As a sports physical therapist, my traditional caseload is loaded with ACL tears, shoulder issues, and ankle sprains. I also tend to treat a large community of cyclists with a wide array of aches and pains. This population puts their body through a beating every time they hop on their bike for that day’s epic journey.

Cycling is a contact sport. If you don’t agree with that, sit down with a road cyclist who’s been forced into a ditch by an oblivious driver, or a mountain biker who’s had an untimely encounter with a rogue root on a trail they’ve traversed for years.

Beyond traumatic injuries, these athletes present with multiple moving joints that play either a big or small role in turning the crank towards the finish line. When not working in harmony, that enjoyable 50-mile ride can turn into a painful wince with every downstroke.

The Cyclist’s Angry Knee

About a year ago, I was treating a patient who I had previously treated for neck issues. His new complaint was left lateral knee pain as his rides were progressing. He had just been fitted on a new bike and was looking to up his mileage but was struggling to break the 20-mile mark due to the pain. I was fortunate to have a student working with me at the time who is a beast of a triathlete, and who had extensive experience doing professional bike fittings. We decided to have our patient bring in his bike and hook it up to our trainer in the clinic.

My initial physical assessment of the cyclist didn’t reveal a lot of obvious weaknesses that could be contributing to his pain, which is not uncommon in high-level athletes. Some minor things did stand out, mainly that his left leg was slightly shorter than his right. Through discussion, my student and I decided to crush our patient with 45-50 minutes’ worth of high-intensity exercises to simulate the fatigue he might have by mile 20 of a ride. He then mounted his trainer and was recorded riding for 10 minutes.

Like clockwork, he began to feel some lateral knee pain about four minutes into the ride. With our fancy iPads, we were able to slow down and really dissect his mechanics, which revealed a gradual increase in internal rotation and caving in of his left knee at the bottom of his pedal stroke. This inherently increases joint compression laterally. Boom! We have the source of his pain.

I immediately had the patient come off the bike and attempt a simple single-leg balance exercise, which he could not maintain due to pain. Was this because his left leg was slightly shorter, or more due to fatigue in his left glutes? This is something that wasn’t seen during his bike fitting, and possibly could’ve been missed had we not worn him out prior to having him pedal for us. This video gave us great information, but how do we fix it?

One Step Back, 30 Miles Forward

I’d like to say his pains were eased by giving him a heavy resistance TheraBand, doing three sets of 10 clamshells, and calling it a day. Sometimes this is the case, but the endurance required by the demands of cycling dictated a more detailed approach. Couldn’t we just adjust the setup of the bike to accommodate for his shorter leg? Absolutely! But let’s be honest, I didn’t go to school for nearly a decade to put a Band-Aid on something and leave the source of the problem untouched.

For two weeks, this patient was challenged with simple balance exercises, dynamic exercises to keep his knee from turning and caving in, and also complex exercises to challenge the overall stability of his entire leg. Through this time, a visual change was taking place, and it was evident we were on the right path. The patient was instructed to attempt a long ride and follow up in a few days. He followed all of our instructions to the letter, except the results were relayed back to us via text the following evening.

After a 30-mile ride, his knee pain was nonexistent and his morale had been restored. This might seem like a tiny victory, but if you’ve ever worked with an endurance athlete and had to give the “trust me, just take a few weeks off” speech, you know this was more like winning the Tour De France!

Is this common? Is every pain a cyclist feels while rolling down the road possibly an opportunity for a trained physical therapist to work their magic? I’d be lying if I didn’t say yes! We aren’t miracle workers, but I feel a good physical therapist is worth their weight in gold. Sometimes little aches and pains are written off as “normal,” but they shouldn’t have to be. These little aches and pains can snowball and eventually lead to an accumulation of dust on a beautiful bike as it hangs unused in the garage.

The post Sometime Little Aches and Pains Snowball appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The mountain top experience is a theme that occurs again and again in the Bible and other literature. It’s the place you to go escape, to commune with God, or to meditate. Mountain tops are the natural habitat of gurus, and untold thousands have risked life and limb to reach the top of the world’s tallest and most challenging peaks, just to have the fleeting experience that can only be gained by being there.

There are no mountains in Iowa. Though it isn’t anything like as flat as it appears when you fly over it (as most people do), the highest elevation in the state is a mere 1,670ft. But that detail didn’t stop me from having my own mountain top experience there, on my bicycle, as one of more than 15,000 cyclists in the 45th edition of the (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).

Falling Out of Love

By the end of 2014, riding my bike had started to feel a lot like work. I had spent the year thrashing my mountain bike, racing everything from local sprint and endurance races to the Lumberjack 100 and Iceman Cometh. That was supplemented by a little road racing and touring, a gravel grinder, and even a couple (awful) attempts at cyclocross.

It was all a ton of fun, and I have great memories from that season. But I staggered into the winter with a pile of broken bike parts, tired legs, and no real desire to go do it all again the next year. I decided to shift my focus for 2015 to get better at other things I sucked at (running and CrossFit), and volunteered as the race director for my local mountain bike series, instead of racing it.

I spent most of 2016 on the road for work, but the few rides I did get in helped me remember what it was like to ride with no real objective in mind, other than to have fun. That was part of a greater shift in my fitness philosophy toward intentionally creating positive experiences for myself as often as possible. The cyclist I was in 2014 never saw the point in riding any slower than the fastest I could go, but as I checked off more and more of my “capital-G” Goals, I realized that if I intended to keep doing this stuff, I was going to have to learn to spend more time having fun and less time suffering.

Still, by the beginning of this year, my miles on my bikes had dwindled to the point where they almost felt foreign to ride. Without a huge, scary race out in front of me to train toward, I was much more likely to hit the track for some speed work or head to the gym to work on my (hysterically bad) weightlifting.

Then a friend asked me to do RAGBRAI. I didn’t know it, but that would change everything.

Woodstock for Bikes

RAGBRAI is a 7-day, non-competitive* bike tour that holds the distinction of being the largest, longest, and oldest touring bicycle ride in the world. Each year, it takes cyclists from Iowa’s western border (as demarcated by the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers), to the state’s eastern edge at the Mississippi. The route changes every year, as much for the sake of variety as to spread the considerable financial impact of this rolling circus across the state. A 2008 study approximated that impact at some $25 million over just one week.

The daily mileage at RAGBRAI is notable, but not crushing. There are hills, but nothing outside the abilities of most enthusiastic recreational cyclists. There are pacelines that can move quite fast, but they don’t stay together for long, since most days, the roads are nearly covered edge-to-edge with bikes.

The towns themselves turn out to put on a show at each point along the route, with every conceivable type of food, live music, entertainment, car shows, and more attractions than you could possibly take the time to see before the sun goes down. In every town and at dozens of points in between, there are roadside stops for coffee, ice cream, pork chops, and an impressive array of craft beers. Even for this Midwestern kid, the level of hospitality at every point of the ride was almost surreal. I asked myself more than once if I had stumbled onto a movie set.

Riders show up for a day or the whole week, or most often, make it up as they go along. They take to the course on all manner of contraptions: from $100 department store bikes to $10,000 carbon fiber masterpieces; penny farthings to electronically assisted mountain bikes, elliptical bikes (yes, they’re a thing), unicycles, fat bikes, recumbents, and trikes. There’s even the occasional adult-sized big wheel and more than one person on rollerblades. There are parents pulling kids, riders in costumes, and riders with a variety of disabilities and impairments, from paralyzed or missing limbs to blindness (that last group is found mostly on the backs of tandems).

It’s Woodstock for bikes, only with more diversity. It’s like summer camp when you were a kid, but with more (or better?) beer. It’s a raucous, nonsensical, hysterical procession through the summer heat, across a state famous only for its corn fields, with no real point other than to go ride your bike every day.

