Addressing Asymmetry: Improving Movement On and Off the BikeNick Lemke, Cycle-Smart Associate CoachMany of us have experienced the sensation of being imbalanced, pedaling more with one leg, or feeling delayed onset muscle soreness more on one side than the other. Nearly all of us have experienced niggling knee, back, or neck pains, tight iliotibial (IT) bands or hip flexors. Worse yet, some of us find ourselves lopsided on the bike - a cocked shoulder, feet or knees jutting to one side while pedaling, or hips askew on the saddle. On-the-bike asymmetry, specifically muscular imbalance, limited range of motion, and/or pelvic asymmetry can lead to a cascade of other problems like joint ...
Sick and Tired
It's going to happen to all of us at some point in year. Things are going well, you're on top of your form and riding strongly, and then it starts: scratchy throat, stuffy nose, itchy eyes-- that's it, you're sick! Many riders make the mistake of overtraining (or underresting), depressing their immune system, and making themselves vulnerable in the first place, but also don't give themselves enough time to fully recover from fear of losing fitness. It's a recipe for an early end to your season. In this article, I'll detail how to prevent getting run down and susceptible to illness, and how to rescue your form if it does happen.If you're getting sick and tired of being sick and tired, ...
Resting Your Way to Fitness
When ambitious riders want to improve, naturally the thing they focus on is their training. Usually they take the "more is better" approach, piling on more hours, miles, and intensity. To a point, those are the basic ingredients for getting stronger; you train hard, you get better. "Ride lots" is zen-like in it's simplicity, but it works. And yet, training is only half the story.The important part of your improvement is not just the training, but almost more importantly, the resting. In previous articles I've written about the cyclical nature of training and the process of stressing a system, letting it heal, adapt to the stress, and improve, and then stressing it again at a higher ...
Multi-Day Race Recovery
No matter what your body type or racing preference, most of us at some point will find ourselves focusing on a stage race or multi-day criterium series. Each region of the US has that one big event that local riders anchor their season around. In New England it's traditionally been races like Killington, Fitchburg, and Green Mountain. In Wisconsin it's now Tour of America's Dairyland, and Superweek before that. Those are just a couple of examples, and I'm sure you have one in mind for this season. Assuming you've done all you can training-wise leading up to the event you're targeting, it's important not to waste any of that precious form while the event is actually happening and in the ...
Intense Rest
Whether you did a fall base period or a full cyclo-cross season, if you live in a cold climate January and February are the most difficult months to train. If it's not already something they focus on, I encourage my clients to take advantage of the cyclo-cross season as a way to maintain fitness through the New Year before they're forced off their bikes or indoors because of weather. Another way to utilize this time period between the end of the road or mountain bike season and beginning of winter is to try to do a fall build-up period. This allows them to work on a broad base of aerobic fitness at a time when racing won't interrupt training, as it does much of the rest of the ...
Vacation Time
It never fails. After a winter of logging long miles and a spring of racing into top shape, summer rolls around and the bottom drops out of your form. With the first half of the season done and many target races come and gone, July is notorious for being many road and MTB riders' worst month of the year. A summer stage race or criterium series is a great incentive in the early season, but can turn into concrete shoes once it's over. It can feel like you haven't trained in ages, the heat's making you lethargic, and there's just no motivation to get out the door and ride anymore.At this point, one of two things typically happens. Many riders in the lower categories will simply pack it in ...
Mountain Bike Recovery
Author: Serena Bishop Gordon In a previous article, Adam talks about the importance of rest, recovery, and the difference between the two. Recovery serves to allow healing from recent efforts or training you’ve done, while resting prepares you to be fresh for what’s ahead. Recovery from a mountain bike race differs from that of road and cyclocross, and varies depending on the duration and terrain of the race completed. For mountain bike racing, in addition to the recovery needed from muscular damage due to repeated high intensity efforts, it is also necessary to give your body healing time from the jarring nature of a mountain bike course. When we ask our bodies to perform at ...