Jog Mid week - Effective? Or not

[keeponridingbrotha]

Hello guys,

Long story short.

I can only go cycling weekends (most 1 day of the weekend, sometimes both days) due to my profession.

I go to the gym during the week and work out (I know potentially not great putting those extra kg for cycling lol)

However, I want a good mid-week cardio session.


I was thinking of doing 5K on the treadmill at quite a high pace/intensity.

The alternate is doing a high intensity on the bikes in the gym. The bikes in the gym are not very good. I know there are many videos on you tube for high intensity workout.

My Question is would jogging mid-week help me for my weekend rides or is the difference minimal?
Is going on a gym bike much better?

Would be great if you can help

Ed

 

[vickster]

Why can’t you go cycling in the week instead of the gym if you have time for the gym?

If cycling is your aim, you need to cycle more. Maybe even do a spin class if you want to work cycling muscles?

Jogging is good for fitness but potentially hard on knees so if you do run, make sure your footwear is right for your feet and running gait

 

[Milkfloat]

If you do it properly the gym bike will be better for your cycling, but not necessarily for your all-round fitness.

 

[Nebulous]

In the past I've done a lot of my winter training on gym bikes. There are a lot of variations, some gyms have quite good bikes now, but even the ones with those huge fat saddles can give you a decent workout.

 

[johnblack]

I went through a stage of doing 1 or 2 5k's a week, especially in the winter, good for fitness but not great for my body, I picked up lots of niggles and blame it for a calf tear I picked up last September, haven't run since. Use a bike in the gym, Schwinn Carbon blue? not the greatest, certainly not a watt bike, but it gives me enough data so that I can train pretty well. I use it in conjunction with GCN videos usually and I've definitely seen a greater improvement in my cycling with that approach rather than previous years when I've done the running.

 

[Shortandcrisp]

i nearly always have a midweek evening cycle during the winter months. All you need is a good set of lights and away you go. Great fun!

 

[Globalti]

Cyclists have notoriously stiff calves and Achilles tendons and are prone to damaging them trying to run. My cycling buddy was a regular runner but moved over to cycling then years later tried running again but injured himself three times before giving up on the idea.

Gym bikes are dangerous in my opinion; a seasoned cyclist goes balls-out on one and injures him/herself because the setup is completely wrong.

As above, night cycling is brilliant fun, you just need an LED light that can run for an hour. Alternatively go for a brisk walk for an hour; you should be able to cover four miles.

 

[huwsparky]

Like people have mentioned above it's a lot easier picking up an injury running than cycling. I went through the exact predicament myself. Now that I'm better conditioned to running I do quite enjoy it, it's s bloody tough sport though, don't get to freewheel when running!

If you're going to give it a go just give yourself a month at least of running very gentle. If you're going to start at 2 to 3 mile runs, run at the pace you think you could do for 10k or more. There really is no point in pushing it, just not the same as cycling where you can litterally go and kill yourself.

As for your cycling, if your goal is to be able to cycle better and you're only riding once a week, get yourself on a bike of any description, I don't really find running helps my cycling, but it's not the reason I run in the first place.

 

[nickAKA]

I signed up for a 10K this May having never really run for fun or fitness, so I kicked off training just after Christmas. Personally I find it quite cathartic, and it's less faff than getting out on the bike, but given a straight choice between running & cycling it'd be the bike every time if my goal was bike fitness.
I'm aiming for a 60 minute 10k so I'm not trying to run any faster than that, which I think is why I've not suffered any ill effects *so far*... other than that, I would say running up hill is easier than cycling up hill, but the downhill bits are very disappointing
The only benefits I can see in doing both (on a simple level) is adding some general aerobic fitness, but that said doing something is definitely better than doing nothing. Apropos of nowt, I found treadmills to be murder on the knees & back but I've been fine out on the road.

 

[huwsparky]

I'm aiming for a 60 minute 10k so I'm not trying to run any faster than that/QUOTE]

Isn't that called walking?

*Joke*

 

[nickAKA]

I can go a "tad" faster than that but yes, it's not much faster than walking.

Running as a team for charity so you can only go as fast as the slowest member (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it...)

 

[sheddy]

Try it. Running on a treadmill has to be easier on the joints than running outdoors.