Muscle Tension exercises
 

What are muscle tension exercises? What characterizes them? How are they beneficial? What other info can you provide about them?

Long sustained climbs that develop muscle:

Trainer exercise CTS:
Elevate your front wheel 6-8 inches above the ground and pedal at 45-65 rpm at the hardest gear you can maintain for 5-10 minutes without sacraficing form or cadence. This helps in building your leg muscles used in climbing and according to CTS recruits fast twitch muscle fibers that are needed for big, explosive efforts later on in the seaspn. 2 sets of these with 5 minutes of recovery between efforts.

Note: heart rate is not an indicator here, because you are pedalling at such a low cadence. I do these a lot when I am working on my base.

another definiition:

"Muscle Tension
This workout is for sustainable strength and recruits fast twitch muscle fibers while athlete works aerobically. The workout consists of pedalling at very low cadence (about 50rpm) in a big gear up a hill or on a trainer for five to 15 minutes at a time in the saddle, focusing on leg strength and power. The workout should remain aerobic in terms of heart rate. There should be a full rest between efforts -- generally the rest period should equal the length of the work period.

Muscle tensions workouts can be stressful on the knees and lower back.

Due to the low cadence at the start of each effort in power starts and stomp intervals and throughout muscle tension efforts, the rider can pay good attention to improving pedalling technique by applying more power as foot pulls across bottom of pedal stroke and kicks over the top."

http://www.jt10000.com/team/events/carmichael99/3.htm

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...i feel like i shoulda been doing these on my climbs today. oh well, next time. Thanks, domestique!

It is mainly an early season workout. Another favorite of mine is to prop your wheel up the same height as above (6-8 inches) and put the trainer at the highest resistance and your biggest gear. Then ride standing for 1 minute at 75-80 rpms and then sit for a minute and recover slightly, then repeat.

I do 2 sets of 4 reps. This really builds the hamstrings and has really improved my ability to climb out of the saddle for long durations. *Note this is at MHR or very close. Last night I got up to 204 bpm, with my all time max being 207.

Don't forget to raise your rear wheel when it comes time to simulate the downhill.

:D

And you gotta spin REALLY fast, then stop for a couple of minutes. Occasionally lean, having a couch on both sides to catch you in case you fall.

Thats the best thing about a trainer... there is no relaxing.... but if you are into the WHOLE picture... you might as well have your wife or whomever throw bugs at your face while your at it to get your simulated protein intake. :rolleyes: