For fitness sake

[jShort]

I’d like to hear from different people on this. If you feel like sharing some answers to some of these questions that would be great.

What are you doing or what have done to improve your fitness? Like, what works for you?

Where are you getting your information from?

Have you recently gained or lost fitness and why?

Are you working on improving your fitness?

 

[Steve Vai]

I've been busy fitn'ess box of donuts in my mouth.

 

[jShort]

And I’ll go.

I’ve really been consistent with indoor training the last 2 years. Even if I’m not following a structured plan, I’m still doing some workouts. Even if it’s only 30-45 minutes and only a few times a week. It really does not take that much to maintain your fitness. I mean, I think it’s either going up or down at all times. But when you take off weeks or months you really lose a lot and by being consistent on the trainer, and doing specific workouts I’ve been able to not totally fall out like I have in the past.

Now on the flipside. It is very easy to overdo it on the trainer. Especially when you’re following a structured plan. It’s not like riding outside where you can take breaks and you coast down hills. When you’re on the trainer it’s nonstop interval, rest, intervals, etc. there’s no waste of time. Always always pedaling. An hour on the trainer when doing intervals is easily an hour and a half on the road.

My point here is you really need to make sure you have the right fuel, rest, sleep, hydration, etc. etc. So right now I am just trying to learn when that breaking point is and how far I can push it. Nobody’s perfect. It’s all about coming back when you slip up a little bit.

 

[jShort]

I've been busy fitn'ess box of donuts in my mouth.

and I’m sure your results will show that. Lol.

 

[TommyF]

Diet diet diet - Fitness starts in the kitchen !!! Gym 3 or 4 days a week, basic weight training for strength and muscle tone, riding 2 or 3 times a week trains the legs and improves overall endurance. I'll do a few crunches now and then just to make sure I've got abs under my skin.

 

[Steve Vai]

and I’m sure your results will show that. Lol.

6 new 200k course records so far this year. I've concentrated really heavy on building strength and power instead of doing intervals and short duration efforts.

 

[Robin]

Since I stopped training and competing my fitness has tanked. I'm slower on the climbs and just feel weaker.

I do run to mix things up but finally realizing I need to add strength if I want to move my bike more. I need to be held accountable and just going to the gym on my own isn't my thing so I signed up for CrossFit. Just finishing my on-ramp. We'll see.

 

[pooriggy]

Have you recently gained or lost fitness and why?

I've lost race fitness. I'm no longer racing and don't feel the need to push myself to that level of training.

Are you working on improving your fitness?

No, I just want to maintain it so that I can ride 5 times a week without feeling like I'm going to die.

I also work physically, swinging a McLeod is my CrossFit.

 

[MissJR]

I am riding a bit more often. Throwing in some hiking when we can. I should get back into running. But the big thing I started recently was taking some yoga classes again. Help move my muscles in different directions.

 

[jShort]

6 new 200k course records so far this year. I've concentrated really heavy on building strength and power instead of doing intervals and short duration efforts.

That’s super impressive Jim. I hope you do great.

I just prefer fast singletrack over long gravel/road rides.

 

[stb222]

I have never formally trained, I think I did two rides with intervals in my riding life.

That being said, I put my work in. Generally
10-12 per week and I typically do TM during my mtb rides. Since I starting riding mtb more often, I have lost a bit of my steady state fitness and I really don’t care about climbing fast on a mtb. However, my short bursts have increased from trying to rip DH’s between 2 and 5 min.
Just this week I put in a harder 2.5 hour road ride and kinda remembered it feels good to push like for a couple hours.
The downside of how I ride is that I don’t have much of a top end after an initial kick. And I obviously do a lot better if I can drive the pace, which is why if I do group rides on the road I stay on the front A lot.
I do try and rip segments sometimes, more so on the mtb where higher speeds bring in the tech skills.

