I think it's important to start by saying that I'm fifteen, going on sixteen in September. When I was a few years younger (10-12), I used to be an avid week end cyclist. I'd ride for maybe an hour to an hour and a half every day and (off of memory) had an average speed of 13-15 MPH. Unfortunately, I ended up damaging the cartridge and ligaments in my right knee in an unrelated incident. Because I was injured, I was under doctor's orders to not ride my bike or partake in any physical exercise other than what the physical therapist ordered. Being the kid that liked to eat and drink a lot of sugary sweets, I ended up gaining a lot of weight; I went from being underweight (around thirtieth percentile) to the eighty-fourth percentile. It has come to the point where I can barely ride for ten minutes at an average of 8 MPH. This is concerning.
My question to you avid riders is this: how can I get myself in better shape? When I was younger, I had dreams of a pro career... being American, I wanted to be the next Lance Armstrong -- actually wanted to be the next Michael Rasmussen (without the blood doping), as he was my favorite because nobody could keep up with him on the climbs during the Tour de France. I think that's impossible, or rather, highly unlikely now.
I have all the equipment at my disposal and am very committed to getting myself in better shape and being able to "fly" once more. I recently bought a 2005 LeMond Chambery (full Shimano Ultegra) for a little under a hundred dollars. I have access to a treadmill and other aerobic exercise machines (think I even have my old bike trainer somewhere).
So do you guys have any training regimes that you could recommend to me? I'm willing to try. I've already made the decision to cut soda and all processed foods from my diet which I think will help weight loss.
I would recommend other sites for this ... this probably isn't the best place. They have nutrition and exercise forums on sites like bikeforums.net or one that I like which is BeginnerTriathlete.com.
However, if you started eating healthy than that would be a really big step and you would start to lose weight from just that. For workouts you should probably be doing 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a day. That is actually really easy on a bike if you are riding outside, but you could do other activities depending on where you live. Variety in your workouts would help you stay motivated. If you do want to only do bike riding then you should have a day off everyweek to rest those muscles. Hope this helps, and if you have any other questions I research this type of stuff a lot so I might be able to help.
One last thing that I thought of that could help. In your bike workouts you could just do a normal hard ride one day, do a sprint every mile the next day, have a day where you climb a lot of hills. One thing that I really like to do is test myself in a timetrial type thing. I have a course that I ride on that is about 11 miles and I love to try and beat my best time. It feels good when you first start riding and you can cut a big amount off of your previous best. Then when you get better you will have to work harder to beat your time. Those are a few things that help me workout regularly.
Here are my tips about getting back into exercise:
Don't over estimate what you can do. There is absolutely no point in setting a program where you do something every day. a) it's abad for you as you need days off to recover and b) you'll never stick at it and instead of dropping a day or two, you'll stop altogether.
Don't forget you need 3 forms of exercise:
Muscle/physical growth/enhancement - Cardio - core work.
You will also need to stretch too - I suggest spending at least 1 hour per week doing Pilates or Yoga.
Well in your case right now I would say try to ride every other day with very short distance that would be walk-able. A quick trip around the block really will help to get you going on the right path. From there after you feel you can do that some what easy try to go for a little longer ride.
After you get your base miles in, try doing an interval or 2 (a sprint for 50-100 meters), and just cruse the rest of the ride. Hills are also a really good thing for interval training (over passes to highways or railroads also work for hills as well a stiff head wind), but I think the sprinting intervals might be a little easier for the time being.
So really get your base built up, then do some intervals.
Another trick is to change up your training plan and even your routes.
I like to go for a long ride one day, then another I might go for a short ride in TT mode (I race my own personal best around a set route), then other times I might just enjoy a some what easy ride, but attack the hills.
I think a good way to train, by doing this once a week, is to try to push for that .1 mph average faster then what you last averaged (of course there is a point that you can't really gain more time, but for now that is a good way to try harder).
Off the bike training is also good for you. Do some squats (without weights, in set of 10 to 20), sit-ups, and push-ups. Those are great core exercises that are also good for bike riding. Also if you can get access to a vertical bar, try to do some pull-ups.
Although the best thing is to just ride, ride some more, take some rest days, and ride some more, while pushing your self that extra bit every now and then (a great thing to remember is just 1 more mile).
Now keep in mind, you might not see results right away, and it will hurt to ride, but stay positive and you will make progress.
What ever you do, don't quit (stopping to catch your breath is fine lol). Even when it hurts (your legs will normally feel like jello after a really hard effort), tell yourself that you can do that extra mile, or even 10 more miles.
Just besure that you have 2 or 3 hard rides 1 week, then maybe 1 hard ride the next, while do some easy enjoyable rides all the other times, and you will be on your way to having fun, while getting back in shape.
On a side note, try to spin the peddles over at a higher RPM, as that will really save your knees (if seems strange at first, but once you get the hang of it, it really keeps you fresh longer). Pushing a big gear ratio just tires you out faster (if you are just cruising along).
