Functional Strength

If you been training for cycling you’ll have heard the term functional training. But what is it and how does it relate to cycling in particular. Functional training, for both strength and movement, sits in contrast to traditional strength training  as it concentrates on the biomechanical components of movement including flexibility, joint mobility and stability. Traditional strength training typically isolates muscles groups – often with machines that lock down parts of your body so that others can be engaged in the exercise. While this may be effective for building muscle for body building it is not an effective approach to training for sport and can in fact lead to deceased performance.

Functional training focuses on exercise which mimics daily living or movement specific to the sport you’re engaged in. In these activities your body is usually being used in a dynamic fashion in a multitude of planes. This is certainly true of cycling – and the reason functional training is so effective for this sport. Through functional training movement specific strength is increased. It also results in better body awareness, balance and proprioception developed resulting in better integrated movement. This will mean more effective power and better endurance through efficient use of the muscles systems that are engaged.

As it focuses on ‘real world’ forces such as gravity and momentum it also means that functional training can be done without any need to visit a gym and strap yourself into the machines. The exercises can be done with small weights or a medicine ball and often use body weight and gravity as the source of resistance – just as it is when you’re riding or engaged in other physical activity.

It is unsurprising that functional training is gaining popularity. It trains nerves, muscles and joints into an integrated system that is able, and used to, moving in all three planes. It’s clear that building a muscle in isolation to become effective in one plane, when it will never be doing that outside the gym, is not a good use of your precious training time. Building dynamic stability, efficient movement and effective, activity specific strength through functional training is, however, a great way to train – especially on those off season months.

We’ll be posting some cycling specific functional training exercises here soon – stay tuned.

 

Interval training 101

One of the best ways to improve your cycling fitness across a range of physiological systems is to do interval training. Put simply interval training involves repeated short bursts of intense effort followed by a recovery period. The reasoning behind this method is straight forward. High intensity effort has multiple benefits however maintaining the required intensity over a long period will result in fatigue. The recovery period between intervals allows you to engage in more volume of intense effort thereby giving you the greatest result. High intensity training will;

• Improve your anaerobic capability
• Extend your lactate threshold
• Heighten your metabolic rate resulting in greater post training calorie burn and weight loss
• Allow you to train in a focused way, gain more benefit for less time

Interval training needs to be integrated into a larger periodized training program and it is usually recommended to have laid down a good base milage and fitness level before engaging in it. You’ll want to have put down an endurance base of at least 800 km before moving into interval training. Without this you run the risk of injury by going too hard too quickly. Once you have laid this base you should then still limit your interval training sessions to twice a week and allow at least 48 hours between them to recover adequately. You can space these throughout the week to allow for the other training that you’re engaged with.

Studies have shown that intensity is more important than either the duration of the intervals or the frequency per week in maximizing the benefit of intervals on performance.  When planning your interval training you’ll need to consider the following

• Intensity level
• Length of intervals
• Length of recovery period
• Number of repetitions
• Cadence
• Gear
• Volume of effort

Intervals need to be performed at a heart rate, cadence, torque or power level greater than that of continuous work to have the desired benefit. The intensity of each interval will be determined partly by it duration – it is hard for example to go all out for more than 10 seconds so longer  intervals will necessarily be paced..

If you’re a beginning at this it is suggested that you start with the initial total volume of effort ( ie the interval time ) at around five minutes. As your fitness improves you can extend this to 10 and then 20 minutes of effort over the whole training session.

Building to 6 x 4 minute intervals with 3 minutes recovery between each is a great goal as this seems to be the most productive for a broad range of cyclists. As your fitness improves you’ll need to adapt your interval and other training sessions to continue to challenge and improve your fitness.

Intervals are best done on  stationary bike trainer as this allows more control over conditions and the ability to measure output more accurately.

If you want to get  in depth solid interval training programs you can’t go past  Coach Arnie Baker’s book on High Intensity Training programmes.



 

 

Heart Rate Zones

Continuing our series on heart rate zone training – once you have established your maximum heart rate and identified your training zones we can learn more about where each of these training zones fit into your cycling training.  There are a few systems in use – this one has been approved and used by Cycling Australia for many years.

Recovery (RE) – 50<64% of max heart rate

Base Aerobic(E1) – 65-74% of max heart rate

General Aerobic(E2a/E2b) – 75-84% of max heart rate

Threshold (E3) – 85-91% of max heart rate

Anaerobic – VO2 Max (E4)- 92-100%of max heart rate

 

Each of these six ( including E2a and b)levels of heart rate relate to the training of a specific element of your physiological fitness. Structured training will often incorporate periods in several of these levels in any one single session depending upon the intensity demanded and recovery between efforts.

