BPX Blog – BikePartsExpress.com

Clever Fitness Ideas

If fitness is at the top of your to do list, get started with the information in the article below to make sure you get the most from whatever you decide to do. Not all fitness advice is right for everyone, but you can find some great ideas from these practical tips to get started today.

Cycling

To maintain your fitness level for life, you must find forms of exercise that you enjoy. If you have to force yourself to exercise, you are very unlikely to exercise on a regular basis or to maintain your fitness level in the long term. By participating in enjoyable forms of exercise such as swimming, cycling, hiking, dancing, and playing enjoyable team sports, you can be fit and stay fit for life.

For those who have just begun exercising recently, it is important not to over do it. Because your muscles and other parts of your body are not used to the exercise, you can suffer a severe muscle injury. You can begin by power-walking, running, cycling, swimming, or lifting light weights.

Strengthen your legs with isotonic exercise. Many sports such as basketball, football, cycling and running require strong legs. This form of exercise requires you to tense and contract a muscle for a certain amount of time. Weight lifting is a particularly good example of this exercise, as it develops muscle tone and increases joint flexibility.

A good cycling fitness tip to help increase endurance and muscle when you are riding is to try and keep your pace somewhere between 80 and 110 rpms. This will allow you to ride further without getting tired and it is much easier on your joints. You also have the benefit of riding for longer periods of time.

Getting started on your way to true personal fitness begins with these effective and practical tips. Put these tips to use to feel better and look great. It will give you a great deal of satisfaction to know you are doing something to get in the best shape you can.

Some muscle building is done on the bike, but there is much that can be done off the bike too.

Try These Tips!

Muscle building is the same as any other type of self-improvement: if you have the right information and know where to begin, it can be a simple, straightforward process. No one can do the work for you, but you can be pointed in the right direction; here are some muscle building tips that work well.

Keep in mind that there is no one method to build muscle that will work fast, effectively, and in the area that you really want to target. Muscle building takes work, and it takes time too. If you want to see success you must come up with a solid plan and remain committed to it. Overnight success stories do not happen when it comes to building muscle, so be sure to take it slow.

Make the “big three” a part of your daily workout routine. These three exercises include: the deadlift, squat and bench press. These particular exercises are known to help build bulk, strength and condition your muscles each time they are done and should be included in your routine for maximum muscle building success.

Genetics are one of the most important factors in building muscle mass. There is not much you can change about your interior genetics that shape your body, but you can improve the way you look by becoming more tone. Some of us just do not have the bodies that will have large muscles, so accept that and strive for better tone.

Limit yourself to four workouts per week. Doing five or more can cause recovery issues that limit or even hinder your progress. Having three days off a week also allows for mental recovery as well as physical. You will be more enthusiastic about going to the gym on your four days.

In order to build muscle effectively, you must include a variety of exercises in your weekly exercise routine. For instance, do push-ups and pull-ups one day, then on another day lift weights instead. Varying the workout induces muscle confusion, which prevents the body from getting used to the workout and not reaping all the benefits from it.

Train at least three times per week. You need at least three training sessions every week if you want to see significant muscle growth. If you are really new at weight training, this can be reduced to two at the start; however, you should increase the number of sessions per week as soon as you are able. If you already have some experience with strength training, you can add more sessions as well.

Any time you are lifting a heavy free weight, it is very important that you have a spotter. This is someone who knows the routine that you are doing and also understands when you are requiring help. Many times this person can become a type of gym buddy as well.

Cycling Specific Muscle Building

One of the best things that you can do to gain muscle is resistance cycling. This means that you will sit on a bike and pedal with a higher level of resistance and tension than usual. This technique will help to strengthen your legs, which is a core component in your body.

Building up your muscles takes the same commitment, time and effort that any self-improvement activity does. You have to do the exercise, but the right information and learning the right techniques can be more helpful than you know. Use the tips in this article to put you on the right path.

I am beginning to enjoy my re-acquaintance with my little ring. Of all the bike parts  on my ride, it used to be that the little ring was the bike part that got used the least. I just carried it around on the bike just in case one day I needed it to get up a steep. Living in Texas, even the Texas Hill Country, I found that the little didnt get used much. I have been on a 2 x 9 drivetrain for a long time and biggest ring up front is a 38. So with a 34 on the back, i found very few occasions that i needed to drop down from the big ring. Since our shop is located close the trails at McAlister Park, that is where i would ride most of the time. Most that have ridden Mac as it is known to the locals, know that it is very fast and very flat, so the big ring was the only ring that got used there. The race venues did hit some trails that required a few more gears, but only in a very few select spots. So there it is. My little ring. Almost new still. I never liked the way the chain sounded when it was in the middle ring. It would slap the chainstay on the downhills and make too much noise. So i would leave it in the big ring almost all the time. I was thinking of just going 1×10. But then I moved to Utah.

I am enjoying getting reacquainted with my little ring. I like having that option when faced with the decision right at the trailhead. Most good trails over here start out with a climb. At first i wasn’t thrilled about this, and would seek out trails that didnt go straight up from the trailhead. I would go out of my way get to a trail that didn’t go straight up. However, lately i am finding myself actually enjoying starting out on a climb. I like the fact that you get warmed up pretty quickly if you start out on a climb. I like the fact that i have a little ring that i can just spin an easy gear for the first 15 minutes or so while i climb up to the main trail. I am liking that an average ride around here is 1500 to 2000 feet of climbing. I am liking that i feel like i got a really good workout on even a shorter ride in time duration. I am really liking my little ring. I think i am going buy me a new little ring to celebrate my re-acquaintance. read more

I have been riding and racing bicycles since the mid 90′s. One of first lessons I learned was those padded shorts really do work. I think the second lesson I learned was to not skimp on your saddle. Bicycle saddles are a very personal item and what works for one may not work for another, but I learned that saving a few dollars on a cheaper saddle that looked the same as a higher priced model always resulted in disappointment. So in my journey to find the perfect saddle I started out on Selle Italia’s. They are very nice saddles, however I went through several different models over the years and found that none of them really worked that well for me. I tried a few no name brands in between and then moved on to Fizik. Fizik is an awesome saddle, however over the years that I used them i learned that the padding seemed to deteriorate sooner than i would have liked for a saddle that cost that much. Also another issue I had with Fizik is that for the price, the saddle was a little heavier than I liked. Then I found Prologo.

I always test out new saddles on my road bike first, then if it works there I know it will work on the mountain bike. That is because on a road bike you are seated for much longer periods of time and so the comfort of a saddle is really very apparent very soon. Anyway, I went for the Prologo Scratch Nack. It is a full carbon saddle with nice padding and it only weighs 150 grams. Yes it is expensive at $399 but when you are in the saddle as much as I am, I rationalized it by saving a few tanks of gas by riding my bike instead of driving. I used this saddle at the last Hotter Than Hell Hundred that I did which is a hundred mile race in 100+ temperatures in Texas. I did the race in about 4 hours 20 minutes. The saddle was extremely comfortable and I didn’t need to stop once during the race to let my butt rest. I have been using Prologo saddles on my road bike and mountain bikes for the last few years and been extremely pleased with their performance. And there are other models that work just as well that are not as expensive. Anyway, we are now carrying Prologo saddles and i don’t have go elsewhere to get them. Yay!!