4 years to get fit

[9tubes]

I got out of cycling for several years and had a shock to learn that decades of fitness can in fact evaporate. I found my love for cycling again.

I can't add much to the advice already given but a few things worked well for me.

1. Have fun. Thinking "I'm going to pedal out to ____ and stop at that great coffee shop" is more motivating than "I really need to get my workout in. Gotta get that 40 miles done."

2. Take pleasure in the gains. I'm not going to rip up a big climb at 400 watts. But I can mentally tag a climb and see on Strava that I did it at a certain speed or wattage in the spring and the numbers were better in June. I'm not talking about going for PRs constantly. I mean simply taking pleasure that swinging a leg over the saddle and getting out actually results in improvements even for an older guy. I take pleasure just knowing that I can go up a climb at 175 bpm and not keel over. Take that, father time.

3. Young racers pass me on a regular basis. Oh well. If it's flat I can hang on a wheel at any speed and I'll call it a victory. But I do take a bit of pleasure passing young guys when I can.

4. I often read articles in the major media that make exercising sound like a losing race against time, that humans lose X% of muscle mass every decade, that max heartrate reduces, take it easy, get a doctor's exam before walking up a hill, etc. Bullshit. Older cycling enthusiasts are at the pointy end of the bell curve and we like being there.

5. Exercise is the only fountain of youth we get.

6. Any time exercising is more beneficial than time on the couch. Sounds glib but literally true. I only have time to walk around the block? Good, I have time to walk around the block. Do it.



_

[mjbabcock]

First off, I don't think it will take you 4 years. I'd bet 6 months-1 year and you can be happy with where you are. I have nothing on the diabetes, but I did the turn around after grad school, kids, family health, etc. that had me fat and slow. For me, it's a combination of things, but running/hiking is as important as anything else. I have a Garmin 935 on my wrist that I like tracking things with, but it's not necessary. I try to make sure I get out 5-7 days/week, and some of those days are runs or hikes (swimming post-covid). It's prioritizing movement each and every day. I have to agree with folks saying don't worry about diet. Caloric intake is ~75% of being thin, but if you hate life trying to focus on your diet, you'll burn out.

The fitness seems to come pretty quick, but I have to watch getting discouraged when I'm fit for 3-5 hour rides or 6-10 mile runs, and I only have an hour for a workout. I get fit, then say "screw it" when commitments keep me from long days. I was falling into the, "I don't even have enough time to ride" mental trap this fall. Trail running and TrainerRoad are really helping preventing my normal fall off.

[Mark Kelly]

Probably a mid life crisis happening here.

I'm 46, overweight, ... I'm 86.6kg today

Elsewhere you've said you are 185 cm.

86.6 kg is not much overweight in my book: I'm also 185 tall and 85 kg is my ideal weight for XC skiing, at that level I'm well under 15% fat.

I guess I'm saying don't worry about the weight itself, just work on converting it to muscle mass. You'll end up fit and strong and feeling good about yourself.

[AntLockyer]

You are all wonderful people.

My insulin needs have reduced massively in the last 2 weeks (I'm always very sensitive to lifestyle, diet or weight changes). 40 units of Basal insulin a day is reduced to 32. I wake up at a constant mid 5s (90s for the mg/dl folk) and basically stay there all day.

I used overweight as a polite way of saying fat. I'm not obese but am definitely not as skinny round the middle as I'd like. I'm always very wary of writing about this stuff in detail as it always sounds like an eating disorder.

[j44ke]

You are all wonderful people.

My insulin needs have reduced massively in the last 2 weeks (I'm always very sensitive to lifestyle, diet or weight changes). 40 units of Basal insulin a day is reduced to 32. I wake up at a constant mid 5s (90s for the mg/dl folk) and basically stay there all day.

I used overweight as a polite way of saying fat. I'm not obese but am definitely not as skinny round the middle as I'd like. I'm always very wary of writing about this stuff in detail as it always sounds like an eating disorder.

I hear you. I am a stick but started getting doughy around the middle which is not attractive on a stick. Not a vain man by any stretch, just being honest here. Pilates helped with strength but was reducing the doughy growth only very slowly. Then we moved to the country and I started sawing, chopping and digging on a daily basis. That did it. Last hole on the belt again.

[bigbill]

A year ago, I figured out that I had to spend less time on the bike to finish up grad school while working full time. I was riding the trainer and doing some group classes with kettlebells and lots of stretching. Then something was wrong and the Rheumatologist said it was Lupus, which is unusual in men. I take 400mg of Plaquenil a day and deal with the ups and downs of the condition. I'm riding the trainer and taking longer walks, averaging >10K steps a day. A lot of things that are wrong with me would improve with less of me, so diet is a focus. My bloodwork showed an M-spike so I see an Oncologist on Wednesday. I heard the C word helps with weight loss.