In short, it’s like nothing I have ever experienced on two wheels or off of them. And it was exactly what I needed to fall madly in love with my bikes again.

Lessons in Letting Go

All the chaos of RAGBRAI flew directly in the face of how I approached most rides leading up to this year. I’m the kind of rider who maps out his route, how long it should take, and how much food and nutrition he should consume along the way. I typically had a training outcome in mind, a race I was preparing for, or a hill I wanted to attack.

But to get ready for RAGBRAI, all I really needed to do was go ride my bike. Any bike. For any amount of time, over any terrain, as fast or as slow as I felt like. I just needed some seat time to get my legs (and butt) ready for seven days and 500ish miles.

RAGBRAI gave me a totally different reason to ride, and produced three profound effects on this unsuspecting rider.

The first is that I had to let go. Let go of needing perfect sleep, perfect nutrition, and perfect recovery for my rides; of obsessing over an immaculate, squeak-free bike; of worrying about how my legs felt when the ride started, and whether they’d have enough to carry me to the finish. I learned that I could roll out of a stuffy tent at five in the morning, pack up, hit the road, stop for a beer (or three) and a pork chop, and still ride surprisingly well.

The second effect was that I got just about as strong as I’ve ever been on the bike, without really trying. It’s almost like having fun (and getting in sufficient volume) is a perfectly legitimate way to accomplish some very effective training. With this relaxed approach to getting more miles, I became a better person to ride with as well, as my wife (the most wonderful woman in the world) will attest.

The last and most profound effect was that mountain top feeling. All week long, the Apostle Peter’s words to Jesus rang in my head: It is good for us to be here. We should stay. It’s good to ride with your friends, to ride as slow or as fast as you feel like in that moment, and to stop and admire the countryside and take a few photos. It’s good to ride with joy in your heart, even if your legs are tired and achy. My experience at RAGBRAI taught me that it’s more important to celebrate what my body can do, than worry about what it can’t, and spend all my time flogging it to be better.

How long have you been in the grind of your training? When’s the last time you went out and played in your chosen avenue for fitness, without a periodized plan, or a timer beeping at you, or any real goal whatsoever? If you’ve fallen out of love with your sport, maybe it’s time to find your own mountain top experience. While we can never remain there for long, it can give us the reset we need, physically and psychologically, to get hungry again.

If anybody needs me, I’ll be out playing on my bike.

*Actually, to call it noncompetitive is a drastic understatement. The only way to lose RAGBRAI, it is said, is to be the first person into camp at the end of the day’s ride.

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So, now, I want to tackle how to be more effective in planning your training so that you don’t waste the time that you have and get the best results.

For ages, long, slow, endless miles have been considered the best way to build your aerobic fitness for the demands of the upcoming race season. It is often said that the bigger the base you build, the higher your peak, but is this really the case? Are there better ways to get the most out of your fitness without throwing 10-15 hours a week (or more) at it? Before we answer that, let’s look at where the idea of base training came from in the first place, and better define what it actually is.

The origins of base training are typically traced back to the cycling world. Many in the early pro peloton would be seen out in the saddle 4-5 days a week for five or more hours. Maybe one day a week, they would ride about half as much, but harder. But the vast majority of their miles were long and easy. The real question is, why did they take this approach?

It boils down to aligning outcomes with actions. For professional cyclists, races typically last 5-6 hours, with the hardest efforts coming in the final hour or so. If you can’t ride 4-5 hours at moderate levels and still have some in the tank for the attacks to come, you simply won’t survive. It is imperative for professional cyclists to develop that kind of underlying endurance.

Endurance and Training Stress

The trouble we run into at this point is that the term “endurance” can be a bit of a slippery concept, because we don’t often take time to define it well. So what is endurance?

In its simplest form, it is the ability to last; stamina. Being able to endure means your body is able to handle a defined amount of stress (in this case, training stress). Building the body’s capacity for stress is the aim of any training program for any sport. How you go about building this stress tolerance is the real question that we’re dealing with, and to best answer it, we need to take a quick look at what goes into creating training stress.

Training stress is the culmination of four factors:

1. Volume (or duration)
2. Intensity
3. Frequency
4. Mode (what sport or exercise you do)

The two most worth considering for our discussion are volume and intensity, which tend to work in an opposing fashion. For example, for the same amount of training stress, as your effort gets harder and hurts more (intensity rises), you aren’t able to hold that effort as long (a shorter duration). Frequency is simply how often you train, or stated another way, how many workouts you do per week. All three concepts are relevant, regardless of your sport (mode).

The Difference Between Pros and Joes

When it comes to professional endurance athletes, their job is to train and they can throw loads of time at it each week. And shoot, they have to! Riding for four or five hours before a race heats up means that their bodies need to think that kind of time in the saddle is no big deal. They need that kind of high volume, and can afford to take that approach. The same is not true for the everyman.

For the everyday athlete who is juggling training with family, career, and other hobbies, the time available to put in the volume quickly diminishes, and that’s where this idea of base training needs to be challenged. It’s not that it is ineffective, it’s just that it is not effective for the majority of typical athletes. Most of these folks aren’t racing nearly as long, and by extension, do not need to put in loads of hours like the pros do. They are better suited preparing for the intensity associated with shorter events.

Let’s take a step back from the professional cyclist for now, and instead jump into the shoes of a recreational cyclist—a weekend warrior, who likes to jump in the occasional road race. This is a scenario far more likely to affect you and your friends. Is base training really the best option for him and his limited time? Let’s do a quick rundown on the end goals of base training, and compare them with the outcomes of higher-intensity training.

Can Intensity Substitute for Volume?

The aims of traditional aerobic base training are to:

• Increase heart stroke volume, by increasing left ventricle size and strengthening cardiac tissue.
• Decrease baseline or resting heart rate
• Increase mitochondrial volume
• Increase glycogen and fat storing capabilities
• Improve oxidative enzymes, like succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) 10
• Improve VO2 max

In short, accumulating large volumes of low- to moderate-intensity exercise will definitely make you more efficient, which will increase your sustainable power or pace. This means you can operate at a lower percentage of your VO2 max at your “all day” pace, which may help you rely on a higher percentage of fat for energy, and conserve stored carbohydrate. All good things. The real question is, how many of these same benefits can you achieve through a lower-volume, high-intensity approach?

Almost all of them, it turns out. In several studies (linked below) high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to be as effective, if not more so, than steady-state only cardio. Studies have shown that using a HIIT approach has demonstrated similar results to high volume cardio in mitochondria density, fat oxidation, and oxidative enzymes. Other studies have shown that HIIT boasts stronger improvements in the changes to cardiac tissues, stroke volume, and VO2 max.

At the end of the day, it comes back to the simple questions: What are you training for? And how much time do you have to train? I’d bet that the answers would probably swing towards a HIIT approach being more effective, given your circumstances.

How to Get Faster With HIIT

Okay, so you’re time-crunched, and want to have your best season yet without dumping gobs of hours a week at it, Where do you start?

First, figure out where you’re at. Are you coming off the couch, or have you been working out on the regular? You don’t want to just jump into high-intensity training if your body doesn’t have a good foundation underneath it. It may sound a bit like, “building a base,” but I do not say this nearly to the same extent. I merely want you to avoid injury from jumping in too quickly. To do that, first make sure you have your sea legs under of you, especially if coming off the couch. Take a few weeks to build up to 45-60 minutes of aerobic effort, 3-4 times per week, before jumping into intervals.

I’d also strongly recommend including a strength training plan and mobility component to your routine. It will help make you more bulletproof for the higher intensities and increased impact forces you’ll be facing (especially for runners). What should that look like exactly?

