Cycling is one of the best activities you can deploy to keep yourself fit and healthy. Whether you’re cycling around the neighbourhood, around a track, or even in a spinning class – there are few exercises that get the heart rate pumping and the muscles contracting.
Whatever method you utilise, you have to ensure that you’re following a proper training regime in order to get the best out of the exercise. There’s no point expending a lot of energy and time if it’s not going to pay dividends for your health and fitness. It does not quite have to be to the extremes of four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, who has described his training regime in Tenerife, in preparation for cycling’s most prestigious event, as a painful experience.
Froome is once again one of the leading contenders in the cycling betting odds to win the Tour de France. Only the very serious athletes should ever consider putting themselves through his routine of constant cycling in the heat, up hills, and at great speeds. He is a true champion, and there are useful lessons that can be heeded, although the best methods are the simplest ones.
Interval Training
It is one of the staples of any training to success in athletics and gaining fitness. Personal trainers are advocates of the system for fat burning and building strength in the muscles, especially at the start of a new training regime. It allows you to build your pace gradually over time, building in the key component of rest into the training.
Recovery is just as important as the exercise itself to ensure that you can maintain a strict regime and time is not lost due to injury. Intervals of 30 seconds of cycling on a stationary bike, or even on the street, and 30 seconds of rest is the perfect start for beginners. It provides enough time to build muscle strength and get your heart rate up before being eased down. The repetitions can be increased for more experienced cyclists to make the exercise more strenuous.
Endurance
Pushing your body to its limit can be a stressful approach, but one that can yield good results. Unlike the short and sharp approach of intervals, training endurance is designed to test your limits. Picking a suitable distance and then not stopping until you’ve reached it pushes your body to the extreme. It builds the key component – stamina. The leading cyclists in the world, including Olympic gold medallists, insist that it is the best way to build optimum fitness.
It does not have to be a long-distance, but just enough to ensure that your body is working hard enough and you’re not coasting. Stamina is one of the hardest aspects of fitness to build – and there are no shortcuts. It can also be lost very quickly, so it is vital that you are disciplined and stick to your regime. Speed is not the key when working on this aspect, therefore you can go at your own pace before eventually upping the ante after mastering your distance.
