# How to improve fitness quickly?



## lukea6 (5 Jul 2009)

Hi all,

I'm new on here.. In fact I think this is my third post!
I'm looking for some help in improving my fitness. I'm very confused with my fitness / stamina levels recently and am trying to find a cause and improve!

I've been cycling for around a year now, sometimes with large breaks in the middle (I work away alot and over the winter literally don't get the time)...
Anyway, last year I did a few organised rides and a few longish rides on my own (60m) and on the whole I coped well. I totally burnt out one day but that was lack of prep/lack of food on the day... It was my first long ride and was a 60 miler over lots of hills! I managed a 90miler with a little training and following a diet the week before. I think I could've managed another 20 miles on top!!

Recently while riding I keep getting absolutly knackered very quickly - especially when real effort is needed for hills etc. This is both out of breath tired and lack of energy tired. I cannot for the life of me work out what's gone wrong! I have been training more than last year (2 or 3 rides a week ranging from 15 to 40 miles) but I certainly haven't been over training. I have tried eating differently, different drinks, sleeping more, cycling in the cooler weather... Nothing seems to be helping! 

Any advice on things to try would be greatly appreciated! I have a few long organised rides coming up and don't want to be holding everybody up!


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## marinyork (5 Jul 2009)

If I was wanting to train for an event I was very worried about I'd be doing my 12-17 mile training loop every night week days (adapted for different work), day of rest on Saturday and longer endurance ride of 40-60 miles on Sunday. It sounds like you have very good abilities and have just been lucky on virtually no training.


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## Steve Austin (5 Jul 2009)

Running gives the quickest fitness improvements for effort used.


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## Crackle (5 Jul 2009)

How's your underlying health, any history there, any allergies? Just wondering about the breathlessness as that's how I got and discovered I'd developed adult onset asthma.

If all OK, then as Steve suggests, running is excellent for improving CV fitness and improving that will shif the focus away from beathing trouble which does limit the effort you feel you can make and actually can make.

If you're time limited, try keeping the distance down but increasing the effort and throw in longer slower rides when time allows. Make sure you are spinning uphill as well.


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## lukea6 (5 Jul 2009)

I have hayfever but have always had it! Don't think I'm astmatic. I guess I'll give running a try!


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## marinyork (5 Jul 2009)

I agree running does make you fit overall more efficiently. It doesn't really transfer though. I was an all right runner, a crap cyclist.


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## Crackle (5 Jul 2009)

lukea6 said:


> I have hayfever but have always had it! Don't think I'm astmatic. I guess I'll give running a try!




Can be a pre-disposition, might just be worth having a Spirometry test at your local surgery.


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## lukea6 (5 Jul 2009)

Yeah I guess I could ask next time I'm there..


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## jimboalee (6 Jul 2009)

marinyork said:


> I agree running does make you fit overall more efficiently. It doesn't really transfer though. I was an all right runner, a crap cyclist.



Good comment.

Any activity will increase CV performance, IF you elevate your Heart Rate for a sustained ammount of time compared with just running upstairs.

What a LOT of folks don't realise is :- by doing the activity - whether it is running or cycling - the capillaries which transport blood to the relevant muscle fibres are being expanded and constructed in an attempt to adapt to the new levels of intensity.

If you run, the capillaries to the running muscle groups are improving. If you ride a bike, the capillaries to the cycling muscles are being improved.

To become a good cyclist, you MUST ride a bike and build those muscles.


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## Steve Austin (6 Jul 2009)

But to increase overall fitness quickly (which is the point in question) you will need to doa variety of different activities to make your body fitter.

There is no doubt to become a better cyclist you will need to do more miles or train smarter over the long term, BUT ime if you want to improve fitness quickly, riding more will just exhaust your legs. 

A variety of activities will increase overall fitness much better than just cycling will. Weight, running, gym circuits are well known to improve fitness faster


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## jimboalee (6 Jul 2009)

Define "Fitness"?


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## lukea6 (6 Jul 2009)

For me....
The ability to keep on riding!


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## I am Spartacus (6 Jul 2009)

Wanna judge your fitness level honestly...?
then do the Cooper test..
warm up 10 mins.. then run for 12 mins and measure the distance covered.. compare to the table below . the measurements are in miles btw..
it just sounds like you have very poor base fitness, I fear



MEN
AGE	18-28	29-39	40-50	50+
HIGH	1.85+	1.65+	1.50+	1.35+
GOOD	1.60/1.84 1.50/1.64	1.40/1.49	1.25/1.35
AVERAGE	1.40/1.59	1.35/1.49	1.25/1.40	1.10/1.24
LOW	<1.40	<1.35	<1.25	<1.10

WOMEN
AGE	18-28	29-39	40-50	50+
HIGH	1.55+	1.40+	1.25+	1.15+
GOOD	1.36/1.54	1.25/1.39	1.15/1.24	1.05/1.14
AVERAGE	1.20/1.35	1.05/1.24	1.00/1.14	.90/1.04
LOW	<1.20	<1.05	<1.00	.90


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## jimboalee (6 Jul 2009)

I am Spartacus said:


> Wanna judge your fitness level honestly...?
> then do the Cooper test..
> warm up 10 mins.. then run for 12 mins and measure the distance covered.. compare to the table below . the measurements are in miles btw..
> it just sounds like you have very poor base fitness, I fear
> ...



