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"fantastic way to build fitness"

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    On another thread Anth has said that "fixed was never about fashion for me" and "it's still a fantastic way to build fitness".

    I'm confident that I have above average fitness for my age and that that will be partly due to the fact I haven't spent too much time sitting in cars or buses.

    But I'm certainly not into 'fitness'/gym/'exercise for its own sake' etc.

    There are plenty of people on here who have taken up cycling relatively recently and have got fitter, lost weight found different muscles etc.

    I'm just wondering whether Anth's 'fixed for fitness' experience just accelerates a 'natural' process - "builds fitness" - (which takes a certain amount of time/miles) or whether some sorts of exercise regime, bikes etc. make a difference(?)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    From my experience I was getting fitter from cycling anyway, fitter than I'd ever been, then saw an acceleration of that when I started riding fixed regularly.

    In fairness it's probably a specific type of fitness, that comes from having to mash a big gear up a hill - although I think Edinburgh gives fixed a more rounded effect because you also have to loosen up and get supple for fast spins downhill...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. Dave
    Member

    If you want to get up hills on fixed, you must attack them. Therefore (if you're not walking) you are *definitely* getting a good workout in Edinburgh...

    You /can/ get just as good a workout on a geared bike, but because you don't have to, I suspect few truly do.

    I would quite often have "acid spit" on the fixed wheel where I never do on the recumbent.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Regular riding will increase your fitness but then you will reach a fitness plateau. That's because your regular riding no longer causes a training effect; you are no longer stressing your muscles or cardio-vascular system. To improve further you could continue to do what you are doing but do more of it - in effect repetitions or reps. But then you would need a reason to be fitter than you need to be.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. chdot
    Admin

    "But then you would need a reason to be fitter than you need to be."

    That sounds like a good 'rule'.

    Which leads to my next question -

    Where does stamina fit in with fitness?

    I could probably Google, but there are experts here!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. wingpig
    Member

    Fitness is a vague term, stamina is an aspect of it, as is strength. Toning is a vague term but doing lots of something achieves it; if there's a maximal level of fitness which can be achieved with a particular amount of a particular exercise set for a particular body then repetition of this over time ought to asymptotically approach the maximum. Doing lots of the same amount of the same thing might not improve fitness beyond a certain level but doing lots of something which requires energy allows you to increase your cake input to no visual effect, though there are internal considerations to also bear in mind when eating cakes.

    What we really need are a few pairs of identical twins so that one of each can be supplied with a geared bike and the other with a fixie. Send them off round the same hilly routes at the same speed for a year and then assess various aspects of their fitness to see if there's any difference, the multiple sets of twins hopefully controlling for variance in physical aptitudes. There'd probably be some differences in change of muscle type distributions and the degrees of improvement to aerobic/anaerobic capacities. Which is best depends on which you'd prefer, how good your knees are or how uncomfortable you like your trousers.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    If you think of fitness building as a pyramid, the base comprises "base miles", long, steady distance ridden at a fairly easy pace usually over winter. That in itself is a form of stamina and in itself should allow you to cover twice your normal distance at similar pace without any more training. To progress you can then build onto that base the type of fitness you need. For distance riding or time-trialling you would have to build muscular endurance. This is achieved by interval training at a level of higher intensity, about 80% of maximum heart-rate. This improves cardio-vascular fitness which allows you to ride faster for longer. On top of that, if you want to you can add short power intervals. These are high geared efforts, usually done on hills. They build leg strength and power and help with endurance on long climbs. Lastly you might do a little bit of sprint interval training: anaerobic efforts to improve your ability to deal with lactate build-up during sprints.

    These are all different kinds of "stamina" but you need to build up to them on the pyramid principle.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. ruggtomcat
    Member

    What CM said.

    With Anths case it looks like a period of geared commuting put in the base miles and he then added intervals by going fixed.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. Smudge
    Member

    In my case I started pretty un (bike)fit and used a bike with mtb gearing, I ran that over very hilly routes for about a year and once fit enough not to struggle in the granny ring(!) was spinning and building base fitness.

    I then spent a month or two on the road bike without the option of super low gears and so had to attack the hills and build on the base fitness, I'm now back on a bike with a wide range of gears and so mostly choose to attack the hills in a moderate gear but have the option for a "rest" day or if I'm feeling particularly poorly/tired of choosing to spin in an "easy" gear.

    This is continuing to make noticeable improvements for me without blowing my already dodgy knees or leaving me useless at work by Friday.

    Imho a singlespeed would be frustratingly slow on parts of my commute and/or impossible on some of the climbs (for me at least), a fixed even worse. I ride to get fit *and* to get places conveniently and to be blunt I have enough enduring injuries from poor training without risking more. Therefore they are not practical for me.

    They can be very stylish though ;-)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. kaputnik
    Moderator

    @chdot
    But I'm certainly not into 'fitness'/gym/'exercise for its own sake' etc.

    Yes you very much struck me as being into someone who's into 'fitness' for the getting to the next latte / slice of cake / tweeting stop's sake :)

    I was horribly unfit when I started cycling. I thank my singlespeed for the fact I now have visible muscles in my legs and can keep a pace with laidback going down the Lanark Road!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "into 'fitness' for the getting to the next latte / slice of cake / tweeting stop's sake"

    Sounds good to me - though I'm more likely to stop for Flickr rather than Twitter.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. SRD
    Moderator

    I recommend another option (possibly cheaper, or more expensive, depending) -- ride with 30lbs of child attached. Instant effect!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. Smudge
    Member

    Good point, mothers with empty child seats are on my "be wary of in case they scalp you in an embarrassing way" list along with beardy old guys on battered Dawes Galaxy's and similar.
    Can be deceptively fast! :-/

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Ther ewas a £8900 unobtanium bike in Cycling Plus this week.

    Definitely cheaper than 30lbs of child!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. chdot
    Admin

    "Definitely cheaper than 30lbs of child!"

    and lighter?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  16. kaputnik
    Moderator

    For that money, I'd hope so! It was 7 kilos. My 8andabit kilo aluminium bike cost a smidgen under 6 times that...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  17. SRD
    Moderator

    Definitely cheaper than 30lbs of child!

    Well depends on if you have one already and/or can borrow one for cycling. Starting from scratch simply for purposes of training possibly immoral (and expensive.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  18. steveo
    Member

    One of the women in my work does triathlons at the weekend and runs around on her "mum" bike for transporting children and getting to work. I always give her a good ten minute head start to make sure she's way ahead of me to avoid embarrassing my self on my light weight road bike...

    Posted 13 years ago #

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