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Post by zynxgydl on Mar 16, 2017 1:37:47 GMT 8
I'm weak/weekend rider and thinking how I can improve my biking. specially Endurance and Speed. I am trying to research what will be the best way to improve them without biking. is there any workout that you normally do at home?
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Post by anthrax76 on Mar 16, 2017 7:47:52 GMT 8
without biking? hmm...that's a tough one but you might want to jog and do some weight training.
jogging is for your cardio, weight training is for pushing more with your legs so squats are mandatory.
although i would really suggest training with a bike. you can start by establishing what is called as base miles. this would be your minimum distance that you can ride regardless of conditions (you, the road, the weather). an example is a lap around PEYUPS oval is 2.2 km, if you can do that 5 times consistently, then you have 11km. now, try to time it and try to beat your personal best. if you can do the 11km loop in 30 mins, try to lower the time down, or try adding half a lap or a whole lap. now i'm not saying zoom within UP, there are places where you can do this like Q.C. Circle or in MOA where you can speed up as much as your legs can push it.
another effective way for me is interval training. have a set of equally spaced markers or electric posts on your route. sprint to your max on the first 10 poles, relax on the next 10, sprint on the next 10 and so on and so forth. if you got that dialled in, try using a timer, this time it's sprint for a minute, relax for the next, sprint on the next minute. do that until you can tolerate longer and longer sprints or at least sustain a particular speed for some time. an example is sustaining 22 or 25 kph for 5 minutes straight on flat or slightly uphill.
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Post by spyghost on Mar 16, 2017 8:02:11 GMT 8
as a rough guideline, any forms of these exercises will benefit cycling - core and shoulder strengthening/stability - push up, leg raise, bridge, pull up - variations of squats (do not round your lower back, please) - balance drills (if you can close your eyes, the better) - stretching/mobility workouts (hamstring release is a PITA)
all those i said earlier can be done bodyweight so that's restricted to home; otherwise, include deadlift and other weighted lifts if you are in the gym. why those specific exercises? they make you use your energy more efficiently when on the saddle. the thing that keeps anyone from cycling further/higher is when fatigue sets in. how? one is simply using more energy that what is needed. for example, you have an unstable core, other parts of your body compensate for its instability, hence other muscles (ie more energy/calories) get engaged when in fact they shouldn't or should only be engaged minimally.
on saddle do intervals - climbing intervals to be precise. you have to love climbing steeps repeatedly in one session.
as a final tip, it's not the distance, elevation of the number of reps that count, but the quality you put on each of them - ie hell yea you can climb shotgun but are you doing it 'intensively' or 'leisurely'? also, if you can bang 2x10 2 pood kettlebell goblet squats but not engaging the correct muscles you're just wasting time and asking for injury.
before i used to just pedal every week. yes i did become faster and stronger but the inevitable plateau eventually set in and it's very hard to break. also, during this time if i miss one weekend, the next one will be very hard on me. there was this time when i just tried going to the gym for the heck of it and i just did a few exercises i found online (take note they weren't bike specific). surprisingly it had a positive effect after 2 weeks of being off the saddle. so i read more and eventually end up doing mtb specific movements off saddle. from experience i can say that it is a further leap forward compared to where i was. tbh, if i only knew that off saddle works wonders i would have done it years back. and btw, i still hate going to the gym and doing off saddle - yes that's my nature. also, i also got other priorities aside from this so i only engage in these stuff whenever i can. point is, off saddle works, it's just up to you if you want to really get yourself into it. remember that not all off saddle exercises will benefit cycling directly, so i suggest doing your homework and compile a set of movements that you can perform 'repeatedly and safely' if you want to work things out.
this may be subjective, from my experience, off saddle exercises are way tougher than cycling. i still flag when doing off saddle, but so far i never flagged when on saddle.
if you are really into it, i would suggest going for a program. various elite cycling groups accept trainees/students like coach d (ariana's dad) and bryan pangan (biker's cafe) do coaching/mentoring.
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Post by esulit on Mar 16, 2017 17:02:20 GMT 8
Great suggestions posted above. Aside from what spyghost mentioned, there is something more that I did off the bike and it was to lose weight. I was slightly overweight when I started biking. So far I've lost a total of 12 lbs and I could really feel the difference. My BMI used to be 25+ now its about 23.8 which is now within normal. Although I do not really measure my rides because I usually ride with my son around the trails, but now I am less tired after a round and I seldom stall the bike going up hills compared to before. So my goal now is about 6 lbs more and convert my love handles to core muscle. If you will look at the videos that Coach D posts about the training that he does, you will find that a lot of it is core, legs and back. He uses free weights but also does a lot of bodyweight excercies.
So when you are on the bike: Interval training is good specially if you are into mountain biking And off the bike: Exercises involving core, legs and back are very important and if you are over weight: go on a diet. Its best to count calories with an app like myfitnesspal (it makes losing weight so much easier)
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Post by spyghost on Mar 16, 2017 17:54:58 GMT 8
in any sport, the way one moves in the real world dictates how efficiently he/she can perform in the target endeavor. one of the advanced BW movements is the 'animal flow,' which is based on guess what... animal movement. Reps of these can surely bomb the abs in spite of their simple but graceful and sometimes funny pattern. personally i'm an advocate of BW exercises and pity I still can't do one stinking dead hang pull up...
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Post by esulit on Mar 16, 2017 22:03:03 GMT 8
personally i'm an advocate of BW exercises and pity I still can't do one stinking dead hang pull up... Try doing 3 sets of 8 of the regular pull ups, then somewhere along the way you'll be able to do the dead hang pull up.
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