Training for Beginners

Every day, more and more people joining the cycling community. People take up cycling for many different reasons. Some set goals and will train to reach them. Others start cycling to save money on transport, get fit or just for fun.

If you’re someone who rides your bike from time to time but wants to start training to reach your goals, we have some handy tips that may help.

Preparation

• Prepare your bike
  • Tune-up & replace worn parts on your bike. It may be that you need new brake pads, chain or tyres.
  • In any kind of training, you put your body through its paces. As you’re sitting down when cycling, you need to ensure that you are comfortable. By doing so, you’re reducing the risk of injuries. A good bike fit will decrease the chances of neck, back, shoulder and leg pain and numbness of your hands.
• Prepare Yourself
  • Always wear a helmet.  If you were to ever have an accident, your helmet will protect your head, reducing the risk of potential damage.
  • Correct kit! No-one is suggesting that you must splash your cash and buy expensive gear. However, you will need the essentials. If you haven’t already, then you should invest in some padded cycling shorts. Bicycle seats tend not to have a lot of padding as they are designed to work with padded cycling shorts. The weather is always unpredictable so make sure you wear layers.

Week 1 of Training

Within your first week of training, we recommend cycling 3-4 times a week. Try to stick with 30 to 60 minute sessions as you don’t want to overdo it too soon. If you’re cycling as a way of transport, then add this time on to what you have already cycled that week. After a couple of weeks, when your body is a little more used to cycling, try to increase your time by at least 10%.

Set yourself a steady pace to begin with. You shouldn’t go ‘hell for leather’ within your first week. Training the right way takes time and you need to do it bit-by-bit.

Month 1 of Training

If you were a regular cyclist before you started training, you may have already reached a maximum number of hours that you can train per week. Athletes tend to spend around 6-10 hours each week training. However, if it is still very new for you then you should keep trying to increase your riding time by 10% each week. During your days off work, you should try to fit in longer rides.

Tips:

1. Maintain a Healthy Diet. Fill your diet with healthy foods, such as fruit, veg, protein and natural fats.
2. Stay Hydrated. This will help your body’s core temperature stay regulated and deliver oxygen to your blood.
3. Eat Your Carbs. For any workout longer than 90 minutes, you need to be eating carbohydrates as your body needs them in order to operate for longer.
4. Don’t give up.

We hope that this blog has been of help to you.

If we can help your cycling needs in any way, please contact us today.