Dave 123
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire alps
Some of us never had it to lose......
How quickly do you "lose it"
- Thread starter Justinslow
- Start date
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- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
This was asked a few weeks back and someone posted this link which I kept as it was interesting:
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/training/detraining-the-truth-about-losing-fitness-22330
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/training/detraining-the-truth-about-losing-fitness-22330
OP
OP
Justinslow
Lovely jubbly
- Location
- Suffolk
Interesting article, so I'm ok to have 3 or 4 days off then !
50000tears
Senior Member
- Location
- Weymouth, Dorset
The proper answer is that it depends on your fitness to begin with. If you are building up to 50 miles then the chances are that you can progress on 1 ride a week and get to the 50 miles without any problem. It will be far from optimal to only train once a week but riding from a low fitness base you can still progress this way. What you would find though is that you would plateau before too long and would need to up your number of rides to continue to gain further fitness.
Of course if you rode 2-3 times a week through the summer and dropped back to once a week in the winter you would lose fitness, because your extra days got you fitter than once a week riding ever could. At the top end of the scale the top pros can start to de-train just by having too many low intensity rides even if they are still putting in the hours. A lot of cyclists on this forum, me included, would certainly lose fitness if we only cycled once or twice a week. The fitter you get you either need more time on the bike or more intensity or both to keep progressing.
Of course if you rode 2-3 times a week through the summer and dropped back to once a week in the winter you would lose fitness, because your extra days got you fitter than once a week riding ever could. At the top end of the scale the top pros can start to de-train just by having too many low intensity rides even if they are still putting in the hours. A lot of cyclists on this forum, me included, would certainly lose fitness if we only cycled once or twice a week. The fitter you get you either need more time on the bike or more intensity or both to keep progressing.
Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
I think the two or three rides per week, of about 20 miles, wold be most helpful, knowing no more than I do about your specific situation. Keep yourself challenged with speed, distance, and/or intensity. Never lose sight of the fact that you are out there to enjoy yourself.
Keith Oates
Janner
- Location
- Penarth, Wales
This year I've had to reduce the number of rides I get in each week due to work and travel issues and my overall fitness has dropped. I did a 50 Km. ride and by the end of it I was feeling the affects however after a week of commuting to work I did a 70 Km. none stop ride last Saturday and felt as if I could go much further. This follows what i've always said, almost daily riding is the way to increase cycle fitness !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
