Use it or lose it. Not arf

[swee'pea99]

After a couple of months away, I am stunned by just how much physical capability I've lost. A fixie doesn't lie, bits of my usual route that I would expect to be no problem suddenly are. Really are. I have to work hard to get up slopes I'm used to pretty much zipping up. Two months!

It's not even like we've been lying around calling for another G&T. Proper backpacking, buses and trains and hills and rucksacks. But not the usual daily routine: walking, cycling & swimming.

I've always bought into the whole Michael Mosley use it or lose it mindset, and how borders can draw in if you don't keep testing them. It's one of the reasons for the fixie: on any ride round here, however short, I will at some point be working at 100%. Pushing as hard on the pedals as I physically can. Intuitively, that feels like a good way to avoid 'shrinkage'.

And now I haven't done that, for just two months, and boy does it show. Two months and, I'm struggling. I'm not even sure I'll be able to 'get it back', though I'll work with that in mind. And I've never felt that way before. I guess maybe this is that there old age they warned me about. But...I ate my greens!

 

[ColinJ]

I am suffering from this too after a winter ruined by multiple minor illnesses which reduced my total riding time by about 80%.

I can currently only produce around 120 watts for an hour and a half at a heart rate that was giving me 160 watts for four hours back in November.

 

[presta]

Imagine what it's like after 15 years.

 

[Chief Broom]

I really didnt want to lose too much fitness over the winter and grabbed any weather window to get out there when it was really bad it was onto the turbo which i loathe anyhow even though i can only stand doing half hour sessions it did the trick. My regime was 4 mins hard, 1 min very hard 4 mins hard 1 min very hard and so on. Dripping sweat after a short but tough workout kept me very close to pre-winter fitness