Tag: Beginner

Cycling · Fitness · Health

Cycling Tips -Beginners Guide

Its real ALPHA

It is so easy to get caught in anxious or little overwhelming situation if one is riding the bicycle after a long number of years. This anxiety become more if one has not rode the geared bicycle before. Most of us have done cycling in childhood and possibly we might have done some stunts with it as well. It is one of the best remembered gifts from parents in our younger days and we had cycled for reasons which are quite different than our primary goal (fitness) nowadays. I see the same brightness in kids for cycle that was once we had. Surprisingly that charm has not gone away when as a adult we want to start cycling again. To make it easier to start cycling again, the very first thing i can tell you is to forget the rules. Here I listed few cycling tips, which i believe may help you to get back to cycling without losing the big picture.

Start Riding and Having Fun

Fitness should be part of your life and not something you do for a month or a year. You shouldn’t be the one who’s cycling for a month after buying and then dozing off. So forget the rules, forget the gears, terrains, matching helmets, jersey. The Whole idea to get fall in love with cycling again and enjoy. So until you have fun riding cycle, you will not be able to reap fitness benefits and will lose interest soon. More Focus on building habits and Less focus on results or outcome.

Adjust Saddle Height and have some basic maintenance tools handy

Saddle height should be adjusted in such a way that so that you don’t suffer knee pain or injury. Knee should be slightly bend while riding. Get the fix done by a professional if you are unsure. A small video youtube can help.

Some basic maintenance tools like puncture kit, small pump should be handy with you on long ride distances even if you don’t know how to fix your cycle. You may get help of fellow cyclists but you need to have basic kit available with you.

Single gear Cycle. Don’t stress out! Multi-Gear Cycle. Good!

It really Does not matter if you have a single geared cycle as a starter. Idea is not to stress out. It is fine to start with single gear cycle and spend as less you can in starting phase. Soon you will figure out the best bicycle for you. NO point buying a road bike when you found out later that hybrid is the best serving your purpose or the commute bike is what you need instead of mountain bike

If you have basic 1*6 or 3*7 geared cycle, you are good to go bit further distance wise and if you have higher geared cycle, nothing like it. But it can be complicated initially for starters on higher geared cycle. So what one needs to take care is to keep the front derailleur on the 2nd gear(middle gear) and keep changing the back gears as per ride, terrain. This will help to avoid crossing chaining . Within no time, one will be able to adjust the front gears and back gears combination.

Change gears while pedalling:

Remember the best way to change gears is while one is pedalling non stop. This way the chain easily moves from one cog to another. While changing the gear, dont put pressure on the pedal as this could lead to the snapping of chain in extreme scenario.

Build up the ride distance gradually:

Start with a 3km or 5km or 10km ride in first few days and never be in a hurry to ride more distances.. Gradually build up the ride distances. Ride slowly for first 2 km or so and then settle into a rhythm and enjoy the ride. 

Join a cycling group and learn from experienced people :

Join a local cycling group in your neighbour hood. Make new friends and start riding with similar mindset people. You will get to know a lot about nutrition, bike maintenance, bike, terrains, routes. What to do and what not to. On your first ride, make a plan to ride in second part of pack but don’t get lost. Have a proper planning in place before you start to ride in a group and long distances.

Always remember to refuel and hydrate yourself

Dont start empty stomach for long distances. If the ride is over an hour then plan to take an energy bar or something handy to eat. A bottle of water may not be sufficient for long distances. Plan to hydrate on the way. Keeping a small electron bottle with you to restore lost electrolytes

Have a Consistent Approach & build habit

Consistency is the key for fitness
Consistency is the key

Having a weekly routine or a scheduled regime will help you to be consistent. Make it a point to cycle every weekend and soon you will be scaling new heights

Only showing up daily will work wonders in the starting phase and as you progress, you can create a routine.

In case you have any questions/ queries, please feel free to reach me through Contact Form

Do spread the word among your peers, family members or anyone who can benefit from this blog and asked them to subscribe. But be selfish and take care of yourself first by subscribing before they do.

Enjoy the day and your life. Don’t forget, we are alone in this grand universe and may not get a chance to live again.

