CYCLING FOCUS WEEK

Biking is the opposite, of swimming. Where successful swimming relies 80% technique, and 20% conditioning, cycling is 80% conditioning and 20% technique. But, in any sport technique will always serve you well, for efﬁciency, both in energy conservation, and good mechanics, which will decrease your risk, of injury.

So, one thing that I want you to do this week, is to make sure that your indoor trainer is in good working order. Unfortunately, in our neck, of the woods we do do a fair amount of training indoors. Some thoughts on indoor cycling. Because there is no coasting, turning corners, stop signs, etc, riding on a trainer can be consider twice the amount as outdoor riding. In other words, one hour insider, can be calculated as 2 hours outside. The other idea, is that the torque that is absorbed with motion, of the bike when riding outside, is absorbed by your hips and spine, when riding indoors. So, I strongly suggest you not spend great than 90-120 minutes inside. So, if you need a longer ride, I do have some ideas.

Concentrating, on a mechanically sound pedal stroke is very important, so you donʼt overuse one muscle group. A poor pedal stroke generally overworks the quads, and than when you get off the bike to run, the quads fatigue too quickly. Also, if you tend to “ankle” or point your toes down, at the bottom of the stroke, your calf muscles will tighten, and once again, you will feel those affects, on the run. So, try to keep you ankle at 90 degrees, and think the mantra “shove it (pedal/foot) forward, pull it (pedal/foot) back, lift it up.” Your cadence should be between 85-100 rpms. Sound familiar?

Drill 1: 20 min warm-up, easy pedal stroke, but always good technique;
30 min in a moderate gear, holding your cadence between 85-90 rpm;
10 min cool down
Drill 2: 10 min warm-up;
20 min in a moderate gear, cadence 85-90 rpm;
10 min easy run;
20 min in a moderate gear, cadence 85-90 rpm;
10 min easy run
10 min cool-down

Drill 3: 15 min warm-up
5 min choose a gear where you maintain 85-90 moderate effort
5 min gear down a couple clicks 75-80 rpm moderately difﬁcult
5 min gear up where you are spinning as fast as you can without bouncing on your seat and maintain good pedaling mechanics
(repeat the above set 2x)
15 minute cool-down

Drill 4: 15 min warm-up
3 min difﬁcult effort (HR 155 or so), 2 min easy recovery (6x)
15 min cool-down

Drill 5: Try to get a 60 minute ride outside thinking about a good pedalstroke, maintain a cadence of 85-95 rpm, how you feel on your bike, are you dressed correctly, etc, etc, etc., and maybe even incorporate a couple of the above drills