Live The Active Life

With Spring upon us and the weather warming, many of us who ride bikes will be doing longer rides. Before we head out on the roads there are a few things that we should do to make sure that the ride is as enjoyable as possible.

In my mind, a long ride as anything over fifty miles. That seems to be the distance that in order to do comfortably, the rider needs to prepare, not just go out and “ride”. That doesn’t mean that the ride is necessarily hard, just that it requires some more preparation.

In my years of riding I have done quite a few long rides, including about 12 centuries (100 miles). But, I haven’t done many long rides in the last year or so. So, one of my goals for this year is to get back into doing long rides and I am signing up for a century ride taking place on May 3rd which is one month away. The last century ride I did was in August of 2005 so it has been a while. Here are some things that I will be doing to make sure that the ride is as successful as possible. Remember, all of these tips assume that you have done enough training in order to safely do a long ride. If you are just starting out, take your time and build your fitness before attempting a 50+ mile ride.

1. Make sure that my body is used to the longer distance- In the last year and a half I ridden a lot but haven’t done many long rides. So, in order to get my body used to the longer time on the bike I will be doing several rides before the century that will help me get used to spending an extended period of time on the bike. This weekend and next I plan on doing a ride of 60-70 miles on one day and a ride of 40-50 miles on the other. Two weeks before the century I will ride a little less and the week before I will do 1 day with a ride of 60 miles or so. I have found that I can comfortably ride up to twice the distance of my “regular” long ride if I give myself enough time, so the 60+ mile rides should be enough preparation.
2. Eat enough during the ride- This is something that I have ignored in the past and paid for big time. I have bonked (run out of energy) on several occasions and let me tell you, it is not fun. This happened because I didn’t eat enough during the ride. On rides over two hours or so you really need to be eating on a regular basis. You don’t need to eat a ton of food, just enough to keep you energy level consistent. For me, and a lot of people, that means around 400 calories an hour. Most people will use energy bars, granola, or energy drinks to get the calories they need during the ride. My favorite energy sources on longer rides are Cliff Bars, Hammer Gel, and Hammer Perpetuem. There are lots of other good “fuel sources” out there as well. The main thing is to find something you like. Also, on your “trial run” long rides make sure you get used to eating while riding and that the food you eat doesn’t upset your stomach.
3. Drink enough liquids- Adequate hydration is vital when exercising for extended periods. Even in cooler weather most cyclists should be drinking 1 standard water bottle (about 20 oz) each hour. In hot weather you could need twice that amount or more. On rides over two hours drinking enough fluids can be the difference between success or failure. I carry two large water bottles on my bike and fill them up when needed along the way. If I am in a ride that has aid stations I refill there, or at a convenience store if I’m out by myself. I usually mix in some electrolyte powder into the bottles. I like Hammer Nutrition’s HEED as it has a mild taste and includes a good mix of electrolytes.
4. Make sure your bike is in good repair- The last thing you want is to have your bike break down so before you head out on the road make sure your bike is tuned up and working properly. Have your brakes and shifting adjusted, make sure your chain is clean and lubricated, and that your tires are properly inflated and in good shape.  You should also carry a spare tube, patch kit, pump, and some wrenches to adjust your bike.
5. Dress for the weather- Make sure you dress in layers to allow for changes in temperature.  If rain is predicted be prepared to get wet and carry a waterproof windbreaker.  Also, have a change of clothes back at your car.
6. Carry a phone and wear an ID tag-  Carry your cell phone with you on every ride, not just the long ones, just in case you need it.  Also, everyone should have some type of ID on them, like Road ID, in case you are injured and can’t communicate.

If you follow these tips before your next long bike ride you should have a good time and actually want to do another one

I’m sure I have missed one or two things so if you have a useful tip please let everyone know.  Have fun riding!

photo credit: circulating

Last week for the “good food” post I offered a prize (Eat Out, Eat Right: The Guide to Healthier Restaurant Eating )to the person who had the best comment (out of at least 4) relating to good fast food. Well, the response was a little less than overwhelming . Maybe I didn’t give enough time to respond or maybe the prize didn’t seem worth it. Oh well, live and learn. But, I am a man of my word so I figured the best way to “pay off” would be to send $5 via Paypal to each of the two people who commented:

WorkoutMommy

and

Melo

It’s not a lot but it probably is enough to buy a healthy sandwich from Subway.

And, in the end, that is the point. Finding healthy food at the typical “fast food” restaurant can be a challenge. Most have added some healthier choice to their menus but they are still few and far between for the most part.

My favorite fast to food choices are currently at Subway. I really like their veggie and also get the turkey breast from time to time. The sandwiches are filling and overall aren’t that bad if you don’t add the mayo or oil. I usually get cheese on all the sandwiches and my favorite sauce is the sweet onion. I will eat at Subway 1-2 days a week for lunch.
photo credit: VirtualErn

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is available. A pill that increases your activity and improves your fitness while you sleep! All you need to do is take one of these pills with a glass of water before going to bed and your health and fitness is GUARANTEED TO INCREASE. Well, I might as well shut down this site because my work here is done.

The Truth

Obviously, this is a (very) lame attempt by me at an April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately, we often look for the quick fix. I think it’s just human nature. The truth is, that in order to improve your life through increased activity you actually need to get active. But, getting active doesn’t have to be hard, even small changes can have a big impact. And, you can have a positive impact on your health by increasing activity at any age, as this article from Reuters indicates. The most interesting quote from this article is:

“There is really only 1 or 2 percent of the population that cannot exercise in some capacity to improve well being,” Miller said. “Most just need guidance on what type of exercise is best for them.”