Once or twice per week, perform 2-3 sets of 5-6 multi-joint movements that are total body and relevant to your sport. If strength is up your alley, you can periodize your repetitions to best fit your goals. If in doubt, or if you want a simple program, keep it in the 10-15 rep ballpark. Follow that with 10-15 minutes of stretching and mobility work (at least with your strength workouts, if not more often).

Once you are ready to jump into regular HIIT (or if you are already there), I’d recommend that you start with 1 day per week, before building to 2-3. If you need to, start with longer rest periods and shorten them as you become more fit.

Finally, do not forget about the endurance component completely. You still need to be prepared for the time in the saddle (or on the run). Make sure to include longer, steady-state work at least every 10-14 days. Make it 90 minutes or longer to see the best benefits, and if preparing for a longer event, gradually build that workout (10-15% increase per week) to closely resemble the length of the race or event you will be participating in.

So, to review: is base training a myth? No. Is it right for you? Maybe, but probably not. Evaluate for yourself, and use these tools as a starting point to craft an approach that fits your life.

Checkout TriStrong, if you are ready to seriously challenge yourself and your fitness.

If you want speed, you need to practice it:

Training Slow Won’t Make You Faster

References:

1. Burgomaster, K.A., et al. 2008. “Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans.” Journal of Physiology, 586 (1), 151-60.

2. Daussin, F.N., et al. 2008. “Effect of interval versus continuous training on cardiorespiratory and mitochondrial functions: relationship to aerobic performance improvements in sedentary subjects.” American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 295, R264-72.

3. Gibala, M. 2009. “Molecular responses to high-intensity interval exercise.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 34 (3), 428-32.

4. Helgerud, J., et al. 2007. “Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training.” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39 (4), 665-71.

5. Joyner, M.J., & Coyle, E.F. 2008. “Endurance exercise performance: The physiology of champions.” Journal of Physiology, 586 (1), 35-44.

6. MacDougall, J.D., et al. 1998. “Muscle performance and enzymatic adaptations to sprint interval training.” Journal of Applied Physiology, 84 (6), 2138-42.

7. Slørdahl, S.A., et al. 2004. “Atrioventricular plane displacement in untrained and trained females.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36 (11), 1871-75.

The post Don’t Waste Time on Base Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Yes, the best among us have amazing aerobic engines and can guide a bicycle up a steep alpine pass at incredible speeds, but when it comes to true athleticism, we stink. Our sport, more so than most, requires a severe amount of specificity, to the detriment of our functional mobility and strength.

But should we care? Shouldn’t we just be concerned with pedaling our bikes with more consistent power?

I’m here to tell you that cyclists should absolutely make an effort to improve their athleticism. Improving functional movement and strength will have huge payoffs in comfort and efficiency, which means an improved bike fit, as well as better times in the local hill climb.

The Common Cycling Handicaps

As a bike fitter and physical therapist for the last 20 years, I’ve seen cyclists develop familiar patterns of limitations—in flexibility, dynamic strength, and speed to name a few—that repeat all too frequently:

• The mountain biker who can crank out big watts on a 3-hour ride, but can’t sit cross-legged on the ground without falling backwards.
• The triathlete who can spend 5 hours in the tight tuck of the aero position, but didn’t realize that they had no ability to activate their glutes in neutral or extension, and so couldn’t execute anything resembling a normal running gait, which is a bit of an issue when you have to run a marathon.
• The 47-year-old male road cyclist that rides 100 miles every Saturday, but has the bones of a 75-year-old woman.

Some of these cyclists that I’ve met over the years have been some of the unhealthiest “healthy” people I’ve come across, and ripe for injury, to boot.

I’d like to say that these circumstances are rare, but I see them more often as the mean age of cyclists rises right along with the distances of races, charity rides, and gran fondos that are marketed to the weekend cyclist. Instead of the average cyclist being more mechanically in sync with their bike, after 20 years fitting athletes, I’m finding more numerous and more severe bike fit issues.

Where Body Meets Bike

Cyclists who truly want to improve in all aspects of their sport should focus on the three main limiters of cycling performance:

1. The “engine,” which is largely determined by genetics
2. Proper training approaches
3. The ability to remain comfortable and mechanically efficient in extremes of intensity and endurance

There’s not much that can be done about the first part; we don’t get to choose our parents. Good training plans are common and abundant, so every athlete has this available to them.

Comfort and mechanical efficiency are the x-factors. And there is a tricky, binary relationship that exists here: the bike being properly matched to the body (what we traditionally think of as bike fit), and the body’s ability to adapt to and move with the bike.

More cyclists are seeking out exceptional bike fittings these days; certainly a change from 15 or 20 years ago. But still relatively few are addressing their body, to make it a better “adaptor.” Effort inevitably influences our position. If a better bike fit is desired, changes to the bike can be made, but changes to the body will be infinitely more effective, and the benefits will persist longer.

Cycling demands a lot, but in a very narrow physical window, and over time, our body does its usual efficient culling of abilities, under the “use it or lose it” rules that apply to soft tissue and the central nervous system. We end up divesting ourselves of the motions and athletic traits that cycling doesn’t use—that list is both long and specific—and the way we fit our bike continues on a perpetual digression.

Here’s just a sampling of what is not required or challenged during cycling:

• Hip extension
• Upper body strength
• Compressive load on the joints of upper and lower extremities
• Lateral or compound movements
• Eccentric muscular loading
• Spinal range of motion and active stability

The answer to this is to get off the bike and do something different. The time has come to be a better athlete first. Here are a few rules to follow.

Your hips never stray far from this angle on the bike, which means your glutes are never really activated.

What the Cyclist Needs

Integrate the Upper Body

Not just because building a little strength up there is a good idea, but because resistance training the upper body will recruit trunk and core muscles more completely.¹ It’s too easy to forget that the “core” includes the tissues that support the upper body and arms as well. Since cycling posture relies on weight-bearing through the upper extremity as well as the lower, improving the coordination of arm strength and upper trunk control will lead to more efficient posture and pedal stroke.

More Motion

We need to explore greater range of motion (ROM) through our joints, but especially in the spine and the hips. There is more cause to do this than the vague benefit of increasing our ROM. Many cyclists struggle with disadvantaged muscle groups (like the glutes) being severely inhibited. Challenging these disadvantaged muscles can result in them firing sooner and more completely through the pedal stroke, which may result in more power output, but definitely can result in the workload being distributed over more motor units.

Break Out of the Sagittal Plane

Cycling isn’t alone in that much of its movement takes place in one direction, but it is unique in just how much this is reinforced. Running also entails mostly sagittal plane motion, but lateral stabilizers like the hip abductors, obliques, and transverse abdominus are required to do significant work as well. On the bike, the passive stability provided by the machine itself severely limits lateral and “out of plane” challenges, so corrective work needs to address this as well.

More Weight-Bearing

The growth of cycling has occurred mostly among middle-aged adults, many of whom gravitated towards the sport because it’s so easy on the joints. In fact, steady state cycling creates forces through the legs that are less than the rider’s body weight, so joint loading can be less than what occurs on a brisk walk. This can be a relief to someone with an arthritic knee or hip, but not surprisingly, doesn’t do much for bone density.² Cyclists need more joint loading, partially for the bone-health advantages, but more so because the joint loading gets transferred to the soft tissue, which improves connective tissue strength,³ and enhances the amplitude and frequency of motor signals being sent from the central nervous system. This can pay off in the form of greater protection against the common tendinopathies seen in the highly repetitive sport of cycling.

How Cyclists Can Become Better Athletes

There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. So many, in fact, that cyclists often feel overwhelmed and do nothing as a result. But cycling is so limited, that just by doing something else—anything else—cyclists will invariably improve their athleticism.