[72gmc]

A triple triangle dose of good thoughts to you, bigbill, and all of you ...

Working from home is causing me to ride less without the commute, and walk less without my twice-daily coffee and contemplation escapes from the desk. I'm working to bring both of those habits back. Even a little bit at a time encourages me toward more.

[Ras72]

This thread is very inspirational. I'll def be following. Thank you @AntLockyer.

To add a bit, this is a fantastic reminder - to myself mostly - to not wait for something in life to accomplish that other something. Don't wait until things go bad before making them better. Do it now. Totally self-talking.

I'm in place (physically) where cycling is not enjoyable. This location is temporary (2 more years), so I find myself waiting, wishing, dreaming of getting back to the states to ride more. I tell myself, 'I'll get back in the saddle then'. I have my bike and accoutrements necessary to ride now, but I don't. ...because I wait and wish my life away. I need to stop wishing and start doing.

AntLockyer you have the tools and want to. Let's get out there!

[Mark Kelly]

I heard the C word helps with weight loss.

I wish.

I had a chunk of bowel removed eight years ago (Class B adenocarcinoma). As part of the recovery they put me on a special weight gain diet.

It worked.

Although that didn't help, long term my problem is really the booze: a bit of an occupational hazard.



Bill: if it is the bad crab, I wish you the best of luck and a speedy recovery.

[ides1056]

Four years?

Six months !!!!

Take serious control like your life depended on it !!!

I have a little experience re-building one's life, I'm doing it again right now

- Garro.

I've been wondering, so glad to hear you are full of piss and vinegar.

[AngryScientist]

i didnt read the whole thread, but congratulations on taking step one and putting the goal in black and white and saying it out loud.

i venture to say losing the extra weight will make everything easier.

to misquote a bad 90s movie "in cycling, we go up hills, and fat people go up slower".

that said, i would be careful not to focus too much on cycling fitness alone. in our middle aged years, i think it's smarter to focus on total fitness, some weight bearing activities, core strength, etc. it's definitely possible to have excellent cycling fitness and poor overall health/strength/fitness - which i think you can get away with in your 20's and 30's, but to really be healthy, the big picture matters more, and let's face it, no one's paying us to win races.

[SpeedyChix]

@bigbill Hope that you are able to ride those Lupus waves AND get end up with good news n not C.
@AntLockyer congrats on kicking this off and working on new goals.

[nick k]

If you follow Helen Wyman on Instagram, she has a quick demonstration of a 10 minute body-weight planking and stretching routine that I've been doing for a few weeks now. The planks are hard for someone like me with not enough core strength despite light upper body mass. But it's just about 1 minute per routine and that's totally doable, an easy target. I'm officially a year away from -mid forties- and I can tell that despite riding and walking a healthy amount, I get soft and lose muscle mass much more quickly than even just a few years ago. Don't wait, you'll be surprised/not surprised at how good you feel, and not even from the weight loss.

[RichTheRoadie]

If you follow Helen Wyman on Instagram, she has a quick demonstration of a 10 minute body-weight planking and stretching routine that I've been doing for a few weeks now.

[AntLockyer]

Bigbill, fingers crossed for you buddy.

I've been doing a bit of weights here and there, some heavy bag work, a bit of karate practice. The only core stuff I've been doing is bridge leg extensions and the fact down one that looks like sky diving.

All this is sporadic, the daily habit is what I need.

The whole diet thing feels like a change already. I usually snack hard after dinner, totilla chips, chocolate, cheese etc. I've just reduced that, had a couple of bits of chocolate and was happy with that and felt happy thats all I had.

I'm most excited about building a deep base, I honestly don't think I've ever trained my base enough. Even when I was doing 120 miles a week of commuting I was always in a rush and way over zone 2. No wonder I got sick so much.

[AntLockyer]

The Helen Wyman core routine hurts!

[mjbabcock]

Is the Wyman info anywhere other than insta-book?
I kinda swore off those platforms a while back.

[AntLockyer]

Tabletop alternate arm leg
Forearm plank
Side plank
Plank to Forearm plank
Boat to full leg extension
Knee to nose/elbow crossover
Bridge with leg extension

1 minute of each

[mjbabcock]

Thanks!

[steve garro]

so glad to hear you are full of piss and vinegar.

Hardly !!!

It's totally kicking my ass every moment of the day every single day but most days I get better - I just spent twelve fuckign weeks in bed = can you imagine how you feel after that?

Fuckign awful is how.

Some days I don't go forward - the key to recovery is to try and have as few days as possible where you don't go BACKWARDS.

Make good habits.

Cook two potatoes, not three, two eggs not three.
Trick yourself, make it a game - a little farther every day.

- Garro.