just make sure to get enough rest and eat right

10 Wheels

Ride the bike and get your butt use to the saddle.

bmthom.gis

Monday/Wednesday 20 mile rides, Thursday you can do your calisthenics, run Friday with dogs and Saturday start with a 40 mile ride and build up the distance as you can. Being outside is far better, but if really in a time crunch get a trainer...

ksryder

Grand Bois

The word you wanted is regimen.

Talkinghalls

Well dang, normally I'm the grammar police! Curse you iPhone auto correct!


Seriously though, thanks for the advise I'll make adjustments where I can. Once it gets a little warmer here (Indiana) I can start tossing the kids into the bike trailer and get more saddle time.


Thanks for the info,
-Charles

dieselgoat

If weight loss is what you're after, that happens in the kitchen, not on a bike, or in the gym.

stoplight

250 push ups but no pull ups?
make sure you don't look down while doing the push ups, your eyes could pop out before you hit 200


Sounds like you want a core workout plus cycling. Try the p90x workout program replace cardio days with riding.

RoadieDropper

Go to a gym & do a real workout. Upper/ lower split twice a week w/ lots of compounds. 20% workout 80% nutrition.

syncro87

My dad, at 65, rode across the USA in roughly 7-8 weeks. I haven't achieved anything like that, but did complete my first century last fall.

Dad told me that on any given day or week, you can, in a pinch, double what you are used to routinely doing.

In other words, if you are used to riding 100 miles a week on a routine basis, you can do 200 one week without killing yourself too much.

Obviously, this is not a hard and fast rule, and everyone is different. The reason I post his little theory is that if you are planning on doing 280 miles in 5 days, in my opinion you need to be riding half of that a week with little to no effort. If you have proven that you can ride 140 miles for a couple of weeks consecutively, then you are ready for a 280.


To summarize my recommendation to you: IMHO you need to be riding 20-30 mile rides three or four days a week for a number of weeks before your 280 mile trip. I'd recommend some combo of rides totaling at least 100 miles a week for a period of weeks prior.

You need to pay attention to nutrition and hydration during the ride. It is easy to get in pretty good shape and become overconfident in your abilities.

The above is just my two cents as an average Joe riding a bike a fair amount the past couple of years. People a lot smarter and more experienced than myself may have different advice for you.


By the way, the thing that made my century the hardest was that my butt got pretty sore. I wasn't physically drained as much as I was sore. It got pretty painful toward the end. This is why I emphasize saddle time over general non bike specific exercise. Push ups and sit ups aren't going to toughen your posterior for multiple days of many miles in the saddle.

exmechanic89

I'd drop some of the exercises in in your plan in favor of more riding. As has been said, you need some miles to get in shape for a ride like the one you're planning. It can be the difference between an enjoyable 5 days, or arriving each evening exhausted, sore, and out of it.

gsa103

I would also recommend two days of back to back ~20-30 mi rides.

Sunday -- 20-30mi
Monday -- Easier ~20mi

The biggest challenge will be the 2nd and 3rd days. You want experience riding back to back. Use things like good shorts and chamois cream BEFORE you need them. Your distances aren't extreme, but something like saddle sores can really ruin your week.

Ajkollme

If you are worried about the distance, follow the other posters' advice about riding further. 56 miles isn't too far from where you are and you'll get there no problem.


If you also want to get in shape, RoadieDropper's advice is the best.

Retro Grouch 

"The agony of the seat" You need to get your tushie trained. I don't think that anything but riding will accomplish that for you. Think endurance more than strength. I don't think that intense 5 mile ride is going to help you very much. Even that 20 mile ride is probably too short. I'd suggest weekly training rides in the 30 to 50 mile range and this is a case where more really is more.

Other than that, 280 miles in 5 days should be a reasonably achievable goal.

memebag

Ride. The secret to making a 56 mile ride easy is to get used to 70 mile rides.

Riding more will make you lose weight. It will also make you feel better on the bike, and it will get your mind acclimated to spending hours riding.

coominya

True enough. Work on endurance/stamina first.

Talkinghalls, Here is a short article that might be of use to you https://cyclingtips.com/2009/09/gett...r-speedometer/

GoWolfpack

In my experience, you need three different kinds of conditioning to survive a long bike ride:

Cardiovascular conditioning; your heart must be able to handle the increased load for an extended period. You gain this with a combination of primarily high intensity intervals with periodic low intensity steady state exercise. I would recommend Mon Wed Fri HIIT and Sun low intensity.
Willpower; you must be able to force your legs to keep pedaling when they are screaming to stop. This is half in your head and half in your legs. Make your legs stronger and they won't scream as loud or as soon.
Seat training; your buns must be able to handle sitting on the seat for several hours for multiple days. The only way to get this is to put yourself in contact with the seat.

The only exercises I would recommend other than riding are squats and overhead presses. Squats for your legs, presses for your core. I would do these both on days when you don't ride.

*Disclaimer: IANAL and this is IMHO and IIRC. YMMV; consult a nutritionist for advice on dieting for endurance athletics.