In my ideal world I would be able to ride my bike all day, every day.
But unfortunately for me, that is impossible. Various reasons make it achievable; maybe it’s because of the weather, work or family commitments, sickness, injuries, or just the fact that life sometimes gets in the way.
To ride at a competitive level, you need to have a decent level of fitness. Riding your bike a few times a month and sitting on the couch for the rest of the time probably isn’t going to get you the race results you want. Because riding every day to stay fit isn’t an achievable option for me, I needed to find other forms of exercise to help me keep race-fit.
I have found that going to the gym and doing weight-based training and cardio-based training is an excellent way to maintain and increase my bike fitness.
Working on my fitness and movement through strength and conditioning programs allow me to ride my bike hard when I do ride and race. I also find that riding doesn’t use the same muscles that I use at the gym, and vice versa. Combining both gym workouts and riding into my training schedule definitely helps to produce a balanced fitness result for me. Also, because you are mixing up your exercise routine with riding and gym workouts you are less likely to become bored with it, so you're more likely to continue your training and get the long-term results you want.
I try to ride 3-4 days a week (if possible), and I do gym workouts the remaining days of the week. Having access to a gym is also handy in keeping up your fitness when you have an injury and can’t ride. Obviously you have to alter your gym workouts to work around your injury, but it is still manageable. Just because your arm maybe broken (sigh) doesn’t mean you can’t work out your legs and maintain some form of bike fitness while you're healing (and dreaming of riding).
Therefore, to achieve and maintain bike fitness, I thoroughly recommend incorporating a balanced cardio, weight, and strength and conditioning program into your fitness routine. As well as riding your bike as often as you can - because there is nothing better than riding a bike! :)
By Jodi Newton - Pushys Sponsored Athlete