Cycling is one of the best sports in terms of availability, affordability, and difficulty level. Anyone can learn to cycle consistently in a few weeks, but if you’re eager to become a professional, you need to train more than an hour per day.
Cycling has numerous benefits for one’s health, including protection from common diseases like stroke and diabetes, but it can also help with managing anxiety and depression. Hence, you’ve got all the reasons to introduce this sport into your lifestyle, as you don’t need expensive gear.
In addition, cycling works all your muscles, so you’ll be fit. It can also be as intense or easy as you want, so if you cycle to lose weight, you can do it in a healthy way and in your own rhythm.
But if you want to do it like a pro, you may need additional training to succeed. Here are our recommendations.
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Interval training is needed for endurance
As a cyclist, you will need to build endurance for long-term cycling sessions and overcome your physical capabilities. The best way to achieve this goal is to approach interval training, which consists of alternating exercises of different requirements in the same workout. Such training sessions can include low—and high-intensity exercises followed by pause intervals.
Although the beginning of interval training will be difficult, over time, you’ll be able to build endurance and improve your performance, which will result in fewer injuries and burnout. Still, you must start slow and be wary of your physical capabilities to avoid overtraining.
It’s also recommended to take enough time for recovery. During this period, you should sleep well and eat plenty of nutritious foods. You should also make cycling easier if you want to keep training at a lower intensity. So, you might want to get an affordable electric bike that will still keep you active during recovery.
Strength training is required for power
Although cycling is a low-impact sport, it requires strength training to improve performance. Strength helps you overcome any type of terrain and allows you to better control your cycling.
Strength training is quite easy to approach, and you can do it at home, too. Some exercises can be done without equipment, but others need to be accompanied by something heavy to build up muscle.
Here are some strength training examples:
- Lunges have a lot of variations and can be done everywhere;
- Kettlebell swings help improve your pedal stroke;
- Deadlifts are great for the legs, backs and core muscles;
- Burpees burn calories and increase your heart rate, but you can also ride an Upway electric bike;
Luckily, with strength training, you can choose your favorite types of exercises and create a schedule that fits your lifestyle. You don’t have to approach complex workouts because the results will come more from consistency than difficulty.
Sweet spot training helps climb any hill
One of the most challenging tasks in cycling is climbing hills, which can be of different intensity. As a beginner and even intermediate cyclist, you’ll find it difficult to climb without losing your breath, so you should consider training for this specific task.
Sweet spot training involves improving your Functional Threshold Power (FTP), where you achieve better aerobic capabilities effectively. Usually, exercises from this type of workout are pretty challenging, but you may still be able to perform two or more times a week. There are three levels of difficulty, so you can choose the one that fits your current physical capacity. For instance, the low-volume training should be done three times a week, each session starting from one hour up to three hours.
As usual, you start a workout with a warm-up. Then, you’ll continue with several series of progressions on your workouts to increase intensity. While the planning can be quite tricky, the effort will provide excellent results. Just make sure you fuel and hydrate your body properly.
Nutrition is the most important
Although nutrition doesn’t seem like a crucial role in this sport, as your goal is not to increase your muscles, you still need something to power up your body and fuel energy. You can assess how much you need to eat based on your resting metabolic state (RMR), which helps you estimate how many calories per day will help you become a pro.
After determining the number you strike as a goal, try to prioritize macronutrients. They consist of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and they help your cycling performance by maintaining high levels of fuel. So, the base of your shopping list should look like this:
- Carbs: veggies, fruits and grains;
- Protein: chicken and tofu;
- Fat: avocado, tuna and olive oil;
Of course, you can expand the shopping list based on these elements, but make sure they’re healthy and not processed.
What about nutrition during cycling?
Besides maintaining a healthy diet, you also need to fuel your body during your cycling sessions or workouts. Usually, carbs are recommended to increase performance and improve consistency, as you’ll notice that your body will be able to sustain more effort.
Indeed, a short ride only requires a bottle of water and some gels, but if you exceed an hour of cycling, you might need to eat some protein bars, for instance. Moreover, you must consume some nutrients after the session, such as nuts, a banana or plain Greek yogurt, to restore your glycogen levels and help your body recover. You may need to experiment with food and snacks to find what works best for you so you won’t be starving or feeling sick, either.
Conclusion
If you just started cycling and want to increase your physical effort, you need to do some additional workouts and exercises. During intense cycling sessions, your muscles will need to withstand the effort, so you should try strength and endurance training. At the same time, be careful about what you eat and how much since food helps replenish your body’s energy and boost your performance. Lastly, take enough time for recovery.