The gold standard for reaching all these deficit areas would be a healthy diet of Olympic lifts, since they tick all the boxes: upper body involvement, greater range of motion, cross-planar movements, and high loading profile. But they’re not necessarily something that a beginner handles well, especially one with the potential for so many movement dysfunctions. These can be implemented later in training, once some progress is made through other interventions, and a thorough screening is done.

With a little guidance, kettlebell work can be a good introductory exercise that hits all the important areas. Plus, they’re less intimidating and are a much easier “on ramp” activity. They also open up the door to a tremendous amount of specificity. It’s fairly simple to create custom movement sequences to address specific limitations.

My personal favorite though is the Turkish get up, an exercise that’s very familiar to many. Its combination of movements represents, in my opinion, a nearly perfect mobility sequence for cyclists. I prefer the “high bridge” adaptation to the “low sweep” version, in order to actively produce more hip extension, as demonstrated in a breakdown of the Turkish get up. I believe that many cyclists could simply do this one exercise and undo many problems on the bike.

Even simpler interventions could work as well:

• Jumping rope for 5 minutes, 3 days per week
• Performing 6×50 yard “sprints” at ¾-speed
• 6”-18” plyo jumps (no depth jumps to begin)

Just about anything that introduces variability in loading, posture, and mobility can work.

Cycling demands a lot of resources, in time, energy, and money. So make sure, as we head into a new season on the bike, that some focus is placed on becoming a better athlete first. For many, this is the first step in becoming a better cyclist.

All those miles don’t get you out of hitting the weights:

Want to Race Endurance? Better Hit the Gym

References:

1. Calatayud J, Borreani S, Colado JC, Martin F, Rogers ME. “Muscle activity levels in upper-body push exercises with different loads and stability conditions” Phys Sportsmed. 2014 Nov;42(4):106-19. doi: 10.3810/psm.2014.11.2097.

2. Odilon Abrahin, Rejane Pequeno Rodrigues, Anderson Carlos Marça, Erik Artur Cortinhas Alves, Rosa Costa Figueiredo, Evitom Corrêa de Sousa. “Swimming and cycling do not cause positive effects on bone mineral density: a systematic review,” Revista Brasileira de Reumatologia Volume 56, Issue 4, 2016: 345–351 doi: 10.1016/j.rbre.2016.02.013

3. Stone MH. “Implications for connective tissue and bone alterations resulting from resistance exercise training,” Medicine and science and sports and exercise. 20(1988):S162-8.

The post Want to Be a Better Cyclist? Get Off the Bike appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In my own experience, many people could also benefit from some simple exercises to improve activation of the diaphragm, because when performing at a high intensity, the ability to supply oxygen and remove waste product via respiration will affect your performance no matter how much strength work you have done previously.

The diaphragm is a huge, dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of the rib cage. Although it is used 24/7, it goes largely unnoticed (unless you get hiccoughs). When the diaphragm contracts, in conjunction with the intercostal muscles, it lowers the pressure in the thoracic cavity. This enables air to enter the lungs.

When breathing out, the diaphragm relaxes along with the intercostal muscles, allowing air to leave. Air may be forced out faster by increasing abdominal pressure using the tranverse abdominis muscle.

The diaphragm also has an important role in stabilizing the core. It forms the top of the core ‘box,’ working with the internal and external obliques, quadratus lumborum, pelvic floor, and transverse abdominus.

The diaphragm has multiple origins from the inner surfaces of the seventh through twelfth ribs, medial parts of the L1 to L3 vertebral bodies, the anterior longitudinal ligament, posterior surface of the xiphoid process, and the arcuate ligament, connecting to the aorta, psoas, and QL to insert in the central tendon. To put it simply, a strong box needs a secure lid and hence the importance of the diaphragm in core stabilization.

In spite of the diaphragm’s importance in respiratory effectiveness and stabilization of the core, I would estimate that in my experience approximately half of the adult population does not recruit this muscle properly at the beginning.

When we breathe, this dome-shaped muscle contracts allowing a reduced pressure in the upper body so that air may enter the lungs and provides tension across the top of the abdominal area. As we breathe in, we should see the stomach rise slightly as the dome contracts and compresses the abdominal space. As we breathe out, both the chest and the stomach fall. If you look at young children, this is what you usually see.

I often see exactly the opposite in adults. Their chest rises as the intercostal muscles contract. Yet, the stomach is drawn in by activation of the tranverse abdominis muscle and the diaphragm is not engaged. Whilst this might present a more pleasing profile in a mirror, it reduces the volume of oxygen available by only partially expanding the lungs. This also results in weaker core stabilization.

Over time, breathing in this way will cause the diaphragm to weaken through poor recruitment and performance will suffer. And when I say performance, I mean this both from a respiratory and functional perspective.

This video gives a 3D demostration of proper breathing and the action of the diaphragm:

Whilst a number of lung exercise devices are on the market, it is important to ensure that the diaphragm is recruited properly in the first place. Otherwise, the situation is exacerbated.

There are a also number of simple exercises, requiring no equipment, to assist and strengthen the diaphragm. Here is one for you to try:

1. Lie on the floor face up with knees slightly bent.
2. Place a small pillow under the head if that is more comfortable for you.
3. Place your hands lightly on your stomach.
4. Concentrate on breathing using the diaphragm, not using the chest, and feeling the stomach rise as the lungs fill from the bottom.
5. Let the stomach fall naturally when breathing out by relaxing the diaphragm.
6. Progress by placing a small weight on the stomach, such as a small book, on do it all again.
7. The next stage is to stand up and place your hands on your stomach again, feeling how you breathe. Surprisingly, you may find this step requires some concentration initially.
8. Finally, practice breathing correctly whilst on the bicycle.

You may find it interesting to observe how a young child breathes. Unhindered by the desire to hold the stomach firmly in, and keeping the diaphragm extended whilst looking in the mirror, they usually have got it right.

References

1. Gething A.D, Williams M, Davies B. Inspiratory resistive loading improves cycling capacity: a placebo controlled trial. Br J Sports Med. 2004 Dec;38(6):730-6.

2. Lee M. Romer and Michael I. Polkey, Exercise-induced respiratory muscle fatigue: implications for performance, Journal of Applied Physiology March 2008 vol. 104 no. 3 879-888

The post How to Activate Your Diaphragm to Improve Breathing and Performance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A Cyclist’s Guide to the Hamstrings

The hamstrings are easy enough to find. Put a hand on the back of your leg when you stand up, and you will feel your hamstrings engaging. In cycling, the hamstrings have two main actions: to flex the knee and to extend the hip.

There are three muscles in this group: the semimembranosus, the semitendinosus, and the biceps femoris. They all originate from the sitting bones, or the ischial tuberosity, at the base of the pelvis. The semimembranosus and semitendinosus both run down the inside back of your femur, and cross the knee joint to insert onto the tibia. The biceps femoris takes a slightly different route, crossing the posterior section of the femur to insert onto the outside back of the tibia.

As a cyclist, your hamstrings are used in critical portions of the entire pedal stroke: in the downward stroke as the hip and knee extends, and in the upward stroke as the knee and hip flexes. If you consider the rotation of a bike pedal, your knee starts to flex at around the four or five o’clock position as the foot starts to move back and up. You then need to engage the hamstrings so that you are not just lifting one leg with the other’s weight.

If you dabble in triathlon or run regularly, the hamstrings also help maintain an upward attitude of the trunk so your body does not fall forwards. That’s why you may feel your hamstrings strain on longer, more intense runs.

Lack of Range Can Wreak Havoc

If your hamstrings do not have sufficient working range, they will hold you back in your cycling efforts. Refer to the diagram below. The cyclist’s picture has been overlaid with the approximate positions of the pelvis, spine, femur, and tibia in orange. The position of the hamstrings are shown by the blue oval.

Want to go aero? Check your working range allows it first.

