Training tips for the upcoming race season

While it may seem that the upcoming racing season is light years away, it’s sure to arrive faster than you expected. If you don’t start preparing now, your first race will be here before you even dust off the indoor trainer!

So if you don’t want to get dropped on the first spring ride, start doing these five things today!

1. Rest and Recover

If you do one thing this winter to prepare for next season, it should be rest. Sit, lie down, take a cat nap, sleep all day, whatever you want.

Everyone focuses on their intervals, training rides, and/or strict diets, and then they forget about resting properly! You need to take some time away from the bike and away from the gym, and you should even take a break from thinking about cycling so your mind can get a rest, too.

There are a few reasons for this. First, the rest gives your muscles a chance to recuperate and rebuild themselves. Second, it allows some time for your body to recover from overuse injuries (being hunched over on a bike, spinning your legs at 90 rpm all summer long takes a toll.) Third, and possibly most important, is that some time away from the bike will let you come back with renewed excitement for riding!

2. Cross Training (and Core Conditioning)

Once you’re all rested up, you need to improve your full-body strength so that you can withstand a season full of long, strenuous rides. See, cycling requires a strong core and fairly strong arms, but it does nothing more than build your quads. So if you want the strength to maneuver your bike up 21 switchbacks, you’ll need to do more than ride.

There are quite a few ways to do this. You could do some running, which works the upper body a bit more than cycling, and since it’s a weight-bearing exercise, it will build your bones and help prevent osteoporosis. You could also try weight lifting, calisthenics, or one of the many core-conditioning workout programs you can find these days. Any of those should strengthen your core and increase your stamina so you can ride faster, longer.

3. Flexibility Training

As nice as it is to have big quads and a strong core to help deliver power to your legs, you won’t be getting the most out of your muscles if they are tight and constricted. Take a yoga class or two this winter and you won’t regret it!

Not only will you feel better and ride more comfortably in an aerodynamic position, you’ll be more relaxed all day long.

4. Lose Weight

Here’s the tough one, but it’s here for a reason. Anyone that’s ever dieted during an intense training schedule knows that it doesn’t work. If you are training hard, you need to eat; it’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, that means that you need to diet right now, during the off-season… but if you keep the weight down now, you’ll be able to eat quite a bit once your spring training plan starts!

5. Ride

While the off-season is a time for rest and cross-training, riding your bike once a week or so is a good idea. If you don’t ride at all, your body is going to hurt after your first 20 mile cruise in the spring. That’s why I advocate riding just enough to make sure your body doesn’t forget what cycling is!

Do those five things and you should be on your way to riding strong all season long!

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This article was contributed by Levi Bloom, an avid cyclist and elite mountain bike racer. For more of his cycling and fitness tips, take a look at CoachLevi.com.

Photo Credits: Cat Nap | Yoga | Snowy Bikes

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