Starting to exercise
Discussion
I used to cycle everywhere until I was 17 and got a car. That was the end of my regular exercise. Now 29 I am interested in improving my general health and fitness.
I smoked socially for much of my 20s and became overweight (6’ & 15st).
In the past few years I have improved my diet, now just under 13st and skinny fat. I have pretty much stopped smoking having smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes in the past year. I have 6 or 7 beers a week on average- two ‘binges’ rather than daily habit. I vape when I drink.
I hate the idea of signing up at a gym. Instead I have looked into local ‘boot camp’ fitness sessions. The journey to work is 7 miles so cycleable.
My main question is as follows- Is cycling actually good for you as your main source of cardiovascular exercise? I used to do a lot and could get back into it but obviously it’s quite leg-centric. I never liked the idea of perineal nerve squish. My hands and wrists never seemed to enjoy it. I never felt the position was good for my back / neck. I did enjoy cycling on the whole though, and it would be the easiest and likely most sustainable way for me to integrate cardio into my lifestyle.
My aim is to be 12st (76kg) or less, to become more lean and generally improve strength and fitness.
Sorry for the ramble. Any specific tips given the above?
I smoked socially for much of my 20s and became overweight (6’ & 15st).
In the past few years I have improved my diet, now just under 13st and skinny fat. I have pretty much stopped smoking having smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes in the past year. I have 6 or 7 beers a week on average- two ‘binges’ rather than daily habit. I vape when I drink.
I hate the idea of signing up at a gym. Instead I have looked into local ‘boot camp’ fitness sessions. The journey to work is 7 miles so cycleable.
My main question is as follows- Is cycling actually good for you as your main source of cardiovascular exercise? I used to do a lot and could get back into it but obviously it’s quite leg-centric. I never liked the idea of perineal nerve squish. My hands and wrists never seemed to enjoy it. I never felt the position was good for my back / neck. I did enjoy cycling on the whole though, and it would be the easiest and likely most sustainable way for me to integrate cardio into my lifestyle.
My aim is to be 12st (76kg) or less, to become more lean and generally improve strength and fitness.
Sorry for the ramble. Any specific tips given the above?
HustleRussell said:
I used to cycle everywhere until I was 17 and got a car. That was the end of my regular exercise. Now 29 I am interested in improving my general health and fitness.
I smoked socially for much of my 20s and became overweight (6’ & 15st).
In the past few years I have improved my diet, now just under 13st and skinny fat. I have pretty much stopped smoking having smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes in the past year. I have 6 or 7 beers a week on average- two ‘binges’ rather than daily habit. I vape when I drink.
I hate the idea of signing up at a gym. Instead I have looked into local ‘boot camp’ fitness sessions. The journey to work is 7 miles so cycleable.
My main question is as follows- Is cycling actually good for you as your main source of cardiovascular exercise? I used to do a lot and could get back into it but obviously it’s quite leg-centric. I never liked the idea of perineal nerve squish. My hands and wrists never seemed to enjoy it. I never felt the position was good for my back / neck. I did enjoy cycling on the whole though, and it would be the easiest and likely most sustainable way for me to integrate cardio into my lifestyle.
My aim is to be 12st (76kg) or less, to become more lean and generally improve strength and fitness.
Sorry for the ramble. Any specific tips given the above?
Cycling is excellent cardio and a seven mile commute is easily done. Discomfort is down to a poorly fitting bike, find a good local bike shop who offer a fitting service and prepare yourself for cycling in (relative) comfort I smoked socially for much of my 20s and became overweight (6’ & 15st).
In the past few years I have improved my diet, now just under 13st and skinny fat. I have pretty much stopped smoking having smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes in the past year. I have 6 or 7 beers a week on average- two ‘binges’ rather than daily habit. I vape when I drink.
I hate the idea of signing up at a gym. Instead I have looked into local ‘boot camp’ fitness sessions. The journey to work is 7 miles so cycleable.
My main question is as follows- Is cycling actually good for you as your main source of cardiovascular exercise? I used to do a lot and could get back into it but obviously it’s quite leg-centric. I never liked the idea of perineal nerve squish. My hands and wrists never seemed to enjoy it. I never felt the position was good for my back / neck. I did enjoy cycling on the whole though, and it would be the easiest and likely most sustainable way for me to integrate cardio into my lifestyle.
My aim is to be 12st (76kg) or less, to become more lean and generally improve strength and fitness.
Sorry for the ramble. Any specific tips given the above?
Cycling is the best way to exercise for what you're after. It's zero impact, so for lots of physiological reasons it's easier to recover from and you can very quickly do it comfortably for relatively long periods of time. You'll also struggle to injure yourself. It's also much more enjoyable, partly for those reasons, partly because you travel further and can see more, also because mountain biking is really really good fun.
All of that adds up to a much higher chance that you'll persist with it and achieve your goal. Team sports are generally good for forcing you out the house and the regular commitment is helpful too, but it's also easy to do them without exerting yourself a lot, so nowhere near the same fitness benefit.
