4 What are the Pros doing? How do they train? - Part 2

1. First of all, what is the RIGHT gene? And like a recent post from Sprinter della Casa's blog, he says that if one does not have good foundations for the sport, he probably won't be successful and likened that to a building's foundations. Foundations can mean many things. Does it have to be all genetic? I don't know. The fact is, no one knows!

Its easy to generalize genetic foundation with the foundations of a building.

I find it laughable. The way structures work have been analyzed inside out. Its relatively EASY for qualified people to work out through equations and computer analysis and tests what not.

The human body is immensely COMPLEX.

So complex that even the top medical experts like gene scientists don't know for sure which gene codes for superior sporting performance.

So when these people have no accurate information, I don't understand why the rest of us below should be coming up with generalizations that genes overpower any training effects. We still don't know what sport worthy genetic material is.

2. No study I have read yet had solid reasons to attribute physiological differences (like muscle fiber ratios for example) in people from different backgrounds to genetic factors. For example, take sprinting, a type 2 muscle fibre action. Virtually all available evidence suggests that no, a sprinter's muscular makeup is not predetermined by genetics.

3. Height may be certainly genetic, and so would one have a weight corresponding to height but there are lifestyle factors that influence what weight you have. A 400 lb person can lose 200 pounds if he really puts his mind to it. We hear about extra ordinary stories like this. How did he get there in the first place? Were his parents obese? Maybe, but is that a definite conclusion? On another extreme, why are Kenyans skinny? Check out how they live.
World champs with different lives, very simple ones.

So I don't think there is a magical weight figure tied permanently to anyone.

4. How do you attain 400 watts of power. Certainly with training right? A new Cat 5 racer probably will not put that much power on a climb, a seasoned veteran will.

Pros that line up the tour probably have very systematic, scientific training methods. Its not something that they jote down the night before in their training diaries and say, 'ok I'll do this and this tomorrow.'

Yet none of us question how they train. We are more likely to be comfortable reading crap from a website, or taking the advice of a coach. Far more of us train uselessly and end up with overtraining and fatigue. We don't understand rest and recovery. We don't understand how the body works.

I don't believe that sort of training will get you anywhere.

Find out how successful people train, just like you can be successful in other endeavors by learning from people in that field. Napolean Hills success books talks specifically about what people did to become successful in its case studies. Do we have a Napolean Hill for cyclists? He could be used in a way for cycling, but it probably won't do you good because he won't tell you how the successful racers train.

5. Being feather weight and able to crank 400 watts is not everything. Ask a foot ball player to do the same, and he might. But for how long?

My point is that training helps the body work more economically through stronger hearts, bigger lungs, and by managing lactate better. Lance could crank 33-34 mph for maybe an hour. Was that genetic? Maybe yes, maybe no. Who knows? Show me a scientific study on how better his body was, than say, Jan Ullrich's, by how much, and how much of that is behind his victories. (Or you may read the book From Lance to Landis : The American Doping Controversy, and dispose of all fairy tales you saw about Lance on discovery channel.)

And could he have done the same when he just got into cycling?


6. There are also many other complex factors (financial, personal, diet, family) etc that come into the equation and determine whether a person with so called "good genes" makes it at all to the pro circuit. If genetics were everything, East Africans should be massing at the start line at pro races and Boonen would be just another figure in the peleton. Oh, I'm dying to watch a scenario like this. Boonen being shamed at a sprint by a native African. Oooooo...

My point is that its easy for most of us to make a mistake with the whole genetic superiority idea. I did that last year. Until I started thinking clearly.

What I also have to advise people choosing to believe this is that its easy to limit ourselves with the "genes makes perfect" issue. I would say try different training strategies to break that Cat 2 web. What are you doing wrong? Patience and lots of time gets you where you are, nothing is achieved over the course of the night.

None of us really look at how the pro's train. The lame person watching the Tour on Versus TV doesn't have valuable information on what exactly and specifically his favorite rider did to get to where he was.

Sorry, you may think I was crying and whining about this, but I'm really not. I just lusted for my perfect Christmas gift for all time.

Training diaries of the most successful cyclists on the planet, not necessarily limited to the Pros. Pros have all the time they want and their 'office time' is actually ON the bike.

I probably won't emulate every single thing written in the diaries. I'll decide what to do with that material after getting it.

Get me their training diaries... all of them.

