Post Number 4: Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Strength Training and Endurance Sport

Well Christmas has come and gone, and I'm pleased to say that I don't feel like I've turned into a Christmas Pudding just yet - and it's not for the lack of eating! I'm not the sort of person to hold back on the food front or abstain from drinking. But what I have done, is fitted in some quality workouts to keep up the metabolic rate and reduce the fat deposition! 

Like most people these days, my free time is pretty limited, so I squeeze what I can in, when I can. Everything though, is of value to me. If there isn't a point to what I'm doing, I either won't do it, or I'll change what I'm doing. Having a specific objective for each session that fits in with my Mesocycle aim - which in turn fits in with my Macrocycle aim, will ensure that I stay on the most direct route to my goals. The same will work for you too! 

So what have I been doing? Well, as per my previous blogs, I've been clocking up a few miles on my bike at a low intensity (for endurance). As we all know though, cycling can tend to take up most of your day, which is no good when you have potatoes to peel for a Christmas Dinner! So I've supplemented the long(ish) rides with Strength Training. A lot of cyclists fear strength training and don't see the benefits. In fact, many think it's going to 'ruin' their cycling legs. So here's my attempt at dispelling the myths surrounding strength training and endurance sport (particularly cycling).

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OK, lets not 'Beat around the Bush'. Will strength training destroy all ability to push pedals around in circles? The answer is a categoric - YES short term, and NO long term. The key to successfully incorporating strength training into your endurance training plan is TIMING, INTENSITY and RECOVERY. Are there better things to be doing than lifting weights? Well, in short, YES! You could ride your bike for hours and hours like a pro, then sleep for hours and hours like a pro! If you don't have hours and hours though, I think it's fair to say, that if you do it properly, with some guidance, then strength training can give you the 'Biggest bang for your buck' out of pretty much any other training. (I'm excluding Interval and HIIT training here - as I'll write about those another day and besides, it's nice to vary your training a bit and not just ride your bike all the time!).

Within 12-72 hours post a strength training workout, you will undoubtedly suffer muscle soreness known as 'Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)'. The soreness experienced comes from 'micro-tears' deep within the muscle fibres. This breakdown in the muscle fibre is definitely going to make you feel like you have zero cycling ability until the tears are repaired. However, DOMS doesn't preclude you from riding a bike at a low intensity during this recovery period. In fact, a nice easy bike ride will actually speed up the recovery process! This fits neatly in with wanting to gain an 'endurance base' at low intensity! 

The benefit of strength training, is that you get stronger. Your muscle fibres get thicker and your coordination between large groups of muscles, as well as your ability to contract your muscles effectively, increases. The result, is that you can produce more 'Force' with potentially more efficiency (ie, less wasted energy). Long-term, this could well make you a faster cyclist. I have trained this way for a number of years and have trained others too (riding at a very good level - one got a top 15 in the National 10 mile tt champs and a top 60 best ever 25 mile tt time!) with great results. So far, everyone I have trained this way has got something out of it. Word of warning though, if you are genetically very much an endurance athlete (ie you have a high proportion of slow twitch muscle fibres - you'd need to get a good opinion on this), then potentially, strength training could be worse than useless for you!

The more you strength train, the less DOMS you will suffer. The first month is the hardest to get through. You won't be able to walk for much of it and your confidence will take a knock as your mates ride off up the road. But hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's a long tunnel though if you do it properly!

To benefit from ST you will need to do it for at least three months ideally. A month to get used to the movements involved, a month to build some quality in to what you're doing, and a month to focus on fitness acquisition. I'm pleased to say that I'm now in this last phase!

You really don't want to be strength training during your competitive season either. The recovery periods after a session can interfere with other important factors in your race preparation. In other words, do strength training when you're not competing, be prepared for a dip in form during the strength mesocycles, and do keep in mind the reason for doing ST. Each and every session's objective, should be leading to increased STRENGTH. You are definitely not looking at increasing your endurance in these sessions - that is done ON THE BIKE!

