How can cycling training achieve better results in less time?

Even today, the motto of Mox, the king of chariots, “Many rides are king” still holds true. Achieving good results in endurance sports requires constant persistence and accumulation of training. However, for cyclists with full-time jobs, time is like water in a sponge, and there is always a limit to how much you can squeeze.Now, maybe we should listen to the less is more training philosophy, so that you get better results with the same amount of training time, but you only need less time to get the same results.

HIIT High Intensity Interval Training

Multiple sprints or high-intensity interval training is a highly effective way for amateurs to improve. Do 10 to 40 seconds of hard work, repeat for 6 to 8 sets, and rest for 30 seconds to a minute or so in between each set. If you do short intervals once or twice a week, your anaerobic capacity, lactate threshold, and growth hormone and testosterone will increase. These physiological responses cause you to build muscle and burn fat. A study of 22 riders found that switching part of their training routine to interval training improved their 40km time trial performance by 8%.

It should be noted that high-intensity interval training may drain the body, and beginners should not use this training method frequently.

Strength Training

When riders just ride instead of going to the gym, their endurance increases accordingly. After a few months, however, their maximum strength diminishes. Interval training may help, but there’s a more effective way: strength training with heavy weights.

Strength training is especially effective for female and older drivers, who are biologically more prone to losing muscle mass.

Studies have shown that even young male cyclists who add strength training once a week to their training (with a corresponding reduction in the total training time per week) experience significant improvements in their 30-second maximum power and 40-minute time trials.

Correct Arm Posture

The standard correct riding posture is the premise of maintaining speed, without the correct riding posture, there is no skill to speak of, let alone do not want to maintain 25 km speed for a long time. When riding, the natural body can not be uncomfortable, if there is any buttock pain, neck pain, arm and wrist pain, legs do not stretch, etc. will definitely affect the quality of riding, speed is naturally difficult to maintain.

When riding, a lot of riders in unconsciously will hand support on the handlebar, elbow bends inward, wrist die hard everywhere. The forearms are too hard, the elbows are too straight, the wrists have no room to move. If you ride dozens of kilometers like this, you say your arm, shoulder and wrist don’t hurt.

Maintaining proper riding arm posture is simple. Always pay attention to shoulder posture and place your hands gently on the handlebars! A slightly forward feel at the shoulders, allowing the elbows to keep some room for extension, then clamping under the armpits to help stabilize the body. Each person arm flexibility joint flexibility has different, can imitate the riding posture of master, but not completely copy. I feel more, more adjustment, more pay attention to find the problem, it is easy to find a best arm posture.

Focus On Warming Up and Relaxing

Warming up allows the body to enter the state faster and avoid muscle, cartilage, tendon and other tissue damage caused by sudden force. After exercise, it is necessary to ease and relax in time, otherwise long-term exercise will cause lactic acid accumulation, resulting in muscle soreness and stiffness. The relaxation method is very simple, can be completed in the car, for example, plan to ride for two hours, can be 20 minutes before and after to ride slowly. Can also be based on this, do some stretching exercises, in situ, lunge pull leg is a good choice.