Bottom line : Don't limit yourself with the gene pool idea. Train smart and take rest. Genes suck. I love my mom and dad but you know what, I won't waste my time thinking genes and letting it dictate where I go. Neither should you.

5 What are the Pros doing? How do they train? - Part 1

Its funny, you go to all these other cycling blogs and the authors tell you want they want for Christmas.

You know what I want for Christmas?

Not that ultra high modulus carbon fiber bike I saw on Colnago's website.

No, not that 15 g bottle cage, or Magnesium hoops. or 10 pairs of Assos or the Ti-Boron skewers or a library's worth of books and dvd's of all the past year's Classics from Paris-Nice to the race of the falling leaves.

Maybe its slightly shocking. Maybe you've never thought of it.

But here is what I want.

All I want is a carton full of training diaries of some of the best cyclists of all time , Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi (he probably just drank the whole time, rather than writing a diary), Lance Armstrong (fingers crossed), Gino Bartali, Tom Boonen, Robbie Mceven, Rasmussen, Contador, George Hincapie, Nicole Cooke etc etc etc etc.

I'm getting a little wild with that, but my point is this : I, as a learner, as a student of cycling as my blog claims, want to know how exactly, word to word, specifically-to-the-point, the riders whose faces we have all memorized train. What have they done since the beginning of their careers, or from the time they took to serious cycling at all. Are their any common threads that unite them?

A side thought is this. An average Joe sitting and watching the Tour on Versus TV or scavenging the archives of PezCycling News will hardly ever come up with any useful material that he can apply. I'm talking about how pro's train.

Instead, most of us are far more prone to be ENTERTAINED with a top cyclists's career, or that unimaginable win. Lance Armstrong, Eddy Merckx, Pantani etc, legends in their own rights, have become just simple personalities for us. We call them gods or angels or whatever, which is totally crap for me because I don't think they are fit in any sense to be called god, and I hate this whole manmade idea of a god, just another form of idol worship. Anyway, so why are they gods? Because their unreachable, you can't touch them, neither can anyone else. Their strength on the Alpine hills or those pancake flat stretches of French country side that perfectly suits a breakaway is simply unimaginable. We can't be like them.

So we simply watch them on TV or read about them in books. We look at them and say, Oh, he was the greatest, he was the strongest, he could win a race on empty stomach with a bed head right after waking up.

"If you give Eddy Merckx a bicycle in this position, he'll still win. Genes!"

Which is not really bad. I get crazy when as a result of this hero worship, people bring another, much LESS understood topic into the picture.

Genes!

Yes, haven't we all at some point stepped up and said, Oh you know what, he rides like that because of his genes. I don't have it so I can't be like him, or win races like he does. Some coaches also bring this idea up frequently instead of focusing on motivating their riders.

Not really true in its full sense. What really happens is that the average joe's start discussing this among themselves and this idea that genes are needed to win races becomes sing song. These people then tend to believe that even strength vs weight ratio is genetic. As much as I like the idea that certain people are better on the bike than others, I find this whole "genetics is greater than any effort you put" idea totally biased and over simplistic. These people see everything in a black and white paradigm. They say they can't get that elusive victory because they don't have the right genes. They are not meant for it and yada yada yada.

I have a few points to make here. Read on if you're interested and if someone wants to challenge me, go ahead. Read Part 2.

0 Squats for Cyclists

Being an engineering student, time is a resource I would die to get more of. Having said that, when going to the gym, all I want to look for is some of the best and most efficient exercises that will get my job done, without spending unnecessary time. What job?

In an earlier post, I talked about the muscles a cyclist uses to pedal. And what is a more beautiful exercise to build up those muscles than the age old classic squat. Simply a king among exercises, it is especially nice for cyclists because :

1. It is inherently a compound exercise, bringing into play a number of big and important muscle groups such as those on the lower back, knee and thighs. Without any external form of support, your stabilizers and your core get a real workout. Especially those glutes man! Think about it, chimpanzees have underdeveloped gluteal muscles. Do you want to look like a bike racer or a chimpanzee?


2. It works the cardio system by developing thoracic expansion and respiratory capacity.

The efficacy of squats in the rest room and during birth (classic style) have also been observed.

The squat is a top exercise to do during the strength phase of the periodization cycle. What I typically do is to select a weight I can lift 15-20 reps on (40-60% 1 Rep Max) and then do 2-3 reps, controlling my form, breathing and my speed of movement the whole time. I visualize how I ride my bike then, how my thighs move through the range of motion while pedaling and try and imitate that same form.

