Our top tips for cyclists and runners!16 Apr

As the weather gets warmer, going for a jog and dusting off your bike for a quick cycle is becoming more popular!

Here are our top tips to help you get the most out of your exercise.

Cycling

• Keeping yourself hydrated! Drink small, frequent amounts of water to keep yourself hydrated; sweating causes your body to lose water, especially with the warmer days. Make sure you keep a water bottle with you at all times.
• Build up your strength. Focusing on your legs, arms and back strength can help with your posture as well as focusing on your stamina; for the future, this will help you to cycle for longer.
• Change position on the saddle. Sitting on the saddle for an extended period can cause discomfort; keep changing positions to keep up your posture and help with any uncomfortable positions!
• Don’t ride with headphones in. Riding with headphones or earphones can cause your attention to go elsewhere; this could cause problems when trying to cross busy roads, or not hearing sirens from emergency vehicles.

Jogging/Running

• Get the correct footwear! Running with trainers that don’t support your feet in a certain way can cause strain on areas of your body; finding shoes that support your joints, feet etc. will not only help protect your body but help with performance too.
• Stretching before going for a jog can help with decreasing the possibility of injury! It increases the flexibility of your body and helps loosen up your joints.
• Stay hydrated! Like cycling; when jogging or running your body will lose a lot of water. Keeping hydrated and a water bottle on you will help you keep yourself healthy!
• Core training. Training up your core will not only help with your stamina but posture as well. Strengthening your core allows you to better your posture for running, as well as supporting your body.

Social Distancing

Social distancing is even more critical now that the weather is improving; with more people cycling and jogging, we need to take more measures to help with social distancing while exercising. Slipstreams are caused when someone coughs, sneezes or breathes, and these particles stay in the air behind them.

Slipstreams can affect people behind you; when jogging, you could end up sneezing and leave these particles behind you, affecting the person behind you. Keeping distance when you’re exercising will help you to limit the slipstreams.

• keep 4-5 meters distance when jogging
• keep 10 meters if a slow cyclist
• keep 20 meters if a fast cyclist

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