Bikes aren't just for fitness - they're great for getting where you're going too!

Share the road! That's what cyclists have been screaming for years. So with more cities complying by adding designated bike lanes, why are bike-related accidents on the rise?

The New York Times recently reported on a group of Denver doctors who tackled this question after noticing a surprising rise in biking injuries coming into their emergency room. When they looked at the history, they found the severity of these injuries had significantly increased during the last five years. Their theory? Downtown commuters.

With the rising cost of gas, more people are being encouraged to take to the streets on their bikes. It's not uncommon in many cities to see businessmen and women commuting to work on two wheels. As environmentally friendly and heart healthy as this seems, it leaves some wondering if biking is just an accident waiting to happen. Literally.

Editor of Self magazine, Lucy Danziger, has the option of getting a free ride to work every morning. Nevermind the black town car provided by Condé Nast. Insead, Danziger is practicing what she preaches on the pages of her magazine, riding her bike to work most days, according to The New York Times.

The motivation behind this choice is twofold. For one thing, it's active and healthy, which fits right in with Danziger's lifestyle. According to The New York Times, on the morning they caught up with the editor, she'd already run six miles before leaving (on her bike) at 8 a.m.

Additionally, it's a nod to the chilly economic climate. With all of the publications Condé Nast has shut down and the budget cuts they've asked remaining mags to make, it makes perfect sense that employees would find alternate means of transportation. It seems as though Danziger is leading by example, however, can you imagine Anna Wintour doing such a thing?

Photo: Howard Wise

Playing sports and hitting the gym can be totally separate activities, but it doesn't have to be that way. Whether you're just starting out with a new sport or have been hitting the field since your school days -- you'll go further and faster if your gym routine compliments your inner athlete.

"You'll feel more body confident, prevent injuries, and improve your overall athletic performance if you use sports-specific resistance training two to three days a week in addition to regular workouts," says Tom Williams, former U.S. Olympic swimmer and owner of Burn Fitness health club in Santa Monica, Calif.

Here, Williams offers simple training tweaks for four of the most common hobbies and fit pastimes: Swimming, running, cycling and playing golf or tennis. After two to four weeks of incorporating these specific moves into your regimen and practicing your sport, you'll have a stronger core, a leaner lower body, faster reflexes and the ability to play better with more stamina.

Swimming
Swim a minimum of twice a week, but train not only with your favorite stroke (free-style, for instance), alternate it with other strokes, including a backstroke and the butterfly because each specific movement really zeroes in on different muscle groups and works your body in new ways.

Moves: Yoga side planks, ab crunches and push-ups also boost your swimming muscles and core strength. Williams recommends using a resistance band or dumbbells to strengthen the muscles all around your upper and outer back. In addition to a gym lat pull-down machine or a chest bench press, stand upright and tie a tube or band handle around a bed post or use dumbbells to row back with arms straight until hands reach hips. Return arms to full extension and repeat 10 times.

Quercetin is found in the skins of apples and red onions. Photo: visualpanic, Flickr

In the world of sport, it seems everyone's talking about quercetin, a phytochemical that could increase your athletic performance and, perhaps more importantly, it comes in an energy drink endorsed by Lance Armstrong. But not so fast says a new study funded by Coca-Cola -- it seems quercetin won't actually do you much good on the race track.

The research, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, tested performance levels at maximum-effort biking of 30 recreational cyclists -- half were given 1 gram of quercetin in their sports drinks, while the other half weren't. At the end of the one-to-two-week study, participants who took the supplement showed no difference from those who hadn't in a variety of measures, including metabolic changes, peak oxygen consumption and strength after testing.

The study's lead researcher, Kirk Cureton, was surprised by the findings, as he had predicted positive effects on athletes, especially since tests on mice had proved promising. However, he adds "Only one study that I am aware of has found a positive effect" referring to research done by the U.S. Army, that had heavily invested in the supplement. But it is not necessarily a waste. Quercetin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, so even if it's not shrinking your split times, you may be reaping other benefits.