7 mile commute is a great distance, you'll benefit from doing it, but will outgrow it relatively quickly. But you can do a longer ride home as you progress and you've converted your usual commute time into productive time.
All of that adds up to a much higher chance that you'll persist with it and achieve your goal. Team sports are generally good for forcing you out the house and the regular commitment is helpful too, but it's also easy to do them without exerting yourself a lot, so nowhere near the same fitness benefit.
7 mile commute is a great distance, you'll benefit from doing it, but will outgrow it relatively quickly. But you can do a longer ride home as you progress and you've converted your usual commute time into productive time.
What everybody else has said
I bike to and from work and if its a nice evening and Im not in a rush often throw in an extra 30-60 minute diversion
But the best thing you can do is to get a bike mate
The weather here was abysmal yesterday (Sunday) but Id arranged to meet with a pal at 8AM and without that motivation would have easily thrown the duvet back over my head. If you have the right kit its fine out there, you just need the motivation
Welcome to the club!
;)I commute that sort of distance by bike daily. (A bit more in the good weather as there are a number of scenic routes home.) It helps that my commute is pretty rural, so less traffic and fumes.
I now have a bike I've kind of sorted specifically for the task, but managed perfectly fine on an old road bike or mountainbike in the winter. You'll spend quite a bit up front on kit, and you'll need to plan around the commuting. A place to shower, change and dry kit is very important.
Serviceable kit is relatively cheap from Aldi / Lidl when on special buy, but Planet X is another good place to look. Especially if you're an odd size. I've had some great deals. Don't pay full price on anything, it's the DFS of bike gear.
From a time management perspective it's very helpful, combining an hour of cardio a day with your commuting could work out well for you. As others have said, be disciplined though, it's easy to eat more to compensate for the calorie burn.
I now have a bike I've kind of sorted specifically for the task, but managed perfectly fine on an old road bike or mountainbike in the winter. You'll spend quite a bit up front on kit, and you'll need to plan around the commuting. A place to shower, change and dry kit is very important.
Serviceable kit is relatively cheap from Aldi / Lidl when on special buy, but Planet X is another good place to look. Especially if you're an odd size. I've had some great deals. Don't pay full price on anything, it's the DFS of bike gear.
From a time management perspective it's very helpful, combining an hour of cardio a day with your commuting could work out well for you. As others have said, be disciplined though, it's easy to eat more to compensate for the calorie burn.
WinstonWolf said:
Cycling is excellent cardio and a seven mile commute is easily done. Discomfort is down to a poorly fitting bike, find a good local bike shop who offer a fitting service and prepare yourself for cycling in (relative) comfort
Exactly this. I had a bike for 2 years that I never felt comfortable on, despite being able to ride my previous 30 year old bike well north of 50 miles at a time. Took it to a bike shop and they made loads of adjustments to it, it's genuinely like a different bike completely now.
Thanks for the positive encouragement on cycling. I definitely prefer the idea to driving to work and back and then having to get out of the house again to go for a run.
As a bi product of achieving that I guess I will lose the man boobs which were always my main hangup.
Waist and chest are hovering around 39” and I currently wear 34” trousers so losing the muffin top.
I was reading about Stronglifts 5x5 during my lunch break. It says it should be your only training programme but could be combined with exercise such as running or cycling ‘if you are used to it’. It also said that weight loss and muscle building can’t be easily combined due to conflicting dietary requirements which seems to make sense.
Based on all of that I think the way to go will be getting back on the bike ASAP and then when I’ve normalised in the new year introducing some kind of resistance training to add strength.
I’m never going to appear on the cover of men’s health because I don’t want it badly enough to forgo the food and beer but if I can reach and maintain 12st and trade some of the fat off for muscle…
gregs656 said:
Do you have any aesthetic goals apart from losing weight?
I could do with being no more than 80kg fully dressed purely for motor racing where that is generally given as a minimum driver weight. As a bi product of achieving that I guess I will lose the man boobs which were always my main hangup.
Waist and chest are hovering around 39” and I currently wear 34” trousers so losing the muffin top.
I was reading about Stronglifts 5x5 during my lunch break. It says it should be your only training programme but could be combined with exercise such as running or cycling ‘if you are used to it’. It also said that weight loss and muscle building can’t be easily combined due to conflicting dietary requirements which seems to make sense.
Based on all of that I think the way to go will be getting back on the bike ASAP and then when I’ve normalised in the new year introducing some kind of resistance training to add strength.
I’m never going to appear on the cover of men’s health because I don’t want it badly enough to forgo the food and beer but if I can reach and maintain 12st and trade some of the fat off for muscle…
you can achieve the fat loss with or without cycling or lifting weights, the key thing is having a consistent calorie deficit. but seeing as you're cycling you're increasing the amount of cals you're burning on a daily basis. make sure you're still eating a deficit so that you lose weight. being on any deficit can have an affect on your perfomrance lifting or cycling, the greater the deficit the more weak you might feel. its all up to you to chose how big a deficit you want to have as long as you can manage/maintain it to reach your goals.
