Training advice for old guy.

16-09.-2005, 11:05 AM	#1
litespeedy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2	Training advice for old guy. Hey Cyclingforums readers, I have found this site to have the best information of any bicycling site. It was a good track season! I made it from total beginner to being qualified to race at Cat4 level. But, I am old (49), slow (33.4mph in a flying 200) and have poor endurance compared to the best competitors. I have read the "deadlift thread" on this site and plan on bumping up my weight training. But what other steps can I take to increase my speed? I have read that vertical leap is an indicator of potential. Can I improve this with practice? Are there ways to increase the amount of my "fast twitch" muscle fibers? How about breathing techniques or exercises to keep from getting winded? Or should I just hammer the cardiovascular exercises such as spin classes? I'm too old to really excel, but want to "go out swinging"! A 57 year old guy started at about the same time I did and is kicking a$$! Please help me Cyclingforum experts! Thanks, rj

16-09.-2005, 12:34 PM

Woofer

Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2005

Location: Northern California

Posts: 595

Re: Training advice for old guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by litespeedy

Hey Cyclingforums readers,
rj

Where are you racing? In A/B/C category or 12/3/4/5 category racing? Against masters only? Take a look at a typical racing night schedule for your local track. You can see how many laps the races will be and guestimate how long that would take for you to ride in a pack. You would want to raise your endurance with rides much longer than the track races and do the hardest intervals you could stand with lengths similar to that of the track races, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, with varying intervals of rest between, depending upon what physiological responses you were trying to train. It's pretty close to the same training you might do for road racing, but if you have the time, doing motor pacing on the track would be much more specific to the task at hand. Try hiring a coach at your local track. The 200 meter time trial can take a while to master so you're probably capable of a much better time.

02-11.-2005, 11:55 AM

wolfix

Registered User

Join Date: Mar 2005

Location: "Still in 1975"

Posts: 2,722

Re: Training advice for old guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by litespeedy

Hey Cyclingforums readers,

I have found this site to have the best information of any bicycling site.

It was a good track season! I made it from total beginner to being qualified to race at Cat4 level. But, I am old (49), slow (33.4mph in a flying 200) and have poor endurance compared to the best competitors.

I have read the "deadlift thread" on this site and plan on bumping up my weight training. But what other steps can I take to increase my speed?

I have read that vertical leap is an indicator of potential. Can I improve this with practice? Are there ways to increase the amount of my "fast twitch" muscle fibers?

How about breathing techniques or exercises to keep from getting winded? Or should I just hammer the cardiovascular exercises such as spin classes?

I'm too old to really excel, but want to "go out swinging"! A 57 year old guy started at about the same time I did and is kicking a$$!

Please help me Cyclingforum experts!
Thanks,
rj

I'm 49 also and thinking about heading back to the track...... Something I did about 5 years ago after laying off the bike for several years is to hit the gym and lift weights.... Back when I rode the road I noticed that it was always my lower back that gave out 1st.... In the spring after an intense fall and winter gym training effort I was amazed at the results. With a strong back I was a very improved rider. I believe in trying to improve weaknesses more then trying to improve strenghts...

I also think older guys like us need to build a real solid base of long miles before any specialized track work starts... I think your cardio system needs to be able to handle decent loads before you enter the world of overloading the system with bursts of effort.

I know a lot of cyclists will argue with me about this..... but I found that running over the winter and I did have an indoor place to do this, improved my cycling and cardio system far more then cyclig trainers ever did..... Then a month before the snow cleared I would hit the trainer to refresh the cycling muscles... Just watch the knees.... Good luck.

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