As the days get warmer and longer, more riders will hop on their bicycles for a spin. Just how fast and where you go will determine if your bike is a piece of fitness equipment or simply a comfortable, recreational way to save gas and enjoy the outdoors.Ask Craig Undem about bicycling and fitness. He will give you a short but insightful answer.
"Go climb hills," said Undem, a local cycling coach who operates the Cycle U training company in Seattle and regularly serves as an instructor for the Cascade Bicycle Club.
Undem said too few cyclists choose hills for workouts, when doing so a couple times per week can transform your body composition (goodbye, fat) and dispel any doubts that cycling is a top calorie burner among physical activities.
"Hills give you more bang for the buck," Undem said. "You might choose to go on a slow, steady ride for 20 miles (about an hour's worth for experienced riders and more like two hours for novices). But if you do moderate hills for 30 minutes that will burn more calories."
Undem said moderate hills translates to "a grade of 4 to 6 percent, not too steep, especially if you're just getting back into shape." He said you want to work at an exertion rate of 70 to 90 revolutions per minute, or rpm. You can determine this level by purchasing a bicycle computer (about $50 retail) or comparing that pedaling rate of 70 to 90 rpm to how that registers on a indoor stationary bike.
"You want that cadence to be moderately intense," Undem said. "It keeps you in a safe zone and gives you a great workout."
Increasing your intensity levels in short bursts (enough to be out of breath but not gagging) elevates cycling to one of the best calorie-burners among all physical activities. In fact, statistics from the American Council on Exercise (the primary certification group for personal trainers) equates bicycle racing with a vigorous game of basketball and not far off running at a brisk clip that would leave most people gasping.
Adding hills to any bicycle ride is easy enough here in the Pacific Northwest. Undem said to do it most efficiently requires more expertise than you might think. For instance, Cycle U teaches a "boot camp" devoted strictly to going up and down hills. It runs for eight two-hour sessions.
"It's a lot like skiing once you get into it," explained Undem. "There is a lot of technique."
Some highlights: Sit more upright in the bike saddle when you're climbing a hill. Don't pull your arms back too hard or too much when navigating the upward slope. And breathe deeply as you work.
One more tip for climbers that applies to all cyclists as they roll back outside this spring. Undem said too many recreational riders forget to drink water during the ride and eat something if they are going more than a hour nonstop. Sports nutritionist will suggest a snack and water is good idea some time in the hour before your ride.
Cycle U and the Cascade Bicycle Club offers plenty of other courses for beginners as well as the most savvy riders. You can learn how to ride a bike -- "there are plenty of people who come to us that never learned as kids," Undem said -- or perhaps take a refresher course on how to shift gears. Cascade instructors might go to the bike shop with you to pick out just the right model.
Not surprisingly, the Cascade club, the country's largest with a membership base of 10,000, works with a significant percentage of injured athletes from other sports. Basketball, running and tennis lead the list, mostly due to balky knees that are treated less jarringly on a bike.
Lateral movement fells basketball and tennis players, Undem said. Runners tend to not rest their bodies enough and stride themselves right into overuse injuries.
"Cycling has a locked range of motion so those runners, tennis players and basketball players can exercise without doing any more harm to the knees," Undem said.
The key strategy is to add intensity to your bike workouts, whether you are rehabbing an injury, cross training or deciding to make your commute your daily workout. All cycling for fitness will turn up noticeable changes in your body composition and personal energy level if you add some hills and maybe incorporate a few all-out sprints for 30 seconds or less when it is safe to do.
"Cycling is a real tonic for the body," Undem said. "Work harder and it will charge you up. You will feel good even after you're off the bike."
Bob Condor writes about health and quality of life every Monday. You can send him ideas or questions at bobcondor@aol.com.
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Thank you Bob Condor for a GREAT article on Cycle U!
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