If the cyclist wishes to lower their upper body to adopt a more aerodynamic position on the bike, the hips should rotate to allow the hamstrings to lengthen and the body to adopt the desired position.

There are two outcomes if this hip rotation occurs.

1. If the hamstrings reach the full extent of their range before the cyclist has got into their desired position, then the final stages of the movement can only be completed by flexing the spine.
2. The amount of rotation of the pelvis possible will be limited by the available length of the hamstrings.

Both present an issue. Cycling over a long distance will fatigue the hamstrings and will shorten their maximum range, and while the spine is designed to flex, long periods held in excessive flexion can result in strain for the rider. What might have been an achievable position at the start of a ride can become extremely uncomfortable towards the end.

Also, if the hamstrings do not have a very good range in the first place, then as the foot moves towards the front of the pedal stroke, the hamstrings on that side will lengthen until they reach full range, and the only way to get the foot to move further forward in this case is to slide forward on the saddle or rotate the pelvis and lumbar spine. This is a further recipe for discomfort and strain, and can usually be observed from the back of the rider by significant twisting at the hip.

Maintain Your ROM and Feel the Benefits

To help you get into more aerodynamic positions but avoid this discomfort, you need to maintain an appropriate range of movement in your hamstrings. Stretching is first and foremost. I don’t like classic hamstring stretches that involve leaning forward. So many people do this incorrectly, by flexing their spine rather than their hamstrings. A better option is to lie on the floor and gently pull your foot towards your head using a gym towel or resistance band. Remember stretches should be gentle and sustained in order to maintain the length of the muscle you’re working.

Another maintenance technique is to gently work the hamstrings near the end of their active range with bodyweight squats and lightweight deadlifts. These exercises are great for improving overall strength in this area. Other exercises I would suggest are leg curls, cable hip extensions, and good mornings. If you also wish to develop hamstring power, jumps onto a low platform or running up a flight of steps are simple but highly effective drills.

Lastly, avoid long periods of sitting at a desk or driving a car. Engaging a sports massage specialist who can work more closely with you to provide individual therapy will also help.

It’s Not Just About Quads and Glutes

The take home message is that in order to stay comfortable or fast on your bike, you need to look after your hamstrings. It’s also worth having your bike fit checked to ensure that you are not being forced into leaning too far forwards and aggravating any hamstring issues further. An accurate assessment like this should help ensure that you are not leaning further forward than your flexibility allows. If you are, it can usually be remedied by changing a few components. The height and reach to the handlebars can be changed with a different stem and your seat can be moved further forwards to open up the hip angle.

Bear in mind as well that if you have chronically short hamstrings it can take some time to develop extra range there, so be patient. By building in the above exercises and stretches to your exercise routine, you’re setting yourself up for success this season. Because it’s not just about quads and glutes: hamstrings are key to better cycling.

Think you can skip the weights and still make power? Think again:

Get Strong to Ride Fast

The post Cycling Training: Work Those Hamstrings appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

FITT is an acronym for Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type. These concepts form an effective framework to adopt when planning your training sessions this winter. I apply it to my cycling training but the principles hold for any type activity where you are looking to create or maintain peak performance.

• Frequency is the number of training sessions per span of time. For example, how often you will train per week.
• Intensity is the level of difficulty of the session. This might be an intense interval session in a class, or a less intense endurance ride.
• Time is the duration of the session. Most gym classes or turbo training sets tend to be about an hour long. A weekend morning ride with a club is usually two or more hours.
• Type is the actual training activity. This might include weight training, an interval-based indoor cycling class, a cycling endurance session, or session concentrating upon flexibility or recovery.

Frequency Requires Balance

Perhaps the most key of these concepts is frequency. Frequency is much more than how many times per week you decide to train. Too many training sessions per week will result in over-training and a decline in performance. Too few sessions per week will not provide enough stimulus to adapt and improve performance. The key to getting the best results from your training is to build your sessions around how long it takes to adapt after each one.

I have deliberately used the word ‘adapt’ here, rather than ‘recovery.’ Recovery might be what you do after an illness, or you may feel recovered after a few days’ rest following a training session. That is not adaptation. Adaptation is what happens when you provide a sufficient training stimulus to the body to cause it to get better at a particular activity. In this case, we are looking for an adaptation to improve cycling.

The time it takes your body to adapt can depend upon several factors such as your age, the intensity and duration of a training session, the type of training, your current level of fitness, exercise history, and lifestyle stresses. Everyone is different.

The Effects of Frequency on Adaptation

The chart below shows the change in your performance as a training stimulus is applied at A, then the adaptation occurs at B and C. At C, the adaptation (if sufficient stimulus has been applied) will result in an improved performance. At D, if no further training stimulus is applied, your performance will start decline, and if left too long will sink below where you started. A good place to apply the next training session will be at the sections labelled C and D, so that you can continually build upon the previous improvement.

Using this chart as an example, assume that you undertake an intense session on day zero. This might be a long session, or an intense session that requires a longer time for the adaptation to take place. In the chart above, adaptation starts to occur at B, two days later. A good place for further training would be on days three and four. Day five is too late, as some degradation will have occurred, and training at this point is likely to just maintain the status quo.

Now let’s say that the training stress is less severe, and adaptation starts to occur on day one. A good place for further similar training would be on days two and three. Day four would be too late to enhance performance.

In practice, this might result in a schedule that comprises an intense session on Sunday, followed by two less intense sessions on Wednesday and Friday, resulting in three sessions per week. Any more sessions than this might mean that adaptation has not occurred to build performance. Any fewer sessions than this might result in no improvement, but maintenance of the current position.

If your schedule only allows two sessions per week, these would need to be a little more intense or longer duration. To take advantage of the adaptation curve, these might be on Sunday and Thursday.

When Should You Go Again?

Your optimum time to re-train will also depends on your previous training. There are a few ways you can find out when your optimum time for adaptation might occur.

One very simple way is to use an existing feature within a sports training watch or app. Some devices have a feature that will calculate or estimate your approximate training load for a session, and your accumulated load for the week, and suggest a time when it would be appropriate to undertake further training. If used consistently for all your training sessions, you will have a systematic way of determining the frequency of your training.

Another way is to use your resting heart rate. This will tend to be higher as your body repairs and re-generates the tissues necessary for adaptation, and will return back to a lower level when adaptation has is complete. You only need a stopwatch and a log book to do this. To obtain best results, you should take your resting heart rate every day at the same time, so that you become familiar with the ranges of heart rate you would expect to find. Your values will be unique to you.

For example, over a period of measuring consistently for two or more months, you may be able to establish a guide that that if your heart rate is in the range 50-55, you can train again. If it is above 55, then only light training or no training should take place, and if below 50 then you may be undertrained.

Another way might be to estimate your training load from some metrics. An intense session of one hour could be given a score of one hundred, two hours a score of two hundred, and so on. A less intense session for an hour might be given a score of fifty. Then for every one hundred points, you allow one day to adapt.

This last strategy will not be as accurate as using your heart rate or a digital algorithm in a training device, but may be a useful place to start. The main thing is to listen to your body. If you are still aching from your previous session, it is unlikely that you will have adapted fully.

Looking to go it alone this winter? Here’s how to get started:

So You Want to Write Your Own Program

The post FITT: Plan and Adapt Your Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Let’s look at the effects that strength training has on the body and how this can influence your cycling.

Get Strong to Ride Fast

Strength training will help performance via two adaptations:

1. More muscle fibers
2. Improved muscular activation

Strength training will do this by overloading the muscles so they break down and reform. It also forces you to activate as many fibers as possible to move heavier loads than you might be able to achieve on the bike alone.

In order to make strength training relevant to cycling, you need to stress the same muscles you use on the bike. This means choosing exercises that will use movement patterns similar to cycling, so that a neurological adaptation can occur. Fortunately, we can do this with some common exercises. The primary exercises I recommend are back squats and lunges.