It's a little different, but could I suggest a martial arts class like Boxing or Muay Thai?
Not only will you get a fantastic cardiovascular workout, your will also improve strength, co-ordination and speed and know how to fight/defend yourself.
Being in a class you can also meet new people, and like most people youll probably stick at it longer due to it being a group activity, much more than doing exercise solo.
Not only will you get a fantastic cardiovascular workout, your will also improve strength, co-ordination and speed and know how to fight/defend yourself.
Being in a class you can also meet new people, and like most people youll probably stick at it longer due to it being a group activity, much more than doing exercise solo.
HustleRussell said:
Based on all of that I think the way to go will be getting back on the bike ASAP and then when I’ve normalised in the new year introducing some kind of resistance training to add strength.
That sounds sensible to me. If you change too much all in one go the chances of sticking to it are slimmer I think, particularly after a long break.I'd definitely build in a strategy though - otherwise it is very easy to go hard for the first couple of weeks and then miss a day, write off that week, then it's the office Christmas do etc and before you know it you've stopped all together.
Kneedragger95 said:
It's a little different, but could I suggest a martial arts class like Boxing or Muay Thai?
Not only will you get a fantastic cardiovascular workout, your will also improve strength, co-ordination and speed and know how to fight/defend yourself.
Being in a class you can also meet new people, and like most people youll probably stick at it longer due to it being a group activity, much more than doing exercise solo.
but why? that just overcomplicates things. Not only will you get a fantastic cardiovascular workout, your will also improve strength, co-ordination and speed and know how to fight/defend yourself.
Being in a class you can also meet new people, and like most people youll probably stick at it longer due to it being a group activity, much more than doing exercise solo.
OP here's what you do
1- get on your bike
2- watch your calorie intake.
done.
ambuletz said:
you can achieve the fat loss with or without cycling or lifting weights, the key thing is having a consistent calorie deficit.
Yep, I sorted out my eating habits four years ago which caused me to lose a couple of stone and I have kept it off ever since. I think I’m broadly eating the right things at the right time. I could go further but I think it’s time to get some exercise back into the equation for the mental health benefit as much as the physical. I used to enjoy cycling to college every day, I would arrive energised and I have never felt healthier even though I was more overweight then than I am now.Kneedragger95 said:
youll probably stick at it longer due to it being a group activity, much more than doing exercise solo.
Boxing and Muay Thai don’t really appeal but I do think I would be better motivated in a group which is why I’m going to give the boot camp a go this Thursday. gregs656 said:
I'd definitely build in a strategy though - otherwise it is very easy to go hard for the first couple of weeks and then miss a day, write off that week, then it's the office Christmas do etc and before you know it you've stopped all together.
I have to come up with a routine for the cycle to work. I haven’t done it in a long time but I feel like I could quickly get used to doing the seven miles twice in one day. Perhaps I need to start with Mon-Wed-Fri , or maybe that’s too ambitious. I have a bike by the way, it started out as a mountain bike but I fitted rigid carbon forks and 1.6" slick tyres to make it quicker on the road. However those mods made it far too stiff and uncomfortable and the riding position feels rubbish especially since I have spent a long time off it.
The ideal scenario would be cycling to work and doing some other resistance training.
Increasing your muscle mass by even a moderate amount is supposed to have a marked influence on all your usual health markers.
"you can't go wrong getting strong" is a decent mantra to live by.
just watch your back.....I've had to take 3 weeks off after tweaking something in the gym, couldn't put my own socks on this time last week!
Increasing your muscle mass by even a moderate amount is supposed to have a marked influence on all your usual health markers.
"you can't go wrong getting strong" is a decent mantra to live by.
just watch your back.....I've had to take 3 weeks off after tweaking something in the gym, couldn't put my own socks on this time last week!
dave_s13 said:
The ideal scenario would be cycling to work and doing some other resistance training.
Increasing your muscle mass by even a moderate amount is supposed to have a marked influence on all your usual health markers.
"you can't go wrong getting strong" is a decent mantra to live by.
just watch your back.....I've had to take 3 weeks off after tweaking something in the gym, couldn't put my own socks on this time last week!
Says the man advocating weights Increasing your muscle mass by even a moderate amount is supposed to have a marked influence on all your usual health markers.
"you can't go wrong getting strong" is a decent mantra to live by.
just watch your back.....I've had to take 3 weeks off after tweaking something in the gym, couldn't put my own socks on this time last week!
WinstonWolf said:
Says the man advocating weights
I know!I've done crossfit for about 5 years now. Never any problems with my back, ever. The odd shoulder issue but nothing you can't work around.
Doing some power snatches the other week, something I've done lots of and I'm well used to. 1st rep of set 9 and ping....something just said no.
Cue me spending the next 2 weeks being unable to move!
Back pain is a b
h.It's totally fine now though, back to the gym tomorrow, gently does it mind. ;-)
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