I am most definitely biased, but I think cycling is the best sport in the World. Unlike many traditional team sports, it’s something you can do far beyond your school and university days. It’s a lifelong sport and one of the most effective ways to see the world. Cars seem to go too fast to appreciate the scenery and walking doesn’t get your far enough. On top of all of the enjoyable aspects of cycling, it’s also therapeutic with the rhythmic motion being cited as meditative, the aerobic aspect being good for your heart, and the nature of the sport makes it a common rehabilitation exercises for various injuries. Even the best things have their limitations, though. Here are 5 things that cycling and cyclists often lack.

1.) Weight Bearing

Wolff’s law of bone explains that bones respond to the forces placed upon them. In other words, if you stress your bones, they will become stronger. This isn’t a completely novel concept; we are used to the idea of the body getting stronger due to stressors. We place stress or force on muscles and we expect them to grow bigger and stronger. Bones are no different. 

Bones will get stronger from forces such as weight lifting or even running where there is pounding and force going through the skeleton. Cycling, though, is considered a non-weight bearing sport. 

If cyclists don’t stress their bones through other activities, they are at risk for their bones to become weaker and weak bones are more likely to succumb to injuries. Cyclists should take special efforts to load their bones through other cross-training activities. Personally, I do weight training year-round. I supplement my cycling workouts with 2 heavy lifting sessions each week. 

2.) Lateral Movement

Cycling occurs exclusively in the sagittal plane. This means that in cycling we are only moving forward. Unlike sports like basketball or soccer that require athletes to move both forwards and sideways, cycling mainly uses the muscles that move our bodies forward. 

Since we aren’t stressing the muscles that move our bodies from side to side, these muscles will often atrophy or become weak. Despite not using them for forward propulsion, we still need these muscles for stabilization, injury prevention, and being a well-rounded human. 

The Gluteus Medius is a muscle often underused in cycling that can cause issues when it fails to fire. A weak Gluteus Medius can result in knee pain, IT band issues, low back pain, and hip pain. In order to strengthen your Gluteus Medius consider adding fire hydrants, clam shells, lateral leg raises, and/or lateral band walks to your pre-exercise routine. I spend 5 minutes before every ride completing glute medius exercises. Fire hydrants and clam shells are my staples. 

3.) Eccentric Movement

Cycling is primarily an exercise of concentric movement. Concentric exercises involves the muscles shortening when working against resistance (the upward phase of a squat). Eccentric movements involve the muscles lengthening (such as the downward phase of squat).

There are many benefits to concentric exercise such as building muscle mass and concentric exercises are easier on the muscles (causing less soreness). Eccentric exercises often cause more soreness, but they also help to strengthen tendons and can be helpful for injury prevention. In order to be a well-rounded athlete, you should work to include both concentric and eccentric exercises in your workout routine. For me, eccentrics are as simple as emphasizing the eccentric phase of certain lifts I do in my weight training routine. For example, I will concentrate on a slow and controlled downward phase of my back squats.

4.) Good Posture

In a world where we fight against poor posture constantly, cycling seems to only make things worse. After leaning over our laptops all day with rounded shoulders and a curved spine, we then head out on our after-work ride with rounded shoulders and a curved spin as we reach for our handlebars. 

Cyclists need to spend special time working on posture. In my own routine, I include exercises like wall angels, cat cow, bird dogs, and open thoracic books to encourage my body to return to neutral after all of my many hours of forward slouching on the bike. 

5.) Upper Body Strength

Cyclists never miss leg day! Upper body day, though, some cyclists are actually scared of it. If you’re a road cyclist then you may wonder why upper strength even matters especially when looking at World Tour Cyclists. If you’re a mountain biker, though, you understand that upper body strength is critical for controlling your bike, avoiding crashes, and surviving the inevitable crash without broken bones. Either way, we need upper body strength to be functional humans. Don’t be afraid of lifting weights. Some of my favorite upper body exercises are overhead press, landmine rows, and single arm dumbbell snatches. If nothing else, start small with body weight exercises such as push ups, pull ups, and tricep dips. You’ll be thankful for your extra efforts when carrying groceries inside, lifting up your child or grandchild, or putting your suitcase in the overhead bin.

