Strength Training fr Cyclists

There is no doubt that cyclists can benefit from including gym based strength training to there program. When designing the appropriate strength training program for cyclists there are a few key factors to consider.

•  Strength requirements of the sport/discipline.
• Postural and Biomechanical Health of the individual.
• Overview of the competitive season and where they are currently positioned. 

When considering the strength requirements of the sport you need to look at the duration, intensities and movements performed of the given discipline the athlete is competing in. Shorter events demand more power and speed with longer events having a bigger focus on endurance. Bear in mind that all three will need to be addressed in varying degrees to optimize your performance.  
Functional strength training has been shown to give athletes the most ‘useable’ strength for their chosen sport. The following exercises are considered to be the best ‘Functional Exercises for Cyclists 

• Squats – Front & Back
• Lunges
• Deadlifts
• Power Cleans
• Step Ups
• Stiff Legged Deadlifts 

When performed correctly all these exercises require significant integration of major muscle groups across multiple joints – all with good core strength and control.  These are the key requirements to meet when looking to translate strength improvements into athletic performance. 

 

Qualifying an athlete for advanced lifts e.g. Power Cleans, Squats and Deadlifts is very important when finding the appropriate starting point of training intensity. Before beginning advanced lifts people need to have good joint mobility and control through all the major musculoskeletal junctions i.e. Ankles, Knees, Hips, Lumbar/Pelvic, 


Thoracic and the Shoulder Girdle. Any shortcomings in these areas will likely increase the chance of developing faulty movement patterns along with the likelihood of injuring yourself.  A good sport’s orientated Physiotherapist or Coach who understands functional anatomy, biomechanics and strength training should be able to assess your bodies current state of postural and functional movement capacity and suggest the appropriate starting points. 
The frequency and volume of strength training sessions will be determined by where you are in your competitive calendar year. The following table gives a basic overview of areas to focus on at various stages of the year. Remember if your volume on the bike is high, keep your gym sessions short and sharp, 20 – 30 minutes is all that is needed during a high volume training phase. 


The focus of your strength training program will depend on the individual athlete and the discipline they are competing in. The following table provides an overview of how to train the different types of strength. Whilst endurance athletes do not require large amounts of maximal strength, small doses in the off season/preseason will lay a good foundation for developing power in season e.g. Plyometric training should be preceded with a 4 week cycle of strength training to prepare the musculoskeletal system for the high forces generated in plyometric/power type training.

With these basic principles we have covered above and mixing with a Cycle Trainer and Training App, you should now be able to sit down with your trainer and plan the appropriate workouts to maximize your on bike performance.  

Controlling nerves on race day

Controlling nerves on race day – Where your mind goes, everything follows.

At the start of a race your heart is pounding, the feel of nervous energy surrounds you and finally all those hours of training you have logged are being put to the test.  Athletes live for this rush of excitement and feeling of being fully alive; recognizing this feeling and channelling it into your performance can be the difference in your race.

 

The best way to turn your nerves into confidence it’s by firstly recognizing what physical and emotional aspects of you are nervous. On race day nerves can get the better of you and make you feel out of control. However, by recognizing what exactly these feelings are it will becomes easier to control them. A physical response to nervousness is normally a heavy heart beat. When you feel this heavy heart come on respond to it by thinking ‘this is the adrenaline in my body telling me I’m ready to race.’ An emotional response can be thinking “I’m so nervous, I don’t know what to do I’m going to come last.” A counter response to this could be “I’m ready to race, I have spent hours training for this, I’m going to give it everything. Let’s go!”


By creating a performance focus plan for racing you will be able to keep your focus where you want it and where it will work for you. If you focus on your strengths you will be strong. The more you can focus on why you’re capable and how you’re capable your confidence will grow. During your race relax your breathing and absolutely live in the moment. Think about the exact step in front of you; don’t let your mind slip into negative thoughts.  Visualize your success and success will follow.

Before your next race write down what negative thoughts may come into your head. Next to every negative thought write down a positive counter thought. You will ALWAYS do better with a positive mind frame than a negative one. Practice this during your training and even during your everyday life. By doing this you will continue to improve, grow, live, and excel in positive ways in your racing and life.



What I love about cycling and triathlon is at some point during our many hours of training we have visualised winning or having the perfect race. Sometimes that is enough, that is your moment…that is living

Sports Nutrition News - From The American College of Sports Medicine

At the American College of Sports Medicine's 2012 annual meeting, over 6,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and other health professionals gathered to share their research.

Here are a few of the nutrition highlights:

• Bananas fuel as well as sports drinks: During a 46-mile (75-km) race, cyclists performed just as well when they fueled with banana as compared to sports drink. They drank about 8 ounces of sports drink or ate half a medium banana + water every 15 minutes during the 2.3-hour event. Time to start taping bananas to your helmet? 

