21 Ways to a faster ride this summer
Text: Rob Kemp. Article from the September 2014 issue of Ride Magazine.
Faster food, quicker manoeuvres, speedier techniques and record-breaking race tips from the riders and coaches whose sports science know-how will make your summer rides the swiftest yet.
1. Eat fast-thinking foods
Scoffing eggs, spinach, fish, soy and cottage cheese – though not all at once – will sharpen your reflexes and improve your reactions on the road. According to new research from Neuropsychologia Journal, the amino acid tyrosine, which can be found in these foods, improved response times in athletes during tests.
2. Speed up nutrient delivery
Reducing acidity in the stomach enables the system to absorb morq nutrients faster, and making your own vegetable juice is the quickest way to balance your gut’s pH. According to Team Sky/GB’s nutritionist Nigel Mitchell, you get the benefits without the bulky volume of insoluble fibre.
3. Press ahead
“Gym drills like leg presses, which develop the glutes, transfer to the saddle and will help in creating more speed, especially for those finishes,” explains sports physio Mike Aunger of Technique Physiotherapy and Sports Medicine (www.techniquephysio.com). A University of São Paulo study found that leg-press drills contributed to 6%-faster 20km rides. “Do single-leg presses at a weight around 50 to 75% of your body weight – you’ll feel its effect in the glutes the next day but definitely see the impact in the saddle too.” Aim to get the starting position above degrees at both the hips and knee. The closer your bottom is to the plate, the more you will need to use your glutes to activate the movement. Aim for five sets or reps – by the final one or two reps in the set, you should be feeling some fatigue as you try to complete them.
4. Buy a Beta supplement
Beta-alanine – an amino acid that’s manufactured within the body but is also available as a supplement – has been shown to improve cycling performance. In a split trial reported in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, those cyclists who took the beta-alanine (65mg/kg body weight) saw significant improvements in performance and reported less fatigue than those who received a placebo.
5. Short shorts add speed
Some intervals are better than others, according to sports scientists at Norway’s Lillehammer University College. Their 10-week-long study found that cyclists who trained using short intervals – 30-second sessions averaging more than 360W – boosted their aerobic power and improved their endurance and sprint performance to a much greater extent than those who did longer intervals.
6. Sit back and go faster
“If you want to improve in the saddle, then spend time in the saddle,” insists Hunter Allen, former professional road racer, USA Cycling elite-level coach and co-founder of Peaks Coaching Group (www.peakscoachinggroup.com). “On longer climbs, you can slide back on the saddle a little to recruit the hamstrings more completely – this should give you 10W more without any additional energy expense.”
7. Shake up your system
Whole-body vibration (WBV) platforms provide a more effective “warm-up” for cyclists than conventional moves, according to data published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Cyclists who performed squats and lunges on the vibrating machines ahead of a series of rides over 10 weeks rode faster against those who hadn’t.
8. Walk the plank
“Cycling involves a tripod position (the saddle, pedals and handlebar support your weight), which relies on core strength but doesn’t build it,” explains Kerry Bircher, British Cycling coach and coaching partner for Macmillan Cycletta (www.humanrace.co.uk/ cycletta). “A strong core stabilises the hips, producing a strong platform for leg muscles to transfer power efficiently to the pedals. The plank is a simple and effective exercise to do this.”
By holding a front plank – resting on your forearms and toes only, holding the stomach taut, and back and neck flat – you are engaging the transversus abdominis, multifidus, diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles, as well as building strength in your arms, upper back and shoulders. “Beginners can start practising the plank while keeping the knees on the floor, while the more advanced can progress by holding for longer, or lifting alternate legs for short periods,” adds Bircher.
9. Recovery recipes
“The right nutrition can speed injury recovery,” says sports nutritionist Dr Karen Reid. Vitamin A, for example, speeds up collagen formation to repair the body quicker. Other quick-fix tips include:
Pineapple Juice
Bromelain, found in the stems and juice of pineapples, can prevent swelling and reduce pain quickly.
I’ll-Live Oil
The European Journal of Applied Physiology reports that fish oil pills increase blood flow and reduce inflammation.
Fat chance
Avoid trans fats, alcohol and omega-3 fatty acids, as they can all inflame injury and slow down recovery.
10. Speed up your recovery
“For rapid recovery after a long ride, have a shake mix that contains at least two- and-a-half times carbs to one portion of protein – along with glutamine and basic vitamins – within 45 minutes of the end of your ride,” says Hunter Allen.
11. B is for vitamins
“During hard training we increase our uptake of B nutrients,” says Kerry Bircher. “Team nutritionists insist that they’re essential for rapid conversion of protein and carbs to energy and for repairing cells.” Broccoli, spinach, low-fat dairy and wholegrain cereals all contain rich quantities of B6, B12, folate and riboflavin, which improve nutrient delivery to muscles.
12. Target your training
What are you training for? “Road racing and time trials have very different requirements,” says Bircher.
Time trialling: “Practise your time trial position to find the one that will allow you to produce the most power for your given effort. Train at a very high intensity – threshold intervals are best – with the aim to raise your lactate threshold (LT) so you can produce more power at a sustainable heart rate. Do 4x10min intervals near or at your LT with a 2min 30sec recovery on a section of road that simulates the race terrain.”