Everything in Moderation

I’m definitely not telling you to cycle less! In fact, a great thing about cycling is that unlike sports like running, it’s relatively easy on the body which means we can log more hours than most sports. That said, it’s still important to take everything in moderation and to supplement our favorite sport with some additional exercises to keep us strong enough so that we can ultimately do even more pedaling.

The post 5 Things Cyclists Lack first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

Even the most well-intentioned athlete can fall victim to some of the most common mistakes with their training. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the details and miss the forest for the trees. It’s important to take a step back, eliminate emotion and bias, and evaluate your training at face value every once in a while. You might find that you are making one of these all-too-common mistakes. The good news is, though, that once the mistake is uncovered you can make adjustments, and improvements will be soon to follow!

1. Doing Too Much Too Soon

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is doing too much too soon. It usually comes with good intentions because when you start a new training plan, you’re highly motivated, and letting that motivation lead your training routine feels natural. 

Unfortunately, motivation ebbs and flows, and when your motivation starts to wane, you won’t be able to keep up with the aggressive training routine you’ve set. In fact, doing too much too soon can be the exact thing that leads you to burn out and lack motivation.  Fatigue, an inability to keep up with your other responsibilities, and an overly busy schedule, are all unsustainable things and will eventually lead to roadblocks in your training routine. 

Finally, doing too much too soon can also lead to injuries and illness which will plague your training, prohibit you from making improvements, and ultimately diminish your motivation as well. 

2. Inconsistency

Inconsistency is probably the single largest training mistake that I see people make time and time again. A lack of consistency will prevent you from making improvements and make it very difficult to get into a rhythm. It’s ok if you can’t train every day, but the best thing you can do is set a plan that works for your schedule and stick to it. Once the plan becomes a part of your routine, you’re much more likely to see it through. Improvements take time and so you need to be able to stick to a plan long enough to watch your improvements materialize. 

As you develop your training plan keep in mind that it’s always better to train for short amount of time frequently than for a long period of time once in a while. If you only have 3 hours per week to commit to training, it’s better to complete 4x 45-minute workouts than one 3-hour workout. 

3. Not Fueling the Work

When you start to increase your training, you’ll need to increase your caloric intake as well. Your body won’t be able to support your training, and definitely won’t be able to make gains, if you are restricting your fuel. It’s important to listen and honor your body’s hunger response, especially when you start or increase your training. Carbohydrates will be your best friend to fuel your training during and between sessions. Don’t forget about the ever-important macronutrient, protein, because protein will help you build muscle and improve your recovery. 

4. Pursuing Too Big of Goals

It’s great to have big hopes and dreams that you can aspire to for long periods, but it’s almost important to have smaller, timely, and realistic goals that can drive you from day to day. If your goal is too big or too far off, an athlete can quickly become discouraged. It’s too easy to feel like you won’t get there or like what you’re doing isn’t enough. When you have smaller, more bite-sized goals, you get rewarded by consistently taking steps toward the goal and even checking the goal off of your list. 

5. Monotony

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

is a quote often credited to Albert Einstein. The body needs novel stimulus in order to make improvements. Make sure that you are switching up the types of training you are doing so that your body is forced to adapt and respond. In addition, mixing up your training will keep things interesting and keep you more engaged with your workouts. Don’t get sucked in to doing the same thing every day. 

You Got This

Even though there are numerous pitfalls you can make when starting a training routine, the biggest error you could commit is never to start at all. Begin by congratulating yourself for taking a step toward your goals, then hone in on the specific ways you’ll get there. 

The post 5 Training Mistakes to Avoid first appeared on Slowtwitch News.

As the weather starts to warm up and seasons shift, events are already full swing. Looking at the calendar, you may be starting to count down the months or weeks until your event. You’re finally thinking about a goal you set a long time ago, long before the magnitude of the undertaking set in. Now, you’re looking the goal square in the eyes and wondering what it’s going to take to cross the finish line. Here are some guiding principles you can use to structure your training, to make sure that you feel ready on race day.

