Login | April 25, 2024
Off season cycling
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: January 9, 2017
In two December columns I discussed the concept of periodization, breaking down a sports season into distinct periods of concentration, and how within a one-year Macrocycle the off-season period is integral to the overall success of upcoming seasons.
So with that in mind, over the next three columns I’m going to offer you abstracts that highlight the “nuts & bolts” components I feel should be incorporated into your cycling, running and swimming off-seasons. This week’s column will focus on cycling.
First, I can’t help but notice how more winter indoor cycling classes are stressing a fitness-only curriculum, with zero attention paid to the technical aspects of becoming a safer and more proficient cyclist.
Seems the masses want only to improve their VO2 and power while steering clear of those boring nuts and bolts components.
When instructors capitulate, viola, we’re left with "killer workouts” which lack any real sum or substance needed to provide participants with the tools to become technically improved cyclists. The end result is hoards of truly awful “bikers" riding our Akron-Cleveland thoroughfares. And I use the word biker judiciously, because "cyclists" know how to ride safely, properly and efficiently.
Truth is, if you want to become a better cyclist in the off-season, you’ll need to work on several different components concurrently: Safety, form technique-efficiency, climbing technique-efficiency and the utilization of power and/or heart-rate training devices.
All of these components together cannot be taught in an indoor class over the winter. You have to realize this from the beginning, and you have to acknowledge the fact that you will be doing some of these training modalities on your own, outside of a class format. Let’s take each of these components separately.
Safety entails learning to make split second decisions and movements patterns on the bike that impact not only your own safety, but also the safety of those around you. This cannot be accomplished in an indoor setting - unless it’s a roller class.
I encourage all levels of cyclists to learn to ride rollers, whereupon they gradually acquire a very acute sense of balance on the bike. A well-balanced cyclist is a safe cyclist. If you’re serious about cycling, learn to ride rollers in the off-season.
Form technique-efficiency training promotes improved economy. Improved economy means riding faster while expending less energy.
Most riders believe beginners are the ones who need to work on pedal stroke mechanic drills. Actually, it’s just the reverse. The more advanced the cyclist, the more that cyclist needs to work the nuances of cycling technique.
What we’re talking about here are IL (isolated leg), spin-up, cadence and suppleness drills. With your bike mounted on a stationary trainer device, use some of your off-season to practice the aforementioned pedal stroke drills.
Climbing technique-efficiency means learning how to “swing” or move your bike horizontally as you’re climbing, especially when out of the saddle. That cannot be done when bikes are locked into fixed positions on rear-wheel trainer devices or if you’re on spinner bikes. You get zero horizontal movement. Therefore, only so much can be gained at indoor settings with respect to climbing practice. What’s more, unless your bike’s front wheel is elevated to simulate a hill’s inclination, well, you’re riding flats. This is a point that mystifies some people. If your inclination is zero…you’re riding flats. Thus, try to spend some of your off-season outdoors practicing climbing technique, a subject I discussed in two September 2016 columns.
Heart rate and power devices allow you to quantify your cycling efforts at a much more exacting level than using perceived exertion alone. Using these devices also maximizes your training/racing time by making it much more qualitative. But understand this, the information you garnish is only as good as the testing, illustrating the “garbage in-garbage out” idiom.
Therefore, your power and HR testing must be correct in order to provide you with beneficial and safe training parameters. Generic and cookie-cutter zones yield not only substandard training gains, but they can also be detrimental to your health. In short, make sure you and your instructors are well qualified in working with power and HR zones.
By concentrating on these components during the off-season you’ll gradually see yourself evolving into more of a cyclist and de-evolving into less of a biker.