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Cycling Training Tips

5 Simple Tips for a Better Recovery

When you train hard, you deserve to get good results. One of the best moments to improve your performance is the first hour after your training session. Here are 5 simple tips for a better recovery:

Cycling recovery

  1. Drink water
    60% of your body weight is water, so there is buffer system to cover water loss during training. Nevertheless this water loss has a huge impact on your performance and must be replaced as soon as possible. Plain water is under normal circumstances adequate for rehydration, since solid food replaces the electrolytes lost during exercise. Thus, if you eat properly, you do not need to take any supplements to make it up for the electrolytes. Under very hot conditions it is though necessary to replace electrolytes as well as the lost water.
  2. Eat carbohydrates
    Blood glucose concentration regulates the secretion of insulin, which works as an anabolic steroid for you after training. Thus, we are interested in eating carbohydrates to stimulate the secretion of insulin and get all the benefits of this naturally hormone. Insulin promotes the uptake of glucose from blood into cells (advanced version will come later), stimulates the synthesis of glycogen and promotes synthesis of muscle proteins.
  3. Eat proteins
    This is not an advice I will keep for strength lifters and body builders only. Muscles cells are built of proteins and they are broken down during training. Endurance athletes also need proteins immediately after training to recover from their effort. Just like carbohydrates, proteins stimulate secretion of insulin, which help building up the muscle again.
  4. Change clothes
    Get some dry clothes on immediately after training or competition. You can easily get a cold if you do not change clothes. And do it before you start to freeze, please. I have seen it a lot of times, when people are chatting after a race. Exactly that moment is one of the easiest moments to get ill. It is a very frequent mistake that happens again and again. Please do not do that mistake.
  5. Cool down
    Take a short ride in small gears. It helps your muscles to recover from hard intervals or races. Removal of lactate and other metabolits is enhanced when you do light exercise. Depending on your overall fitness, I will recommend you do a 5-20 minutes ride after each training session.

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5 Biggest Mistakes in Heart Rate Monitor Training

1 – Comparing heart rate values with others

The fact is that you can only compare heart rate values with your own previous registrations. The reason for this is that we all have a different anatomy of our cardiovascular system. But these systems are all based on the same physiological mechanisms. Thus, we can learn from each others’ physiological experiences and adaptations, but we can’t compare individual heart rate values. E.g. your resting heart rate is 58bpm while your friend’s heart rate is 42bpm, still I can’t say which one of you are in the best shape nor have the highest VO2 max.

Your maximum heart rate is correlated to your age, but that does not mean that we all fit in to 220-age formula. There is a huge standard deviation because we all are anatomically different. Just like with the resting heart rates, maximum heart rates does not predict performance.

2 ”“ Not being aware of factors affecting heart rate

Your working heart rate at the same external workload changes from day to day because it is affected by several factors including caffeine, water balance, temperature, physical stress, psychological stress etc. Thus, you should know how these things affect your heart rate since that is essential if you want to use your current heart rate for pacing. Taking action of the response from your heart rate monitor on your effort is an important part of using this tool. E.g. if you feel your heart rate is too high compared to the workload, then consider if there is a good reason for this (dehydration, too much coffee etc.) When you have found the answer, then take action on it.

3 ”“ Not analyzing heart rate data

Heart rate monitor training is much about analyzing. If you have an advanced or professional heart rate monitor from Polar, you can collect tons of data for analyzing on your personal computer. This is an important process if you want to get the full value out of your heart rate monitor. When you get used to see your heart rate records, you will begin to get a deeper understanding of how your body works. If you add some studying in exercise physiology to your analyzing, you will be able to make better decisions about your future cycling training. And that is exactly the point of spending reviewing your bike rides.

4 ”“ Wrong use of heart rate monitor during races

When you enter a race, you will see that you are able to ride faster than you normally do at training. It is difficult, if not impossible, to make clever decisions based on your current heart rate in a cycling race. I’ve heard several riders give up, when they were trying to jump from the peloton because they thought their heart rate indicated that they should slow down. That is definitively a big mistake since there is large tactical factor in play in cycling races. Thus, if you are lucky, the peloton will slow down and stop struggling to close the gap. And that is why experience is so much more important in races than heart rate registrations.

5 ”“ Wrong use of target zones during training

Heart rate target zones are a way to categorize different types of training. Many riders use basic training programs where they are supposed to work at percentage of their maximum heart rate. But these programs are born to be inadequate since there is a huge deviation in relative working heart rates (Just like with minimum and maximum heart rates). Thus, these target zones should be based on your personal experiences and testing procedures, not a general formula. Also I will recommend you to not making the target zones to small, because of the factors influencing on the heart rate. One day you are in top of the target zone and the next day you are in the bottom, but the subjective feeling might be the same. Thus, if the interval is too small you are likely to cross the limits which will make you work either easier or harder to stay in the target zone.

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Power Meter Training for Beginner Triathletes

Heart rate monitors like Polar and CardioSport have been the most used strategy in triathlons because these events have such long durations. If you like to use a heart rate monitor for pacing, triathlon and especially ultra distance triathlons are definitively the place to wear heart rate monitors. It is clear that when a constant tempo is the ideal pace in a race situation, then there is a good chance that your heart rate will show you how tough you current workload is. In cycling races the workload (Watts) is very inconsistent (sprints, jumps, hills, breaking, corners, etc.). In a traditional triathlon race there is lot more consistency in the power output, thus there is a lot better correlation between heart rate and workload.

