Tips for off-season training
If you are reading this you are likely interested in off-season training. Hopefully you are preparing to start our program in March. Here are a few tips that will help you succeed while training thru the winter or spring, indoors. Read on...
Riding indoors can be miserable if you don't have the right setup. There are many ways to set up for success, but here is what I recommend.
Indoor cycling/Pain Cave Setup must-haves:
- A trainer for your bike or a stationary bike. This can be a traditional fluid or magnetic trainer, or be as fancy as a "smart trainer" that connects to your computer or other device. Some people may prefer rollers, though they are not ideal when doing single leg drills. Pick your poison...
- A fan, or 3, to keep you cool
- A towel for all of the weakness that will leak out of your body as sweat (and to save your Mom's carpet)
- Plenty to liquid to stay hydrated
- Snacks to keep you fueled during intervals (more fueling tips to come)
- your favorite playlist and some earbuds that can withstand the sweaty mess
Strength training must-haves:
- This will depend on how you choose to do your strength training. If you plan to use the basic strength training pdf on the Workouts tab you will not need additional equipment. I'll throw in additional strength moves you can do each week for the home program with your body weight, or simple stuff around the house.
- If you want to get serious about strength training I highly recommend getting in touch with any of the coaches at Hansen Athletics for some individualized training. They know their stuff! The link to their website is on the Pre-Season Training tab.
- Regardless of what method you choose to do your strength training, it is very important that you do something. Gone are the days when competitive racers only ride their bikes. Strength training is a must if you want to stay healthy, avoid overuse injuries, and step to the next level in your cycling abilities.
Interval Training
Training with Heart Rate
How to measure your training: Heart Rate and Power
How do you measure power zones when exercising? This can be done using 2 different tools; heart rate and power. The most economical of the two is definitely tracking heart rate. The most accurate way to measure is with a power meter that actually tells you how many Watts of power you are producing.
Lets stick with heart rate for our discussion...Heart rate monitors are readily available, affordable, and used by most endurance athletes. The more popular cycling brands are going to be Wahoo or Garmin. Either will work great and It’s best if you can pair them with a cycling computer to track your heart rate while you ride. Some smart watches also sync with these heart rate monitors. Ok, now that you bought your heart rate monitor and have it synced with your head unit (your cycling computer) you are ready to track your efforts during each prescribed interval in the ride. If you notice, each of the sections of the intervals has an associated ‘zone’ listed. Check out how this works below:
Zone % of Max HR
1. Recovery <50-60% max HR (heart rate)
2. Endurance 60-70% max HR
3. Tempo 70-80% max HR
4. Lactate 80-90% max HR
5. VO2 90-100% max HR
6. Sprint 100% max HR
All right, now we we need to figure out your maximum heart rate. Some common equations that people use are 211-age= max HR, or 211-0.64(age)= max HR. These are simple, but not terribly accurate since each person is build a little differently.
Here's a simple exercise you can do to figure out your maximum HR:
Find a long steady hill, or set up on your trainer. After a 15-minute warm-up, complete the following:
1. Start off at a quick pace, increasing your speed every minute.
2. For about five minutes, stay seated.
3. When you can’t go any faster while sitting, get out of the saddle and sprint as hard as you can for 15 seconds.
4. Immediately take your heart rate, and you’ll have your max heart rate.
This may hurt a little, but it is very important to know your maximum heart rate if you want to set up your training zones correctly. Enjoy. Embrace the suffering.
I would highly recommend you calculate your heart rate for each zone listed above and write them down. Have them somewhere handy during your workouts so you can pace yourself appropriately during each interval session (like taped to the top tube or handlebar in front of you).
Cycling Training Zones
Perceived Effort (RPE) Scale
Proper Hydration and Nutrition
This is a guide for racers and people who like to be generally active. Please take the time to read it! This knowledge could mean the difference between having a great ride/race and completely bonking!! Nobody likes to bonk!
Pioneer Hydration 2018 (2) (pdf)
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