HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU RIDE?

USE THIS GUIDE TO OPTIMISE YOUR TRAINING SCHEDULE.

- JENESSA CONNOR

WE ALL KNOW THAT ONE CYCLIST who's always on their bike. No matter what the weather, temperature, time of year or whatever else they have going on in their lives (do they have anything else going on?), they get in the saddle what seems like seven days a week. These riders may have you rethinking your own routine, asking questions like "How often should I ride my bike?", or "Should I be cycling every day?"

First, stop comparing yourself to others, instructs trainer Jen Kates, founder of Shift Human Performance. "All too often, we look at what someone else is doing on their highlight reel with their training, and then we look at ours and become discouraged," she says. "You have to remember that we're each coming at our training from a different angle."

A solid, results-driven training plan isn't one-size-fits-all; what works for another cyclist may not work for you. The best programme is one that's tailored to the individual, based on a variety of lifestyle and performance-related factors, and can be modified as availability, priorities and training requirements shift and change.

To help you map out a realistic schedule, we spoke to Kates, Garret Seacat (head coach at Absolute Endurance) and Eric Frazier (owner of FSE Coaching), to get their thoughts on cycling frequency. Here's what you need to know.

Factors to Consider When Determining How Often to Ride

Before drafting a training schedule for a client, Kates, Seacat and Frazier all take time to understand who their athlete is on and off the bike, using the factors listed here.

GOALS

The first thing to sort out is your ultimate goal, and why you're riding in the first place. Are you a recreational cyclist who hops on the bike to relieve stress and bank those 150 minutes of medical-aid recommended cardio each week? Or are your goals more performance-related?