Summer Cycling Routines - Health Nutrition and Fitness

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• Use the Tour de France as an inspiration to start a summer cycling routine.
• Training at a variety of ?tempos? and terrains will optimize your workout.
• Rest is particularly important between workouts when you?re cycling.

?From a strength standpoint, cycling is preferable to running as a cardiovascular workout. ?

Watching the Tour de France can be a serious buzzkill for a guy trying to get in shape. Cyclists are among the most physically fit athletes in the world, and watching those guys go up a hill can be enough to make a guy trying in vain to get in shape to throw in the towel.

But if you can?t beat ?em, as they say, join ?em. Cycling is an amazing way to get in shape, and the benefits start showing soon. Instead of letting the Tour de France discourage you, use the physical fitness of the cyclists as an inspiration, and introduce cycling to your summer workout routines.

Cycling is a great way to not only improve your conditioning this summer, but also to enhance your physique. Some of the best benefits you?ll see with cycling training are the body?s enhanced utilization of oxygen, increased muscular strength and power in the legs, improved ability to buffer lactic acid buildup, and decreased body-fat percentage. From a strength standpoint, cycling is preferable to running as a cardiovascular workout, since you will be constantly working against resistance. That said, there are some important things you should consider when coming up with a summer cycling routine that will help you maximize your training.

A variety of workouts

One of the most important factors to consider when putting together your bike workout is variety. If you?re doing the same workout day in and day out, your body is going to adapt to it very quickly and you will stop showing results. By changing it up on a frequent basis, you will keep your body guessing as you work your muscles on a variety of levels at the same time.

Including one or two ?tempo? sessions will help you build a good base for your summer cycling routine. In these workouts, you will be riding at a constant, fairly high intensity for 20 to 25 minutes. The idea here is to help your body grow accustomed to tolerating lactic acid so that when you do decide to push harder, you will not fatigue as quickly. These workouts will also help to push up your relative speed, thereby increasing your performance.

One session per week should be dedicated to a longer-duration workout, as this will help you build cardiovascular endurance. Not only is this good for proper health, but it will also give your body a break from the very high intensity workouts. Aim to cycle continuously, at a comfortable pace, for about 45 minutes to an hour. There is no need to overdo it during these sessions, unless you are training for an endurance event. Excessive endurance training will lead to issues with recovery and will take time away from other workouts you should be concentrating on.

Finally, adding one or two sessions of sprint training is a smart move, as these are what will really bump up your fitness level. Aim to go 30 seconds to a minute at a very hard pace, and then take a rest period for two to three times the duration of the sprint interval. Repeat this process 6 to 12 more times before starting your cooldown.

Proper rest

The next factor to consider when putting together your summer cycling routine is rest. Rest is absolutely critical if you hope to see progress, because if you don?t allow recuperation to take place, each session will only tear down your muscle fibers.

Along with scheduling days off, take into account any cross-training activities you participate in, such as weightlifting or other sports. If those are highly demanding physically, you will again need to scale back slightly on the cycling workouts so you do not overtrain.

Eating right is an essential component of any summer cycling routine? Next Page

Article source: http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_150/176_fitness_tip.html

Source: http://health-nutrition-fitness.net/health-and-nutrition-tips/summer-cycling-routines/

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