Even though we are only in November, it is the perfect time to think about your 2012 outdoor event season. Now is when you get stronger so when its time to put that first number on your bike, back or the front of shirt, you're ready to go. This is the time of year when you work on staying ready, so you don't have to get ready.
This is when you work on more joint mobility, hip stability, strength, power and power endurance. The best way to do it is in 3-4 week blocks that are progressive in nature.
Since your body can only produce the amount of power your joint stability allows, you are firing a canon from a canoe if you don't work on this, YEAR ROUND. I won't get into the fact that power meters don't actually measure power, because we've already covered that.
Most riders engage in body builder type muscle isolation programs, which is great if you are building bulk to flex on stage, but not beneficial if you are trying to improve the way your body is actually designed to move: as an integrated unit in a 3-dimensional environment. Especially since endurance athletes produce ALL of their power from a single leg platform.
I've always found it funny how cycling strength workouts look just like old school body builder routines: sit down and press, sit down and curl, sit down and extend. Since riding a bike takes place in a supported seated environment in only one plane of motion (just like these exercises do), it is critical to do "anti-cycling" workouts that open up the hips and get you working while you stand up on a single leg.
We have seen 100's of riders at INTEGRATE Performance Fitness in the last year and a half. Out of that population, it is safe to say over 50% of them lacked the proper muscle firing sequences to take full advantage of their hips when they ride (not too mention causi
ng joint pain of every variety). This drastically impacts your ability to sprint, climb and ride at tempo.
Most of the time it is because the hip flexors and quads are too tight, and the glutes and lower abdomen are too weak. This can come from sitting down for long periods of time, or not addressing these issues off the bike.
This causes performance robbing muscle imbalances that WILL lessen your enjoyment of riding your bike. Not too mention what they do to your balance. Fortunately, a functional strength training program will prevent as well as correct this.
This is when you work on more joint mobility, hip stability, strength, power and power endurance. The best way to do it is in 3-4 week blocks that are progressive in nature.
Since your body can only produce the amount of power your joint stability allows, you are firing a canon from a canoe if you don't work on this, YEAR ROUND. I won't get into the fact that power meters don't actually measure power, because we've already covered that.
Most riders engage in body builder type muscle isolation programs, which is great if you are building bulk to flex on stage, but not beneficial if you are trying to improve the way your body is actually designed to move: as an integrated unit in a 3-dimensional environment. Especially since endurance athletes produce ALL of their power from a single leg platform.
I've always found it funny how cycling strength workouts look just like old school body builder routines: sit down and press, sit down and curl, sit down and extend. Since riding a bike takes place in a supported seated environment in only one plane of motion (just like these exercises do), it is critical to do "anti-cycling" workouts that open up the hips and get you working while you stand up on a single leg.
We have seen 100's of riders at INTEGRATE Performance Fitness in the last year and a half. Out of that population, it is safe to say over 50% of them lacked the proper muscle firing sequences to take full advantage of their hips when they ride (not too mention causi
ng joint pain of every variety). This drastically impacts your ability to sprint, climb and ride at tempo.Most of the time it is because the hip flexors and quads are too tight, and the glutes and lower abdomen are too weak. This can come from sitting down for long periods of time, or not addressing these issues off the bike.
This causes performance robbing muscle imbalances that WILL lessen your enjoyment of riding your bike. Not too mention what they do to your balance. Fortunately, a functional strength training program will prevent as well as correct this.