The different levels of heart rate will train different parts of your physiology and typically any structured training program will include  time spent in a few of these training zones dependent on the desired outcome of the training.

• RE –  Slow and steady or ‘noodling ‘ as we like to say. You should be able to easily hold a conversation. Used for recovery rides you really shouldn’t be experiencing any stress when in RE. It should be noted that due to the low level of exertion that you my need to dress more warmly when it’s chilly. No good doing a disciplined recovery ride to end up with hypothermia. You should be able to keep up this level of intensity for hours ( think walking) but as this zone is intended for recovery the rides should be in the region of 60-90 minutes.
• E1 –  All endurance is based on the foundation of work done in this zone. It gives solid cardiovascular exercise. Sometimes called the ‘fat burning’ zones as it burns more stored fat than in other zones – however we’ll see later that  although for many years the common wisdom has been long low intensity effort being most effective for weight loss  - more recent finding show intervals do the job better ( more on that later).  You should, depending on your fitness, be able to maintain this level of effort for up to 6 hours. Remember that over this period of time both hydration and fueling ( food) will be necessary.

• E2a – In this zone you’ll be developing aerobic fitness and power and building your endurance. When in this zone you’ll be drawing on the glycogen supplies stored in your muscles so  if going over 1 hour you’ll need to be taking in carbohydrates or you’ll bonk ( run out of fuel). Due to the increased intensity the volume in this zone will be reduced compared to those above – you may be able to maintain this intensity for 45 -120 mins.

• E2b – You will now be approaching your ‘lactate threshold’ .Conversation should be difficult and your breathing far deeper on these often short and sharp efforts. Neither top end effort or an endurance building zone it is sometimes advised not to spend too much time here as some coaches believe it can lead to staleness – not pushing your limits or laying a base. You should be able to maintain this level of intensity for 30- 60 mins. Given the extra effort involved if you want to maintain this level of intensity you’ll need a decent consistent sections of road or a in door bike trainer.

• E3 – Now you’re hitting the limit of aerobic training – essentially the limits of your body to remove waste products in your system – lactic acid in your muscles, CO2 and heat. For aerobic training ( using oxygen) this is the maximum instensity. Training in this zone will improve your resistance to short term fatigue due to these waste products building up and also develops strength and muscular endurance.

Your lactate or anaerobic threshold is somewhere in this zone – exactly where takes extensive testing with specialised equipment. One training session may last anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes and due to the both mental and physical demands these efforts are often broken down into intervals.

• E4 –This is your limit – you’ll usually only be able to maintain this effort for 10 -20 seconds. As they go beyond your bodies ability to supply oxygen for the demands you are making on it they are done anaerobically or without oxygen. You’ll build fatigue resistance and muscular power in this zone.

Due to the intense effort involved training in this zone is usually done in short intervals with longer recovery time between.

It is  important to note that  unless you’re going for over 60 seconds ( highly unlikely) you won’t get an accurate heart rate reading as your heart rate has a lag in response to the effort.  For this reason you need to go on feel when training in this zone – essentially your limit.

Common advice is that training sessions in this zone should only last up to ten minutes and only be undertaken when your are fully recovered from other training.

 

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Maximum Heart Rate

Heart rate training can be extremely useful to anyone training for cycling. it can provide feeback and structure to any training session and with very little extra expense or equipment. A standard heart rate monitor is all you need ( and a bike will help). To structure your training you do however need to isolate and define your different training zones. These are defined by a certain percentage of your maximum heart rate – so you guessed it , that’s the first thing to work out. There is a common, and quite erroneous myth, that 220-your age= max heart rate. This is somewhat  deceptive as maximum heart rate is dependent on a huge range of factors outside of your age  - using this as a way to calculate your training zones could be detrimental to your training.

Here’s a less generic way of working out your maximum heart rate which you can do with a bike trainer or clear stretch of road and no need for an expensive Italian doctor. To do this accurately as possible you’ll need to be well rested, warmed up and motivated to go all out when it counts. If you’re doing this with sore or fatigued muscles you won’t be getting an accurate measurement and a warm up is vital to get the blood flow optimal for a maximal effort. The motivation should be self explanatory – without it you won’t be going all out by the end and will get a distorted result

1.Warm up for 5-10 minutes.

2. Work at a moderate pace for around 3 minutes.

3. After this increase your effort by about 10% each minute. If your on an ergo bike this will be easy to gauge – if not then increase your cadence by 3-5 rev per minute/each minute or alternatively increasing your gearing  by one gear each couple of minutes. You’re looking for an incremental build in exertion here.

4. Once you get to the point that it’s hard to continue at the pace you are – then go hard – sprint your guts out for 30 seconds and , if you’re able,  keep an eye on that heart rate monitor. Of course if your monitor records your max rate then you can pick that info up later.