Yeh, running is a good measure of fitness, 'cus it's what the human body has evolved to do.

In twelve minutes, I can run a mile and a half after warming up properly.

It just so happens that Solihull Hospital A & E is half a mile from where I live, so the test route goes around the perimeter of the Hospital.


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## lukea6 (6 Jul 2009)

I think I'd fit into the average category. The think that's strange is last year with less prep I coped better than I do now, even though I do more exercise now?


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## 02GF74 (7 Jul 2009)

I am Spartacus said:


> Wanna judge your fitness level honestly...?
> then do the Cooper test..
> warm up 10 mins.. then run for 12 mins and measure the distance covered.. compare to the table below . the measurements are in miles btw..
> it just sounds like you have very poor base fitness, I fear
> ...



I don't understand that table.... and has been mentioned earlier, what exaclty is fitness.

you can get a top notch swimmer, top TDF cyclist, a 1500 m runner, a marthon runner and a 100 m sprinter, all of them very fit as far as their own sport goes but my momney would be on the 1500 m runner to do best in this test.

A 100 m runner can be very fit and fast but is never gonna do well in a marathon and so on.

Hence is all a bit pointless test wise.


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## jimboalee (7 Jul 2009)

I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.

Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".

The dictionary definition is "ability to transport oxygen and fuel to the muscles for a sustained period".

Running after an antelope for an hour until it dies, IMHO, is what humans should be best at. Not riding a wheeled machine or even swimming across a river. Not even kicking a pig's bladder round a field


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## I am Spartacus (7 Jul 2009)

You need to read around the subject a bit.. there are plenty of resources online.
The OP has a certain degree of difficulty with his cardiovascular endurance... the Cooper test ( I regret that the table formatting isnt easy to read) is one of several sub maximal tests that have been developed by sports scientists (this one by KH Cooper) to guage CV fitness.
Why....? 'cos its relatively easy to do... needs hardly any equipment and is safer than a maximal test.
CV endurance.. NOT explosive strength.. the varying difficulties of individual sports are not addressed... this is basically a test for NON elite athletes....

do you understand now?


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## pubrunner (7 Jul 2009)

jimboalee said:


> I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.
> 
> Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".
> 
> ...



*+1*

Fitness may be defined as being the extent to which an individual can *repeat* or *continue* a given aerobic exercise within a certain timescale.

Within a regular training regime, *Intensity* *is* the best PRODUCER of fitness. If you want to become fitter, it's always - within reason - better to upgrade the intensity of your workouts, instead of their volume or frequency. Be careful not to increase training volume & intensity at the same time - you will either feel 'rundown' or get injured (or both).

Carrying out some *intense* training sessions is the optimal way both to *produce* and *preserve* fitness.

Running sessions (*once a week*) along the following lines are good :

5-8 minute gentle warmup, then do . . .

40 seconds '*effort' and then just 20 seconds jogged recovery; repeat this about 6 - 8 times. (40 seconds effort then 20 seconds recovery X 6-8 times). Over time, you should be able to do 12-15 (or more) of the efforts. 

Finish with a 5-8 min warm-down.
* effort should be no slower than 800 metres pace. In 40 seconds, you should be covering between 150-200 metres.

*Or*

5-8 minute gentle warm-up, then do . . . 

4 mins *effort (slightly over 10K race pace) followed by 1 minute jogged recovery. Repeat efforts 3 or 4 times. (4 minutes effort then 1 minute recovery X 3-4 times). 

Finish with a 5-8 min warm-down.
* effort should be faster than you'd race 10K

When doing effort sessions, try to keep the level of effort consistent; eg you should not be doing 200 metres in the first 40 seconds effort and then 150 metres in the next.

During these sessions, the jogged recovery time does seem very short; but if you stick with them, within 10-14 days, you *will* notice an improvement in your ability to recover after each effort.


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## jimboalee (8 Jul 2009)

jimboalee said:


> I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.
> 
> Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".
> 
> ...



Corrected that spelling error. I never did like 'smimming'.


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## lukea6 (9 Jul 2009)

Thanks all.
I'll give the tests a try and attempt some running!


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