Back Squats

This is a complex movement, and it is important that you do it properly. If you are new to strength training and spend a lot of time sitting in the car or at a desk, you may find that your hamstrings are too tight to allow you to get very low. It is very important that you drive from the hips and the legs and not the lower back. Choose a moderate weight and work on gradually increasing the depth of your squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. The moment you find that your hamstrings start to feel tight, stop at that depth. Over time, they will adapt and allow you to go slightly deeper. What you should wish to avoid is a rounded lumbar spine.

I always recommend using a proper squat rack for this exercise. Set up the safety stops or pins to help keep you safe, even if someone is spotting for you. There few things worse than seeing someone in the gym try a weight that is too heavy for them and collapsing to the floor.

Lunges

This is also complex movement. As a unilateral or one-sided exercise, it has similarities to cycling where you pedal with alternating legs. Lunges start from standing with both feet together. Step forward into the lunge, lowering your body until the thigh is parallel to the floor. Push up and then step back to the start. Repeat with the other leg, and that makes one repetition.

Basic Strength Work for Cyclists

Here is a basic session to repeat three times per week. Perform this routine on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, taking rest days on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Each Sunday is reserved for a cycling ergometer test.

The strength movements are done in a circuit style, using four sets of 6-8 repetitions each.

1. Warm up
2. Barbell back squats
3. Incline dumbbell shoulder press
4. Dumbbell weighted alternating lunges
5. Lat pull downs
6. Cool down and stretch

Your warm up could include 10 minutes on a stationary bike, rower or mountain climber to get your heart rate to rise. These machines have movement patterns that are close to cycling, so the most relevant muscles will be prepared for the heavier work to come.

I have included shoulder exercises, since these support your upper body when you rest on the handlebars. Alternating the upper and lower body will give your lower body time to recover before the next set. The use of two dumbbells in the shoulder press will require you to use more stabilizing muscles than a single barbell, and will assist a more useful adaptation for when you are on the bike and dealing with moving and vibrating handlebars.

I suggest a slightly lower load in the first set than the remaining three sets, in order to allow the body to become familiar with the exercise. This also allows you to check that your planned load is not excessive. For example, if you plan to back squat 185lb, start your first set with 135lb before moving up in weight.

The right load will be when you start to feel failure on the last repetition. Ensure that you are staying in complete control of the movement. When you can complete eight or nine repetitions, increase the load in the last three sets.

Strength Works for Cycling

I usually start my winter training with four to six weeks of strength work, but this strategy is useful in any time of the year, or as circumstances may dictate. Last year, I undertook ten weeks of strength training using this type of program. I performed three sessions per week, and the only cycling I did was a weekly test on a calibrated ergometer for different distances. Here are the results:

Over ten weeks, my 10km average power rose from 267 to 294 watts. Over a 10-mile ergometer test course, my average power also rose from 262 to 287 watts. Considering that I did no additional cycling in this time, these results were very pleasing. This program provides a perfect entry to move onto a different phase of training on the bike, or preparing for competitions.

If you want to mix things up a bit, would like to tone up some muscles, or really cannot stand any more time on the trainer, do not be reluctant to try some strength training. It can really boost your cycling power.

Strong is never wrong:

Want to Race Endurance? Better Hit the Gym

The post Get Strong to Ride Fast appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Four to six weeks of gym training will help you increase leg strength and help develop more power on the bike. It can also help you recover lost and weakened movements that cycling does not help.

Stronger legs and glute muscles will translate to more watts on the bike. There are some fantastic exercises that will help you do this. If you are not used to gym resistance exercises, I do recommend that you start off with small weights and ask for the help of a trainer.

Strength Movements to Build a Stronger Motor

Squat 

This is a great exercise that mainly targets the back, glutes and quads. These are all muscle groups that are engaged in cycling. Resistance training will provide a high degree of overload that can be difficult to achieve on the bike by itself.

Obtain the help of a friend or trainer to ‘spot’ you with this exercise, as crumpling under a heavy weight is likely to injure you. An alternative, and a safer option if you are on your own, is the hack squat. This variant involves standing in front of the bar that is resting on the ground with the bar close to the back of your legs. Squat and grip the bar with a forward-facing grip and stand up so that in the final position the bar is resting on the back of your legs.

Lunge or Walking Lunge

This exercise mainly targets the glutes and quads. It is also a unilateral exercise (unlike the squat), and exercises alternate sides of the body. The one-sided nature of this exercise means that you will also be developing balance skills and exercising your oblique muscles in the core.

A good place to start with this is just using bodyweight. As you progress, you can add resistance by carrying weights or wearing a weight vest. Suitable weights would include dumbbells or kettlebells. A further progression can include speed and even hopping on the front leg.

Deadlift 

This is another great exercise for targeting the glute muscle groups and hamstrings. It also helps strengthen your core, back and shoulders. If you are using a barbell for this, stand behind the bar, flex your knees and hips to grasp the bar. Then using the legs and glutes, move to a standing position, keeping the bar close to your body. Aim to avoid rounding your back, and only lower to the point where you can start to feel your hamstrings reach full range (this is often around knee height). Alternative implements can include dumbbells and kettlebells.

A good progression for this exercise is a single-leg deadlift. This variation can either rest one leg behind the body on a step, or you can keep it free and extend it out backward as you bend forward from the hips to take your weight. The unilateral nature of this variation helps to develop balance skills and movement patterns.

To develop strength, I would aim for three or four sets of six to eight repetitions of each exercise. Do make sure that you are nicely warmed up prior to lifting, and that you cool down and do some gentle stretches afterwards.

Develop More Balanced Fitness

While cycling, you are literally exercising in a machine. This is a great activity to enjoy and enhance your fitness, but the constraints of the machine mean that some parts of your anatomy are developed more than others. In addition, the design of the bicycle means that some movements of your body are not developed or maintained. Gym exercises will help you recover those lost and weakened movement skills.

As a cyclist, you do not usually need to develop a large upper body. Most cyclists worry that upper body muscles are just additional weight to carry up every hill. However, if you are interested in aesthetics or do other sports, then a more comprehensive range of upper body excises would be appropriate.

Here are some compound exercises for the upper body that involve movements of many joints in many planes of movement.

Standing Single-Arm Row 

For this you need access to a cable pulley machine, some strong bands, or a suspension trainer. Stand with a split stance, one foot slightly back, facing the machine or mounting point of your bands or straps. Twist forward to grasp the handle and pull so that you end the movement twisted in the opposite direction.

Standing Single Arm Press 

This exercise is almost the exact opposite of the previous one. This time you face away from the machine or mounting point of your straps or bands in a split stance. This time grasp the handle (usually with the handle just above shoulder height) with your upper body twisted. Then push the handle away from you and twist as you do so.

These exercises target the upper body and core. You can tweak these exercises by varying the position of the cable machine handle or mounting point of the bands or suspension trainer. Since we not aiming for a large upper body here, I would suggest using medium weights that you can perform fifteen to twenty repetitions, and take care to move smoothly through your full range of motion.

The Offseason Opportunity

Late autumn and early winter are your opportunity to spend a few weeks developing strength with these exercises. Then you need not feel quite so guilty about taking the holiday period easy. A few weeks of work will produce the necessary adaptation, and put you in a great position to return to cycling in the new year.

More on the importance of cross training for cyclists:

Should Cyclists Run?

The post Cycling Holiday Guide: Deadlift More appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A garage or spare room provides an excellent location to set up. If your resources are more limited, then maybe a hallway or room that is not used all the time might be a useful place to start. A reasonably weatherproof shed can also make a good home gym. If you live alone, you might have some more options on the use of space than if you have family members or flat mates. I have seen kitchens and a home office be repurposed as indoor gyms when not used for their usual functions. I have also known people that have shared the cost and agreed to meet and train together.

