|
 |
"Mike's
approach to coaching really brings out the best in your
performance" Chris, Berkshire |
|
|
|
| |
Cycle Training for Busy People
|
|
|
Why are you cycling? Do you want
to win races? Cycle long distances effortlessly?
Be a strong hill climber? Be a good sprinter? Or
just enjoy being on your bike in nature? Each question
has a different answer and thus needs a slightly
different approach. However, many of the underlining
principle are the same. Below I have outlined the
key points that I feel are necessary for busy people
to achieve their goals and maximize their enjoyment
of cycling.
"I would love to cycle and get fit, and may even
race but I don't have the time!"
The pace of life seems to be forever accelerating.
The computer age and IT revolution has increased
our ability to do work, but instead of saving time,
has made us busier.
You don't need much time to enjoy cycling
Even though you may not be able to devote as much
time to training as you would like, the following
principles will help you improve. However, it is
unrealistic to expect someone on 5 hrs a week to
improve more than someone training for 10 hrs. On
the other hand it is also virtually impossible to
predict future performance other than to say, it
is dependant on the athletes sporting background,
their present lifestyle, training routine, and natural
ability.
Your body becomes efficient at what it does most.
1.Train at race pace
If you want to race at 40km/hr, you must train at
this pace. But do not always cycle at race pace!
In training I recommend picking a challenging but
realistic race pace and breaking the distance down
into smaller more manageable parts. If you cannot
get out everyday, work out your heart rate at your
race pace and cycle on an indoor cycle instead.
So long as you work at the correct HR it does not
matter if you cycle in doors or out. This means
people with very busy jobs can train at any time
of the day, whether light or dark.
For speed work and in winter and for people who
live in big cities, I suggest using the 'Turbo Trainer.'
This is the most time efficient form of cycling.
With warm up, cool down and 30 minutes of 'intervals',
a session can be completed in only 45 minutes, without
leaving home. An indoor turbo trainer is more time
efficient than cycling out-of-doors. There are no
traffic lights or moving obstacles in your living
room! It is also very rare that you will puncture.
The down side is that it is boring.
2. Do you need the long slow training?
Decide your goals. Do you want to race, or just
enjoy easy riding? Long slow training will only
teach you to go long distances slowly. If you have
the time and enjoy doing long slow distance (LSD)
work, and that is your aim please do it. Remember
cycling is to be enjoyed, so do what you enjoy.
But, if you are short of time and your main aim
is to improve, you will need muscle power to go
fast. This is developed in the gym using weights,
or doing hill reps or by cycling at speed, but not
by cycling slowly.
3. Keep your carbohydrate levels high
Training at speed means that you burn carbohydrates
for energy and not fat. In the old days, before
sports nutrition was taken seriously, athletes used
to train to burn fats for energy. Compared to carbohydrate,
our body's fat reserves are vast. Training the body
to burn fats for energy is time consuming, as it
involve lots of LSD training. If you are short of
time you must look for a different solution.
Take energy gels
The recent availability of carbohydrate gels offers
the solution. Now it is possible for cyclists to
easily pre-race carbo-load, as well as consume carbohydrate
energy gels while racing. These days there is now
less need to be energy efficient, and thus no need
to do the traditional slow training in order to
promote fat burning. If you have carbohydrate gels
you can cycle all day. I recommend GU energy (www.guenergy.com)
this was the first energy gel to be developed and
is still the most efficient sports fuel available
today.
4 Don't train hard every session!
Keep your recovery sessions short. About 60 minutes
is good. This saves time. Over 60 minutes and you
will not be recovering, but tiring yourself again.
If you are on an indoor trainer you can recover
in about 30 minutes. It really is good for busy
people.
Heart rates are often used to help athletes train
at their optimum pace. This is a very valuable tool,
however before starting to train with a heart rate
monitor, you must learn to listen to your own body.
Does the training feel easy or does it feel hard?
A simple technique for beginners is to rate each
session out of "10". For example "1" may be easy
walking, "3" jogging, "5" recovery pace, "7" steady
pace training, "8" race pace, and "10" all out sprinting.
Although this is a primitive guide, it helps athletes
to listen to their own body. The best coaches in
the world can only present information and guide
their athletes towards set goals. The best athletes
in the world are totally in tune with their bodies.
I stopped using a heart rate monitor, every day,
when I realized that I could predict my heart rate
fairly accurately by listening to my own body as
I trained. The best tools are HRM combined with
a power meter to measure you power output. A good
programme should measure and monitor power output
and work on sound physiological principles of training
to ensure that the rider is able to raise their
average power out.
5. Strength training is the key
I do a lot of weight training with my athletes and
the results speak for themselves. Cycling speeds
are very much related to power-to-weight ratios.
Hill training is very good for cycling, and this
should be supplemented with weight training.
