{"id":187135,"date":"2021-11-02T12:16:55","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T12:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=187135"},"modified":"2021-11-09T09:07:42","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T09:07:42","slug":"how-many-hours-per-week-should-you-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/11\/02\/how-many-hours-per-week-should-you-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Hours per Week Should You Ride?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered if you\u2019re spending the right amount of time cycling every week? How much do you have to increase if you want to reach your goals? In this series we will explore why riding more is not always the best idea and how to find the right number of weekly training hours for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There is no perfect number of hours<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Increasing the number of hours in the saddle is not guaranteed to improve fitness, weight loss,<\/a> health, or any of the other benefits of cycling. In fact, it can even lead to the opposite. If you can\u2019t recover well from the cycling you do, you might overtrain<\/a> and damage your performance<\/a> or even health.<\/p>\n

\"MTB<\/a>
No one can tell you the exact number of hours you should ride.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s unfortunate but there is no perfect number of hours that will work best for every cyclist. We all have to find our own number.<\/p>\n

Find your minimum effective dose<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re riding for health, performance, or to become a professional cyclist,<\/a> the stress that training causes to your body is the key variable. It can either stimulate your body to adapt and improve or cause damage if your body can\u2019t keep up.<\/p>\n

This is why it\u2019s a good idea to look for the \u2018minimum effective dose\u2019. This means the minimum number of hours that will trigger a positive adaptation. If you\u2019re cycling fewer hours than this, you will stagnate and see no positive changes. But if you keep adding more hours, you will hit a point where adding more isn\u2019t going to produce any further adaptations.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019re riding five hours every week increasing to 10 hours isn\u2019t going to be twice as effective. And if you increase to 20 hours your body might not be able to handle it at all. So, how do you determine your minimum effective dose?<\/p>\n

It all comes down to your goals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It helps to track your cycling hours and the progress you\u2019re making. Goals can tell you how well your body is responding to increases and when to stop adding extra hours. But ultimately, the main driving factor is your reason why. Why are you cycling and what do you want to accomplish? Here are the four scenarios we will take a look at.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Cycling to stay fit and healthy<\/li>\n
  • Cycling to improve performance<\/li>\n
  • Cycling to win races<\/li>\n
  • Cycling to become a pro<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The rest of this series will give you examples of the minimum effective dose for each one of these. Most of us will land somewhere in between them but it will be helpful to have a general idea of where to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Have you ever wondered if you\u2019re spending the right amount of time cycling every week? How much do you have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":187136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[5815,3305,5814],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-187135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-cycling-performance","tag-cycling-training","tag-how-many-hours-per-week-should-you-ride","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Many Hours per Week Should You Ride? - We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you spending the right amount of time cycling every week? 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