Pros and cons of cycling to work and back 5 days a week?

Was just wondering from a fitness and weight loss perspective. I've been riding to work and back off and on for the past few weeks and enjoying it. But doing Mon-Fri (it's about 14 miles in total, there and back) would probably increase general CV fitness over time and quite probably accelerate weight loss (simply burning more calories) but building muscle would suffer as my legs wouldn't have a day in between to rest and repair (I've always been told that from a gym perspective you need a day between workouts for the body to repair/build). Does this sound about right?

Wondered what the advantages and disadvantages are to cycling every day (well 5 days in a week to be specific) as oppose to every other day, if any?

Ta muchly.

Depends on how you cycle.

On your rest days, you could just tootle in and not hammer it in.

'tootle' and 'hammer' are proper cycling terms.

Ride 30 miles a few days a week and a decent long ride on the weekend and then the 14 miles a day commuting are your recovery day. 14 miles a day is not alot your body should not really need much recovery.

'tootle' and 'hammer' are proper cycling terms.

i prefer "pootle"

Ride 30 miles a few days a week and a decent long ride on the weekend and then the 14 miles a day commuting are your recovery day. 14 miles a day is not alot your body should not really need much recovery.

+1 - especially when (I'm presuming) the 14 miles is split into 2 sets of 7 miles bookending your day. It will be ok for maintaining base fitness but far longer rides will do more, I think.
I managed to put weight on over the summer with a 34 mile per day commute, 5 times per week, which confused me. (I'm not sure how this bit is helpful)

as per tynan's post. all about how much effort you put in. for me, 'tootle' is prob <70% of max effort, 'hammer it' is >70%. plus your dist is fairly short and at under 1hr riding (each leg), it is hardly a workout. you'll feel tired on the 5th day, but you have the weekend to recover. keep it up and you'll get used to it. it'll be like walking to your local!

despite tootling in yesterday, had a fck off painful cramp in bed at about 2am this morning. left calf pulled up and had to get missus to stretch my toes/feet for me. possibly dehydration as ive been sick the last couple of days and been off the bike for a total of 4 days. must remember to stretch.

@brett, our bodies are generally heavier in summer. i think it's something to do with retaining more water to control body temp.

i prefer "pootle"

As long as it's not "toodle".

you will get used to it in no time.
the advantages of not having to tfl have no price.

Cool. So, start trying 5 days a week and just vary the level of pootle/hammer by way of recovery and muscle mass will still grow (I want to lose weight but gain strength). 14 miles a day 5 days a week may not sound like much to you guys but bear in mind I'm back to cycling after years of not riding and have been building it up gradually over the past few weeks :)

a 7mile commute ride is junk miles really it will keep you fitter than the average couch potato but its the hour+ rides at 70% output that improve endurance. 7miles is only enough for a warm-up at the beginning of a ride.
if you did the 70miles you do a week as a 50 and a hard fast 20 with a days rest in between it wold make you fitter than you are now, it doesn't fit in with your commuting though.

edit. your post above wasn't there when i was typing mine. as you are just getting back on the bike just build up slowly and if you have no 'zip' by the end of the week take it easy or have a day off the bike.

there are no cons as far as i can see
start doing it twice a week then move up to mon weds fri
once proficient shift on up to 5 days a week, see how you feel after the rides but hey 14 miles a day isn't a huge amount 1-1.25 hrs cycling a day
once you get into the habit you wake up in the morning thinking about the ride you just get into it,

i prefer "pootle"

Me too.

I do 21 miles a day, Mon-Fri, and since switching to fixed just over a year ago I have lost 1 stone and nearly 2 inches off the waist.

^ Agree with Dicki - there are no cons. Even the wettest, puncture-filled ride is better to the Piccadilly Line at rush hour.

All about intensity; you'd get more out of a mix of low/med/hi/max work with one day off the bike to rest than grinding 7 days a week constantly at a medium pace.

There's loads of stuff on training with heart rate that breaks it down but think of it as a pyramid; big base of low intensity tapering to very small amounts of very hard work.

I'm doing 150-170miles a week and I feel alot better than when I was just doing 100m and trying to bang it as fast as I could everywhere.

i do 14 miles per day, 5 days a week too. i feel fitter for it though i eat like fucken horse. i can't seem to 'pootle' any time really, especially on the way home where i will race the fuck out of anyone and impress the crowds and drivers with my skillz and speedz. :D

As long as it's not "toodle".

or poodle.

I only do about 20miles a day with football and running in some evenings and i push that as hard as i can and finish on highgate hill or swains lane every evening.
But 2/3 nights a week down the pub, one typically huge session and there is always fish N Chips/curry or some late in the evening when i am tired and cold. and that stops the weight loss.

Ralph etc are right on doing the big miles to get your fitness up, also try running or swimming to rest your legs and work other muscles?
I heard Coffee before a ride helps burn fat and heavy eating drinking directly after causes your body to store more.

i do 14 miles per day, 5 days a week too. i feel fitter for it though i eat like fucken horse. i can't seem to 'pootle' any time really, especially on the way home where i will race the fuck out of anyone and impress the crowds and drivers with my skillz and speedz. :D

Can i get an Ahmen - repd!

• points - it's fun, you get fitter and you get to add to your speedz and skillz :p

• points - ermmmmm

Can't believe no-one has said HTFU yet. Is this acronym going out of fashion?

+1 to tika's comments. The money saved from not using TFL also the lack of exposure to the biological warfare zone that is public transport makes you much healthier.

My commute was around 60 miles per week, so just over 10 a day, fairly short but I miss it now that I work from home. It just keeps you fitness levels topped up, and I often took longer routes home to get more miles in. But as Matt said, it also keeps your speed up and you keeps your reactions sharp.

No cons whatsoever as far as I can see.

I think you just have to be careful about gradual burn-out. If you make sure you eat something mid/high glycaemic immediately after arriving at work, you're less likely to set off on the way home short of calories, thereby further depleting glycogen stores. And a coffee before leaving in the morning will kick-start your metabolism and facilitate more efficient burning of fat stores during the morning ride.

I'm currently doing 3 miles a day total, 5 days a week. If I wanted to get fitter & stronger, I'd do a 40-70 mile ride at the weekend, and one intensive workout mid-week, focussing on strength, which for me is typically a 30 min turbo session, half of which is warming up and warming down.

If you wanted to incorporate something similar into your commute, it's best done in the afternoon (less risk of injury), and in the second half of your ride (less risk of injury again), and could involve something like standing starts from traffic lights, or standing/seated surges from slow speed to the point of spinning out.

Blimey, I went on a bit.

Exercising at the gym is quite different from commuting. People can take the "rest day" quite litterally and not move for one day :)

To be healthy we should walk at least 8 km a day every day, so your daily commute in the fresh air is very healthy. You could also try to walk (fast) part of your commute on the days you don't want to cycle. Just reassess yourself every few weeks. Make sure you walk a few minutes after each meal, go for a walk at lunchtime for 30mn if you can, take the stairs. All of that will make a big difference. Daily is the key!