Imagine all the accomplishments in your life. They’ve all been long term goals. This is how athletic goals are also set. Not in a couple of months but over several years.
We set most of our athletic goals for a few months. Then we don’t achieve them and become frustrated and wonder what went wrong. Take a look at some of the best athletes and you will see a long term goal that takes them several years to accomplish. If your goal is to do your first 5 hour 100 miler, the first year of cycling I would suggest a 6 hour goal as being more realistic. The farther you move your goal down the line the greater your success.
Most younger athletes who go over to Europe don’t really go for success. Their goal is to get used to the rigors of cycling. To teach their bodies the distances, how to recover, and how to race. If success does happen so much the better. The ultimate goal is experience. Then 5 years down the line these experiences will help them excel. The same holds true for top level triathaletes. They teach their bodies over time how to maintain world class pace.
Be patient. Manage your goals and set them with a realistic future time frame. Don’t rush into a plan but map it out and watch where adjustments need to be taken to achieve your goals. With time comes success.
Train and perform the RIGHTWAY
Posted by admin as general at 11:55 PM MST
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Now is the time of year, the start of base, to train to learn how to pedal. Pedaling efficiency can save HUGE amounts of energy over the course of a race or a season. Most athletes just jump on their bike and ride believing that pedaling will provide a natural selection of your optimum cadence.
Pedaling efficiency is usually defined as:
“…optimizing the energy output on the bike in such a manner as to derive the maximum power into the drive train with the least amount of energy lost as a result of engaging muscle groups that are not directly related to the pedal stroke.”
- To optimize your pedal stroke you will be able to pedal through your “dead” spots. These are the the top and bottom of the pedal rotation.
- having a less choppy pedaling action
- learn to relax while pedaling
They are ways to improve your pedal stroke. Just like a golfer or a baseball player spends time to improve their swings so must a cyclist. I will explain how this can be done.
Pedal Analysis
A good place to start is to have a pedal analysis done. Using a computrainer and it’s spin scan feature, such as the one I use on my athletes, you can get real time graphical and numerical analysis of power during each part of the pedal stroke and relative contribution of each leg. Perhaps you are not able to apply power at the proper location of the pedal stoke or your legs are not working equally in terms of strength. Having a pedal analysis done will allow me to see these issues and make the necessary adjustments.
Pedaling Drills
After the pedal analysis is done and biomechanical adjustments are made, here are the best ways to improve your pedaling action:
Isolated leg training
ALWAYS warm up properly
- Select a gear where you can maintain 85+ rpms. Focus on pedaling through the full range of motion. Keep it smooth
- Alternate between left and right leg. Each for 30-60 secs. After 2-3 spins of each leg return to two pedaling for 2 minutes.
- This can be done as a workout itself or even while warming up.
- cool down and stretch
Spin ups
Warm up at 90 rpm
- ride at 100 rpm for 5 minutes focusing on round circles
- increase to 110 rpm for 3 minutes. Again focusing on round circles
- increase to 120+ rpm for 1 minute.
- recover for 5 minutes at 90 rpm. This should be easier now.
- This can be done as a workout itself or during warm up cool downs
- cool down and stretch
So there you have it. Use these drills during the base phase and through out the season to impove your efficiency.
Posted by admin as general at 5:02 PM MST
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The food you eat has a direct impact on how you feel, your level of energy, how well you train, think and sleep. Proper nutrition has a direct effect on y0ur athletic performance and lifestyle. I came across a good link, from the NCAA http://www.drugfreesport.com/choices/nutrition/health.html, that applies to the quantity and timing of pre, during and post exercise consumption of carbs/protein. Also, I’ll give you a link to Brown University on the same subject
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition/sportsnut.htm
Here is a brief overview of the proper intake of these nutrients:
Carbs
Pre exercise: A pre-exercise/competition meal should be consumed at least 2-3 hours before the session to allow adequate time for complete gastric emptying and minimize gastrointestinal discomfort (Wilkinson and Liebman, 1997). According to the NCAA, pre-exercise supplementation should contain 1-5 g CHO/kg body weight. Liquid carbohydrate intakes at the lower end of this range are better tolerated than solid meals and higher intakes when consumed close to competition.
During: Carb intake during exercise, according to Coggan et. al., (1991) CHO intake during exercise should be sufficient to provide a minimum of 45-60 g of total CHO to sustain high performance energy levels. Blood glucose concentrations are maintained during moderate / intense exercise by supplying glucose at a rate of 45g/hour (Coggan et. al., 1987: Murray et. al., 1989). CHO supplementation during prolonged endurance exercise or at least 30 minutes before the onset of fatigue are effective in delaying fatigue (Coyle, 1992).
This is consuming a gel pack once per hour or an energy drink such as accelerade once per hour.
Post: High carb foods and beverages such as fruits or beverages or commercially available CHO drinks with a high GI are good choices for promoting post-exercise glycogen re-synthesis (Wilkinson and Liebman, 1997).
According to the Brown University website(http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/nutrition/resources.htm ), You should try to eat or drink about 0.5 g carbohydrate/pound body weight after exercise or competition, and again within 2 hours.
Protein
Research in the late 1990s has shown that some protein, in addition to the recommended carbohydrate intake after exercise, can also contribute to your body’s increasing its stores of glycogen for future workout needs. Sports nutritionists recommend that active people eat about 250-300 calories (with a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein like Endurox) with 90 minutes after exercising. THis breaks down to about 50-60 grams of carbs and 12-15 grams of protein.
I hope this answers the questions on nutrition timing. I believe that nutrition goes hand in hand with training. Like a formula one race car, without proper fuel the engine won’t respond.
Train and perform the RIGHTWAY!
Posted by admin as general at 11:58 PM MST
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When trying to gain fitness in a short amount of time there’s a fine line between performance gains and burnout. Knowing how to do intervals and recovering is a science that isn’t recommended to just anyone.
Since coming back from a broken collarbone I’ve lost plenty of fitness. Even though riding on a trainer and a little outdoors, the body just wasn’t able to take the quality intervals needed for cyclocross. Then there’s the matter of cyclocross technique that I wasn’t able to accomplish.
The collarbone is feeling much better in the sixth week. With the late November and early December races I have put myself in a high interval program. Pushing myself for 3 days of 2 and 5 minute intervals. Now it’s time for a rest day. The body can take only so much. How do I know I need a rest? Heart rate, overall physical well being, sleep patterns, the subjective aspects of cycling are telling me to. This is what a good coach can do. He can see the tell tale signs of overtraining. He observes subjective and objective patterns in your training. Knows that the other key to performance gains is nutrition. He makes sure your engine is fueled to handle the workout. Then adjusts your program accordingly.
This situation is an extreme case. Usually a program is set, with the guidance of testing, an in depth athlete questionaire/interview and communication between your coach that you should progress so burnout will not happen. Sometimes situations arise where an athlete, to meet their goals, will need to adjust the program to an extreme case.
To achieve your performance goals it’s all about balance.
Posted by admin as general at 2:08 AM MST
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Hello to all. This site will be a way for me to communicate training, coaching and other aspects of cycling to my clients and others interested in learning. I look forward to talking about these principles to everyone. Please visit my website trainingtherightway.com for information on my coaching philosophy.
Remember, train and perform the RIGHTWAY.
Marc
Posted by admin as general at 10:00 PM MST
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