Training For Cyclists
New evidence-based research every serious cyclist should know about
"The material is excellent for condensing all cycling specific material into one source."
Michael Carter, President, Echelon Sports Performance.
Dear Reader
I'm pleased to announce the latest addition to Peak Performance's library of sports books, Training for Cyclists. This timely guide for serious cyclists is written and compiled by one of Peak Performance's most frequent contributors, John Shepherd.
In this 93-page workbook John dissects the major current debates in training & conditioning for cyclists, analyses the very latest scientific findings - then spells out in plain English their significance for the serious athlete. Every page of this brand new report draws on the latest evidence-based thinking in sports science research - new findings that probably won't percolate through to the general sporting press for many, many months, if they make it at all…
It's a rare opportunity to assess the latest thinking on bike training and racing for yourself, and decide how best to integrate it into your own training and conditioning regimes.
Read our brand new sports report today and here are some of the facts you'll learn:
- How to get the best 'fit' between your body and your bike - a position that's optimises your power output without being uncomfortable, or opening you up to the possibility of chronic injury
- How to build the mental strength you need to prevent yourself 'cracking' under the pressure of competition in the final stages of a track pursuit event or a big sprint finish on the road.
- How to make sure you don't overtrain - ironically amateur cyclists are at more danger of overdoing it than are pro cyclists and we explain why this is so
- What's the best sports drink for cyclists - and how much liquid you should take in during an event or long training ride to ensure optimal hydration and glycogen consumption
- Are male cyclists really at risk of infertility from spending too many hours in the saddle? We put this controversy to rest once and for all.
- How core body exercises can contribute to greater power transfer to the pedals - especially when combined with a higher-than-usual pedalling cadence
- Why cycling is an excellent cross-training activity for athletes with a heavy training and competition workload, those recovering from injury, or those seeking a measurable increase in explosive leg speed
- How your level of hydration impacts directly on the speed of lactate accumulation in your muscles - and what you can do about it
What's more, postage & packing is free. And you've got 30 days to decide whether or not you want to keep the book or return it for a full refund.
Yours sincerely
Sylvester Stein
Chairman: Peak Performance
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Cycling Biomechanics - how to ensure your position on the bike is optimised for best performance
A key objective of sports biomechanics is to improve performance while reducing the incidence of injury. Recent sports science studies into cycling biomechanics have provided new understanding of how the body applies power to the bicycle and the way external forces are combined in opposition to the cyclist.
for cyclists, the ability to apply pedalling forces effectively in training and competition is a major concern, while correct positioning is critical for successful performance and injury prevention.
In Training for Cyclists we address the central question of how to ensure your position on the bike is optimised for maximum power output and aerodynamic flow, without putting you at risk of severe discomfort or even injury.
We report the findings of a study into the optimal saddle height for performance cyclists, which shows the important implications for both power output and oxygen consumption of getting your saddle height correct for you. The study also illustrates the impact of crank length on cycling performance, suggesting how you should determine which length is best for you in terms of optimal force production.
Importantly, the study discusses the varying effects on force production of a cyclist altering his seating position by altering crank length versus attempting the same result by varying his saddle height. The study shows how these two approaches can have quite different results, and why.
The study also considers other critical 'bike fit' issues such as the angle of the frame's seat tube, how far forward or backwards the saddle is positioned relative to the seat tube, and the connection between shoe and pedal - all of which are critical factors in determining how you get optimal results from all that effort you're putting into generating power to the pedals.
It's essential reading for any cyclist wanting to ensure he achieves the correct positioning and equipment set-up and, through that, attains optimum power output while avoiding overuse injuries.
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Cycling Psychology - how to achieve the mental strength of a Lance Armstrong
Bike racing is one of the most demanding endurance sports. It's not enough to be physically at your best, you need to be mentally strong as well. The kind of inner strength that Lance Armstrong has exemplified in recent years on successive Tours de France doesn't happen by chance.
The good news is emotional control is highly trainable. And focusing on emotional control can and will lead to improved performance. While it can't transform the proverbial carthorse into a racehorse, it can make both go quicker.
In Training for Cyclists we present the findings of recent research into the impact of psychological states on the sports performance of endurance athletes. The research sheds new light into what sorts of feelings are normal before, during and after periods of competition - and which ones are counter-productive in terms of sports performance.
The research then goes on to explain how cyclists can train their minds to develop higher levels of emotional control, much in the same way as you would seek increasing levels of physical stamina, speed or strength.
You'll learn how to assess your current level of emotional strength, how to train your mind to visualise sports success using imagery and self-talk, and how to ensure you're in your best mental condition on the day of the Big Event.
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Pro Training Secrets - how do the top riders achieve such high performance levels?
There's one major difference between a professional cyclist and the rest of the serious cycling fraternity. The pro is paid to ride his bike 5 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. No matter how enthusiastic we may be about cycling, few of the rest of us non-professional riders can spare the time to put in so many hours in the saddle.
But that difference doesn't mean you should give up any hope of making serious improvements to your level of cycling performance.
Because there are many other ways that we can emulate the pro cyclist in training smarter, if not harder. It's emphatically not just the difference in the number of hours spent on the bike that separates the elite riders from the rest of us.