Power Meters to the People

Power meters like SRM, Ergomo and PowerTap are very common among pro triathletes, but actually they would be at least as helpful for beginner triathletes. When a triathlete enters a competition for the first time, he will realize that it is very difficult to get an efficient pacing strategy. It is very tempting to hunt down the opponent in front of him and it is difficult to save the energy for the final part of the race (hint: there is a run AFTER the bike race in triathlons”¦)

Even though there is a better correlation between heart rate and workload in triathlons, there is really good arguments to start considering power meter training. By knowing your critical power outputs for the distances you compete in, you have the best opportunity to optimize your training program. As an example I would like to mention Dave Simonson who participate in the power meter project. He has gained several watts because he has learned how to pace himself and trained at the right intensity.

Heart rate monitors are good for pacing, but they are still influenced by several external factors (temperature, caffeine, level of recovery, etc.) This indicates that there is a great potential for beginner triathletes to improve their performance. Power meter training improves their skill for pacing and that is one of the most important non-physiological skills in triathlon

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How To Deal With Training Vacuum – Part Two

When training does not result in the desired and expected results, riders start to make up reasons why they have stopped improving. As I explained in the first part of ”˜How to deal with training vacuum – Part one‘ the rider is looking for someone or something to blame. But often it is not someone’s or something’s fault. Instead the rider has reached a plateau for his talent with the current amount of training. And that is a very natural progression. When you are good at something it takes longer to improve to a higher level.

Recognize when you are in a training vacuum
If you do regular tests you will notice when you have done a couple of tests with no progression. That is sign that tells you that it is time to reconsider your training situation.

Back to basics ”“ Proper training, nutrition and recovery
This is old news, but still three very essential topics. These are the basics in good cycling training and should never be forgotten.

Write a training diary
Write down every training session you do. This is a very useful tool when done correctly and seriously. It makes it easier for you (or your coach) to discover problems. Do you train intervals too often, is your amount of training as you thought it should be and when was the last time you felt that you had good legs? These questions are easy to answer if you have a training diary.

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Central Adaptations to Cycling Training

Cycling training forces your body to make both central and peripheral adaptations to the physical demands. Central adaptations are increases in both blood volume and total hemoglobin (Hb). The Hb concentration, better known as hematocrit, remains unchanged or even slightly lower for top athletes. The total blood volume increases after a few days of training due to an increased plasma volume. Later on there will be an increase in the amount of red blood cells (erythrocyts). An increase in the total blood volume is very useful since that will make the stroke volume larger. Thus, the heart can pump more oxygen transporting cells out for every stroke it makes and works more efficient. Since the maximal heart rate remains unchanged the maximal cardiac output is increased. This is a very important adaptation to cycling training. There is no difference in the (a-v) O2 uptake between welltrained cyclists and untrained. It is simply not possible to deoxygenate a larger percentile out in the capillaries. Thus, the delivery of hemoglobin is mainly dependent of the maximal cardiac output.

Adaptations in the heart

The higher stroke volume achieved through cycling training is mainly caused by an increase in the cardiac chamber size and an expanded total blood volume. The heart adapts specifically to the physical demands met during training session. A weight lifter will not get a larger chamber, but instead have a thicker wall in the left ventricle. This adaptation is supposed to meet the requirements for heavy lifting with high blood pressures. Remember that the heart is a muscle itself and needs training. Also it becomes better for what it is trained. So if a top cyclist decides to stop training or get injured, their heart will return back towards normal proportions. Just like any other muscle the heart needs regular training to maintain its fitness.

Hypertrophy is not the only adaptation in the cardiac system. The ventricle gets more compliant which means there is less resistance during filling. This allows stroke volume to increase and less work for the heart. And more importantly it also allows the heart to maintain an increased stroke volume during hard exercise. It is not possible to train your maximal heart rate, that factor will never grow, it might even decrease slightly for elite cyclists. To increase the maximal cardiac output you have to increase the strokevolume. Remember that cardiac output = stroke volume x heart rate.

The coronary vascular system is increased to meet the increased O2 demand for the larger ventricle.

Resting heart rate

You will probably already have noticed that your resting heart is lower when you are in good shape. This is because of a larger stroke volume or more correctly a bigger parasympathic drive on the sinus node. It is easy to monitor your resting heart rate, just put on your Polar rim when you wake up and relaxe for a couple of minutes. You will quickly discover that your heart rate is influenced by many factors. Physical or emotional stress gives a nervous response that accelerates the pulse. Different stress hormones also affect the heart rate. A good reason to know your normal level of resting heart rate is that you can use it to discover overtraining or illness. If your resting heart rate is 10-15 beats above normal, you might have a disease. In that case I will recommend you take your temperature and look for other symptoms. Avoid intensive training or races if you don´t feel well.

Remember that your resting and maximal heart rate are not comparable with your friends heart rates. Therefore you have to know your own heart rates because these are the only beats to worry about.

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Respiratory adaptations to cycling training

Training has only a little if any affect on the pulmonary system. You do not get a large lung capacity from training, you get it from your parents. Very specific training of the inspiratory muscles might increase the vital capacity about 3%.

Cyclists have a slower breathing rate than non-cyclists because of a larger tidal volume. This makes their breathing more efficient. Cyclists are able to achieve a smaller end-expiratory volume and larger end-inspiratory volume because their respiratory muscles are stronger and more fatigue-resistant. During exercise plasma lactate will increase and raise your ventilatory rate to wash out CO2 and stabilize pH. The primary respiratory changes with training are more likely secondary to a reduced lactate production during exercise. The ventilatory rate is primarly driven by the level of CO2.

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