THE 'GET READY FOR BIKE SEASON' WORKOUT - 2/26/08
If you intend to road race this season, start working towards winning right now. That's the advice of Max Testa, the physician and sports scientist who is considered the "Conditioning Genius" of the bike racing world.
"Bike racers should be doing some cross training through the winter; cross country skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing; so that they don't have to start from zero in training their cardiovascular system," Testa says.
But if you been "resting" through the winter, Testa advises that it's time to start building your condition. "Start with low intensity rides, between one and two hours. Try to keep the cadence at 90 or more rpm. Build the total volume of what you do in terms of miles or hours per week over the next four to six weeks," he says.
The soft beginning and gradual build up of effort allows you to signal your body that you are improving your conditioning, without the force and sudden effort that pushes your systems to their limits, a kind of redlining that sets you up for a future injury
But Testa, who is from Italy, advises, "Low intensity doesn't mean to go slow. Stay at a pace where you perceive the effort as between moderate and strong. Once or twice a week, begin introducing interval training; where you alternate three or four minutes at a strong intensity, and two or three easy minutes. Include short sprints of eight to 10 seconds. Try to reach a high cadence rather than a high speed."
He explains that the purpose of the sprints is to train the brain to coordinate the muscles which fire during each pedal stroke. "It's one way to wake up your muscle memory," Testa says.
After two or three weeks, gradually start to climb hills for 10-15 minutes at a time, using a regular pace. Begin to do an intensity ride at least once a week, and choose another day for a long ride. "The longer ride should gradually become more challenging, with three to four climbs of 15 minutes each at a good pace, with an intensity you perceive as strong, but feel you could sustain for at least an hour."
Here is where the racing meets the road. "If you are not there to win the Tour de France, and you want to just enjoy riding, you can go by sensation. You can train so that it feels like you are putting out a lot of effort. You can let your bike training (be) more a matter of perception. But competitive athletes need to be more precise, because the body doesn't all the time tell you to improve. The athletes that do better, in general, are the ones who follow more structured programs, what we call periodized training."
Periodization is training according to an ever-progressive program, gradually putting more of a load on the body as it adapts to a higher level of conditioning. Testa has used this kind of training on champion cyclists such as Lance Armstrong, Dave Phinney and Andy Hampton, among others.
Now Testa has teamed up with Eric Heiden, the bulging-thighed speedskater in the golden suit who won every men's race, and five gold medals, in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Heiden is one of the few elite athletes to successfully switch to another sport; he became a champion cyclist before going to medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.
The two run training camps for road cycling racers on all levels, including American international champion Levi Leipheimer and high school cyclists from all over the U. S.