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FITNESS: Thumb rules

Its real ALPHA
Running: Getting Started: Beginner’s Guide -II
Running

Running: Getting Started: Beginner’s Guide -II

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This is in continuation of the 1st article and I seriously recommend you to read Running: Getting started before you further read this article. In the whole journey of running, everyone goes through learning steps which might be little different as per one’s age, height, weight and circumstances as well. So it’s important to develop the skill to learn the dots and connect the dots as you progress.

Although this article is for beginners but is equally relevant for intermediate runners as well

I came across many people who want to run or want to restart after few years gap but lack motivation. After multiple discussion with coaches, mentors and people involved in running and analyzing the outcomes, one of the definite conclusion is What beginners are really lacking is a GOAL. Once you have a goal to achieve, you will also get a motivation to achieve it.

I would definitely recommend a simplest and bit of challenging goal for beginners and that is to

Sign up for a friendly 5K race

Fun runs associated with a particular day like women’s day run or runs associated with some health awareness issues like diabetes, blind people, Cancer awareness runs or a famous city run like TCS Majja run are perfect ways to get excited about running. And if these runs are organised by your office, society or friends then you will be having a good time while you’re at it. And you will get company as well for training.

We mentioned preparing for a running plan to meet certain objectives in the last article and we will see how we can make one for ourselves.

Remember the unforgettable simple objectives we discussed
1. We will train for injury free running.
2. We will follow discipline in running

Section : Injury free Running

Lets understand the things which we need to keep in mind to have a injury free running

  1. Properly warm up with a 5 min jog or walk and do dynamic stretching before actual run to remain injury free. Avoid static stretching.
  2. Proper cool down for 5 mins in order to help with muscle soreness and to loosen tight areas
  3. Have rest days in a week to allow your body to heal minor issues and keep your legs fresh.
  4. Know your limits. Doing too much, too soon or too fast has to be avoided whether you are a beginner, professional runner or coming back to running after a long time.
  5. Consciously try to run with a proper form (see image). Poor form can lead to undue pain and injury, leading to shin splints etc. and limited performance
  6. Run on proper surfaces. Avoid hard or uneven surfaces like concrete roads or too much trail in beginning of your running weeks
  7. Listen to your body and learn to differentiate between pain and discomfort
  8. Avoid coming back to running too soon after injury or flu. Understand that losing a day or two is much better than losing a month or so.
Correct running form
Correct Running form

Section : Disciplined Running

Lets understand the things which will help us in conquering initial Running roadblocks

  1. Make a schedule and stick to it. Running will be much easier if you are consistent. Make sure to run/walk at least three to five times a week. Make a schedule based on your existing lifestyle. In case of really tight schedule on a particular day, still make it a point to go for a 15 min run/walk before running into your tight schedule.
  2. Find a running partner or a running group or running club. This is one of the best ways to get you into running on days when you are least inclined to.
  3. Focus on time spent and not on pace or distance covered. In case you thought of running 40 min. on a particular day and start feeling not to run more after 15 min. and get back home , try to make it a point to finish the time of 40 min. by walking if not running. Believe me, most of the times you will running back after 5 min. of walking in such cases.
  4. Get involved into some strength training for 2 days a week. Bicycle crunches, Planks, Push-ups, V-hold, Flutter kicks may be few exercises which should be taken on alternate days to running. Not only your body core will be strengthened but also help you make faster runner.
  5. Don’t cry over spilt milk. What it means is get over the guiltiness of missing a running day in the week. You can not change that but you can start from where you left. Don’t allow a missed day to set you back by a week.
  6. Employ a walk/run method initially and then switch to run/ walk method before finally moving to run/run method

I have put up a practical sample plan for a 5k run goal below ( in a two months time). It is freely downloadable and can be customized at your end. Feel free to customize rest days, run days as per to fit your lifestyle.

5k-sample-planDownload
5K run sample plan with walk run method to run walk method
5K run sample plan with walk run method to run walk method

You can always contact me through Contact form to help you with a customized plan for 5k or 10k run

Also Read : How to achieve seemingly impossible fitness goals

In case you have any questions/ queries, please feel free to reach me through Contact Form

Do spread the word among your peers, family members or anyone who can benefit from this blog and asked them to subscribe. But be selfish and take care of yourself first by subscribing before they do.

Enjoy the day and your life. Don’t forget, we are alone in this grand universe and may not get a chance to live again.