Simply riding your bike will help improve your fitness and your handling skills, but there are training techniques you can adopt to make sure you get a decent workout, whether you're riding for two hours or five minutes.
Here's a menu of simple but effective sessions which can boost your fitness rate of return.
From a short trip to work where you spin and grin, to a weekend ride with set intervals, it all gets easier when you know you are using your time effectively. Your power-building commute or inspirational indoor ride awaits you...
If you have five minutes
Spin to shops, errands, short commute or brief indoor spin in normal clothes on rollers or indoor trainer: Keep the intensity light as you have little time to warm up muscles and joints. Keep cadence high but purposeful – press and lift – don't be lazy and grind a low cadence. Enjoy what brief time you have, but fend off the urge to go flat out.
Benefits: You are in touch with the bike so it reminds you of handling skills and reminds the legs about going in circles – vital for good coordination.It may be a very small fix but the fun of just riding can be enough to keep cold turkey at bay and highlight any mechanicals you need to sort before the next real ride
If you have 15 minutes
Short commute: After five minutes of spinning, throw in 10-second sprints from stops or every two minutes, when safe to do so
Indoor ride: Warm up as above, then close your eyes and focus on counting 15 seated powerful revolutions every two mins. Ensure last two mins are light spinning
Benefits: With more time, you can have concerted 10-second efforts that push the muscle fibres at top power output but are too brief to cause excessive fatigue. It can be fun sprinting, knowing that you are boosting your metabolism and power in a very short time
If you have 30 minutes
Commute: Use the morning ride to focus on high cadence smooth pedalling (95-105rpm).
Evening ride: Five mins steady riding; five mins with a 10-second modest sprint every min; 15 mins using any hills or headwind to push a big gear at 60rpm; five mins spin down.
Indoors: Five mins steady riding; five mins with 10-second seated sprint every min; 15 mins using a high resistance to push a big gear at 60rpm; five mins spin down
Benefits: Combining short sprints in the warm-up with low cadence power work gives the legs a good going over, recruiting various muscle fibres and developing your ability to pedal smoothly. It's not something to do every ride but if you've been too used to staying on the small chainring, pushing a big gear can bring a new strength to your
If you have one hour
Training ride: First 20 mins on flat terrain, light gear at 90-100rpm focusing on smooth pedal action; core 20 mins rolling terrain on big chainring pushing at 60-70rpm but keeping your upper body still; 10 mins with explosive 10-second hill efforts every two minutes; 10 mins cool down spin. If this is your commute, do the above on your way home two or three days a week, and on the other journeys keep a moderate to high cadence with smooth pedal action (90-110rpm)
Benefits: Combining various amounts of effort and different terrain means many muscles are trained, and all energy systems are used in your 60 minutes.This should not be the only session you do, but complete it two or three times a week and it's very effective
If you have two hours
Weekend training ride: As long as other varied rides have been done in the week, keep the effort relaxed and the cadence moderate (80-90rpm). If you've done little other riding, vary your ride with some opposites training: low gear on the flat (>95rpm) and high gear uphill (<65rpm).
Indoor ride: Some people have to do indoor workouts due to location, time or childcare. Keep it varied to maintain interest
For simplicity: 30 mins warm-up of steady to moderate riding; one-hour workout (below); 30 mins light spinning
Benefits: Longer periods in the saddle teach the body to tap fats and lactate for fuel alongside glycogen (carbohydrate). Keeping your focus on cadence stops the gradual decline of rpm that can come when fatigue slowly builds.Sometimes a longer ride means more variety of terrain, which will ultimately improve your handling. To get the most from this, occasionally pick a very technical and hilly course to vary your skills; the benefits are that no road ever surprises you in the future
Remember! The 75 percent rule...
Research from the European University of Madrid supports the theory that the greatest gains in performance occur when more than three-quarters of your training is done below 75 per cent maximum heart rate (MHR).
The study suggests, though, that this base be supplemented with around 10 per cent of your weekly work in excess of 90 per cent MHR. The key factor seems to be making the training effort hard (>90 percent) or easy (<75-80 percent HRmax), and not training regularly in the no man's land between these zones.