When To Start Training

It’s never too early to start training, but there are some things you should consider when you build your long-term plan. When you look at professional athletes, they train for years and years to perfect their craft. The cumulative load their bodies endure season after season surely boosts their abilities, and your body is no different. The longer you spend honing your abilities and training, the stronger, more durable, and faster you will become. That said, not even professional athletes train year-round, without taking a break.

As a coach, a common pitfall I see amateur athletes make is to build their training hours too early leading into an event and to find themselves burnt out months before even toeing the line. If you’re eyeing a long event like Unbound, Leadville, a marathon, or an Ironman, you want at least 6 months of training (24 weeks) before the event. If you have more time than that, that’s great! Use it, but make sure that you plan some rest as well. Before the 6 months to go mark hits, take about 2 weeks off of training to let your mind and body recover so that you are ready to push all the way until your event. The last thing you want is to burn out a month before your event and to be forced to take the time off then.

When To Do Your Longest Workouts

If you hit your longest workouts out of the gate, you not only might not be ready for them, but you have nowhere to build from there. If you are training for one specific “ultra-endurance” style event you’ll want your longest workouts to fall somewhere around 2 weeks before the event. You can plan your training in reverse by planning your longest workout for 2 weeks before the event at 60-80% of the duration of the event and then back out from there. Each week should only build about 10-12% in volume throughout your program and don’t forget about recovery weeks as well!

I find that a lot of athletes start to panic around 3 months until race day. At 3 months out, you suddenly realize just how challenging this goal may be. For example, if you’re training for a marathon and you complete a 15-mile run, you may suddenly wonder how you’ll ever be able to do 11 more miles. Don’t fret! Three months is longer than you think and you’ll chip away at that goal little by little.

When To Start Your Taper

The reason that you do your longest workouts 2 weeks before your event, is because after that, you start to taper! A two-week taper is a conservative approach that should allow you to shed most, if not all, of your training fatigue without losing too much fitness. Those two weeks should have a decrease in your training load by about 60-90%.

Don’t fall victim to a common taper mistake of missing out on your nutrition. When you begin to taper you will be burning less calories so you may initially need a little less food, but don’t cut back so far that you are in a deficit. Taper time is not the time to lose weight. We don’t want our bodies to be working extra hard. Instead, we want to give our bodies everything they need to be successful. Try keeping your protein intake about the same during your taper and adjusting your carbohydrates according to your needs. Remember that 3 days before your event you may need to start carbo-loading as well. GoodLife Norwegian skin-on salmon and rice or Piedmontese ground-beef and pasta are two of my go-to meals.

Plan a Practice Event

One of the best ways to feel ready on race day is to plan a dress rehearsal. About 8-12 weeks before your main event, plan a practice event. This event should be shorter and “easier” but still allow you the chance to practice your preparations. For example, if you are doing a marathon or Ironman then you may want to register for a half in preparation. This practice race isn’t a time to set PRs, instead it’s a time to simulate exactly what you will do on the day that counts. Use your race equipment, practice your pre and during event nutrition and hydration strategies, and most importantly shake out the nerves!

Plan Ahead

The most important thing you can do in your training for your big event is to plan ahead. Don’t leave questions or difficult decisions for race day. That’s a recipe for stress. The goal of training is to prepare both the mind and body for the demands of the race. Leave no rock unturned so that when it’s time to race, all you have to do is have fun. Training is the hard work and racing is the reward.

Hannah Otto (formerly Finchamp) is a professional mountain biker and gravel racer. She’s the winner of the 2022 Leadville 100 and a 2023 Marathon World Cup Winner. Before her professional cycling days, Hannah competed in the sport of triathlon for 11 years. Hannah also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in both Athletic Training and Exercise Science, she is a Board Certified Athletic Trainer and USA Cycling Coach and has been personally coaching athletes since 2017.

The post How to Structure Your Training for a Long Event first appeared on Slowtwitch News.