So once you’ve recovered and have an relatively accurate number for your maximum heart rate you can now work out your heart rate training zones.

Recovery (RE) – 50<64% of max heart rate

Base Aerobic(E1) – 65-74% of max heart rate

General Aerobic(E2a/E2b) – 75-84% of max heart rate

Threshold (E3) – 85-91% of max heart rate

Anaerobic – VO2 Max (E4)- 92-100%of max heart rate

We’ll be posting more of heart rate zone training – just needed to get this one out of the way up front. Remember your max heart rate is dependent on numerous factors and can change in response to things other than your age.

 

 

Sports Psychology- The Things You Can Change

Sports psychology started with Norman Trippet noticing that cyclists rode faster in pairs or in groups than alone ( and not just because of slipstreaming)  way back in the 19th century. It is a dense subject but one that we shoud all pay attention to – your body will only do what your brain is capable of telling it to. Especially in cycling it is often the one with the best mind set not the  largest thighs that will win. The same mind set will help with your cycling training as well.

We’ll be posting a lot about how to improve your mindset on the bike – this post is about awareness and focus. In every day life your brain filters out a huge amount of information about  your environment – anything that is unuseful or irrelevant to what your doing is taken out of the feed. When you’re racing  this focused awareness is even tighter and it is vital for the best results that you pay attention to the things under your control and do something about those rather than thinking about the large amount of factors that are outside your control. Here’s a handy list to check if you have the mental presence to remember it in the middle of a race or ride.

Number one – Is it under my control? Examples of things that aren’t are – the weather, the fitness or form of your competitors, what kind of bike they are riding, loose dogs on the road.

Number two – Is it happening now? Don’t devote any mental energy or focus to stuff you think might happen or stuff that has already been and gone – this will just sap your mental energy – remember your blood is all being used by your legs.

Number three  - Will if affect my performance? Anything outside of this should not be taking up any mental space. So if your checked all these boxes whats left – your form, your technique, your breathing, self monitoring your effort and keeping a close eye on the breaks, keeping clear of trouble, hydration and fueling.

Remember you have a limited band width  - use it wisely by paying attention to those things under your control. This will make all the difference. Sports Psychology 101 boils down to this quote

“God( insert diety of your choice) grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Reinhold Niebuhr

Put your attention where it will make a difference. Feedback from some dedicated bike software will allow you to use the feedback you get to hone this focus.

Fluid trainer

A fluid trainer is a kind of stationary bike trainer that uses  a viscous fluid  to give resistance. A fluid trainer differs to some other bicycle trainers as the fluid replicates the feel of training on the road more realistically. They do this by giving an exponential resistance as the force applied increases. Trainers that use fluid are also typically much quieter than other stationary trainers such as wind trainers and mag trainers.

In some fluid trainers you’ll find the fluid changes its viscosity as it heats up with use meaning the resistance is less realistic. Kurt Kinetic fluid trainers claim this does not happen with their range of bike trainers and certainly the power curve they demonstrate mirrors that of an on road rolling resistance very closely. Another advantage they have is a completely sealed and therefore leak proof fluid chamber. This is achieved through a magnetic connection through the housing.

Using a fluid trainer, or other kind of stationary bike trainer, can greatly improve your training. Not only will it give you the ability to train whatever the weather is like or when your family commitments tie you to the house, but it also said that, due the focused nature of your cycling training when using one, each hour on the bike trainer counts for two on the road. Use this with a feedback system like our bike software and your results will take a positive turn.

 

 

Recovery – The most important part of your training

Bike Trainer

If you’ve just started cycling training you may wonder why anyone would use a stationary bike trainer. If your used to the road or riding in a group surely there is nothing more tedious than riding for hours and getting nowhere. There are many reasons why using a bike trainer can be an important part of any broad based cycling training program beyond just not wanting to get your bike wet or your fingers and toes frozen in the winter.

Continue reading “Bike Trainer” »

Bike Trainer Basics

There are a variety of bike trainers that you can use your road bike in to improve your cycling training. They vary in realism ( road feel), effectiveness, noise and price. You can choose anthing from rollers to a fluid trainer. Here’s a quick run down-   Continue reading “Bike Trainer Basics” »

Overtraining

One of the most common mistakes cyclists make when taking up the sport is to do too much to soon. Even when using an indoor bike trainer like a fluid trainer it is easy to overdo it – especially if you’re just starting.
It is natural to be highly motivated about a new pursuit that you enjoy and wish to excel in but it’s important to remember one simple fact. Your fitness and physical ability does not improve while you’re cycling – it improves while your resting and in recovery. If you don’t allow enough recovery time regeneration cannot occur and your performance and development will plateau. Cycling training necessarily puts stress on Continue reading “Overtraining” »