The form of weight training you undertake will depend
on your needs, strengths and weaknesses. A weight
that is light for one person may be too heavy for
another. I recommend talking to the professionals
at your local gym, for specific advice on your particular
needs.
6. Stretching
Studies about stretching are often contradictory.
I believe it is very good to help prevent injury,
therefore vital. I have not set aside specific training
time, because it doesn't need big blocks of time.
My best advice is, if you have a free few minutes
pick one muscle group to work on and stretch it
out. I have become an expert at stretching while
talking on the phone, or waiting for the kettle
to boil. You may stretch while watching TV.
So long as a few minutes gentle exercise is undertaken
to warm up the muscles before training it is not
necessary that you stretch directly before or after
a work out.
7. A longer bike ride!
The distance depends on how much time is available.
This is one session that will need to be longer
than the others to get the body used to working
for the length of time a race may take. This longer
training should be done at a slower pace to develop
the aerobic system fully, and help efficiency, preferably
done on a hilly course to build up the cycling muscles.
A maximum of 4 hours is needed, but not every week,
however you should aim to cycle for over 2 hours
at least once a week.
A 6 Hour Training schedule
If an athlete tries to do too much he will achieve
nothing but get injured, sick or both and will eventually
lose motivation. However with only 6. hours a week
training time available, for people with busy schedules
can make big improvements to fitness and racing
times.
Sun. Hilly bike ride (2 hours) Pointer: Do
not stand up while hill climbing!
Mon. Recovery ride (30 mins) Pointer Try
to relax, do on indoor trainer
Tues Gym (30mins) Pointer: Include mostly
do middle body and legs, for power, a big upper
body will only be extra weight on the bike!
Wed Recovery ride (30 mins) Pointer Try to
relax, do on indoor trainer
Thu Bike (Indoor) (60mins) Pointer: Do 10x
2mins with a max HR of 75% of max, take 2mins easy
recover between. 10min UP &DOWN
Fri Rest
Sat Hill Climb, 90mins at about 70% MHR Pointer:
keep seated, to increase leg strength, aim for 3x20mins.
If no hill or busy, ride on indoor trainer and put
in a big gear with low cadence
The more you train the more rest you need!
It is possible to achieve a lot on a limited amount
of training, so long as the principles behind that
training are sound. However the more you train the
more time you will need for rest and recovery. When
I was younger and racing professionally, my aim
was to do about 30 hours week training. I got sick
and injured a lot and didn't achieve this target
very often. I missed great chunks of training due
to illness and injury. In one year I was shocked
to find my average time spent training was only
11 hours a week for the year. This was because I
had been sick so much, from over training. At that
point I changed my approach. I set realistic goals
for the next year, and virtually eliminated injury
and illness. That was also the time that I discovered
the benefits of supplementing my diet with carbohydrates,
this allowed me to train harder and combined with
Siberian Ginseng and Co Q10 I was also recovering
much faster.
Over training
I can never over stress the problems of illness
and injury from over training, and that every one
has different tolerances before they become over
trained. One key point to remember is that training
does not make you faster, it only destroys the muscles
and cells in the body, it is only by resting that
the body gets adapts and gets stronger and faster.
It so important to look at pre race preparation,
to ensure you are fully rested on race day. If you
are worried about over training, check if you have
any of these symptoms, It is difficult for a doctor
to tell if you are over trained, but key signs are:
Lethargy, Muscle soreness, Weight loss; Irritability;
lack of motivation; Changing resting heart rate,
injuries; Poor sleep; Diarrhea.
Pre Race training
This article has concentrated on training but to
ensure you have a good race I think it is important
to stress the final weeks preparation to ensure
all the hard work has not been a waste of time.
• About 1 -2 weeks before racing you should
change your approach
• Aim to train for feeling, listen to your
body as I suggested earlier (don't use the HRM)
• Aim to feel good the day before the race,
that way you will get an extra days recovery
• Do not alter your routine, don't change your
sleeping and eating habits
• Concentrate on finishing each bike ride feeling
as fresh as possible and not tired
• Reduce the intensity and number of repetitions
and time spent training over the period gradually
• Drink plenty of water during the period.
It takes water to store carbohydrates, also it is
dangerous to race in a dehydrated state
• Check you equipment there is nothing worse
that puncturing in the race
• Make sure you have practiced the skills you
will need on race day. Cornering, climbing, descending,
wet weather riding etc.
• Finally, mental training should never be
over looked. Most top cyclists are able to win because
they believe they can, they think positively. Many
amateurs do badly because they think negatively
If you follow these guidelines to total approach
to training, you should feel confident that you
are fully prepared and thus feel confident about
achieving your own personal sporting goals. Good
luck!
Why not go beyond the article and have us train
you 1-to-1 to meet and exceed your running and triathlon
goals - contact us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
