By Eric Kenney

I get this question often this time of yr. “how do you NOT train?” Especially for the competitive cyclist or triathlete who has been racing all summer, sometimes every weekend, not training hard and racing all the time can feel very strange.

The Off Season:
First off I want to stress the word “OFF” in off season. Off means Off! The first and most important aspect of your next season is being totally fresh and completely motivated for next season. Now is the time to start that process.

Less is better here. Catch up on work, family, and drop off the bike at the shop for a tune up. Have them check it over for cracks in the frame along with full safety check. Racing is very hard on your equipment. The key with this faze is to make sure you are 110% ready to start training come the start of your program. The under trained, over motivated athlete will beat the perfectly training under motivated athlete every time! Come the beginning of “base training” you should be itching to train. It should be all you think about, so when its 20 degrees and freezing rain, your pumped up and ready to put in a solid training effort! This is also the best time to sit down with your coach and/or teammates to discus what your goals will be for next year. How did you perform this year? What was good? What was bad? What will have to be different with your preparation for 20, etc

Here are five easy steps for an effective off season.

1. Off time:
Take an extended time of ZERO training. This will be deferent for every one. 2 weeks for some, 2 months for others. How ever much time you need to be totally rested and motivated to train again.

Read the rest of this entry �

By Eric Kenney

It’s that time of year when we all start to race or think about it. For many of us some of these first races are non-priority races or “training races”. There are a few different ideas as to what a training race is and how it should be done. Some people think that it just means you don’t taper and “training through it” giving us a nice excuse for not doing well. In fact a training race is a prim opportunity to get great training, important experience and test our self’s in the exact environment that we are training to excel in the first place. Here are a few key points to consider and plan out when doing your early season race’s and race simulation workouts.

1. Its still a Race: A training race is NOT a time to waste $60 (or what ever) in gas and entry fee to ride around in a circle with a bunch of other spandex clad freaks for the heck of it! It is an opportunity to really test your self, in the field and against your peers instead of yourself. With this, aim for a specific, measurable goal. While this training race will not require a 3 week peeking phase you should take the few days before to make sure you are well rested and ready for a good effort, physically, mentally and with all your equipment working 100%! You have committed the money, time, energy, the sacrifice of getting up at, still dark out-thirty to meet at some random office park. Make it worth while!

Read the rest of this entry �

By Eric Kenney

By the time we rest get re-focused and on track again it’s winter. Don’t despair! Before we get to specifics lets go over a few points so we don’t get side tracked this winter.

We all have different ideas on winter training. For some it is a vital time of year, laying the foundation for a big race mid summer or tuning speed for the early season du-athlons/Crits. For some, winter will be a success if we gain less than 10 pounds. What ever your motivations for this winter; balancing a structured plan with a good dose of spontaneity will get you in the best form ever, physically and mentally.

Outlook:
If you live in the northern states or anywhere that snows in the winter, and you’re not a pro, you simply can’t train as much in the winter. With darkness coming around 4:30pm, frigid morning temps and icy roads it just not possible. We won’t even get into jobs, girl friends, kids, wives, the patriots game schedule, etc…

So now that we are at peace with the fact that we simply can’t put in as much time as we may want, We can focus on what to do with the time we have.

Getting started:
Find a routine. With cold temps, warm beds and stale indoor air it is easy to get “off track”. Try to find some kind of routine. This could be one workout or rendezvous with a friend per week. ie. “every Wednesday morning John and I run together, no matter what.” “Thursday night I do the spinning class at my gym.” This one appointment can be the back bone of your winter success. Find something that works with your schedule so it will be easy to keep this date and not get side tracked.
This can work for you in a great way if this one workout focuses on your weakness. I have known athletes to turn there swim that puts them 5 minutes down to 1 minute up, over the course of one winter!

The bike:
These time constraints really hit hard when trying to work on your bike, especially if you are training for an early season race that’s long. First thing to do is invest in the proper warm clothes. Water/wind proof booties and gloves. Warm tights, thermal cycling jacket, hat or helmet cover. Investing in proper cycling winter gear will make your cold rides more enjoyable, more effective, and maybe a bit longer. One trick for cold feet is to use shoes 1 size to big and put in two insoles. And don’t jam your feet in there with to many socks. You’ll restrict circulation and have lumps for wood for feet in less than an hour.

The trainer can be your worst enemy and your best ally all at once. If you are going to improve your riding regular visits to the trainer will be a must but they don’t have to be torture.

• 1. Don’t do the same thing day in day out. Mix it up with different workouts and the amount of time you spend on it. Try something new once every 2 weeks or so. Like watching football with your buddies 3- 4 hr’s with big gear climbs every commercial, sprints every field goal, and hard tempo every time your team is on offence would make even Mark Allan slump over the handle bars by the final 2 minute drill.
• 2. Keep your mind busy. When you’re not with your friends watch TV, listen to the radio, etc.
• 3. Stay focused. I have just given you ways to distract your self from your work but the best way I find to make time fly is to have specific workout and stick to it. To the second. Warm up, cool down, some 10 minute strength intervals, rest intervals. You’ll find that riding for less than an hour becomes pretty difficult.

RIDE LONGER, PEDAL STRONGER!

Do you wonder what it would be like to finish your first 100-mile bike ride, or have you just completed a century, and now wonder “ok, what’s next?” If so, then Join the INTEGRATE Performance Fitness “INTEGRATE 100″ Century Specific Training Program. Whether there is a Triple Crown jersey hanging in your closet, or you are brand new to the Century scene, our program will take your riding to the next level!

Led by Santa Clara University Cycling Team head coaches, and INTEGRATE Performance Fitness functional strength experts, Jamii North (USA Cycling Coach) and Al Painter, our proven program is designed to help you ride longer and pedal stronger.

