Hey peeps
I have a client tonight that i treat regular, he's a mid twenties male, cyclist, road and mountain bike, competes at national level, has been number one. he regularly trains, has a mostly standing around job, posture is good, no really issues to report on imbalances or dysfunctions:cool:.
His bike is set up perfectly, eats, sleeps, refuels well and feels good within himself:cool:.
My question; the hill climbing season has just started and he is struggling to find the power and speed to perform, he says it just isnt in his legs and he doesnt know why.
any thoughts?:confused:
Overreaching / overtraining possibly?
Where in his training cycle is he? Base building? Approaching a peak? Following a peak? When is his season. Is he now approaching the off season after a peak? When was the last time he hung up his SPDs for a week?
S
i have mentioned the over training word, but he believes he isnt, im not his coach and he has been doing cycling for a long time so he does know how to train, but??? like most cyclists i see, they tend not to use periodisation into their training. they could be racing twice a week or once a fortnight. plus races could be different lengths from week to the next, and so they claim are unable to train to a set programme:rolleyes:
i am told by the cyclists and by a cycle coach that it is just a matter of putting miles into the legs, not sure i believe that myself.
He does tell me that he does bring his training down to just a tick over ride leading up to big races
re season: the main road season is coming to a close now, with just the hill climbs to do, which is mainly held in October. He then moves over in to the mountain bike season which has just started, he came third in the Isle of Man end to end race a few weeks ago, which was a good result, so im guess his form is ok
He has had a good season so far with some good finishes.
I have been asked this question a few times now, that cyclist seem to struggle to find the power when asked, so i thought i'd throw it out there to you guys
As a cyclist I can only offer some thoughts based on my own experience. It's the end of the season. If he's been time trialling and road racing all year, he'll be knackered like the rest of us. Even the Pros take a month off at this time of year. Hill climbs are hard and they test different energy systems than other races. Whereas TTs and RRs are primarily won by those with the highest functional threshold powers, hill climbs are mainly won by light riders with incredible power to weight ratios achieved off the back of very high VO2 Max and anaerobic capacites. It will proably take a couple of weeks of hill climbing before these energy systems start to improve to a level where he will feel he's putting down some reasonable power. If, however, he's just knackered, then he won't see any improvement at all and it's probably time to call and end to the road season and take a bit of time off before getting back into the MTB XC scene..
As a cyclist I can only offer some thoughts based on my own experience. It's the end of the season. If he's been time trialling and road racing all year, he'll be knackered like the rest of us. Even the Pros take a month off at this time of year. Hill climbs are hard and they test different energy systems than other races. Whereas TTs and RRs are primarily won by those with the highest functional threshold powers, hill climbs are mainly won by light riders with incredible power to weight ratios achieved off the back of very high VO2 Max and anaerobic capacites. It will proably take a couple of weeks of hill climbing before these energy systems start to improve to a level where he will feel he's putting down some reasonable power. If, however, he's just knackered, then he won't see any improvement at all and it's probably time to call and end to the road season and take a bit of time off before getting back into the MTB XC scene..
i like it:cool: i will pass on this info
Overtraining or about to get a cold
Does he take his pulse every morning?
When I was racing / coaching I found this a brilliant indicator, easy to identify onset of a cold at least 2-3 days before any more "normal" symptoms
ps
the worse person to ask if they are overtraining is the person themself 🙂
he does say his training is going well, training on the turbo when the weather is a bit wet and windy, watts are good, he says that when he needs to exert a bit of power there is nothing there
like everyone clients are always looking a magic answer from us guys:p
thanks for all the good advice so far, if you have any more thoughts pop them on;)
Hey peeps
I have a client tonight that i treat regular, he's a mid twenties male, cyclist, road and mountain bike, competes at national level, has been number one. he regularly trains, has a mostly standing around job, posture is good, no really issues to report on imbalances or dysfunctions:cool:.
His bike is set up perfectly, eats, sleeps, refuels well and feels good within himself:cool:.
My question; the hill climbing season has just started and he is struggling to find the power and speed to perform, he says it just isnt in his legs and he doesnt know why.
any thoughts?:confused:
specificity of training ? misplaced perception of nutrition and hydration? Insufficient rest ?
Power is the direct relationship between Stength and Speed, it is likely that after a long season of Endurance riding there will have been no time to train specifically for Power events,
you mention WATTs are good, does he train on continuous WATTs or efforts/recovery
There are simply too many variables to offer specific advice, 25% of my work is with road and cyclocross elite athletes, as the seasons run nearly back to back, specificty of training when moving from road to cyclocross is addressed 8 weeks prior to the season starting to allow for anatomical adaptation, this sometimes hampers the last couple of weeks on the road but the technical skills and short bursts of accelleration in smaller gears and terrain changes are needed for the start of the cross season
regards
BGFL