Road racing: “Train to sustain the distance but to be able to react to changes in pace and attacks off the front. Fartlek (Swedish for speed play) training is great for this – when you see a landmark (for example, a postbox), sprint for 30sec, and when you see another random one (such as a silver car) do a 2min time trial effort; you could have one effort straight after the previous hard effort, with no recovery, simulating a race.”
13. Learn ligament rehab
“Do a yoga stretch routine for at least 15 minutes after a ride,” says Allen. “You’ll recover quicker for your next session.” Focus on the quadriceps – the muscles most prone to fatigue and cramping should be eased first with 30sec standing static quad stretches.
14. Build trophy-lifting arms
Building upper-body strength can translate into more force on the pedals, reveals research from Sweden’s Lund University. “Strength-work will improve your V0² max and contribute to your overall fitness,” says Mike Aunger. “Another key consideration for cyclists is that upper-body strength ensures full control of the bike, which in turn contributes to better speeds. Sportive riders should avoid bulking up with barbells but use body-weight moves that develop shoulder, bicep, tricep and chest strength – pull-ups and press-ups.”
15. Race recovery
Using Kinesio tape can, according to the Journal of Novel Physiotherapies, shorten your recovery time from injury. Studies found that the application of the tape produced faster improvement among shoulder-injury sufferers as compared with those not using the tape.
16. Make quick meal decisions.
A “If you like the taste of an energy drink, take that one and stick with it, as you’ll use it more often,” says Allen. “I am a big believer in electrolyte drinks that have plenty of sodium along with complex and simple carbs.” We use Biogen’s Cytogen and 32Gi’s Endure, depending on which tumbles out of the cupboard first.
B “When doing a longer ride, move from more complex foods to simple foods as you get closer to the finish,” advises Allen. “You might start out with a combination complex carb/protein bar or a ham/ cheese/jam sandwich at the beginning of the ride, then move to a pure carb bar, or carbo ‘jelly blocks’ and then in the last hour use some type of carb gel – it’s a combination to keep you fuelled long term.”
C “Measure your intake to reduce your risk of race setbacks,” says Allen. “You can only absorb 275 to 300 calories an hour without having to pull water out of your cells to absorb the extra calories.”
17. Pick a pacy posture
“Many riders sit on their saddle like they are sitting in their office chair with their ‘sit bones’ pointing down and then bending their lower back to reach the handlebars,” says Hunter Allen. This is sometimes the result of an incorrectly fit saddle that makes you numb, so you shy away from sensitive parts by “tucking” your bottom under like a scared dog. Sit on the saddle and roll your pelvis forward and poke your sit bones back and down, as if you were sitting in a corner and pressing against an invisible wall behind you. “This engages the gluteal muscles highly, allows your spine to be straight and long, and keeps your ribs open for maximum air intake,” says Allen. It changes your “contact point” on the seat too, so your saddle might not work any more.
18. Swap seats
So-called open-centre saddles “allow you to roll your pelvis forward and not pinch any important parts”, insists Allen. “If you are ‘tucking your tail’ under like a scared dog, you are leaving 30W on the table.”
19. Speed up
Simon Warren, author of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs of the Tour de France (about R110 from Kalahari.com), gives the inside track for faster climbing times:
- Don’t go too hard too soon, especially on a long climb; listen to your body. If you start following a wheel and overstretch yourself in the first few kilometres, you’ll be in real trouble towards the top. You need to find your own sweet spot where you can sustain a good speed without going too deep.
- Study the route before you ride – not to give yourself nightmares, but to avoid any surprises on the day.
- Ride smart – find a group of riders of a similar ability, ride neatly two abreast, swapping the lead and avoiding any heroics on the climbs, and the sum of your parts will get you round quicker.
20. Self-talk…
“Ask yourself ‘What are my goals?’ and adapt your training to fit that exactly,” says Michael Hutchinson, author of Faster: The Obsession, Science and Luck Behind the World’s Fastest Cyclists. “Too many club riders waste time by not focusing from the start on what they want from their training. Keep a record too – training diaries, especially online ones, are a great way of monitoring your progress and highlighting where or when you could be having problems or slowing up.”
21. The ABCs of faster cornering
A “Look all the way through the corner, as far as you can see, constantly extending your vision as you move through the corner. Keep your vision long and you’ll also be more able to judge the type of turn and speed you can easily go,” says Allen.
B “Most corners on bicycles are what we call ‘late apex’, meaning you ride farther into the turn than you think and then lean/carve the bike over so that you apex the corner near the back of the corner, exiting out towards the middle of the road.
“Many riders will try to hold the same line for the entire turn (typically inside the curve), and this is much slower than using more of the road,” he adds.
C “Your outside leg has to be straight, with the heel down and extended. This places more weight into the tyres, providing more grip and stability. At our cycling camps I constantly see riders who think their leg is straight and their heel extended, but in reality their knee is bent and their foot is flat or even has the heel up. Lock that leg and weight it hard,” Allen concludes.
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