How many miles a day to get fit?

Question

I started bicycling about a year ago. I am up to about 10 miles in a 45 minute period and stuck there. I've been thinking that I"m not getting enough exercise though and considering switching to jogging. Do folks who use bicycling as exercise HAVE to cross train to see results?

Answer 1

It depends on how you define fit. Ten miles in 45 minutes is a great start. But I don't measure my workouts/rides in terms of miles. I measure it in terms of duration and quality. If you do a ten mile ride, and a majority of it is downhill, then you're really not getting much of a workout.



I focus on the quality of the ride. I mix things up, mainly because I race.



In terms of weight management, I tend to work on long, slow base miles over the winter months. This helps the body learn to use fat as a source of energy before burning up other valuable energy sourecs. This also prepares the body for more intense workouts as the season progresses. That's when the intensity workouts kick in - things like sprint workouts, intervals (multiple reps at a higher, fixed intensity), hill repeats. This, combined with racing helps me raise and maintain my fitness and speed.



To translate it into something you can use, the basic message here is that whatever you do, increase the distance and/or intensity of your rides SLOWLY - this is to prevent injuries. Keep at it, and you'll find your fitness will improve. You'll find that you can ride farther and with less effort over the same distance as in the past.



Good luck!

Answer 2

You should be focusing on the time and not the miles. You should be riding longer times now that you have rode a year at the same time. Pro cyclists ride all day long with a day or two off in a week. You should ride for at least an hour and a half at a time. Also ride harder by climing more hills or dropping the gear into higher gears. That will effectively get your heart pumping harder and faster. The goal is to ride hard everytime you ride and you will only have to ride a couple of times a week. Try it and see what happens!

Answer 3

Distance, as the other say, is not neccesarily as important as duration/ intensity. Presonally, I feel no aerobic benefit with anything less than 40 miles (road biking at 15 mph) but a good mountain singletrack course can kick my butt in 15 miles. AS far a training off the bike, I feel biking, as great as it is, neglects many important muscle groups, and a dedicated weight training program should be added to any cycing regime. But its all up to you- do what you feel most at home with; what you like.

Answer 4

Most fitness experts agree on that ½ hour of good excercise each day should be sufficiant. Don't worry about have fast you go as long as you obtain high pulse and sweat a lot. I ride about 6 miles to work and 6 miles from work every day. It takes me about 35 minutes each way, and I don't feel I need more excercise.

Answer 5

5 miles a day