Cumulative daily miles, is it the same thing?

I've been wondering about this for a while. Presently, most of my cycling time is spent commuting. A full commute day for me consists of a 5 mile ride to work in the morning, an 8 mile ride to school, and an 11 mile ride home. Total daily mileage 24.

Will I get the same fitness/training benefit from riding 24 miles a day broken up into these shorter rides as I would get on a single 24 mile ride? Can I possibly be getting more benefit, since I'm doing each ride at a pretty high heart rate, riding harder than I would probably go for 24 miles straight?

I'm cycling mainly for cardiovascular fitness, but also want to do some centuries and am seriously considering doing the Seattle to Portland again this year. I will be adding some longer weekend rides as time permits, but my weekend riding time is pretty limited. Midweek commuting time is really where it's at, for me.

Can't actually answer your question, but I've been wondering too! I go for a ride for riding's sake probably no more than once a week (unless it's holidays), but I do lots of riding as a method of transport. How does it stack up?

I think your cardiovascular fitness will receive the same benefits. All the public service announcements, fitness magazines, etc recommend smaller bouts of exercise if you have a hard time fitting in a the RDA of 30 minutes a day. I'm not sure about muscle endurance, as your muscles will be getting a rest.

For long distance running, most people consider split workouts to have the same effect as on long one.

Nanci

You are probably not getting the same cardiovascular benefit from shorter rides simply due to the impact of the extended recovery on your anaerobic endurance. When we train, we try to simulate how we race in order to combat fatigue. If you are spending large portions of time recovering during those 24 miles (because you are commuting), then it is not exactly the same as riding those miles continuously.

But on the other hand, you are still burning 24 miles worth of calories, you are working your legs and lungs and you are conserving on the environment also! If you do long rides and interval training on the weekends, a century ride will be a piece of cake.

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Originally Posted by Nanci

For long distance running, most people consider split workouts to have the same effect as on long one.

Nanci

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Thats interesting - on the running sites I hang out on just about everybody has the opposite view - ie a split workout does not have the same effect as a long run

For what its worth I think it depends on what your aims are. For weight control I think it does have the same effect - you are burning the same amount of calories. For general health and fitness the same - little bits add up.

However - if your aim is to ride a century ie you want to be able to ride for 6 or 8 hours or whatever, with (say) only 3 or 4 20 minute breaks then I think you need to do more sustained rides.

Having said all that you are doing quite a lot of riding during the week, which gives you an excellent base - now you just need to find time to get one or two sustained longer rides in a week (easier said than done I know)

(This is a quote from Karl King, a chemist, race director, veteran of many ultramarathons, developer of Succeed electrolyte products. It discusses running, but applies to cycling.)


"Despite what they tell you in Runner's World, a long run is not for the leg muscles; it is for the endocrine system - a point which has eluded Runner's World authors for over two decades. You can train your muscles by running a 12 mile run every day for an 84 mile week, and be profoundly unprepared for a 50 mile run. However, if you did four runs of 12 and one of 36, you'd have the endurance for most ultras. The difference is that the 36 would stress your endocrine system and force it to adapt for the demands of long distance running. That adaptation is slow to build, and slow to fade, so you don't need a long run every week.

So, Paul's observation is correct. Newbies need the long run work to train their endocrine system. Veterans have paid their dues, so to speak, and can get by with the endurance work found in regularly running an ultra. For example, since Jay has run a bunch of 100s in the last two years, he doesn't need to run over 18 in his training between ultras. Of course, if he didn't run an ultra in three years, he'd lose his adaptation and need to build up again.

A good point is that newbies need to be careful in interpreting how the advice from veterans applies to them. A veteran may sincerely say "this works for me", and since the vet has the adaptation, it does work and seems pretty easy. The newbie, without much adaptation may find that the practice doesn't work for them. Growing and learning are part of the fun of ultra running."

Commuting hard works well. That was pretty much my only prep for the first 10K indoor time trial I did and I've never equalled that performance. I turned that commute into a series of intervals (and was doing it on the heavy bike).

The other comments on endurance (and experienced riders) would hold true, though. I had already done a century (also on a heavy bike).

You might want to figure out some longer routes for when you have time.

My weekly regimen consistes of daily 16 mile round trip commutes, with 2 longer club rides (30-65 miles) on the weekend. I will take at least 1-2 days off mid-week as I feel I need or as weather dictates. I find this load prepares me well to ride a century or tour at the drop of a hat. For me, the weekend rides are 'high intensity', i.e. hard and fast and often hilly, while the commuting rides are more recovery, since speed is dicated by traffic. However, I have found both types of riding are equally important. If I stop commuting, I am slower on the weekends. But, I am not training to race, although I enjoy fast club riding, touring, and just being out there on my bike. I call myself a 'lifestyle' cyclist.

What you are doing is, I guess, a type of base training.
This is where you do low intensity rides for a specific time per day.
What it does is builds your endurance (though ideally you should be doing longer and longer rides if it was actual base training).

You are not developing speed or anaerobic fitness, but base training - particularly if, over weeks, you make the rides longer - gives you an excellent endurance base.

The other way you could look at these rides is "transition" where you maintain a fitness level, but you still have your "training" ahead of you for specific rides (whatever those rides might be)

However, taking that "training" helmet off, any riding is good for you, because you are moving, keeping your heart busy and your muscles moving.:)