Q: Hey, I was wondering that now, since summer is basically here in Eastern Ontario, if I did a 5km (2.5km one direction, 2.5km back approx.) every morning would that be adequate exercise to lose weight? Currently I am doing you're weightlifting program, so biking would be something else to do as well. The route I would be taking would have a lot of hills to climb (and also, obviously, to go down so I may lose exercise there) so I figure it should be alright. Any tips for getting more benefit out of biking on this rural terrain. Last year, I found if I peddled too hard for too long then my legs felt like jelly after only about 5 minutes, anything about this?

A: Sure, since you're already weight training, you can add biking in as some additional cardio and 5km biking daily should be fine. I would actually consider a hilly terrain as beneficial -- the uphill climbs will stress your anaerobic system more, in addition to the aerobic stress of the 'regular' biking.

To make sure your legs last more than five minutes you simply need to start and stay at slower pace. It's just like running -- everyone has a pace at which they can go long distance (that pace might be plain walking for some) but if you try to exceed that pace you'll run out of steam after just a few minutes. So start slower and save your energy for those uphill climbs. So your bike ride may be relatively relaxing periods interspersed with intense hill-climbing periods.

Also, if you find your biking sessions very intense and especially if you do a lot of these hills, you may reduce the amount of lower-body weight training you do in the gym. That may mean only doing one leg exercise instead of two or three (depending on which you program you follow) or doing only 1 set instead of 2 or 3. If your legs are sore from biking, then skip leg weight training altogether and only do upper body. As your body gets used to biking in coming weeks, you'll likely find yourself getting sore less and less and then you can add some of lower-body weight training back in. Good luck!