So what should a strength programme look like? Well, there are a million ways to 'Skin the strength training cat'. The following is my way! (For legal reasons I should probably mention at this point that you need to get individualised expert advice on what's right for you as well as what is 'good technique'. Don't believe every You Tube video! If you really must watch video clips online, then Google world reknowned weightlifters such as Mysha Koklyaev!

The Plan:

Choose one of the following exercises:

• Deadlift
• Back Squat
• Front Squat
• Leg Press

then choose any two of the following exercises:

• Clean
• Overhead Squat
• Step up
• Lunge

Complete the three exercises in your strength session (after a good workout and dynamic stretch).

Complete some core strength exercises - take your pick here!

Alternate the exercises so that you complete all off the list within a two week period. So that means a minimum of two strength sessions per week. I do a Monday and Wednesday so that I'm recovered by the weekend!

and that's (almost) it!

The number of repetitions (reps) I lift and the number of sets I complete depends upon the exact mesocycle I'm in. If I've just started my strength training again after a summer of cycling, then I'll be in the 12-14 rep range with a low weight (less than 65% of what I think my heaviest lift would be - my 1 Rep Max). If I'm progressing from this phase, then I'll lift a weight that is 65-85% of my 1 Rep Max between 6-11 times. If I'm through that phase and looking to really gain some strength, then I'll up the weight to over 85% of my 1 Rep Max, but will drop the reps to 1-5. This last phase, in my opinion, is where you get some real pay-offs from all your hard work!

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So there you go. Simple really. Ride your bike slowly for as many hours as you can and between these rides, beast yourself with some squats etc to gain real STRENGTH. Feel free to contact me with any specific questions. Otherwise, enjoy!

Paul

Post Number 3: Macrocycle, Mesocycle 1 and an Iphone Tip!

So then, the Master Plan! Macrocycle Jan Cycling endurance / Leg strength Feb Cycling endurance / Leg strength March Cycling specific strength + endurance April Cycling specific strength + speed work May Cycling speed work June Competition July Competition Aug Cycling specific strength + speed work Sept Competition A bit more detail on the first phase of this programme... Mesocycle One Cycling Training January’s cycling training will be trying to fit in as many hours as life allows on the bike in order to build up my endurance. I start back at work on 13th Jan so will aim to get five big rides of 5 hours or more in over, during and after Christmas. There are also group evening rides on a Tues and Thurs night which I will try to ride to add in some extra hours. I actually started this mesocycle* of training 2 days ago (the day of my last blog). The ride was also significant for two other reasons – Firstly, it showed how much fitness I have lost since the Summer and also because on it, I discovered that when wearing gloves, Iphone cameras can be operated with your tongue! With a bit of luck, my monthly total of time on the bike will be around 30 hours (not much by most people’s standards, but realistic for me (Think SMART goals – better to under promise and over deliver to keep motivation high!). The intensity of these rides will be low – as much because my legs will be sore from the strength training I’ll be doing as from the requirement to keep intensity low so that I can ride more frequently. There are certain variables that you can change in training to adapt your training to suit you. These are Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type (of exercise). Generally, if one goes up, another must come down to compensate –though if you’re not doing much training then perhaps all of them could be upped! Of course, I’ll add in a small amount of harder stuff every so often (in the form of Strava KOM’s!), purely so that my body doesn’t fall into a ‘lazy state’ due to it not being challenged very much! *A Mesocycle is a period of training time that has a specific goal attached to it. They usually are 5-6 weeks in duration (the average time it takes to see an adaptation in the body), but could be shorter or longer depending on what you're doing. This mesocycle for me will be a bit longer as endurance takes a while to acquire! Strength Training I love strength training almost as much as cycling itself – it’s frustrating though that the two don’t always work in synergy with one another! I tend to gain a fair bit of upper body bulk, which isn’t ideal for lugging up hills on a bike. However, I do like the fact that I’m not the average weedy cyclist! There are many benefits to strength training that you won’t get by riding a bike and for me, these offset the downsides… I'm lucky enough to have my own mini gym in my garage... the Olympic bar and squat rack are definitely going to be important to me this winter! My strength training actually started back in October – doing endurance based stuff. This general conditioning phase has strengthened the muscles around my back and also added flexibility to my joints. Therefore January’s strength programme can be fairly advanced. So in January, I’ll mainly be doing 5 sets of 5 reps of each exercise with a heavy load on (close to my maximum lift). In a nutshell, this means that I’ll gain strength through increased muscular coordination, rather than by building bigger muscles (muscles tend to grow most - hypertrophy, with slightly higher rep ranges and lighter loads). The overall effect of this training should be increased strength but no extra bodyweight (I hope!). High resistance / low rep training has been shown to cause ‘neural fatigue’ after a few weeks – this causes you to start losing strength, so I’ll be sure to look out for the tell-tale signs (no improvement or even reduction in amount lifted). My next blog will have the exact strength programme I’m doing contained in it. (I toyed with the idea of not giving my ‘secret recipe’ away, but figure that’s probably not the point of writing a blog like this!). January Goals To keep me entertained and because you only live once, I’m making more of an effort to get ‘out and about’. Every month I’m trying to ride somewhere I don’t normally visit. In January I’m aiming for North Wales and the Peak District. Another goal in this period is for me to improve my diet and lose an inch or so from my waistline! I’ll be focusing on eating less refined food and more fruit and veg. I’ll also be aiming to feel hungry a little more often than I currently do! Let’s face it, unless I feel hungry at some point, I’m not going to lose the ‘back butter’ and ‘belly jelly’ that I’ve been slowly gaining since Harry came along 2.5 yrs ago! I’m actually going to go the lengths of weighing and measuring bodyfat (skinfold calliper method). I’ll also take some circumferential measurements as a record. By the way, first impressions on how this blog writing is working for me are good... I've already done 2 workouts I wouldn't have bothered doing normally! Paul

