Make riding for fitness your New Years resolution
Make riding for fitness your New Years resolution
In response to publicity about the need to fight the obesity epidemic, many people are thinking about getting fit and losing weight.
Some of us may sign up to an expensive gym membership, attend a boot camp or buy one of those aerobic contraptions they sell on the shopping channel.
Unfortunately, these solutions often lose their appeal after a few weeks and are either put on hold or left to gather dust in the corner.
There is an easy alternative that is suitable for just about everyone - the humble bicycle.
Taking up cycling will not require a huge change to your lifestyle. Simply riding to work a couple of days a week or down to the shops can make a big difference to your wellbeing.
By substituting your bicycle for the car, you will also save on fuel and maintenance costs.
Can you think of another fitness or weight-loss method that actually saves you money?
Age is no barrier, because the low impact nature of cycling places less stress on joints than other forms of exercise such as jogging.
Local seniors riding clubs have a number of members in their late eighties.
For every kilometre of moderate cycling completed, a person weighing 70 kg can expect to burn about 35 calories or 150 kilojoules.
That means an 8 km bike ride taking about 20 minutes will use the equivalent energy contained in a chicken and salad sandwich. A 15 km ride will burn off a good-sized serving of spaghetti bolognese, and a longer 30 km ride will take care of three generous slices of pizza.
Regular cycling is the key reaching and maintaining fitness
The following is a simple program that only requires you to ride three days per week.
If you are older than 35, overweight or haven’t exercised regularly in a long time, you should see your doctor before starting any new physical activity.
Regardless of your existing fitness level, if you haven’t ridden a bicycle for a while, take things slowly and keep your speed at no more than about 15 km/h.
Always warm up with a quick series of stretching exercises before each session and carry some water.
For day one, begin with an easy 10-minute ride over flat terrain. This should see you cover about 2.5 km.
Repeat for day two and then increase to a 15-minute ride on day three.
For the second week, start off with a 15-minute ride on day one, extend to a 20-minute ride on day two and then another 20-minute ride on day three.
During the third week you can do a 20, a 25 and a 30-minute ride.
Week four can be 35, 40 and 45-minute rides.
From week five onwards, stay with three 45-minute rides, but introduce some small hills and try to cover more distance in the same time.
By this stage you will be burning over 2000 calories or 9000 kilojoules a week.
Try to stick with it. A habit takes about three weeks of continuous activity to form, and cycling is no different. The substantial health and fitness rewards will be worth the effort.
