V-Club Training Corner
We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions.
Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, visit her website at http://www.bicyclecoach.com/profile.php?id=358, click on the “Click to Email” link, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.
THE "AGE OLD" QUESTION OF STRENGTH
Question from V-Club member Bill Grandi
V-Club member Bill Grandi is our 8th winner of a $20 VeloWear gift certificate!
Marilyn,
I am 55, soon to be 56 next month. I am obviously not as strong as I used to be and getting cycling ready is not as easy. I live in a very hilly area that gets too cold to cycle outside in January and February and even some of March. I speak for a living so must protect my lungs. How can I stay or maintain or even get stronger over the winter so that spring cycling is not spent gaining back what I lost?
2nd question: At my age, leg strength along with back and knee issues are starting to enter the picture. What can I do to offset the obvious downward spiral that is happening to my body?
Bill
Bill,
Age has its way of creeping up on us doesn't it? On a birthday a few years back, my son said to me that the number was old but I wasn't...I still feel that way. It isn't a matter of refusing to accept my age, I believe it's a matter of continuing to pursue goals because I want to. It sounds like you have a similar mindset...keep on Bill.
Saying that, aging indeed is a reality and a few more considerations must be given. With age, muscle mass and bone density decreases which increases the chances of injury. Power and strength are also affected by this muscle shrinkage and although cycling keeps the lower musculature strong, the upper body is often neglected. It's not so bad when we are younger and cycling is all we do, but over the years we can develop improper posture from hunching over the bars, muscle imbalances and a weak core. If you're anything like me, after 30 years on the bike, I still love to ride and I find it hard to do anything else when I may just have an hour to exercise. However, we now get into the realm of improved health being of greater importance to us because "the number is older."
Training recommendations regarding your first question, "not losing the previous season gains", has been addressed in some previous articles, “Training Through a Collar Bone Fracture” and “Improving Your Time Trialing.” Here I'll deal with your second question about improving strength for climbing and general health. I have included some exercises to consider incorporating into your winter training week so by the time spring rolls around, you should be ready to enjoy the hills around your home.
Marilyn
1. Strength Training on Trainer: (1:0) Good warm-up ~15' then ride 4-6 x 1-3' in a gear that allows only about 60 rpm. 5' easy spinning between efforts. Good cool down of about 10 minutes. As strength improves, you can increase the total interval time to 25 minutes, ie. 5 x 5' keeping the rest interval at 5' easy spinning.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Keep your upper body relaxed, light grip on the bars and avoid unnecessary movements. Don't hunch over when pushing but keep good form to avoid any improper back strain. Concentrate on efficient pedal stroke all the way round. By visualizing one of the more difficult climbs you've ridden, you'll teach yourself how to relax during an effort like this down the road.
- This is an aerobic strength workout so your heartrate should be below lactate threshold during the interval. In other words, your breathing should be under control and your heartrate shouldn't be going through the roof.
- It is also VERY important to start with 1 minute and work up. No macho fitness testing allowed...your knees will rebel with loud inflammatory screaming called tendonitis. I'm sure with your sensitivity to knee issues, I have no doubt that you'll have good progression.
- I would recommend that you insert this workout near the end of the week or at least after your tempo work since you will experience some muscular fatique.
- Sit or stand? Although I recommend standing as much as possible during hilly outdoor rides, (especially when a rider is relatively new to the sport or has insufficient leg strength to stand and push), it is good to spend time sitting while doing the interval when on the trainer. I believe it helps the rider focus on pedal stroke and develop better technique to this force workout. Once the technique has been polished, you can stand to add more muscles from the core and gluteals.
- If you need to consolidate your training some weeks due to a full schedule, you can combine your tempo and strength work; for instance, 1 x 10' zone 3 with10' recovery followed by 3 x 3' @ 60 rpm with 5' easy spin between efforts. Whether it be 1 or 2 days later, it would help recovery to follow this with an easy spin day, even :30 will work wonders.
Here's an example of a ~3 hour training week on your indoor trainer:
Monday (1:0) - 2 x 10 minute (90-100 rpm) @ zone 3 with 10 minutes recovery (try to get HR to zone 1 with easy spin)
Wednesday - easy zone 1,2 :30 spin
Friday (1:0) - 4-6 x 1-3' in a gear that allows only about 60 rpm with 5' easy spinning between efforts.
Saturday - easy zone 1,2 :30 spin
2. Additional Strength Training
There is great value to include a short strength training component just two times a week that strengthen the core/upper body while strengthening the lower body with its muscles, tendons and ligaments of the foot, ankle, knee and hip joints. This all can be done in your home with a flex band and/or ball routine of about 30 minutes that includes a few multi-joint, cycling specific exercises.
Sample strength workout:
Warm-up on bike 10 minutes in light gear then:
- 2 x 12 Hip Extension (ball squat, lunges or step-up)
- 2 x 12 Seated Row (elbow flexion/pulling)
- 2 sets x Core/Abdominal - a. Static - plank pose (2 minutes) or bridge (30x) b. Concentric/Eccentric - crunches (30x)
- 2 x 12 Hamstring Curl - (single or both)
- 2 x 12 Lat Pull to chest
- Optional additional upper body exercise: 2 x 12- elbow extension (pushing) - push-ups, press (seated or standing) or dips
Cool down 5-10 minutes in light gear.