Cycling can be a healthy hobby, a means of commuting, and a professional career, assuming you are good at it. It can also be incredibly fun, just as playing games on gambling sites picked by the team at pokiespros.com. Whether you are cycling to compete or to stay fit simply, you still need the right training routine. To that end, we’ll go over a few neat tips on how to improve both your endurance and riding speed.
Cycling Technique
Going full gas for more than a few minutes is virtually impossible. We run out of steam and need to recover even after a short exertion. So, the best way to increase your speed is to find a more efficient cadence and improve your recovery time.
The optimal cadence is between 90 and 100 revolutions per minute, so you should aim for that RPM. Ideally, this will eventually become your normal pace, and you can maintain it even after the short burst.
Training Routine
You need an easy training program that will help you gradually build endurance and strength. When you are creating a plan, you should take into account how fit and active you are. If you play sports or exercise, you can start with a higher degree of biking intensity. Still, it’s important to do dynamic warmups before a ride. Professionals suggest things like dynamic stretching, yoga, and jogging.
For those who plan to take cycling more seriously, they should make a plan that involves 3 training sessions per week. These sessions should be between 2 and 3 hours long, and you should definitely track your progress. The idea is to increase the difficulty by 5-10% gradually.
Interval Training
Once you’ve established your routine and found your cadence, you should introduce interval training. This is the key to boosting your speed, and the idea is to increase the distance you can cover within a short time period. This will also boost your overall performance or Functional Threshold Power (FTP).
FTP represents your fitness as a cyclist or the speed you can maintain with the optimal power output. To explain it better, it’s the amount of power you can produce while your lactate production is high. At the same time, this power output needs to be on a level that doesn’t interfere with a bodily process that removes lactic acid. This way, you can maintain high speed for a longer period of time.
There is a detailed scientific explanation of interval training and how it’s done here, but in essence, there are 4 types of cycling intervals used in training.
- VO2 Max – A high-speed burst around 120% of your FTP that amps up your oxygen consumption to the max. At this pace, you burn out within a few minutes (between 1 and 5).
- Billats – In this instance, you ride at high intensity for 30 seconds and use the next 30 seconds to rest. You do this 10 times for a single set, and your training should have at least 3 sets of Billats. Of course, take more time to fully rest between the sets.
- Tabata – Here, you ride at high intensity for 20 seconds and rest for only 10 seconds. You repeat this 8 times per set, and a single set per workout will be sufficient.
- Over-Unders – The exercise revolves around your FTP and lasts for 12 minutes. You should ride 2 minutes at about 95% of your FTP and then 2 minutes at about 105% of your FTP. Repeat this process 3 times.
Endurance Rides
Another way to boost your FTP is through endurance rides. Once again, you’ll need to know your limits in order to adjust this training properly. The goal is to ride at around 80-90% of your FTP for up to 30 minutes. The ride needs to feel difficult but, at the same time, not too demanding. In other words, you should be able to recover from this a lot easier compared to interval training. These are also called Sweet Spot training, as you aim to find your optimal pace.
Strength Training
If you are stronger, you’ll go faster, so it’s useful to hit a gym every now and again and do some strength exercises. Although you mainly use your legs when cycling, whole-body strength training will still be very beneficial. After all, having an upper body and arm strength when navigating difficult terrain will come in handy.
To that end, you should do some of the following exercises in the gym:
- Bench press
- Pull Ups
- Squats
- Pistol Squats
- Deadlifts
- Barbell Row
- Planks
- Military Press
Nutrition for Rides
You should take food rich in protein before and after training because it’s important for building muscle and repairing tissue. Your body also needs to use fat as fuel. Omega 3 and 6 are a great source of energy, and you can find them in fish oil, nuts, and avocado. Make sure that there is at least an hour time gap between your meal and big training, to give your body enough time to process the food.
Take enough water with you to stay hydrated during the ride. You should be taking a sip every 15 minutes or so. Since you won’t be riding for over an hour, only taking water while your last meal will give you enough energy. Also, if you are doing a shorter session, you don’t need to carry carbohydrates. You might want to have a carb snack on you for those rides that last longer for some extra energy.
Prioritizing Rest
Your weekly plan should include rest days to allow your body to recover from training. It’s best to stay at home and find some fun activities like watching Gran Fondo. Thanks to the internet, you can find tons of things to do while resting from cycling. Some may enjoy betting on racing, while others could try online casino games on their days off.
The program also must include active recovery days. You don’t go cycling during these days, but you should work on your mobility, balance, and flexibility. For instance, you could go for a walk, swim, or do yoga. The purpose of active recovery is to speed up your muscle recovery by boosting blood circulation and removing toxins that build up during cycling.
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