Fitness/Training

FITNESS/TRAINING

Intervals
The human body gets stronger through repeated cycles of stress followed by rest. If you want to become a faster cycling, interval training is one of the best ways to do this. Following a thorough warm-up, select a long straight road or a hill and ride at the fastest pace you can manage for the entire distance. After crossing your pre-selected finish line, ride easily back to your start point and then start the cycle again. This is an interval. Shorter intervals can usually be performed more times, longer ones, few times. The longer the interval, the longer the recovery time between intervals is required. Most riders can only handle interval training two or three times per week.

HR vs. Power
The invention of the lightweight heart rate monitor (HRM) revolutionized training for cyclists. The HRM gave racers their first scientific feedback on their condition, rather than time, distance or speed. It was data about the athlete. More recently wattage meters have entered the market to give cyclists an even more scientific instrument by which to measure their fitness. Power as measured in watts is the be-all-end-all number for the athlete. It′s a simple formula; more watts means more power, which means you are getting stronger. Wattage meters can be an indispensable tool for defining and improving your fitness. The great pros generate nearly 7 watts per kilogram of body weight. What can you produce?

The Danger of Overtraining
If there is one mistake common to enthusiastic cyclists, it is overtraining. One can be forgiven for loving their time on the bike. However, going hard for too many days in a row will leave you fatigued and unable to achieve your best. Riding at an easy pace lacks the excitement of going fast and the obvious feedback from a hard workout, but it is during those easy rides that your body does some of its most important work. Easy rides allow your body time to recover from hard efforts, time to adapt and the lighter workload continues to teach your body to make your aerobic system more efficient. The fittest cyclist is the one who can go furthest or fastest with the fewest burned calories. Efficiency is the name of the game and easy rides are an important ingredient in this. True overtraining will leave you so fatigued you can′t complete the workout. Sleep tends to be compromised and riders frequently develop irritability. An easy ride at a pace slow enough to allow you to breath through your nose (with your mouth closed) can give you the necessary time to return to your best.