We have put together a team of extremely qualified cycling enthusiasts whose experience ranges from road and mountain bike racing to those who have successfully led Team In Training participants across the finish line in style to bring you the most enjoyable two-wheeled experience possible by:

• Increasing Your Fitness Levels Both On and Off the Bike
• Exponentially Improving Your Bike Handling Skills
• Enhancing Your Power in the Saddle
• Helping You Flatten Out Hills Through Improved Climbing Technique
• Eliminating Aches and Pains that Keep You From Performing Your Best on the Bike
• Giving You the Most Effective Performance Nutrition Strategies

Read the rest of this entry �

Colorado Springs, CO – Carmichael Training Systems is excited to announce the release of two new titles to their already successful line of training DVD’s. Due out on the retail sales shelves in November of this year, athletes will be able to maintain and improve their fitness level with Carmichael Training Systems Core Strength for Cyclists and Triathletes and the Progressive Power series DVD’s.

Carmichael Training Systems Progressive Power ($34.99 MSRP/each or $149/set) is a series of five (5) DVD’s, each containing three 1-hr power-training workouts recorded over 8-weeks of sessions at the CTS headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO. Designed specifically to improve power output on the bike, each Progressive Power DVD can be used independently or combined to get 16 power workouts that research proves can increase your overall sustainable power by 12% (Klika, et al., 2007). Included free with each order is the Progressive Power Field Test DVD which will allows athletes to establish personal HR or Power ranges to be used with each workout.

Read the rest of this entry �

Boulder, CO, USA - Just in time for off-season training, VeloPress is pleased to announce the release of Weight Training for Cyclists: A Total Body Program for Power and Endurance by Ken Doyle and Eric Schmitz. The book is now available in the U.S. and Canada in bookstores, bike shops, and online.

Cyclists need more than just powerful quads and chiseled calves. Cyclists need total body strength-a strong core and solid upper body-to ride with power and endurance. Put simply, stronger muscles last longer and stabilize the body, improving technique and efficiency.

Weight Training for Cyclists is the only book available that shows cyclists how they can get stronger to ride stronger. The authors explain how strength training in the weight room translates to endurance and power on the bike.

New in this second edition are easy-to-follow drawings that clearly demonstrate strength training exercises. Doyle and Schmitz update exercises to include the newest weight training equipment and present the latest information from new research on core strength, nutrition, stretching, and warm-up.

Weight Training for Cyclists presents a series of training plans that require only a fraction of the time that cyclists spend in the saddle. For newcomers and veterans alike, Weight Training for Cyclists will become their fundamental guide to better performance.

Weight Training for Cyclists: A Total Body Program for Power and Endurance, 2nd Ed.
Ken Doyle and Eric Schmitz
Paperback | 6″ x 9″, 224 pp. | VP-WTC2, $18.95 | 978-1-934030-29-5

• This is the only book on weight training for cyclists.
• All-new illustrations for clarity and ease of use
• Includes new chapter on stretching and warm-up
• Expanded coverage of core strength and lower-body strength exercises

Ken Doyle, a licensed coach with the U.S. Cycling Federation, is an exercise physiologist certified by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He’s a competitive road racer, coaches a road and a mountain bike team, and is also the head coach of the Santa Barbara Special Olympics Cycling Team.

Eric Schmitz has a degree in Exercise Physiology and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He is a Level I USAT triathlon coach and the creator of two strength and conditioning DVDs.

By Eric Kenney

Your thinking “its Thanksgiving! What could I possibly do for training??? Turkey Carving is some of the best deltoid training there is! This will make you more stable on the bike and resist fatigue longer! Don’t miss the opportunity. Actually I am kidding. Thanksgiving marks the beginning on the holidays and the beginning of the long difficult road to start training again. I myself, have fallen victim to the following scenario before. First its time to rest, then turkey day comes along, then Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. which slams full speed into new years. Throw some travel for work in there, a vacation and maybe a wedding (went to a new years wedding a few years back. Best time ever) and the next thing you know its February, your turning 29. Again. And you are barely going to get in 6 weeks of base training before spring.

What to do?

Its time to plan. The answer here is this is not the time to stress about training but to plan ahead. And before we can plan ahead one must look back at the past. Looking at your past year or more of racing and training can be the best thing you do in planning for the next season.
Here are some steeps to get you on the road to success.

• 1. Write down your general goals. Things that you want to focus on in general. Ie. Become a stronger runner, spend more time training on the bike.
• 2. Then write down specific training objectives: these can be precisely measured. Increase threshold wattage to 300. Run sub 30:30 minute 10k, etc.
• 3. Then write down your goals, “win the state championships”. For races write down there dates and rank them in priority.
• 4. Most importantly identify your weak areas.

Finding these can be harder than it seems. Here are a few methods for analyzing your season and finding your weakness to get you started right in 2009.

Step one: Analyze Your Season
Did you meet your racing goals and training objectives? Did you peak when you wanted to? Did you go as fast as you predicted? These should be pretty simple yes or no questions. Look then at your training objectives as stated above. . They should be measurable goals that are stair steps to you major goals. If you did not meet your major goals of the year the answer, or at least part of the answer, to why may be right there. As you keep looking into why you did or did not meet your goals look at everything: job, personal life, relationship, etc. Stress out side of the athletic world is the number cause of people under performing. If you’re a lawyer working 60+ hours a week and training 20 hours a week as well as being a mother or father, you may be setting out about things in the wrong manner. There are only so many hours in the day!

Note what worked for you and what did not. The things that worked you will want to keep in your bag of tricks as these things will likely work again. The things that didn’t work, get rid of them! We’ll come up with something better!