Sunday evening I got my appendix removed through a surgical procedure (laparoscopic appendectomy) at a hospital in Oslo. The surgery went well and I am now recovering. So if you have wondered where all the action here at the website has gone, there is now a reason. Hopefully I can post articles about other topics than appendicitis in the future. For people who have never heard of appendicitis, here is a short description:
I often hear that cyclists skip strength training because they are afraid they will gain additional body weight. In this series I will try to explain how cyclists can strength train without gaining extra body weight. This article is a part of the ‘Strength training without additional body mass series’. You can read the rest […]
Polar s810 can measure your heartbeat intervals. The differences in these periods reflect your autonomic nervous system when it regulates your heartbeat. This measurement is most useful at rest or at low intensities, because we are talking about very small differences (msecs.) Your relaxation rate indicates the state of your physical recovery. If you are overtrained, it might very well be reflected on the Polar s810 monitor.
Read the article about Polar s810 and heart rate variability
When you start to strength train you will make progress in the beginning with little effort. This is not due to hypertrophy, but rather neural adaptations. Maintaining a low body weight is essential in both road cycling and mountain bike, since carrying extra pounds (dead weight) decrease your performance. I have made a couple of training tips that can help you to avoid hypertrophy of your muscles when you strength train.
There are some basic rules you should know when you start to use a heart rate monitor. First of all it is important to know that your heart rate is affected by several internal and external parameters. It takes months (if not years) to get enough experience to understand how the heart rate reacts.
Heart rate monitors work best for pacing at aerobic cycling, since there is a slightly delay on the pulse frequency. If you accelerate the bike to a new steady state pace, you will reach the steady state pulse a few minutes later. That is really important to know, and I guess that is why many riders push too hard in the beginning of intervals, because they are trying to get their heart rate up in the target zones. That is a big mistake that could easily be avoided if these riders used a power meter.
If you are considering buying a new road bike for the coming season, this period is the perfect time to get excited: Most bike manufacturers present their 2007 collections now.
One of them is Trek Bikes, who has a website with pictures and details about their road bikes, mountain bikes and other bikes for 2007. Their top model among road bikes are Madone SSL 6.9 which is a carbon frame equipped with full Shimano Dura Ace. 
I’ll do my best to keep you informed about all the new gear for season 2007.
Manufacturers are welcome to send press releases about their bikes, equipment or accessories for the coming season. If a manufacturer is interested in having Cycling Training Tips to make a review of their product, please have a look in the ‘About’ section for contact info. Press releases can be sent to admin@training4cyclists.com