Post Number Two - Goals and Strange Trees

So then, my goals... why have I chosen them?

Well, the goals all serve a specific purpose. Some of them I'll judge myself on. These are often called 'Outcome Goals'. Some of them though, are there just to inspire me to ride my bike as much as I ought to if I'm truly serious about my Outcome Goals. Often, these intermediate goals are called 'Process' or 'Performance' goals. They exist purely to help me attain my outcome goals.

It's important for me to have a good mix of both Process and Outcome goals if I'm to reach my personal potential. In the past, for some reason, I've never taken my own advice. I've just ridden my bike whenever and wherever and hoped for the best. I've had limited success I suppose... but as 2014 could be my last chance to really see what I can do (future years are likely to see me employed as taxi driver for Harry my current 2.5 yr old), then I think that writing these goals down and advertising them to anybody who can be bothered to read my blog should keep me on the right track for one last crack!

Here they are again - with an explanation...

To complete the National Marathon Mountain Bike Championships 

If you've never ridden a mountain bike marathon, then you should! It's an experience! Of all the disciplines in cycling, I personally think it's the one that requires the most endurance. Imagine riding a 4-5 hour time trial, flat out, by yourself, interspersed with 33% or more gradient, muddy climbs totalling 2-3000 metres of ascent!

This race is on May 10th. If I don't have a good endurance base, then there is no hope of getting round the course. I'm not bothered about getting a placing - but I am bothered about finishing respectably and not taking a short cut! Therefore, this is what I would consider a 'Process' goal. In fact, I used it today, to convince myself that riding for 5 hours in the howling wind was a good idea! Slightly regretted this move, when in the middle of a dark wood, I cam across this tree with a load of old shoes hanging off it (victims of some local psycho?!).



To achieve a 'fast' 10 mile time trial time

This goal for me really does matter. My personal best 10 mile time trial time of 22:01 (it was a hilly course!), has stood since 2001! I'm sure I can ride faster, but there's talking about it and then there's doing it! Weather (and therefore chances of riding fast) seem to be best from April to July in recent years, therefore I'll be planning a few 'fast course' time trials in around this time. Having to ride at a fast speed in these time trials should also help me to my final goal of the year.

To ride the 'Raid Pyrenean' sportive (Riding the event for Cyclists Fighting Cancer)

"720km cycling challenge from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, France, in 100hrs with 11,000m of ascent!"

