Training4cyclists.com

This is a very short description of how a muscle can develop force:

What is a motor unit
A motor unit is a functional unit that contains a single nerve and all the muscle fibres innervated by the nerve. All muscle fibres are grouped together as motor units and have an average of 150 fibres pr motor neuron.

Hypertrophy
Larger muscle cells (that will say larger square diameter) can generate more power. That is the most commonly known way to increase power, though it is not desirable for cyclists. The problem is that a large muscle mass is heavy to carry and there is a dilution of mitochondrias. Thus, an increment of maximal strength made through hypertrophy will probably not result in a better overall cycling performance.

Nervous regulation of force
Basically there are two ways to control a muscle’s force. One way is to recruit more motor unit, which will activate more motor units. You can think of this as the brain tells the muscle to use a larger percentile of the muscle’s fibres to generate power. Motor units are recruited to in order of size. Small motor units are recruited before large motor units. This is called the size principle of recruitment. The second way to regulate force production is through rate coding. It is an increment of the frequency of impulse signals to the motor unit. When a motor unit is stimulated more frequently, the twitches begin to overlap each other, which will generate a larger force.

So now we know the basic physiology behind the mechanisms used to increase the force. It is either to build larger muscle mass, make a better recruitment of motor units or fire a higher frequency of stimuli to the motor neurons.

Frankie Andreu and an anonymous team mate that helped Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France in 1999, admit use of the drug EPO. This news is published in New York Times and is a rare interview that shows some of the dark sides of cycling. Frankie Andreu  was a loyal helper for more [...]

For a cyclist a large aerobic engine is essential. When you go for a ride you stimulate your aerobic system, but how much stimulation depend on the intensity you ride with. Trained cyclists need a greater absolute and relative workload to keep improving the VO2 max. Thus, if you are an experienced rider, it is [...]

Marathon is a classic distance of 42,195km and is the ultimate challenge for a runner. I have run Hamburg Marathon a couple of years ago and I learned some lessons from the experienced marathon runners that I think many cyclists can take advantage of:

1 - Focus on a main goal
Marathon runners are very selective when they plan their season. They choose two or three main goals during the year and use all their effort to make a top performance on race day. I know that cyclists do a lot more races than runners do, but it is recommendable to select specific races to peak in. One of the big differences between Lance Armstrong and other riders is that he used to focus on the Tour de France as his main goal, where his opponents had several other goals during the season (World cup, Pro Tour, World Championships). With only a few main goals it is possible to reach a higher level of performance in these hand picked races.

2 - Make a training plan with a specific goal
Marathon runners have a training plan focusing on peak their form at the main event of the season. I believe it is easier to stick to a training plan when there is a goal to achieve. That is exactly what marathon runners have: The last day in their training calendar is the marathon itself.

Howard Jacobs, lawyer for Tour de France winner 2006 Floyd Landis, announced today that he will request USADA to drop the charges agains Floyd Landis. The reason for this announcement should be that Mr. Jacobs and his crew of experts have found inconsistencies in the testing protocol and methodology that support Landis’ innocence.

“In our review of the documents detailing the tests on both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sample, we have found evidence that supports our request for USADA to drop the doping charges against Landis,” said Jacobs. “While I cannot comment on the full details of our findings, we now have the foundation for a very strong defense should the case proceed to arbitration.”

It is for me difficult to believe that Landis should be innocent. However, the lawyer has an important point about keeping the result of A-samples secret until the B sample is done and approved. I will follow this case with interest.

Tim Maloney from Cyclingnews.com has made a very interesting interview with T-mobile´s time trialist specialist Serguei Gonchar, Ukraine. Gonchar has been one of the best time trialists in the world for the last decade.

A couple of highlights from the interview:

On being called Honchar: “Yeah! In the last few years, people got used to calling me Honchar, especially in Italy, but that is not my name. So during the Tour De France, when I was team leader for a few stages, it was even more important to get my right name out there. It was the fault of a secretary in the passport office back home in Ukraine and I have had to live with this. But finally I was able to say ‘my name is Gonchar, so call me that’.

On the Floyd Landis affair: “I really can’t say anything at this point… except that I’m sorry to see a sponsor like Phonak leave the sport. They have been around for a long time and have supported cycling so it’s too bad they are leaving. Cycling is taking hits from all sides lately… it’s seems like some kind of fashion trend!”

On his gear choice in time trials: “Not many other riders can [ride such big gears]… I guess I have become famous for it! I don’t really know where it comes from. I’ve always ridden time trials like that since I was a young rider and have always used big gears for time trials. When I’m in the race, it doesn’t feel to me like I’m pushing a big gear, but like I’m pedaling with agility. But afterwards when I see myself on TV, it looks like I’m pedaling slow and going slow,”

Read the full interview