Now let’s get into what resources you might need.

Build Your Winter Cycling Pain Cave: Part 1 – The Equpiment

Turbo Trainer

The first thing you need is a turbo trainer. You do not have to buy a top of the range unit to obtain a good workout. However, it should provide some means of adjusting the resistance, and be:

• Easy to set up and pack away
• Quiet
• Stable on the floor
• Strong and have a secure mounting for your bike

I would avoid anything with a brake pad type of resistance unit, since these frequently have uneven resistance settings. Most magnetic resistance units are adjustable and quiet.

An indoor trainer tire is a worthwhile investment. The rubber is a slightly different composition to normal road tires, providing additional grip. They also have a smooth profile that reduces noise.

Heart Rate Monitor

A heart rate monitor strap and watch helps indicate the level of intensity you may be working at and reduces some of the guesswork in assessing how hard and how long you have been working. As a minimum I would look for one that can display your heart rate and a stop watch function on the same screen. This will enable you do interval sessions.

A Step

You may already have access to a step or stairs built into the fabric of your home. A single step provides a ready-made location for step ups, or as a place to provide some support for body weight exercises. Alternatively, you could use a commercial exercise step. Do make sure your step is strong and stable, and able to take the strain of repeated use without collapsing.

A Mat

In order to avoid damage to your furnishings I would highly recommend a mat. This can be placed under your cycle on a turbo trainer to catch perspiration that would otherwise drop onto the floor. It can also be used to cover your step or exercise area to avoid wear or damage. If you have a hard floor surface then it helps avoid some discomfort too.

A Plan and Diary

This is essential. Without a diary or a plan it is all too easy to leave things to another day or forget what you did last time. Your plan needs to be realistic to work around your other commitments. It is also good idea to have a regular schedule to work to, so that your sessions fit into a routine. It also needs to provide some goals to aim at. A good session plan will also keep you focused on what you are doing and what comes next.

Entertainment

Sometimes it can be mentally challenging to exercise on your own. Some of your favorite fast paced tracks might help provide some added mental energy. A regular supply of action films (or replays of the years major cycling events) can also help to provide interest in longer endurance sessions.

Build Your Winter Cycling Pain Cave: Part 2 – The Program

You don’t have to break the bank to set up a place to exercise in your home. Starting with the examples above, you could easily make up a varied and interesting training week. For example:

• One long endurance turbo session
• One short but intense turbo interval session
• Two body weight resistance sessions

Bodyweight resistance sessions can include a huge variety of suitable exercises including:

• Squats (two legged and one legged with the support of a step)
• Lunges
• Step ups and step downs
• Burpees and mountain climbers
• Push ups and pulls (using the suspension trainer)

You can also combine the turbo and bodyweight sessions into your own circuit. There are plenty more examples of body weight exercises that you can find here on Breaking Muscle.

Don’t want to work out at home? Go hit the weights:

Why Heavy Lifting Is the Best Winter Activity for Cyclists

The post Build a Pain Cave for Winter appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Put in the Time

The most fundamental piece to doing well on the bike is making sure you are consistent and put in the necessary work. The details will differ from person to person, depending on the length of race you are training for. Regardless, a few similarities emerge across the board:

• Aim to ride 2-4 times per week.
• Have at least one longer session each week that builds up to the length of your goal race, if not longer.
• Working backwards off of your run numbers, aim to keep your running volume at 20 percent of your weekly cycling volume. In other words, ride 100 miles if you are running 20 miles that week.

Preparation is what will separate you from your competition. Get the miles in. [Photo credit: Pixabay]

Define Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Racing well on the bike is as much about training enough as it is about doing the right kind of training. To know how you should train, you need to know where you’re going and what obstacles may stand in your way. You need to define your goal (which you probably already have done) as well as your strengths and weaknesses. Some people are great climbers. Others are excellent at slogging it out all day at a steady pace, but not so great at short, hard efforts. You need to know where you fall.

Take the time to think about it. What are you good at? Do you excel at short, hard efforts? Can you sprint the legs off of people? How about your cornering and descending skills? It’s key to know what your strengths are so you can play to them, but it is also important know what your weaknesses are so you can work on them as needed. If you’re not a climber but have a hilly race coming up, you know what you need to work on.

Train Like You Race

As you get closer to race day, your training should increasingly resemble the actual demands you will see on race day. For example, if you are racing a sprint distance triathlon you are essentially on the rivet the whole stinking race. On the other hand, if you are doing a long distance race like Ironman, it will be a much gentler effort but a much longer duration. The point is, make sure you training efforts increasingly match what you will see on race day.

Here are some basic examples of what you should see for key work outs in each distance as you build up to race day. To get a better idea of the effort levels I’m talking about, check out my effort guide.

• Sprint: Mainly threshold work and harder. Think of perceived efforts of 7 and above (out of 10). Interval lengths can fall anywhere between 1-20 minutes depending on intensity.
• Olympic: A lot of threshold work and some tempo workouts (perceived effort between 6 and 8). These intervals tend to be longer than their sprint counterparts, 5-20+ minutes.
• Half Ironman: A lot of longer (20+ minute) high tempo work with the rest periods gradually decreasing to imitate race day. Perceived effort should be around 6-7.
• Ironman: 4-5+ hour rides with some 20-30 minute tempo efforts and varying rest intervals. Ride routes that mimic the race course. Perceived effort drops down to 4-5 with some time in 6-7.

Get a Proper Bike Fit

If you haven’t done it yet and you take this sport halfway seriously, go get a professional bike fit. Your position on the bike matters. A lot. If you are not positioned properly you are probably sacrificing some power, may not be 100% comfortable and you could even be setting yourself up for injury.

A good bike fit will look at your unique biomechanics and limitations, then position you optimally so you are comfortable and putting as much power to the pedals as possible. Too many athletes leave performance on the table simply because they have not taken the time to set up their bike properly. Don’t be that person.

Aerodynamics Matter

If your training and bike fit are on point, it’s time to chase smaller gains. One of the areas to work on is aerodynamics. Coming back to bike fit for a moment, your body position is the very first thing to consider. Your fit alone can make one of the biggest differences.

The end goal when working on your aero position is to show as little frontal surface area to the wind as possible. Primarily this means getting low, keeping your arms together on the aerobars, and tucking your head behind your hands. Working with a good bike fitter will help you find the sweet spot between the position your flexibility will allow and maximum power output.

Aside from working on your position on the bike, you can also look at upgrading equipment. You can legitimately buy speed. Here are a few upgrades to consider:

• A new bike: A frame specific to time trial or triathlon is built with a steeper seat tube angle which essentially rotates the body forward and allows you to get into that nearly flat-backed position you that you see the pros pulling off. Tri bikes are also designed to be highly aerodynamic in a wide range of conditions.
• Race wheels: A nice set of deep dish wheels (look for 50mm or deeper) can slice off a nice amount of time, but this assumes you can get to and maintain around 19-20 miles per hour where the benefits really come into play.
• Aero helmet: This is another investment that definitely adds up over longer distances. This is one of the best bangs for your buck when it comes to buying speed.
• Clothing: You’re talking very marginal differences here, but some fabrics are better than others. Start by just trying to find apparel that fits very well and doesn’t flap around in the wind. That alone goes along way.

A good aero position (and equipment) on the bike will save you precious watts. [Photo credit: Pixabay]

Fuel and Hydrate Intelligently

Fueling is such an important aspect of triathlon racing. Just as the majority of your time is spent on the bike, the majority of your fueling happens there, too. Since you can’t really fuel while you’re swimming, and it can be harder to take in calories on the run, the bike is primarily where you make sure you are on point for the day.

