How to get more endurance with cycling?

Question

I'm doing cycling alone in the road cycling...1 year now

well I'm doing 2-3 times in a week, 50 minutes

but I want to have more endurance and get faster because

I'm playing volleyball and I want before my practices begin

so what to do?

Answer 1

I dont know if there is a hill nearby or not, but cycling uproad is far better for a good workout :P

Answer 2

Most road cyclists go longer than 50 minutes.  I ride 2 or 3 times a week as well.  But I usually ride atleast an hour and up to two hours.  On longer rides I have gone out of the house and then came home after about 6 hours.  I ended up in a city 50 to 60 miles away had lunch then came back home when the sun was setting.  It was a very memorable experience being able to go far away on my bike without the help of anything but my heart and legs (and maybe some tailwind).

Going on longer rides will improve your stamina more than anything.  Endurance is something that you can develop only to a certain point.  I have been riding for a few years now and I still cant run a sub 6 minute mile.  The closest I ever got to that goal was a few seconds over.

You might get some endurance out of this but honestly the best way to improve at a certain sport is to play that sport.  

You should ride longer than 50 minutes though.  Thats not enough on a road bike.  I dont know any road bike that is over 22lbs unless it is over a decade old.  Its fairly easy to cruise along for an hour on a road bike.  Try going on long trips.  Atleast two hours.  Once in a while get a map and find a route to a city a few dozen miles away.  You could even stay at a motel along the way.  Its kind of a great adventure to go on a long bike ride.  Just have a male friend you trust go along with you since you are a female.  I dont think any female should go on long bike rides by themselves.  

Answer 3

Longer distances will build endurance.   If  you are limited to a 50-min timeslot, then you need to mix it up;  5 min warmup, easy pedalling on level ground.  Then pedal at about 75% of your max for the next 5 or 10 min, then a minute of full-out burst.   You'd be surprised how hard it is to go all-out for a full minute; maybe start with 30 sec.   Then recover for about 2-4 minutes at about 50% of your max, then hit the 75% or higher again.  Lather, rinse repeat.  Always end your ride with a 5 min cooldown easy ride just as you start.  Stretch afterwards.  

Answer 4

Improved endurance and strength are your body's response to the stress of training.  To reach new levels of endurance and strength you must push your body progressively harder.  If you do not push harder over time you will reach a fitness plateau.  If you have been riding for 50 minutes 2 to 3 times per week for a year, you have undoubtedly plateaued.  To break out of your fitness plateau, you need to change your workout.

Unfortunately, you don't give enough data about the kind of riding you do.  Thus, it is hard to give you specific recommendations.  In any case, strength is built by doing short, intense, all out or nearly all out efforts.  Endurance is built by moderatly paced rides of increasing duration.  You generally want to focus on endurance rides early in the season and swtich over to strength training after you've built your endurance.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. Volleyball really requires the ability to spint short distances and leap.  You really only need enough aerobic endurance to be able to last an entire match.

2. Cycling is an excellent cross training activity to give you the aerobic base you need to last a match and help build muscle strength.

3. Cycling alone isn't going to develop the specific muscles you need to excel in volleyball.

My advice to you is to do lots of cycling in the off-season to build your aerobic fitness.  Do core exercises year round to keep your body strong.  Do wind sprints, suicides, and jumping exercises to build your volleyball specific muscles.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You have to ask your self what part of cycling is your limit?

Lungs? - Try spinning at a lighter/faster gear. this will make it more cardio  and build up your lungs/heart. Keep your heart rate high (about 70-80%) and try to stay long as you can.

Legs? - Try to do more short bursts of sprints. Push hard until you can't stand it then recover. You may use things like road signs as a goal and try to get their as fast as you can, then taper down. You also want to give your muscles enough time to recover as well. Also stretch afterwards.

Answer 6

Try to ride for a longer time. Or attempt to do your normal 50 minute loop in a shorter time by going faster. As you push harder your legs will get used to the extra strain and get stronger. This will help your body to get stronger and get more endurance.