What this means is that, basically, most of us really don’t have an excuse for not exercising. Another section of the article says:

…Almost anyone can do some form of exercise and reap the benefits, which in the immediate-term include relaxation, stress and anxiety reduction, and enhanced mood. Long-term benefits of exercise, in addition to weight loss, are increased strength and balance, and improvement in chronic ailments, including improved mental health, a sense of belonging, increased life span and overall quality of life.

There you have it, more proof that activity is good for you
Do What You Can

Don’t make an April Fool’s joke out of your life, do what you can to make it as enjoyable and vibrant as possible. Find a way to increase the amount of activity in your everyday activities. I had an earlier post addressing easy ways to get more exercise. There are many other ways, you just need to be a little creative.

What have you done to increase your activity or healthy eating so far this year and how has it helped?
photo credit: monsieurlam

This week was a busy one for me with work so my activity was affected a little bit. That and the fact that my shoulder is still sore meant that I didn’t do any weightlifting this week at all. When I am short on time I will always do aerobics over weights because I just enjoy aerobics so much more. Here are the details:

Bike Riding

This week I had more time on the bike than at any time since the first week of the year. My ankle is doing good. I ice and stretch it after every ride. I rode outside every time this week. The weather was cooperative except for today when it was chilly, damp and windy. In total I rode for six and 1/2 hours giving me 117 miles for the week.

I’m hoping to ride a little more this coming week as I am looking at doing a century the 3rd of May. I’d like to get a 50+ mile ride in if possible.

Weight Lifting

There was no weight lifting this week. My shoulder is still sore so I am calling the Dr. on Monday and will go see what it up with it. I hope it is just a pull and not a rotator cuff injury. Wish me luck.

Healthy Eating

We were at home all week so we were able to eat what we wanted. I made a couple of easy meals to complement our regulars. The best meal of the week was my quick vegetarian chili using kidney beans, diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, a little bit of beer, and some Boca Burgers. It is easy to make, tastes great, and is filling without being too calorie dense.

That’s it for this week’s report. Everyone keep active . I would love to hear about how you are doing in living an active life. Use the comments to share your experiences.

As promised, here is part three. Sorry for the delay.

Using heart rate to monitor the intensity of your exercise can help you reach your fitness goals faster and with less chance of injury or burnout. In part one of this series I discussed what maximum heart rate is and why it is important. In part two, I explained several ways for you to discover your own maximum heart rate depending on your level of experience with exercise. Now, in part three we can actually use maximum heart rate to build the “zones” we need to use in exercise. I will also give a couple of sample workouts to get started with.

Zone Refresher

If you remember from part one I listed the typical zones used for heart rate training. Here they are again:

1. 50% to 60% of maximum- This is commonly called the “Healthy Heart” or “Active Recovery” zone.
2. 60% to 70% of maximum- This is the “Fitness Zone” where you start to work a little harder.
3. 70% to 80% of maximum- This is the “Aerobic” zone, the sweet spot.
4. 80% to 90% of maximum- This is the “Anaerobic or Threshold” zone.
5. 90% to 100% of maximum- This is an extreme level of work. You will only be able to operate in this zone for a few minutes at most.

Building Your Zones

To build your zones take your maximum heart rate and multiply by the percentages for each zone. Using my 186 beats per minute as an example, my five zones would be:

1. 93 (186x.5)-112 (186x.6)beats/minute
2. 112-130 beats/minute
3. 130-148 beats/minute
4. 148-167 beats/minute
5. 167-186 beats/minute

To get your zones just substitute your maximum heart rate and calculate from there.

How To Use Your Zones

Ok, now that you have your zones figured, how do you use them in your workouts? The answer depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are looking to gain fitness and aerobic conditioning you will probably spend more time in zones 1-3. If you are looking to add strength and speed to your workouts, such as training for competition, you would need to mix in a fair amount of zone 4 and some zone 5 into your workouts. When it comes down to it, everyone will have a different mix. Once again, I’ll use me as an example to give you an idea of how I mix up my workouts. This is a typical week for me:

• Tuesday: 45-60 minutes primarily in high zone 3 to zone 4.
• Wednesday: 60 minutes in zone 3
• Thursday: 45-60 minutes total with 20 minutes in zone 4, the rest in zone 3
• Saturday: 60 minutes zone 3 (I sometimes do a couple of short sprints in zone 5)
• Sunday: 120 minutes+, mostly in zone 2-3 with a few short periods (5-10 minutes) in zone 4

Total time is 5-6 hours a week. I ride a bike as my primary exercise so the length of workouts can be a little longer than if I was running.

Sample Workout

Here is a sample workout for someone who is starting out and has a couple of hours a week to exercise. You can use this for just about all aerobic exercise, especially when starting out. Just remember to start out slow by warming up before each session.

• Monday: 30 minutes zone 2
• Wednesday: 30-45 minutes zone 3
• Friday: 30 minutes zone 3
• Saturday or Sunday: 45 minutes mostly zone 3 with a couple of short intervals (2-4 minutes each) in zone 4. Make sure to allow time to recover between zone 4 intervals.

As you build your fitness you can increase the amount of time for each workout but to be safe don’t increase by more than 10-15% each week. You can vary your workouts any number of ways but always try to alternate hard and easy days to reduce the risk of injury.

Between the three parts of this series you should have a good start to designing your own heart rate based training program. Here are the other two parts:

Using heart rate to exercise properly- part 1- why training with heart rate is important

Using heart rate to exercise properly- part 2- determining your max heart rate

I’d be very interested to hear from some of you as to how your heart rate training is going. If you want some help designing your own program let me know at mark@livetheactivelife.com and I will be happy to help you as much as I can.