Photo: richardmasoner, Flickr

Day 1: Eight o'clock at night, I suddenly realized that I'd completely forgotten to exercise. I'd taken my kids out for a long bike ride earlier in the day -- which is probably why I forgot -- but that doesn't count as exercise for me. My 4-year-old goes slow enough that I do more pedaling backwards than forwards.

Since my bike was still out, I jumped on it for a fast and furious ride that made both my thighs and lungs burn. I was enjoying myself so much, I didn't notice the clouds rolling in and got stuck three miles from home in a downpour. Still, soaked to the skin or not, I tasted the sweet victory of breaking a sweat and reaching my goal for the day.

Thirty minutes isn't hard, and it can even be broken down into several shorter workouts over the course of they day.

Even my 54-year-old father talks about eating to win before 150-mile bike races. Turns out he's not the only one who believes food is fuel.

The experts over at Love + Blueberries say if you want to make it to the finish line, you've got to eat a certain way, and they suggest you put whole grains, fruits and vegetables in your tank. They've also got some tips for how to eat on the day of the race.

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Cycling is great, but there are a couple of problems. For one thing, it can be really time consuming -- if you're going for a long bike ride, you're going to be away from home for a considerable amount of time, and for many of us, that can be a problem. Maybe you have to fit your workouts in while the kids are napping, or perhaps you just don't live in an area that's terribly conducive to cycling. But that doesn't mean you can't get in a serious cycling workout.
It's big and it's pricey, but if you love to cycle but can't get your fix outdoors, the RealRyder indoor bike is a great alternative. Unlike regular stationary bikes, it leans and steers to feel more like a real bike. Not only does this offer a more realistic experience, but it works more than just your legs by challenging your core, upper body and balance.

The $1,995 price tag makes it a bit out of reach for some -- the RealRyder is being marketed as a "mommy must-have," yet I don't know too many stay-at-home moms who have that kind of money on hand for new piece of fitness equipment, especially one that doesn't offer a wide variety of workouts like some of the home gym systems. But, if you love cycling and want more than just a cardio and leg workout from your indoor bike, it could be a great addition.

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Zooming downhill on his bike on Long Island last weekend, Matt Lauer was breaking a sweat, soaking up some of that early spring weather. Until a deer jumped out in front of him. What happened next hasn't been described in detail, but Lauer flipped over his handlebars, landing himself in the hospital with a separated shoulder.

Like a good cyclist, Lauer was wearing his helmet. Now that spring has finally arrived, cyclists are pulling their bikes out of storage and getting ready to ride. It's a good time to review those all important bike safety tips, like:

• Be like Lauer and always wear your helmet. Leave your headphones at home.
  
• Ride with traffic (not against it), and respect the rules of the road.
• Know your hand signals and use them.
• Dress for the weather, and make good use of layers.
• Use head and tail lights when biking at night.
• Keep your bike in good repair.
• Be aware of your environment. City cyclists don't have to worry about impulsive deer, but they do have to maneuver in traffic.

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I do a lot of interval training for many reasons. For one thing, it's been shown to increase fat loss, plus, interval training is still good for my heart. Add to that the fact that it helps to suppress the appetite, keeps me interested, and is touted by one of my favorite celebrity trainers, and you should understand why I shy away from doing too many long, steady-paced jogs.

Interval training also allows you to burn a lot of calories in not a lot of time, and Tabata intervals take that a step further. Rather than going hard for a minute and taking it easy for a minute (or two), Tabata relies on really short, really hard intervals.

Start out by warming up (of course), then throw yourself into a hard run (or whatever your cardio choice is) -- aim for a 9 on the RPE scale. Stick with that for 20 seconds, then slow waaaay down, but only for 10 seconds. Then, push it back up. DietBlog suggests trying to repeat this six times, but if you can't do it right away, don't worry -- just keep working at it!