 

[Big Dumb Animal]

I recently bought a power meter and have been working on intervals; I started during the winter when riding the trails wasn't feasible. 2×20, 4x4, all that fun stuff and I've really noticed a difference. I'm able to keep my heart rate higher for longer and not gas out on longer rides. With nice weather it's hard to tear myself away from my new mountain bike to do power laps on a road bike but I'll throw them in to keep improving.
Endurance has never been my thing, my body likes strength workouts and that's all I did for 15 years in the gym. Cycling is just so much fun, and even more fun when you're fit to do it. I still do my calisthenics with strength bands but since covid I haven't hit free weights in over a year.
100% fitness starts in the kitchen. Staying away from sugar and beer(for the most part) has helped so much too.
@Pearl has been my go to unofficial coach, as in I'm not paying him just picking his brain, then he gets to laugh at my expense.

 

[Norm]

What are you doing or what have done to improve your fitness? Like, what works for you?

My fitness is and always been the best when I put in more hours. As a general rule I try to do 10 hours/week these days but when I was my fastest at racing, it needed to be 12-14 and the more was always better. I was like the Cookie Monster of hours. More hours, feed me more hours. More hours burned more calories and actually kept my hunger in check. Weight would drop, power up, overall fitness went up.

This is not the best approach for everyone, however. I think obviously @jimvreeland thrives with more-longer to a level that few of us can relate to. OTOH, when I was training @UtahJoe he would top out at 10 hours, for the most part. More than that and his tank ran dry, started to just become sludge training.

I used to do intervals but no more. I will do a Zwift race now & again during the winter. I will ride the mountain bike which is naturally going to push you. And on the road I will try to hold a speed or push myself a little on a common hill climb I know. Like today I hit Roundtop Ripper on the way home, and it was the 148th time I have ever done this. Today was my 66th best time. I did not throw all-in, just kept a solid pace at the end of an hour long ride in the heat. Respectable, but not going to etch it on my tombstone.

 

[2Julianas]

My high-stress relentless job sucks, I am in meetings and calls from 8am to 7pm Monday thru Friday. I am not a morning person so I can't get anything in before 8am except a walk for the dog. So evenings I focus on mobility since its better than nothing (yoga, stretching, GMB). I prioritize getting at least 7 hours of sleep, drink lots of water, and attempt to meditate. I run where I can, bike mostly on weekends, and during the week I do intermittent fasting. During the pandemic when my job slowed way down, I did cardio and strength every day and my fitness went way up. Now it's back in the toilet and will get worse when I need to be back in a suit and back in my NYC office 2-3 days a week come September. 😭

 

[Steve Vai]

That’s super impressive Jim. I hope you do great.

I just prefer fast singletrack over long gravel/road rides.

Yeah. I ride singletrack as a relief from long distance stuff and training so it's always 100% fun-based. That's why I bought a sweet Bro Bike. I just don't care who passes me in the woods anymore. At least until Sept when I race the Marji Gesick. Maybe I should start eating less 🍩🍩🍩 before then? Does not eating donuts count as Training? Or do you need to not eat donuts and do Intervals? What if I keep eating donuts and do Intervals?

 

[UtahJoe]

My fitness is and always been the best when I put in more hours. As a general rule I try to do 10 hours/week these days but when I was my fastest at racing, it needed to be 12-14 and the more was always better. I was like the Cookie Monster of hours. More hours, feed me more hours. More hours burned more calories and actually kept my hunger in check. Weight would drop, power up, overall fitness went up.

This is not the best approach for everyone, however. I think obviously @jimvreeland thrives with more-longer to a level that few of us can relate to. OTOH, when I was training @UtahJoe he would top out at 10 hours, for the most part. More than that and his tank ran dry, started to just become sludge training.

I used to do intervals but no more. I will do a Zwift race now & again during the winter. I will ride the mountain bike which is naturally going to push you. And on the road I will try to hold a speed or push myself a little on a common hill climb I know. Like today I hit Roundtop Ripper on the way home, and it was the 148th time I have ever done this. Today was my 66th best time. I did not throw all-in, just kept a solid pace at the end of an hour long ride in the heat. Respectable, but not going to etch it on my tombstone.

