Daily Slideshow: Winter Fitness For Spring Riding

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Fitness! We hear about how important it is almost every day. The term gets tossed around and most of the time it's some sort of marketing ploy to get you to buy something. Yes, we know we have to be fit..ish and we all hate the idea of exercise, for the most part. The last thing most of us want to hear is a complicated plan for working out and dieting which we are simply not going to do. We do want to hear about what is sustainable and beneficial and it all starts with setting mind to purpose. Just get moving! 

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Walk

Okay, so the typical biker image is not that of a "healthy lifestyle". Most of us live a sedentary or semi-active lifestyle and winter is not doing us any favors. While going to the gym and a complete diet overhaul is simply not sustainable for most of us, a simple, and often disregarded way of adding activity to our lives is just to walk! Start now, before the riding season begins and make it a part of your routine to walk daily. Start with 1 mile and work your way up to 10,000 steps per day. Research shows that this simple change to your life can add years to your active life. 

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Jump

Stay with me on this: During the winter you may think about going out for a walk. However, while this is better than just sitting on your butt you won't get any real stamina benefits as you would from a higher impact exercise. If you want to start building endurance while you are in the garage, then consider jumping rope. Yes, you read that right. Why? Athletes requiring sharper hand-eye coordination and, of course, boxers do it and they make it look bad ass. Surprisingly, it is a low impact activity, unlike running, and if done correctly shouldn't cause you too much pain. A quick search on YouTube or on any search engine will show you that this is emerging as the most effective fitness activity. Do you want to jog for 30 minutes, walk for 1.5 hours or jump rope for 10 min? It is easy to learn but fear of "how will I look" will prevent most people from doing it. 

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Choices

Most of us will easily find 100 excuses not to do a fitness activity of some sort and, in reality, they are all valid excuses. Anything from not having enough time, to finances, to insecurities, to an "I don't need it" mentality. It all comes down to choices made in the best interest of your own longevity on the saddle. We conduct 2 cross-country rides per year with groups of 7 -12 riders and the choices made by each rider largely impact endurance and overall enjoyment. Riders who choose to sit down and have coffee at a gas stop after a 200-mile run feel considerably different at the end of a 1000 mile day than those riders who walk for 20 minutes drinking that same cup of coffee before saddling up. Everybody always talks about who the best or toughest riders are, but aren't the best riders those who had fun and feel better at the end?  

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5 Mental Blocks

It is documented and well established that we typically know, what "good for us" usually is. The reason we don't do certain things is that of pressures that we unfairly put on ourselves. Many people do not go to a gym because they feel out of place, intimidated, or simply don't care to. Going to a gym, however, is hardly the only way to add physical activity to your routine. However, "home work-outs" are often out of the question because the reality is that we feel either embarrassed or don't have the support of family and friends. The societal pressure to be fit is almost as strong as that to do nothing! 

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6. What Is Being Active?

Being active is going to be different for each person. For people that live a completely sedentary lifestyle, going to the garage and learning how to take apart your bike might be your starting point. For others, a walking schedule and goal for the week might be in order. At this very moment, we all know where we stand and what we "should do"... the majority of the time it comes to a personal decision that can have monumental changes in your life and your riding ability. 

>>Join the conversation on Winter Fitness for Spring Riding right here in HDForums.

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