Most of us have cell phone and most have or are leaning towards a cell with internet access. Using a cell is a great way to be able to keep track of your nutrition intake because you have it with you all the time. I did a quick google search and there are a lot of nutrition tracking apps out there. Online training software, such as training peaks, even allow you up upload the information to your workout log. A great way to keep eveything in one place for you to track, your coach/trainer or nutritionist to look at.
If you’re thinking of making nutrition tracking your new year’s resolution what better way than with your web access phone.
A new type of weight training that is being developed through a partnership with American College of Sports Medicine and Sato Sports Plaza of Japan. This technique could reduce the stress on athletes and older adults whom have a limit on physical stress that can be applied to the body, such as joint problems.
This technique allows for a reduction of the external loads that need to be lifted from a traditional high load of 80 percent of a person’s strength down to 20 percent while maintaining all the benefits of the high-intensity programs.
Make good use of those commercials while on the trainer. During the commercial pump up the intensity to around 80% of max heart rate. This is a 2-3 minute effort. Then recover when your program comes back on.
Another way to make the trainer time go by, go at 70% of max heart rate for as long as you can. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends hitting at least 70 percent of your MHR while you exercise to maximize your calorie burn and fat loss. Then recover by spinning. Next, try to go at 85% of MHR for as long as you can.
Make your trainer workouts fun. Burn up that trainer and burn up some calories
Posted by Marc Walter as power, Training at 2:55 AM MST
If you have limited time to train there is a technique that increases endurance as described by Dr. Gabe Mirkin in this article Why Sprinting Improves Endurance. This involves short, 30 second, intervals at maximum power. I mentioned, in the previous post, that I recommend this type of interval session to fine tune your criterium/cyclcross fitness. Seems like it also boosts your endurance.
If your event is anything over 1.5 to 2 hours, I would recommend still putting in time at over 1.5 hours. You still want to be specific to your event by building up time in the saddle and developing the pathways associated with longer durations.
Finally, as a beginner you should have a good base of 3-4 months before attempting these. There is a greater risk of injury if you don’t have a good base built up.
The above article explains the physiology behind a couple of workouts that I prescribe before a criterium, these also work for cyclocross, that an athlete wants to do well in. The two main workouts are 15 second on/ 15 second off and 20-30 second maximum efforts. When you vary the reps, sets and recovery these can become extremely difficult. These workouts are not done that frequently because of the intensity. They are done in the last few weeks leading up to the event and will push your fitness to it’s peak. Since these efforts are so short, heart rate lags behind, and a power meter is the ideal tool to gauge your efforts. You can use perceived exertion, but make sure you’re around a 9 to 10, on a 1-10 scale.
So, when that special crit or cross race is fast approaching try doing these 2-3 times per week. You’ll raise the ceiling of your fitness quickly.
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as power, Training at 11:27 AM MST
Make good use of those commercials while on the trainer. During the commercial pump up the intensity to around 80% of max heart rate. This is a 2-3 minute effort. Then recover when your program comes back on.