In Training for Cyclists we identify several important respects in which pro cyclists train differently from your average competitive cyclist, apart from the sheer number of hours they spend in the saddle. These pro training secrets don't require any special equipment, or significant financial outlay. All you need is the knowledge of how they work - and the commitment to put them into practice.
for example, we set out the findings of some recent research into the way in which a group of elite cyclists went about building the necessary base training foundation they needed for a successful cycling season, and discuss the implications for non-elite riders. Ironically, the results of this study suggest that most amateur cyclists ride far too hard during much of their year-round training.
Read Training for Cyclists and you'll find out why the sports scientists came to this surprising conclusion - and whether you could profit from throttling back a bit on your weekly training regime.
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Cycling as Cross-Training - the many benefits other athletes can gain from spending time on the bike
Can cycling really improve the performance of the non-cyclist? After all we are continually being told that the greatest performance gains will derive from the most sport specific training; surely therefore cycling cannot be of benefit to the runner, let alone the sprinter, or a footballer, whose sport specific movement patterns and skills are far removed from pedal pushing.
In Training for Cyclists we present the findings on several studies that examine varying facets of this complex issue.
In the first one, a team from the University of Texas examined the transfer of training effects on VO2max, between cycling, running and swimming. It came to some surprising conclusions regarding the respective value of each sport on athletes who normally participated in other sports.
In another study, researchers from California looked into the effectiveness of cycling as a X-Training means between competitive seasons, in female distance runners. They concluded that there's a real possibility that cycling has a role to play in all year round endurance training for non cyclists because:
- It may enable the endurance sports athlete's body greater time to recover from tough training/competitive training phases and improve future injury resilience
- It may be that from a mental perspective, the involvement of a different training method (cycling) can 'rejuvenate' the mental approach of endurance athletes and ultimately boost performance
In another study we look at the role cycling can play in helping track athletes increase their leg speed through over-speed training. Certain cycling exercises are found to improve an athlete's lactate processing capacity and creatine phosphate energy supply.
This chapter will be of particular interest for sports coaches seeking to help their athletes transition between one long season and the next, recover from sports injury, or prolong their sporting career.
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Physiological Testing - how do you make sure you don't overtrain or under perform?
As I suggested above, it's all too easy for an amateur cyclist - who, after all, doesn't have the luxury of a full-time coach - to overtrain in the limited number of hours on the bike available to him. It's all well and good for elite riders. They have a small army of attendants to look after their wellbeing. But what about the rest of us?
Training for Cyclists tackles head-on the issue of performance monitoring for cyclists. First it sets out the key determinants of endurance cycling performance. Then it explains how best to test and monitor these, providing a variety of different test models and protocols.
So make sure your year-round training efforts are put to best effect. You spend so many hours on the bike each month, you owe it to yourself to get the very best results from such a high level of sporting commitment.
Remember, it's not enough simply to put in the raw effort. You need to train smarter, not merely harder.
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Fluid Balance - what's the best drink for cyclists, and how much should you take?
What does the term sports nutrition conjure up in your mind? Carbohydrate and protein? Vitamins and minerals? Or maybe the more exotic ergogenic aids like creatine? Whatever springs to mind, I bet it isn't water. Yet water is of supreme, overriding importance to both your health and your performance on the bike.
Because even small losses of water can cause a drop in performance, optimum hydration is extremely important to athletes. However, replacing fluid lost in sweat and urine is not the only justification for boosting fluid intake. Glycogen (stored muscle carbohydrate) is the body's principal fuel for high intensity activities, and replenishing glycogen stores with dietary carbohydrate is vital to continuing high performance.
But the process of 'fixing' carbohydrate into muscles in the form of glycogen also requires water; each gram of glycogen fixed into muscle fibres requires around 3g of water, which is why you often feel thirsty after a high-carbohydrate post-training meal. If you don't drink to aid this process, water is simply drawn out of the bloodstream, leading to dehydration.
Fluid, then, is vital for adequate recovery - not just to replace water lost through sweating, but also to help replenish lost glycogen.
Training for Cyclists tells you what you should drink (both on the bike and off it), how much you drink and when to drink it. You'll learn the optimal hydration strategies for cyclists before, during and after training or competition.
There's also a sports drink 'jargon buster' to help you separate myth from reality in this fast growing commercial market. Read it and find out if you really need to be spending money on such expensive products - or whether you might be better off saving that money for a new set of racing wheels!
Details of your online Discount offer
As a user of our Peak Performance web site, you qualify for copy of Training for Cyclists at a special discount. Place your order today and you pay just $38 (£19.99) instead of the full price of US$58 (£29.99). You save 33%.
Training for Cyclists is the latest in a series of special reports from Peak Performance, the sports science newsletter. This book is not available elsewhere.
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- A 33% saving: the online price of Training for Cyclists is a full $20 (£10) less than the official cover price. You pay just $38, instead of the normal price of $58.
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Training for Cyclists is published by Electric Word plc, publishers of Peak Performance, Sports Injury Bulletin, Successful Coaching and Your Personal Trainer.