• Pomegranate juice helps repair muscles:  Pomegranate juice is a rich source of bioactive compounds that reduce muscle soreness. Healthy men who drank PomWonderful juice for eight days before muscle-damaging exercise experienced less muscle soreness. 

•  Popeye was right: Nitrates in foods such as spinach (and beets) reduce the oxygen cost of exercise and enhance efficiency. Healthy young men who consumed half a liter of spinach juice for 6 days were able to perform better anaerobically. Maybe this is why Popeye was strong to the finish? 

• Borscht belt: Dietary nitrates in the form of beet juice (called beetroot juice in the UK) have been shown to improve 2.5 mile (4 km) and 9.5 mile (16 km) time trial performance by almost 3% in racing cyclists. During a longer, 50-mile time trial, cyclists who consumed a half-liter of beet juice 2.5 hours pre-ride rode almost 1% faster. This small improvement was not statistically significant, but to a cyclist, the improvement would likely be meaningful.  Elite rowers who consumed beet juice for 6 days performed better on an erg test. This was particularly noticeable in the later stages of exercise. Pre-exercise beets or borscht anyone?

•  Reducing lactic acid: Both beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate can reduce the negative effects of lactic acid in athletes who do very high intensity exercise. In an intense five-minute cycling test, beta-alanine enhanced performance. When combined with sodium bicarbonate, the improvements were even better.  

• Pure caffeine versus coffee: Most research with caffeine is done with pure caffeine supplements. Does coffee offer the same ergogenic effect? Yes. In research with cyclists and triathletes, the time trial results were very similar with pure caffeine (39.4 minutes) and coffee (39.5 minutes). Instant decaffeinated coffee (41.4 minutes) gave the slowest time. The researchers suggest the small improvement was related to caffeine's ability to stimulate the central nervous system. This makes exercise seem easier so the athlete can work harder. 

•  A cup of Joe okay in the heat: An extensive review of the literature indicates caffeine does not have a dehydrating effect nor impair heat tolerance. Hence, a 150-lb (68 kg) athlete need not worry about consuming about 200 to 600 mg caffeine (3-9 mg caffeine/kg body weight) when exercising in the heat. That's 1 to 3 large cups of Joe. 

• Coffee: no short- or long-term diuretic effect: While commonly consumed intakes of caffeine do not have a diuretic effect over the course of the 24-hour day, what happens in the short term? In three hours, habitual coffee drinkers who consumed 7 ounces (200 mL) coffee (with 250 mg caffeine) voided 11.3 ounces (316 mL) urine, very similar to the group that consumed plain water and voided 10.4 ounces (290 mL) urine. 

•  Performance-enhancing effect of coffee is in the genes: When cyclists were given 1.5 or 3 mg caffeine/lb body weight (3-6 mg/kg) one hour prior to a 24-mile (40-km) time trial, they performed equally well, regardless of the dose. However, the athletes who responded best to pre-exercise caffeine had a specific gene that was missing in the non-responders. That is, when compared according to genotypes, the AA homozygote group was 4.6% faster at 6 mg caffeine/kg as compared to 2.6% improvement in the C allele carriers. Genetic differences influence caffeine's ability to enhance exercise performance.  

• Red Bull doesn't improve performance versus caffeine: Is Red Bull better than coffee? Doubtful. In a cycling time trial, Red Bull enhanced performance similarly to caffeine. Red Bull's added ingredients offered no additional benefits.

•  Cross-training for better bone health: Female cyclists who trained about 10 hours a week had low spine bone density in the osteopenic range-even though they were only 26 years old! Whether you are male or female, if you spend most of your exercise-time cycling, think about cross training with weight bearing exercise to improve your bone health.  

• Body fat test results skewed by exercise: When getting your body fat measured with a Bod Pod, be sure to follow the instructions to not eat, drink, or exercise for two hours before the measurement. Athletes who did 30 minutes of treadmill exercise prior to Bod Pod testing were 21.3% body fat pre-exercise and 19.6% post-exercise. That 2% drop was not due to a loss of body fat, but rather to inaccuracy related to having an elevated body-temperature! 

•  Body fat results vary by test: When getting your body fat measured, take note: Different methods of body fat measurement give different results. In collegiate gymnasts, the body fat results were: 

• • Omron HBF-510W 26.1% fat ($55 on amazon.com)
  • Tanita BF-350 21.7% ($899 at Walmart)
  • Tanita BF-522 21.7% ($366 at amazon.com)
  • DXA 21.06% (research-based; the "gold standard")
  • Calipers 19.5% 
  • Omron HBF-306C 18.4% ($30 on amazon.com)
  
  
• Higher sweat rates: Trained runners lost twice as much sweat during a one-hour summer race than they had predicted. As a group, they predicted losing about 750 mL sweat in hot, humid conditions but they actually lost about 1,500 ml. Weigh yourself pre/post exercise to learn your sweat rate!