Another process goal requiring me to up my miles towards the late summer in preparation for my final goal of the year. It's also a good opportunity to ride somewhere that I've never cycled before. More importantly than that though, It's also a ride that's in support of a cancer charity that I think is second-to-none in it's mission, organisation and tangible effect on lives. Cyclists Fighting Cancer (www.cyclistsfc.org.uk) give bikes, adapted tricycles and equipment to children and young people whose lives have been affected by cancer. Hopefully I'll be able to raise a few quid for them and someone, somewhere will be smiling just like I did as a young kid with wheelz!

To compete in the Team Pursuit at the European Masters Track Cycling Championships

This is likely to be some time in September (hopefully not when I'm slogging across the Pyrenees!) and is my final outcome goal of the year. I'm a member of the Manchester Wheelers - a club full of quality riders. Being based in Manchester (home of the National Cycling Centre), they are fairly track focused these days. A good friend of mine, Ian, invited me to ride this event with them - but only if I can get fast enough! Fingers crossed, my endurance background along with speedwork throughout the summer, will help me make the team!

So that's my major goals covered. There will be others that I'll use on a weekly (microcycle), and monthly (mesocycle) - remember 'macrocycle' from Blog One?! However you'll see these as and when they get set!

OK, well done on getting through that. Pretty serious stuff! The next blog will have the programme of training that I'm going to use in it. Including cycling, strength training and flexibility training.

Au Revoir,


Paul

Post Number One

Right then, my first blog.  

Why am I writing a blog? Well, if all goes to plan, 2014 should be a good year for me ... possibly the biggest and best of my life (though being an optimist I'd like to think that all my years will get progressively better even after this one!). In my head, this blog will achieve 2 things; it'll firstly be a personal record for me to remember 2014 by. Secondly, it'll be a blog that is avidly followed by thousands of people all looking for an insight into cycling training! Obviously, that's in my head... the reality might be a bit different... just a few hundred followers... or less, maybe.

My 2014 year should be the biggest of my life for the following reasons:

1. My better half is expecting our second child (first little girl) in April
2. I will be marrying my better half in December
3. With a little luck and good judgement, I will be riding my bike at various big events during the Spring, Summer and Autumn

I doubt very much that the first two points will be of much interest outside of my immediate family, therefore I'll be focusing most of my dubious writing talents on the cycling bit. I will also try and throw in a few mildly funny anecdotes along the way to liven up what could otherwise be a blog with about as much life in it as Ronnie Biggs (for future reference the Great Train Robber died today).

So, today's date is Wednesday 18th December 2013. By my reckoning that gives me 13 days (I'm not superstitious) to get a year long cycling training plan together for 2014. I could wait until the New Year and call it a 'Resolution' I suppose... but there is something about a 'New Year's Resolution' that I believe condemns the idea to a pointless, short existence before dying an unremarkable death. So I'll get cracking before then and start as I mean to go on from January 1st.

In the fitness / coaching game (for that is my background), a year long training plan is called a 'Macrocycle'. So I'm going to build my own macrocycle around a number of personal goals I have. With any luck, my training should help me achieve these goals with minimal wasted time and effort. (I can't afford to waste time with my training these days as I have rooms to decorate and wedding table centre-pieces to manufacture besides other things apparently).

Of course, life could well get in the way of my perfectly laid out plan (macrocycle). So it's important that I take into account that some things might need to change. The best I can hope for is that the things within my control are organised effectively. So I'm going to spend a few days thinking and jotting idea's on beer mats until I'm confident that what I'm hoping to achieve is SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-framed. Now I know, you've heard of SMART goals before, so I won't bore you with the detail right now. That pleasure will come in a future blog.

Oh yes, if you've read this far then you may be wondering what cycling events I'm thinking of achieving... Well, here goes:

• To complete the National Marathon Mountian Bike Championships 
• To achieve a 'fast' 10 mile time trial time
• To ride the 'Raid Pyrenean' sportive (Riding the event for Cyclists Fighting Cancer)
• To compete in the Team Pursuit at the European Masters Track Cycling Championships

I'll go into more detail on these goals and others as well as why I've chosen them over the next 13 days!

Thanks for reading!!

Paul