10 was a good number for me when we were doing those stupid hard 3 day blocks.... Short intervals, (3 to 8min), next day longer 15 to 20... Then 2-3 hours of tempo on the road... After a few years of doing this... I would be 90 min into a race at times and be like... Dam, now let's turn power to 11... Felt awesome.

Now... Well before I crashed 2 weeks ago I was training for the esc Enduro at Glen Park... Modified my xc workouts and mixed in microbursts since the one area I never really needed in xc was sprinting. But for Enduro, generally it's not my fitness... 5 minutes stages.. I really don't get tired in 5 minutes after 12 years of xc racing... I can make it hurt, but my power isn't my issue in an Enduro... I have more been working on my skills, bike handling, getting better at jumps, just riding at higher and higher speeds. This is easy and fun since I live right next to Wildcat which is a great training ground. I am also trying to do more off the bike stuff like plyometrics, etc....just trying work on moving quicker and faster

I also have 3 full suspension bikes... So I can take out any one of them and go.... Ok, I have the Bronson today, my goal is to rip this or that segment... Or I have the xc bike, put in some hard climbing efforts on this or that.....whatever I feel like doing, just try and keep it interesting. Wildcat gives me the ability to do like 4 different types of rides...
1. Xc ride... Just going as fast as I all over
2. Take my tallboy out and hit the more technical stuff and put in a 2-3 hr loop
3 take my Bronson and make my own Enduro course and smash downhills
4 go ride with @JimN and do the REALLY technical stuff that makes jungle look like 6 mile (I love jungle, just saying)

So I find it easy to still get my 10 plus hours...then also ride with my 7 year as much as possible.

My weight is the same as always, (and I still work on that daily)... I haven't really used my xc engine for an extended period in a while, but my power is still the same.. So I think a few blocks and I'd be back where I was.

My skills are much improved tho... I can track stand for pretty much ever now...and this has been transformational in terms of the technical stuff I can ride...Hit most jumps I see on trails or whatever rock roller.....

 

[JimN]

You know how baseball players swing like three bats when warming up, and then they just have one bat when they step up to the plate? Only ride ridiculous, dumb hiking and moto trails with crazy stupid rock gardens and climbs, and then all normal trails will seem like Six Mile. That said, I don't know anything about fitness or training, I just like riding dumb shit. I also eat a lot and drink beer most days, so basically, don't do anything I say or do.

 

[Norm]

So...buy 3 baseball bats?

 

[JimN]

So...buy 3 baseball bats?

Yes, but just for practice swings. Only bring one bat to the plate.

 

[1TrackMind]

For me I have been trying to build consistency. So I allocate a 1/2 hour after the kids go to bed to fitness, sometimes I go longer, sometimes I just walk the dog for the 1/2 hour or do stretches. I just started the same 10 mile ride, not crazy but it has a nice long steep hill which I feel like has helped mtb’ing and is about what i can do in a 1/2 hourish. Not having to pick or plan a route every time helps me do it consistently. Decisions and choices are more tiring then what most people think and a huge demotivator. If it gets boring maybe I will go to weekly or monthly routes. It’s nice seeing a constant progression as well. Im not always faster, but a tired day this week was faster than a tired day last month. When I use the trainer I like to use GCN training YouTube videos, I appreciate that commercials don’t pop up on the last 10 seconds of a hard interval. I try to hit chimney rock or sourlands on the way home from work on Friday’s and do sourlands or Nassau (or RV if rainy) at first light Sunday mornings, those are the rides that I “train” for and are motivation for the 10 mile loop rides.
I think I am fitter than what I was, my times are faster and I don’t fatigue as easily. My ride last week at sourlands felt like a mild effort, I was taking it easy and still got PB’s on most sections, but I am no where near race ready probably not as fit as I was in my 20s. I need to add volume because i can go really hard for an hour but at 2 hours I’m done. I also want get back to the gym for more strength training, I can never get in the mind set to strength train at home.