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Over Christmas, I visited my parents, who live in a retirement community. I met my mom's really cool friend, Marilyn, who has recently taken up running (I won't presume to guess her age, but she lives in the same retirement community as my folks, so it's safe to say she's slightly more mature than most folks who begin a running routine). She's slated to run a leg of a marathon soon. She and I talked fitness and running, of course, and the conversation turned to music.

"I have some songs I'll listen to four times in a row because the beat is just what I need to keep my pace," she said. Marilyn didn't know how right she was.

The beats per minute (BPM) in certain songs can definitely affect your pace. This article breaks down the BPM that corresponds to different walking and running paces. For example, if you want to walk a 15 minute mile (4 mph), you want a song with a BPM of 140. To run an eight minute mile (7.5 mph), you want a song closer to 170 BPM. The question is, how do you know the BPM of your favorite songs?

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It's not just the cold weather that causes some of us to be a bit more sedentary during the winter months -- for some folks, it's the lack of goals. I have to admit -- I run a lot harder when I have a race coming up, but in most areas, there aren't many races going on this time of year.

Of course, not training as hard means I should eat less ... but that doesn't always happen. And that, my dears, is one reason why so many of us pack on pounds during the winter. However, Active.com has a list of 10 ways to manage your weight in the off-season.

For example, talking to a nutritionist can help you determine your energy needs during this slower time of year, and keeping a food diary will help you keep track of exactly how much you're eating. And, one of my favorite suggestions is to mix up your workout -- try a new class at the gym, take up your friend's offer of playing flag football or hit the (indoor) pool. You just might find a brand new love!

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Elle MacPherson got the nickname 'The Body' for a reason -- because she's got the body we want, even as a 44-year-old mom. You know, it's really not fair that she looks better in a bathing suit than me, a 20-something non-mother, but whatever. The question is: What does she know that the rest of us don't?

Apparently, the hot-body secret she's hoarding to herself is not really a secret at all -- it's fitness. The stunner fits in activity with everything she does. For instance, she spent the recent holiday season surfing up a storm in her native Australia. And what about when she's back at home in Notting Hill, London, where surfing isn't an option? She and son Aurelius bicycle everywhere. "We have so much fun," Elle says of her cycling addiction, adding, "it helps keeps me in shape."

That settles it. As soon as this darn snow melts, I'm breaking out my bike.

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It's not to soon to start thinking about that big feast you might tackle tomorrow or that walk you should take just after you stuff down your calories galore.

First things first. Before you head out the door on your power walk, eat some raisins -- they're the perfect pre-walk snack, with the power to help you keep up the pace and crank up your fat-burning reserves.

Check this out: Endurance athletes in one study who ate a few ounces of raisins before 45 minutes of cycling fared better than athletes who threw back a sports gel. Yep, raisin eaters have no problem keeping pace with gel takers, and they have higher blood levels of free fatty acids too.

Raisins rock. They're loaded with antioxidants, fiber, iron and potassium. Best of all, they're easy to sneak into most meals. RealAge suggests trying these sneaky strategies: Sprinkle raisins on hot cereal or on crusty whole-grain bread smeared with peanut butter, toss into your favorite lunch salad, infuse into Indian-inspired cuisine and put them on your pizza.

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Lance Armstrong wasn't kidding when he said he was making a cycling comeback. He's got one hard body to prove that he's knee deep in Tour de France training, and the 37-year-old tells Men's Health magazine all about it.

Armstrong's workouts, which make him certain he'll finish on top for an eighth win, have gone high-tech. "Back in the day, people trained on just their feelings," he says. "Now you have heart rate, altitude, lactic acid all measured on one unit." He also has an added step in the training game this go-round.

Armstrong has vowed to submit to a program of blood testing to prove he isn't using performance-enhancing drugs. Sounds like he's the real thing -- what do you think?

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