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| Aug 30, 2010 |
LifeSport at Ironman Canada
Coach Dan and Michelle Ball going to Kona
Congratulations to the 30 LifeSport athletes that competed in Ironman Canada! Leading the way were coach Dan Smith with his impressive 9:50 clocking in the 45-49 Division good for second place, and Michelle Ball who just came off a stress fracture this spring to set a personal... |
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In From the Outdoors: Get the Most Out of Your Bike When the Sun Disappears
By Lance Watson & Dan Smith |
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| Dec 10, 2009 |
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The arrival of October brings shorter days, colder nights and often inclement weather. Racing has wound down, now it is time to reflect over the past season and conduct an evaluation of your performance. Where were you pleased and had you made gains over the previous season? What needs work? The fall is a time to transition from race mode to allow the mind and body to recover, as well as to look forward, preparing for next year. While you should consider reducing bike volume now, there are still gains to be had from a time efficient bike program. The indoor trainer is a great tool and companion through the winter months, for working on items such as pedaling efficiency, aerobic capacity and strength gains, as well as fine-tuning bike position.
If the trainer was not looking particularly inviting at this point, having a specific focus can make workouts exciting. Setting up group workouts increases the motivation and reduces the monotony during recovery phases of the sessions, whether getting together with training partners or joining a spin class. A good indoor workout should include drills. Drills are as important in cycling as much as in swimming and running. One of the most effective is alternating single-leg drills. Once a warm up of ten to fifteen minutes has been completed, remove the right foot from the pedal and either place it on a stool or hold to the side. With the left foot, concentrate on pushing and pulling the pedal around a complete circle. The first part of the arc is easy- pushing down on the pedal, the next is harder to grasp. Imagine scraping the bottom of the foot across a mat to clean the sole. Focus on pulling the foot back from the 4 o'clock position. Pick a gear that allows a cadence of approximately 80-90rpm and allows you to feel the entire revolution. At first the cycle will feel jumpy and awkward; concentrate on a fluid rotation. Pedal with the left foot for 45-90 seconds and switch to the right foot and alternate five to ten times. Once this is completed, transition to a steady interval of 15 minutes pedalling with both legs. Try and distribute your power to broader range of the pedal stroke revolution, spinning smooth, round circles. Add this to your sessions once or twice a week and there will be a noticeable improvement in your pedal stroke efficiency.
Hills can be simulated on a trainer as well. Add a few phonebooks under the wheel block to raise the front end. This will move your center of gravity rearwards resulting in increased use of the gluteus muscles and hamstrings, and engage your core. To further the simulation use a lower cadence of approximately 65-75rpm with a good level of resistance. In a harder gear, make sure to feel the pedal axle across the metatarsal arch of your foot throughout the entire revolution, building on the feedback of the single leg drill. One way to detect a good spin is to listen to the trainer- an even hum without skips is what you are aiming for. Practise grasping the tops of the bars and pulling back. Keeping the elbows bent and low, breathe steadily. Climbing efficiently is a steady state exercise. Initially use two or three minute climbs with one to two minutes rest for recovery. This can be built to 15-20 minute "climbs" as the winter progresses.
You can improve aerobic capacity by training your legs to spin at a higher RPM. It helps to have a cycle computer with cadence and rear wheel-mounted sensors as a reference. The first drill is at maximum cadence. Pedal while seated as fast as you can until you start to bounce on the saddle, and then back it off 5rpm. The goal is to spin as fast as possible without bouncing. Hold this high cadence for 10 seconds, and recover for 50 seconds. Increase repetitions of this as you adapt through the weeks. The limited rest makes it challenging after a few repeats. Measuring your cadence also quantifies gains in pedal stroke efficiency. You may be at 105-110 rpm the first time trying this, and over time progress to 120-130. Some of my pro athletes have seen 160+ rpm without bouncing.
Another fitness builder and pedal stroke efficiency exercise is to maintain a high rpm for a longer period of time. Starting at 100-110 rpm, or what you can manage for 5+ minutes, gradually build duration and rpm through a progression of weekly sessions. Week 1 should be 3-5 x 5 minutes (with 5 minutes recovery at 90 rpm) and over time you can build to 15-20 minutes straight. Heart rate will rise quite a bit, and you will have to focus on being smooth the keep the cadence high.
While the trainer is great for energy system development and pedal stroke efficiency, it doesn't help you corner or brake better. Try to find a quiet underground parking garage if you are in tough weather conditions. Here you can practise bike handling skills and drills. Using a cone as a turnaround; practise braking in a straight line, on the right hand side of a lane. Once the bike has slowed, keep the outside leg down and push the knees and inside elbow into the 180 degree turn. Concentrate on looking to where you want to go, not the pylon you wish to avoid. The object is to maintain speed into the turn as late as possible, and to get back up to speed as smoothly as possible. Try coming around the cone from the left side as well. For balance, in a larger and open area set up a boundary of nine pylons in a three by three grid (ten feet apart) and play follow the leader or tag within the parameters. Keep the speed variable and low but try to force your partner to unclip or miss a turn.
Use the fall to increase the skills component of your program, without letting summer fitness slide too far away. Paying attention to bike fit, efficiency and handling will pay dividends in the spring.
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