These are Four Important Tips, which apply whether you are an experienced rider or a novice beginner, whether you are a top triathlete or a new mountain biker, contemplating some testing hills. We have collected our training methods through many hours and days on boot camps with some of the world's top riders. Here are four more significant points that we know really matter.
It's important to keep a training and eating diary too, for every day's activity and calorie consumption. You can think of these four new tips as golden rules - and if you try to just break ONLY one rule per week, then you WILL become a fitter cyclist. Just one rule though. If some rules seem too simple for you that's fine - just keep a mental note of the rules that work for you.
1. Don't bother going to the gym
Seriously, unless you want to be a pure track sprinter, there is hardly any need to bulk up with weight training. And any other form of light gym work or cross training can become boring, irrelevant for your attempt at Elite Cycling Fitness, or downright harmful if you fail to warm up and stretch correctly. It can be even worse if you go intermittently, that's less than twice a week. There really is only one substitute for extra kilometres out on your bike. And that's time spent on your home bike trainer or spinning. Otherwise a good course of yoga is recommended to allow you to improve your stretching and relaxation abilities. But what about improving road sprinting power? There are many other road-based options for training to sprint well * see our advice on Sprint Interval Training.
2. Keep high pedalling cadence on low gears
This is essential for your long-term endurance. But also on each and every training ride. Low gears and high cadence will mean you reach fatigue more slowly and can dance up hills out of the saddle, even at the end of a two or three hour ride. This should be on gear ratios of around 42 x 15 or 43 x 16, for flat tempo training riding.
3. Save Your Big Chain Wheel for competitions and punishing bursts of interval sprint training
We never recommend much training in big gears. It can quickly cause knee problems and muscle strain. You should always be able to retain a high cadence and feel a supple "suplesse" pedaling action while training. Then, when you are racing and need to maintain that cadence but on higher gears, your legs will be more attuned. The exception is interval training - a great 40 minutes of intervals, sprinting (on quite roads with no side entrances) for trees, 250-350m ahead, in a gear of 53 x 14 or 52 x 15, will build the speed that you would need for criterium racing. Do this every two minutes with easy soft-pedaling in between. Use sharp corners to get your legs used to the pain of jumping hard from a low speed. This is one of several forms of training we will share with you on the site, to make you a better road sprinter.
4. Adhere to your body's fitness signals Seriously
As a serious cyclist, you are pushing your body very hard. Regularly you are pushing your heart and lungs and legs into areas of high fatigue that normally improve your fitness, but sometimes cause levels of strain that you should heed and respect. Overtrain, and your body will soon pay you back. If you don't stretch and warm up properly before interval training and you can easily pull a muscle. Check your waking, morning pulse - and recognise when it is higher than average. Then make that day a rest day. Respond to aching knees or strains by immediately checking your riding position with an experienced coach; plus remember to check the alignment of your pedal cleats and riding shoes. If you regularly suffer chronic lower back pain, learn the relevant yoga stretches, for before and after your rides. In training, spend more time riding out of the saddle and lower your gears. But see your doctor, chiropractor and sports physiotherapist. You have to deal with the causes rather than the symptoms.
You should get at least thirty minutes of massage therapy, when your muscles are sore, to improve blood flow to the sore muscle tissue and release micro-adhesions associated with muscle repair. This can be a painful technique to reduce soreness. But no pain no gain applies here too! Ask your senior teammates or doctor to recommend a good sports physiotherapist. Make sure you get at least eight to 10 hours of sleep to help with muscle recovery. Muscles that have been adequately repaired will not be sore. The body repairs itself best at night and important hormones are triggered, to signal repair to muscle tissue. Failing to get eight to 10 hours will decrease the hormonal response and recovery will be slower. This means the muscle tissue will be sore for much longer.
It's important to keep a training and eating diary too, for every day's activity and calorie consumption. You can think of these four new tips as golden rules - and if you try to just break ONLY one rule per week, then you WILL become a fitter cyclist. Just one rule though. If some rules seem too simple for you that's fine - just keep a mental note of the rules that work for you.
1. Don't bother going to the gym
Seriously, unless you want to be a pure track sprinter, there is hardly any need to bulk up with weight training. And any other form of light gym work or cross training can become boring, irrelevant for your attempt at Elite Cycling Fitness, or downright harmful if you fail to warm up and stretch correctly. It can be even worse if you go intermittently, that's less than twice a week. There really is only one substitute for extra kilometres out on your bike. And that's time spent on your home bike trainer or spinning. Otherwise a good course of yoga is recommended to allow you to improve your stretching and relaxation abilities. But what about improving road sprinting power? There are many other road-based options for training to sprint well * see our advice on Sprint Interval Training.
2. Keep high pedalling cadence on low gears
This is essential for your long-term endurance. But also on each and every training ride. Low gears and high cadence will mean you reach fatigue more slowly and can dance up hills out of the saddle, even at the end of a two or three hour ride. This should be on gear ratios of around 42 x 15 or 43 x 16, for flat tempo training riding.
3. Save Your Big Chain Wheel for competitions and punishing bursts of interval sprint training
We never recommend much training in big gears. It can quickly cause knee problems and muscle strain. You should always be able to retain a high cadence and feel a supple "suplesse" pedaling action while training. Then, when you are racing and need to maintain that cadence but on higher gears, your legs will be more attuned. The exception is interval training - a great 40 minutes of intervals, sprinting (on quite roads with no side entrances) for trees, 250-350m ahead, in a gear of 53 x 14 or 52 x 15, will build the speed that you would need for criterium racing. Do this every two minutes with easy soft-pedaling in between. Use sharp corners to get your legs used to the pain of jumping hard from a low speed. This is one of several forms of training we will share with you on the site, to make you a better road sprinter.
4. Adhere to your body's fitness signals Seriously
As a serious cyclist, you are pushing your body very hard. Regularly you are pushing your heart and lungs and legs into areas of high fatigue that normally improve your fitness, but sometimes cause levels of strain that you should heed and respect. Overtrain, and your body will soon pay you back. If you don't stretch and warm up properly before interval training and you can easily pull a muscle. Check your waking, morning pulse - and recognise when it is higher than average. Then make that day a rest day. Respond to aching knees or strains by immediately checking your riding position with an experienced coach; plus remember to check the alignment of your pedal cleats and riding shoes. If you regularly suffer chronic lower back pain, learn the relevant yoga stretches, for before and after your rides. In training, spend more time riding out of the saddle and lower your gears. But see your doctor, chiropractor and sports physiotherapist. You have to deal with the causes rather than the symptoms.
You should get at least thirty minutes of massage therapy, when your muscles are sore, to improve blood flow to the sore muscle tissue and release micro-adhesions associated with muscle repair. This can be a painful technique to reduce soreness. But no pain no gain applies here too! Ask your senior teammates or doctor to recommend a good sports physiotherapist. Make sure you get at least eight to 10 hours of sleep to help with muscle recovery. Muscles that have been adequately repaired will not be sore. The body repairs itself best at night and important hormones are triggered, to signal repair to muscle tissue. Failing to get eight to 10 hours will decrease the hormonal response and recovery will be slower. This means the muscle tissue will be sore for much longer.
About the Author:
You can view Exercise Bike Health for advice on your home fitness schedules. Plus get the best Cycling Mountain Biking Advice at Best Mountain Bike