Every other day?

[fossyant]

First ditch the fags. Not at that quantity. I know a few cyclists that have the odd puff, but not at 40 a day.

Beer then well, it is empty calories, so you will need to ride more... Ahem.

As for riding, yes everyday is actually good. I commute by bike, and it's an ideal base training. Yes it can be hard for the body to deal with the constant stop start, but it works. The day in, day out of riding is great base miles, and mix in sprinting for gaps.

At first there is an issue with overdoing it until used to it.

Cycling doesn't stress the muscles and fibres quite like the gym, so you don't get the 48 hour stiffness set in.

 

[50000tears]

Most amateur cyclists actually train/cycle too much without realising that rest is just as important. Riding 5-6 days a week is fine if one, maybe 2 of these days are recovery rides - that means spinning a low gear and letting the 65 year old granny pass you on the 3% gradient because otherwise you just end up exhausting yourself and your body wont recover. Rest is when the body rebuilds and becomes stronger. WAY too many cyclists forget this or pay no attention to it.

Also worth noting that everyone is different and recovery times vary, but there is defo an issue with cyclists seeing their fave pro talking about riding 7 days a week and trying to emulate them. Problem is pro's don't have a 9-5 job and a family to look after. We don't rest like they do. They joke about not standing when they don't need to, thing is they aren't joking. They train, eat and then sleep. Repeat! For the mere mortal, if you are feeling exhausted or sore then give yourself a rest day, or two if need be, as you will be doing numero uno no favours by training/cycling when already fatigued. You still have to work and function outside the bike.

So IMO, take it as it comes. Learn the way your body reacts to doing too much and learn when to rest up. From there you will be able to make huge leaps forward. Merely cycling all the time won't cut it. Most keen cyclists have over reached or over trained and will attest to this.

Good luck. After all is said and one, enjoy yourself.

Really good post. Recovery ride for me in the morning me thinks.

 

[azraphale]

Thank you all for the advice

 

[Dusty Bin]

Bit of confusion in definitions here, I think. Cycling for seven days per week is not an issue - lots of people do it. Training for seven days per week is an issue - and is practically impossible to sustain. You don't need a recovery ride if you have nothing to recover from. I suspect people need to think carefully about whether what they are doing is actually 'training' - or just riding about on a bike.

 

[uclown2002]

Bit of confusion in definitions here, I think. Cycling for seven days per week is not an issue - lots of people do it. Training for seven days per week is an issue - and is practically impossible to sustain. You don't need a recovery ride if you have nothing to recover from. I suspect people need to think carefully about whether what they are doing is actually 'training' - or just riding about on a bike.

Absolutely!

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Bit of confusion in definitions here, I think. Cycling for seven days per week is not an issue - lots of people do it. Training for seven days per week is an issue - and is practically impossible to sustain. You don't need a recovery ride if you have nothing to recover from. I suspect people need to think carefully about whether what they are doing is actually 'training' - or just riding about on a bike.

Agree entirely but the OP is clearly talking about training, not just riding about on a bike.
One of us may question the OP's motives and definition of training, the other may respond to the OP with an answer more befitting of the original question.

 

[uclown2002]

Agree entirely but the OP is clearly talking about training, not just riding about on a bike.
One of us may question the OP's motives and definition of training, the other may respond to the OP with an answer more befitting of the original question.

You might want to read post#3 where the OP states he's on 40 fags a day.

Maybe he should quit the fags and ride the bike a bit before he worries about 'training'.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

You might want to read post#3 where the OP states he's on 40 fags a day.

Fully aware of the above post.

Quitting smoking might be the best thing the OP ever does, but it doesn't define what their training should be. It might affect the intensity and duration with which the person might train but the plan should remain the same.

@azraphale From a health and fitness POV, you will be amazed at the change when you give up smoking - for good.

 

[azraphale]

Giving up the fags is high on my agenda. Any ride out for me is like a training session, trying to maintain 15-20 mile rides at about 14mph avg speed. this may be a pootle around the town for many but for me its hard work at the moment. My question really was would it be more benefitial for any rider to have a days rest inbetween rides to let the muscles recover and strengthen as in other sports. Excuse the spelling plz

 

[VamP]

I don't believe many amateur cyclist do overreach at all. I think a lot read about it in the mags, and think they are overreaching and take it easy. I also think a lot of people ride the same all the time, which means they plateau. But that is not the same as overreaching.

It's actually really hard to overtrain. Most people don't train enough.

 

[400bhp]

Bit of confusion in definitions here, I think. Cycling for seven days per week is not an issue - lots of people do it. Training for seven days per week is an issue - and is practically impossible to sustain. You don't need a recovery ride if you have nothing to recover from. I suspect people need to think carefully about whether what they are doing is actually 'training' - or just riding about on a bike.

I'm agreeing with you far too much lately - must...resist...

I do about 150 miles a week on average. 6 days usually, but the odd seven. Probably do about 8.5 hours on the bike. If I rode at full pap all the time I be borked, but I don't [ride at full pap]

 

[Rob3rt]

Paranoia... that is a good word to describe peoples attitude to overtraining!

 

[Old Plodder]

As a smoker wanting to get fitter, I think you should concentrate on maybe 3 or 4 rides per week, until you can manage a reasonable mileage at a steady speed.
Then increase mileage & speed weekly by a little bit, say 3 to 5 miles every month. Don't smoke whilst out riding, & you may find it easier to quit when the time is right for you.
(I used to be a 40 a day person, got fitter, managed to quit, & eventually was riding 100 mile Sunday rides for 'pleasure', it can be done.)