Toward the end of the strength phase, I'll bring the weights up by 20-30% to favor adaptation. Then I'll plan on doing higher intensity workouts on my bike after that to put that gained strength into actual application.

With all this said, I simply think the squat is becoming a forgotten exercise. I also feel this simple movement is becoming extinct in our daily activities. Since the marketing of the most comfortable chairs, the European toilet bowl/seat system, and other technological unnecessities to make one perform lesser and lesser work by the day, the squat is slowly being flushed down the toilet (excuse the pun). We are becoming more lazier and our bodies are turning into a rigid and stubborn package of muscle and bone.

Now we have the luxury of performing this only in the setting of a gym.

Two pages from an excellent book on my shelf, called Strength Training Anatomy

While you zoom in and read (using an image viewer), pay attention to the orange highlighted text at the bottom of the second page on how to create a BLOCK

5 CSC bike on sale

Yes, on Ebay is Carlos Sastre's Tour ridden R3 for auction. All proceeds to CSC are supposedly going as charity to a South African cycling center. Save some of that Christmas money for this one.

Its raining and snowing out here in Buffalo. Seems like that misleading winter has finally kicked in. Its beautiful to watch. When I get cold, I hop on the trainer. Speaking of trainers, there isn't any in the market to which you can fix your fixie to, can you? I've a bunch of ideas..

0 The call of the offseason

I've started running for the past one month, from 6-10 miles each session. Its the best cross sport. Especially since my resources are low, I cannot get into something where I'll have to spend money. Cycling has eaten my wallet. Yesterday I lifted at the gym, doing a circuit style workout. Today I'm a little sore and I love it.

Getting one's mind off the bike, and focusing on other aspects of conditioning before the next season is the purpose of off season. Or you'll burnout! And you may break your bones... Well, atleast highlighted by this article that I came across in LA TIMES. I like the idea of playing soccer. Sweet... Hey, scroll down and check out the "core stability exercises" link in my honeycomb on the left.

Cycling may shortchange bones

A little high-impact exercise can help prevent osteoporosis, experts say.
By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 22, 2007


CYCLING is terrific exercise, hitting the cardiovascular system and major muscle groups simultaneously -- but it may not be the best thing for building strong bones. Compared with male runners, male cyclists appear more likely to have lower-than-normal bone density.

"You would think that cyclists are very healthy because they spend all those hours training," says Pam Hinton, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and coauthor of the study accepted for publication in the journal Metabolism. "In other aspects they are -- cardiovascular health and body composition. But in this one aspect, they're not doing so well."

The study tested the bone mineral density of 27 cyclists and 16 runners ages 20 to 59 who had engaged in their sport a minimum of six hours a week for at least two years. Hinton controlled for diet, past exercise and weight training. Whole body scans and blood tests showed that 63% of cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip, compared with 19% of the runners.

Osteopenia is bone mineral density that's lower than normal but not so low to be considered osteoporosis, or very low bone mineral density. Not all who have osteopenia will develop osteoporosis, and treatment isn't always required.

Some of those with osteopenia were in their 20s and 30s, "and that was pretty alarming to me," Hinton says. "I thought I'd just see it in guys who were older and had been riding for years."

In general, men may not be as much at risk for low bone density as women -- especially postmenopausal women. But Hinton believes they should be concerned because osteopenia can lead to osteoporosis and injuries such as hip fractures.

Bone cells are surrounded by fluid that, when hit with an impact force, moves back and forth. That action signals to the bone cells to add more mass."You lose bone mass quickly if there isn't some kind of mechanical loading on the bone," Hinton says.

That, she adds, best comes from movement involving impact -- running, playing basketball or soccer, or doing plyometric exercises such as jumping.

Weight training can also exert force on the bone, says Hinton, but not as much as during impact, perhaps accounting for the lower bone mineral density in cyclists. Some of the study participants protested that the muscle contractions that occur when pedaling and standing on the pedals should account for some impact. "But the pedal is moving with you," she says. "You don't have the earth resisting your body."

Hinton recommends that cyclists add a little variety to their workouts to help increase bone density: running, playing basketball, jumping rope or doing plyometrics a couple of times a week.

"When you're young, you should be maximizing your bone density," she says, "and as you get older, exercise slows the rate of loss. So it's really important no matter where you are in your life to be doing some kind of bone-loading exercise."

jeannine.stein@latimes.com