Four years ago, on the last gruelling day of a pretty arduous six-day charity ride, my husband Dave rolled up to me before the first big climb of the day – a 9% grade, 2.1km leg burner – and surreptitiously slipped his Garmin into my jersey pocket. It was all in fun: He wanted to … Read more
There’s a reason speed skaters make such good cyclists: They’ve got amazing lower-body stability and strength. Steal a move from their playbook with the skater step up. This move asks you to work one leg at a time, which helps develop balanced strength (most of us have one side that is stronger). It also fully activates … Read more
By Kylie Terraluna Photos Jamie Cleary Yoga’s chest opening postures are designed to counter balance that ‘hunched-over effect’ cycling has on your body – to realign your posture by stretching you back out again and releasing you from pain. You’ve possibly spent long periods bent over to ride, so it makes sense to hold some … Read more
Photograph by Getty Images Sit on the floor while holding a medicine ball (or dumbbell) in both hands, with shoulders relaxed, elbows bent, and arms close to your sides. Place your knees and feet about hip-width apart, heels on the floor, knees bent, and back straight. With a straight back, lean back from the hips … Read more
Photograph by Matt Rainey Hold dumbbells at your sides (or put your hands on your hips if doing it without weight). Stand next to a box, or step with one leg bent and foot planted on the box. All in one move, straighten the bent leg, lifting your body up while swinging the other leg … Read more
At this point, there’s really no question that cyclists (and pretty much everybody, really) should be doing some form of resistance training. With age, muscle mass dwindles and bones weaken. Strength training helps stem that process, making you more powerful and structurally sound – both really important if you ride a bike. Strength training can … Read more
The Taper Phase is the most enjoyable. This is the time where you recover from the previous 10-12 weeks of hard training, allowing for adaptation and super-compensation to occur – meaning increased performance! While the main focus for these two weeks is on recovery, it is also important to include a few key ‘hit-out’ sessions. … Read more
Week 7 and 8 of this program include a progressive overload, Week 9 is a little easier, and then Week 10 and 11 again increase in volume and/or intensity. The phase finishes with a massive weekend of training, as you will be starting on a Taper the following week and so can look forward to … Read more
1-1.5hr mainly low intensity. Keep cadence fairly high (90-120rpm). Flat terrain or wind-trainer (little resistance). Use perceived effort rather than heart-rate or power. After at least a 15mins easy warm-up include: 10mins Tempo pace (perceived effort 4/10, solid but not hard) 10mins easy Then 3x3mins high threshold pace (perceived effort 6-7/10, hard but not flat-out) … Read more
Remember to use progressive overload when setting up your training program. You will notice that weeks one-three of this program have increasing load. The fourth week is best used for recovery and adaptation, before another overload week, followed by more recovery to finish this six-week training block. It will be important to take this last … Read more