Travel Time

August 7th, 2009 by Ron Callahan View Comments

http://www.flickr.com/photos/weasello/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

USA Cycling Level 2 Coach Bob Meinig of Campton Coaching Services is back with another training article This articles addresses things you can do to keep up your fitness while you’re traveling.

Get a few cyclists together, and invariably they will start talking about how their training has gone. Once the embellishment of how much or how little training everyone has accomplished has passed, invariably a comment such as, “I was flying like never before until I had to spend a bike-free week in Kiev for business” will pop up. This brings up two questions: How does taking an extended period of time off the bike effect performance, and how can one mitigate losing on-bike performance when traveling?

The first question is hard to quantify, as every person is a unique individual and will lose fitness at his/her own rate. However, in general terms one will start to see a drop in VO2Max (the ability of the body to transport and use oxygen), blood volume, and an increase in heart rate when a person stops training for more than a few days. Luckily, cycling economy takes much more time to devolve; a week or two off the bike isn’t going to turn a smooth-riding cyclist into an unbalanced, uncoordinated goof.

It therefore stands to reason that when faced with a forced layoff from the bike, retaining the cardiovascular gains made in previous training is key. But even before a trip, there are some things a cyclist can do to make the best use of time before, during, and after the trip.

The first thing to consider is what sort of training is scheduled before an excursion. Proper scheduling would be to place a hard workout or two in the days leading up to departure — that way, the day of travel (and possibly the day after) can be used as recovery days. For instance, if you have a trip scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday, you could schedule hard days on the preceding Monday and Tuesday, use Wednesday as a rest day, work out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and recover during the return trip on Sunday. That way the time between cycling-specific workouts is minimized, and you get the benefit of a few days rest.

So, what to do when it’s time to work out and you don’t have your bike? Assuming you have access to a health club while on the road, typical options that make sense for a cyclist are: stationary bike, rowing machine, elliptical machine, and Stairmaster. Each has particular plusses and minuses.

Many cyclists would rather do core workouts than get on a gym bike, be it because it’s not a “real” bike, or that they don’t feel comfortable with the seat or the riding position the bikes place you in. Take those arguments with a grain of salt — remember, the goal is not to increase your functional power threshold during your trip, it is to maintain your cardiovascular fitness as best as possible. Secondary consideration should be placed on doing an activity that either mimics your cycling movements as closely as possible, or a movement that helps develop a specific cycling weakness. What better way to mimic cycling movements than . . . cycling?! True, position might be hard to dial in, but unless you’re one of those people who needs your bike tuned to the nth degree, consider the stationary bike to be your friend. Most critical is to make sure you have the proper leg extension — you can do this by feel, eyeballing the bend of your knee at maximum extension, or by a borrowed tape measure (be sure to account for crankarm length).

Other machines that mimic part of the cycling motion are elliptical machines (the leg motion is similar to the pedal stroke), Stairmasters (effective for out-of-the-saddle climbing replication), and rowing machines (proper technique works the quadriceps along with the arm and back muscles used in pulling on the bars during climbing and/or sprinting).

Whichever machine you use, making sure you get a half-hour or more of time in during a workout is key. Too little time and you will not effectively maintain fitness, and past a certain time there are diminishing returns. Obviously for an experienced cyclist, a half-hour on a stationary bike might not even feel like a workout. In that case, 45 minutes to an hour might be a better goal. But when using an unfamiliar machine, a half-hour might raise the heart rate easily (and keep it high), and will also require usage of some muscles that might not be used to being used as prime movers for endurance training.

If the machine has preprogrammed interval workouts, it doesn’t hurt to use one; however, the shorter the interval periods are, the less and less they help a cyclist. You’re not going to turn into the next Mark Cavendish through 15 second intervals on a rowing machine. It’s best to keep the intervals on the longer side and keep the aerobic system humming along.

One overlooked activity is running. You don’t need a workout facility unless you want to run on a treadmill, and it’s the one activity that is almost always doable. However, unless you’ve been running somewhat consistently, running for 20 minutes to half an hour should be enough for any cyclist. Make sure the first 5-10 minutes is at a ridiculously easy pace, and unless you’ve been running before, take the rest of the run at an easy pace.

Lastly, hotel time can also be used to strengthen your core. Crunches, planks, and bridges can be done almost anywhere.

To recap:

Schedule your workouts around travel so that part of your time away is used as recovery time.
Find a machine that mimics a cycling motion or a weakness.
Keep intervals long.
Aerobic workout time should be 30 minutes and up.
Don’t overlook running as an option!
Strengthen your core.

For more information:

Email: info@camptoncoaching.com

Web: www.camptoncoaching.com

Telephone: 630-631-1070

Tags: ASO, bike, bikes, cycling, Mark Cavendish