LUNGS and cardio

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
since i started riding my carido and breathing have improved slightly but not nearly enough. when i ride at allaire i can usually keep riding for quite sometime before i need to stop. i never really have issues with running out of leg strength. but when i go to places that have some pretty strong climbs i run out of lungs pretty quickly and my heart races like nuts. is there anything i can do to help increase my cardio? some have suggested i run but i have a crappy knee that doesnt cooperate while running. any suggestions would be awesome and thanks in advance.
 

Kirt

JORBA: Chimney Rock, Team MTBNJ.COM
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
since i started riding my carido and breathing have improved slightly but not nearly enough. when i ride at allaire i can usually keep riding for quite sometime before i need to stop. i never really have issues with running out of leg strength. but when i go to places that have some pretty strong climbs i run out of lungs pretty quickly and my heart races like nuts. is there anything i can do to help increase my cardio? some have suggested i run but i have a crappy knee that doesnt cooperate while running. any suggestions would be awesome and thanks in advance.

It's as simple as riding more & ,if you can, with faster riders. Push yourself when riding alone. Find climbs & do them a few times. Get a single speed & ride, ride ride.
 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
No joke...It's as if you are in the same position as I was a couple of months ago...I now ride Chimney Rock more than 6 Mile because my climbing needed help...I have seen some great improvement in my recovery...There are three things that come to my mind...

1) When you ride Allaire push yourself hard...Never go out for a relaxing ride if your solo( save those fot group rides)...Try to cut your stopping time down

2) Ride Hartshorne more than Allaire if traveling north is not option

3) Road bike
 

idbrian

Crotch Rot
Interval workouts on stationary bike or elliptical machine.

I'm about to start this myself this evening.
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Interval workouts have had great results for me as well.

I will say that the two sport races I have done thus far are probably the most amount of cardio I have done. While there was equal if not more intense cardio in motocross, my motos were only 10-15 min. long. I noticed at ringwood and the jungle on the second lap I developed at sharp pain in the middle of my back, just below my shoulder blades. Im thinking it was from breathing so hard for such a long time? I dont know, but it has only ever happened at these races. Anyone else have this happen to them?
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
road bike, or just ride more often. if you do stop riding solo, only do it for a min and only if you are really hurting. you can do intervals, but if you aren't working towards a goal or training for something, riding more often and higher intensity will get your breathing better.
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
yeah i think now that i know some of the loops in hartshorne ill try to hit it more often seeing as i live close by. thanks for the tips guys.
 

walter

Fourth Party
The thing with riding Allaire so much is that it is relatively flat. Like others have said, start riding parks like Hartshorne or CR that have greater elevation change.
 

gtluke

The Moped
if your legs aren't getting tired, then just click it up a few gears until your legs hurt as much as your chest.
try going 1x9
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
Do tiger woods in both directions - back to back. When I was in shape i would pull this just to see my riding companions faces when I pass head on while thier expecting me to be recovering at the next trailhead. Pretty f***ing funny if you ask me.
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
hahah i will do this once i can run through that place in ONE direction without feeling like death. although i must say my last shot at it i did pretty well.
 

mike_243

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
hahah i will do this once i can run through that place in ONE direction without feeling like death. although i must say my last shot at it i did pretty well.
yeah we ran it pretty good that one hill gets me I made it up once.
the line just sucks if you don't get it just right.
 

walter

Fourth Party
if your only option is to get to Allaire, pick a landmark within the park that you know well. Tell your self you arent going to stop until you get to that point. If you have a watch or computer, notice how long it takes to get to said spot, then try to beat that time.
 
C

Cthulhu

Guest
I haven't read through every post but I'll throw in my 2 cents to see if I can help/make a mess....

As far as climbing don't start off too strong, you can be well above VO2 max which itself is only about 20-30% of your maximum power output... above VO2 max and about 35% of maximum power output you are already only using aerobic metabolism to provide 50% of the energy, the other 50% is anaerobic through fast glycolysis. At 50% power output you'll be closer to 75% anaerobic/25% aerobic. This'll increase lactic acid levels rapidly. That said you can definitely use interval training below VO2max (~84% +/- 5 depending on capability and previous training) to boost it up. Also, using intervals above V02max will increase your capacity and tolerance of anaerobic metabolism and increase the lactate shuttle. At the same time aerobic capacity will increase as it is one of the primary ways the muscles decrease lactic buildup. Don't go crazy with anaerobic training though because your main purpose is to increase VO2 max (using both glycogen and triglycerrides as energy sources). Your heart thrives on lactic acid for energy substrate and peak cardio is between 75-89% VO2max (still using mostly aerobic in the form of slow glycolysis). And remember to train the muscle fibers you'll use for the climbs... long distance running at low paces will not train the fibers you'll be recruiting for climbs unless the intensities are the same (real easy gear and an easy climb).

You can increase VO2max, decrease the % of dependency on anaerobic functioning, increase lactate clearence...
 
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Cyclopath

Shop Owner / Employee
Shop Keep
I haven't read through every post but I'll throw in my 2 cents to see if I can help/make a mess....

Bwah bwah bwah bwat blah bwah.

God, my brain hurts.


Ride the road. Ride it as fast as you can and Ride it a lot.
Do it till it hurts and do it some more.
Rinse, Repeat.
 
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C

Cthulhu

Guest
God, my brain hurts.


Ride the road. Ride it as fast as you can and Ride it a lot.
Do it till it hurts and do it some more.
Rinse, Repeat.

And it gets even better!

When I ride, I ride. Thats it. Intervals, HR, Vo2, pace, whatever. I don't care what i'm using as long as it works. If I'm "training" I do it at a gym or on the mat. Bikes are for fun :)

More power if the info helps you out at all, and I'll be more than happy to clarify, discuss, learn, inform, whatever...
 

idbrian

Crotch Rot
So started that interval training last night and just did 30 minutes on an elliptical. It definitely kicked my ass. If i keep it up i can tell it will definately help my riding stamina. No other indoor exercise that i have tried has come that close to mimicking the feel of a mtb experience. I've been using the elliptical and bikes at the gym for a while but have never felt in that much pain, nor had that much of a high.

Spinning classes work well too, but my new gym doesn't offer that.
 

dualfisted

Member
i recommend.......

A couple of things. 1- you want to improve your climbing, you have to seek out rides with climbs, don't shy away from them. 2-put together a ride that u can duplicate @ your trail, learn it and strive to ride it faster and faster. If u do this often, you'll notice you improve pretty quickly (to a point) 3-find a climb, road or dirt and just do hill repeats, ride it up, cruise back down and repeat, attacking it from time to time will help as well. 4-read about and watch (live or video) other people who climb well. Watching Lance win all those tours made me really want to be a better climber and seeing how much time he put on other riders while climbing was the icing on that cake. The world's best riders can only gain so much time against each other going down hill, but, you can really smoke people being a good climber, that's where you can really put time on people. 5-ride with Ken S, his rides go uphill the whole time, so I'm told, so that can only help. That's my simple recommendations, I'd get deeper into vo2 max n stuff if it wasn't as difficult as performing brain surgery while drinkin' a six pack.
 

MEAN IRISH GUY

Horse-faced space dog
i agree about the v02. it was like chem notes in highschool. hahha. yeah i rode with ken on his leisurely pace one time and was shot. i hear all he has is a big ring and his entire drivetrain is rusty on PURPOSE to make it harder for himself. hahahah
 
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