Cycling in general good exercise or need to push it

[vickster]

Since performance doesn't seem to be of interest, I assume that the question really should be "Would 10-15 miles of gentle cycling a couple of times a week keep me healthy?"

I think the answer to that is "You would be healthier than not doing your gentle rides, but not as healthy as if you made a harder effort from time to time"!

For maximum health & fitness benefits, you should aim to get your pulse rate high for at least a few quick bursts here and there. How about doing 30-60 seconds of hard effort 2 or 3 times per otherwise gentle ride? You would generally still be riding the way that you like to ride, but those intervals would make a significant difference. Do a 10-15 minute warm-up before your first hard effort and take whatever time you need to recover for the next one.

He says there are hills, those should get his heart rate up

 

[sittingbull]

What speed should we be aiming for, to avoid embarrassment ?

15.2 mph

 

[ColinJ]

He says there are hills, those should get his heart rate up

That depends on how steep they are and how fast they are tackled.

We have a long local hill (Cragg Vale, ~5.5 miles long) but most of it is benign. It averages only 3.4% so if you take your time it is very easy, except for one short steeper section half way up. If riding at a gentle level of effort then it hardly makes any difference that the hill is there (excluding that steeper bit).

If you put the effort in to do 10 mph on the flat, that would get you up the easier bits of the climb at just under 3 mph. Trying to stick to 10 mph up the climb would be a different thing altogether - that would require about 4 times the effort.

 

[vickster]

Any hill gets my HR up pretty much. Nothing especially steep around here. Not sure I have ever gone up a hill at 3mph hand not had to get off and walk!

 

[ColinJ]

Not sure I have ever gone up a hill at 3mph hand not had to get off and walk!

There are plenty of THOSE b*st*rds round here!

Once it gets to 15% gradient I am definitely not going to be going faster than walking pace. At 20+%, it is questionable whether I can keep my balance.

 

[kingrollo]

In my late 50s and plagued by injuries - this time of year I'm happy to pootle at around 12mph.
Decent weather and a free run injuries I'm aiming for 14-15mph - I live in a hilly area.

Right now I'm just happy to get out there.

 

[colly]

15.2 mph

15.25 surely ?

 

[alex_cycles]

15.25 surely ?

I find embarassment kicks in at 15.251

To the OP. I would suggest a very gradual progression in your riding. Bit more distance and push a bit more. (If cardio fitness is your goal). Totally depends on your age/health/circumstances and your aims.

I can remember how pleased I was back in 2018 when I first did 20 miles at about 10mph. Without any brags, let's just say I go a lot further and a lot faster now (but I have lost 10kg since then and now ride about 200 miles a week).

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The research for healthy ageing seems to conclude 4-5 times a week, at least 30 mins, at at least 60% MHR , most weeks for healthy ageing. If you want to be a competitive masters athlete then 6 or 7 times a week. There’s no evidence that being competitive offers any health advantages over being a committed exerciser. So if you want to stop a 4 times a week, you’ll get all the health benefits from that. They also seemed to conclude that intermittent or exercising only 2-3 times a week didn’t offer any healthly ageing advantages over sedentary behaviours. It appears frequency as well as dose is important. Its also suggested resistance and balance exercises are important as well as the aerobic cycling gives you.

This professor of physiology at Kings College is involved in a lot of the healthy ageing research.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/stephen-harridge

 

[roley poley]

I feel no shame pushing the bike with my shopping up the 1:5 Hill once a week as the enjoyment of the view is well worth it

 

[PaulSB]

Hi been off the bike for 3 months due to some minor work injuries started to notice myselfeeling a bit slow and sluggish, heavier at home..

Today was my first day back on the bike didn’t feel as difficult as I thought it would be.

Just wondered what people would call it enough exercise on a bike, I would describe myself as a gentle pace cyclist doing about 10 to 15 mile rides and hit some hills. But I never go for speed..

do you think you need to be a fast and hard cyclist to get fit or is just getting out and about enough.
Thoughts

I feel you need to provide more information to get an answer to your question. How many rides a week are you doing? Flat or hills? What do you consider a hill?

If it's one ride a week of 10-15 miles then it's great that your out in the fresh air but I can't see this making any real contribution to improving your fitness. This takes what 60 to 90 minutes?

If you're riding 3-5 times a week and are prepared to exert yourself then you'll get some tangible benefit. Exertion is an important addition to the gentle pace you describe.

 

[alchurch]

What speed should we be aiming for, to avoid embarrassment ?

The sort of speed where I am embarrassed to be seen by anyone. It is not a fixed velocity

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The sort of speed where I am embarrassed to be seen by anyone. It is not a fixed velocity

If it was a fixed velocity you’d be coming off at every bend. Now that would be embarrassing.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Any exercise that makes you exert yourself a bit more than normal daily life has to be good for you, but cycling in itself is quite limited for overall health as it does little or nothing to develop upper body strength, or to maintain a healthy bone density level.

I cycle around 3 x 25 miles a week, push myself on parts of those rides, especially the hills, but worry that I need to vary it a bit more with fast walking, weight resistance and flexibility exercise

 

[nickyboy]

The research for healthy ageing seems to conclude 4-5 times a week, at least 30 mins, at at least 60% MHR , most weeks for healthy ageing. If you want to be a competitive masters athlete then 6 or 7 times a week. There’s no evidence that being competitive offers any health advantages over being a committed exerciser. So if you want to stop a 4 times a week, you’ll get all the health benefits from that. They also seemed to conclude that intermittent or exercising only 2-3 times a week didn’t offer any healthly ageing advantages over sedentary behaviours. It appears frequency as well as dose is important. Its also suggested resistance and balance exercises are important as well as the aerobic cycling gives you.

This professor of physiology at Kings College is involved in a lot of the healthy ageing research.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/stephen-harridge

Very interesting hypothesis. I suspect most non retired cyclists don't exercise 4-5 times per week for 30 minutes minimum so aren't getting those healthy ageing benefits. I know I don't and I'm in the 2-3 times a week category