Every distance has different demands when it comes to fueling. I recommend having a plan specific to the conditions you will see on race day, but here are some solid rules of thumb to start with:

• 1-2 bottles of fluid per hour.
• 200-300 calories per hour, primarily simple carbohydrates.
• As it gets hotter, make sure more of your calories come in liquid form.
• If race is shorter than 2 hours, just fuel well before and after and only do water during the race.

Stick to Your Race Pace

It’s cliché, but seriously: race your race. Triathlon is not road racing. It rewards steady, consistent efforts, not hard attacks and intense bursts. It pays to know what kind of effort you can maintain and how many matches you can burn (shorter, hard efforts). Don’t get caught up in the moment and race every person that passes you. Do not be that guy that tries to crush every climb. Be steady. Stick to your plan.

Don’t have a plan? Talk to a coach or dig in and do some research. It’s worth it!

Know Your Bike

Okay, you have your awesome bike, you got a fit and you’ve done all the work to race hard. But you can’t handle your bike? Too many times do I see incredibly fit athletes with awesome equipment who can’t descend or corner with confidence. They ride their brakes down hills or through turns, costing precious seconds and making them work much harder to regain speed. Don’t give away time because of your bike skills. Take some time to practice so that you are confident come race day and can breeze through the course.

Along with handling your bike on the road, you need to know how to handle it if something breaks. You don’t want to be stuck waiting on the neutral support vehicle to help you out. At the very least, make sure you have the right gear on board to change a tire (tubes, levers and an inflator for regular tires; sealant and an inflator for tubulars). Then make sure you know how to use it, and quickly! That means taking some time to practice in that last month before the race. Don’t let this be an area that trips you up.

Preparation Makes Your Race

Training should be harder and more intense than race day. It should prepare you as holistically as possible. Working on the ideas presented here will have you prepared for your bike leg on race day, so all you have to do is go out there and rock it. Take the time and do the work physically and mentally, and you will be well on the way to crushing it on the bike and having your best race yet.

Get More From Your Legs:

Adjust Your Crank Length for Stronger Cycling

The post Triathletes: Prepare to Crush Your Bike Leg appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If this seems to be happening to you a lot lately, it’s time to do something about it. Read on for the seven most likely reasons that other rider is faster than you.

1. He Has Better (Maintained) Kit

The kit itself is unlikely to make a big difference, but improper maintenance of it can. Choosing bike components carefully and maintaining them properly helps avoid unnecessary losses of power. The drive train is a good place to start. A worn chain or sprockets coated in thick grease could lose you valuable time in longer races.

From riding on your drops to practicing cornering drills, there’s a lot you can do to be more competitive.

What to Do About It:

Ensure your drive train is well maintained, and check your chain regularly to see if it is worn. Use a good quality thin lubricant for your chain and clean the chain frequently to remove road grit. Ensure your gears are well adjusted and cables run smoothly.

2. He Has Less Air Resistance

Hills aside, air resistance is the biggest challenge you’re going to face when cycling. It could simply be that your opponent is managing his air resistance more effectively with key positional or clothing adjustments.

What to Do About It:

To maximise your air resistance, you need to be comfortable riding on the lower part of the dropped handlebars or “drops”. Don’t just ride on the hoods of their brakes because it’s more comfortable. If you find riding in a lower position uncomfortable, incorporate mobility work such as foam rolling in between sessions. This will loosen up your glutes and hamstrings in no time. You can also try wearing fitted clothing to avoid the drag of loose material and avoiding clothes with open zips and pockets. Mudguards may be good for commutes in poor weather, but if you want to go faster you need to remove them.

3. He Weighs Less

Any unnecessary weight will slow you down on the hills. A 90kg rider will require 50% more energy to climb the same hill as a 60kg rider, and unfortunately, any additional weight you’re carrying will not help you pick up speed downhill. Galileo’s famous experiment showed us that two objects of differing mass fall to the ground at precisely the same time. So all other things being equal, when freewheeling downhill a 60kg rider and a 90kg rider will descend from it at the same speed.

What to Do About It:

Train consistently and be mindful of your food consumption. Track your intake and make adjustments to your nutritional habits if needed. Avoid situations where you may be tempted to overeat and choose long, moderately paced rides to optimise fat loss where you can.

4. He Can Pedal Better

Most of us learn to ride a bike at a young age. Unfortunately, once we’ve learned how to stop falling off of it, we usually put our pedalling skill development to the side. But pedalling is a skill that can be honed and drilled to great success. A rider who knows the ins-and-outs of pedalling will outperform one who doesn’t every time.

Sprint for 30 seconds after stops and hills to maintain a decent average speed.

What to Do About It:

Get familiar with your pedal stroke and spend time improving it. For an optimal pedal stroke, your foot has to apply force at just the right moment at the top of the pedal stroke before reversing direction. Most cyclists just do not apply this force soon enough. The glutes and quads need to be activated as soon as possible in the one to three o’clock position of the pedals for maximal power. This is far preferable to pulling the pedal back through the six o’clock position with the comparatively weaker hamstrings at the bottom of the stroke.

Train an effective movement pattern to improve your timing and muscle recruitment by doing regular pedal drills. Nicholas Romanov mentions several good pedalling drills in his book, and I’ve also given some good drill examples on here in the past.

5. He Can Corner Faster

Whilst you should always corner safely and assess the road conditions appropriately, learning to corner smoothly and quickly will save you time. Needless cycles of braking and speeding up again reduce your overall speed.

What to Do About It:

Practice your cornering in a safe environment. Learn to assess corners and anticipate the speed required well in advance. Take a smooth, curved line through the corner that has a large, safe radius. Push the outside pedal down and lean the bike into the corner, keeping your eyes focused on the exit of the bend. Combine your next ride with cornering drills or set up some cones on disused land for cornering practice.

6. He Speeds Up After Stops and Hills

It’s inevitable that you’ll need to stop and slow from time to time due to traffic conditions or from easing off at the top of a hill, but this will cost you valuable seconds and minutes overall if you make a habit of it. Keep the effort high to stay ahead of the other guy.

“If you’re serious about the sport you need to train for three or four times a week on a consistent basis, mindfully working on your weaknesses and reinforcing your strengths.”

What to Do About It:

Do a quick sprint for thirty seconds to get back up to speed after traffic stops and hills. Once you’re back on pace, settle into your normal rhythm again. Practice this every time you are out on your bike. Every time you crest the top of a hill, keep applying effort for ten to twenty seconds, and only ease off for recovery when you start descending the hill. As well as saving you time, this can be a great interval workout.

7. He Trains More Consistently

Just mindlessly riding your bike won’t cut it to get the competitive edge in races. If you’re serious about the sport, you need to train for three or four times a week on a consistent basis, mindfully working on your weaknesses and reinforcing your strengths.

What to Do About It:

Assess your current performance and identify any skills you could improve. Write them down and incorporate the relevant corrective strategies into your training plan. Training drills can seem repetitive but they need to be done in order to hone your ability, so fit them in wherever you can. Do pedalling drills in your turbo sessions, or practice corners on your club rides. Incorporate them regularly and with discipline in order to improve.

Remember Why You Started

Whilst it may feel frustrating to be left at the bottom of the hill by your competitors, it’s important to remember why you started cycling in the first place. Few of us are paid professionals, who are able to train full time with the support of sponsors. There’s also little we can do to reduce our own skeleton size if our anthropometrics let us down in the face of our fellow riders.

Only train towards what is feasible and desirable for you. What is most important is that you smash your own goals and can be satisfied with achieving them.

More Like This:

• How to Handle the Hill: A Physics Lesson for Cyclists
• Are Your Hamstrings Holding Your Cycling Back?
• 2 Simple Exercises to Add Power to Your Pedal Stroke
• New on Breaking Muscle UK

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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