Hard Training!

Amir lives near Tehran, in a hilly area and has difficulties that he would like to hear our thoughts on his problems. This is what we think:

Question:
Dear Samuel:
it is late for reply but I appreciate you for taking your time to guide me. for your information , I am 42 years old & I living north of Tehran ( LAVASAN ) If you refer to map our area is surrounded mountain I am a marine engineer & now I have enough time to cycling . I have 4 bicycles: 1 tandem, 2 Peugeot road bikes & the last, mountain bike. I think my the best is the road bikes that is really France made & its accessories is Japanese made SHIMANO & weight is 12 kg . I have also a set of SIGMA sport instrument include: heart rate monitor, multi function speed meter, front & rear LED light and special compact wrench. I have more than 10 years experience in cycling but it is not continuous. The longest distance that I had, was 250 km on about 9 hours one step. My regular activity is about 4 hours cycling in week end & max heart rate is 183 bpm & average heart rate in this period is 147 bpm. There are some difficulties, the first is all the roads around my home are inclined & I am over weight. (188 cm, 93 kg) and the last thing is I love cycling in intensive load & after come back to home I finished all my energy, some time it is difficult to stand. I am interest to have your opinion & suggestion.
Thanks
yours,
AMIR.

Hi Amir.

It is difficult living in a hilly area, of course you could move house to a flat area, but this is not always possible or that you would prefer to stay where you are. Hilly areas are better for your fitness as they make you try hard or you don’t get up the hill, on the flat you can take it easy.

First thing is that you could lose a little weight as this would help you climb, at 188 cm your 93 kg’s isn’t so heavy, but less weight would help a lot. If you could get nearer 85 kg’s you would feel better.

If you are finding that you have difficulty standing after a ride then you are putting 100% into your efforts and this is good, up to a point! When cycling you should take it easy when you start by warming up and then at the end of the ride you should cool down. This means that about 5 km’s from home you should slow down and take it easy, your pulse should drop so that it is a little above resting rate, say around 100 bpm. This allows the body and heart to settle down before you finish your ride and you will feel much better and be able to stand!

147 bpm average shows that you ride hard, the 183 bpm max is not too high, this shows that your heart is fit from training.

Do you take an isotonic sports drink while cycling? This would help while riding and also a recovery drink for when you get home. Recovery is very important as is rest; make sure you are sleeping enough. If you can, get a blood test to see if you are short of any minerals or vitamins, take a multi-vitamin with minerals, this can help.

Keep it up and you will lose weight and get fitter. Good luck Amir and enjoy your cycling.