Cyclocross - training for cross?

I have weights that i've been using. i usually do push ups, sit ups, bi/tricep curls, lunges, calf raises 3/4 times a week. also do road rides about 2 times a week. as far as off road, it's usually monday for a mtb group ride, and tuesday for a weekly cross training.

This will be my first time racing, so do you think that's enough? maybe running?

Also, this might help. when i went to the first cross clinic, i was able to do 30 minutes of a cross cuircut without too much trouble. the course was flat, 2 sets of barriers and no hills. probably 1/2-1/3 mile in total.

I think your probably making a lot of us nervous. Do 12 ounce curls count?

so what you're getting at is that what i'm doing is plenty? i love being in school and having free time!

so what you're getting at is that what i'm doing is plenty? i love being in school and having free time!

Stop with the sit-ups! They ruin your back and are a poor ab exercise - seriously, decent coaches dropped them a decade or more ago -

http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/514803

Switch to crunches - do some googling for the exact exercises you need.

For your first year, yeah you're doing enough. You should do pretty well, skill not withstanding.

i don't think weight training is gonna help you much with cross. ride your bike more.

weight training is good for general fitness so if you want to look normal keep it up. if you want to look like a skinny freak then drop it.

cross requires much more than just normal bike training. it requires alot of running sprints while carrying your bike and also dismounts and remounts.
most people who bike never do cross and most people who do cross suck at it.
if you are in high school than get a full season of races under your belt and then look back and think of all the skills and muscles and techniques you need to work on.
hang out with real cross guys and not roadies who cringe at the thought of getting their pretty jerseys dirty.
cross is for tough guys, not sissies.

OP

you might want to drop the curls and calf raises as they are probably not going to help a lot. I would replace them with either a seated row or bench press and definitely do squats. You should focus on workouts that increase core strength as that is what you will use in cross (cycling in general really)

you are cutting it a little close for weight lifting for cross season. That should have been finished a while ago. Right now is time for on bike work especially technique if you are new to the sport.

I'd drop it all. Just drink Ultra. 90 calories 2.4 grams of carbs. cheap too.

OP

you might want to drop the curls and calf raises as they are probably not going to help a lot. I would replace them with either a seated row or bench press and definitely do squats. You should focus on workouts that increase core strength as that is what you will use in cross (cycling in general really)

you are cutting it a little close for weight lifting for cross season. That should have been finished a while ago. Right now is time for on bike work especially technique if you are new to the sport.

actually i started the weight training because i could never fall asleep so i started doing workouts instead of lying awake in bed. now it's something i do when i have nothing better to do than sit around and watch tv or waste time on the internet, not really for cross specifically.

i'll try to do more single track and use logs/larger obstacles as barriers to practice mounting and dismounting.

and the first race, to my knowledge anyway, is september 26, so i'm not sure if that changes anything.

OP

sorry, I should have clarified that you should be in maintenance for your lifting, i.e. doing it one day a week.

you dont need barriers to work on your technique, just mount and remount a whole bunch.

OP

sorry, I should have clarified that you should be in maintenance for your lifting, i.e. doing it one day a week.

you dont need barriers to work on your technique, just mount and remount a whole bunch.

i gotcha. so i think i'll definately drop the weight lifting down to a day then.

i guess i'd feel ridiculous mounting and dismounting with no barriers. i also felt ridiculous wearing spandex, but i got over that.

Here are scanned versions of a 4-part series on CX training from Cyclocross Magazine. This is what I'm using.

Cyclocross Training (http://home.comcast.net/~mjbirner/CyclocrossTraining-CXMagazine.htm)

so what you're getting at is that what i'm doing is plenty? i love being in school and having free time!

I was in grad school two years ago and loved the freedom to run, bike, workout at odd hours.

The Simon Burney book has a work out in it, you could check that out. I say work your traps and shoulders (because of the way you lift, and the frequency of lifting your bike throughout a race). Work your core. Circuit training would be good.

Again, sounds like you are pretty serious so check this out, and the book. (http://crossadvice.blogspot.com/)

Cross racing is a 45 minute all out effort. No time to recover during a race. No drafting. Just heart pounding madness.

So train hard / max heart rate intervals. Do 10-15 minutes, quick rest, then another 10-15. Eventually you can piece together 45 minutes. Do your cross training on the bike and incorporate dismounts and running. Find a local park or woods and make up a course. You need to get the running in there w/ dismounts and mounts. Enjoy!

Cross racing is a 45 minute all out effort. No time to recover during a race. No drafting. Just heart pounding madness.

Yes and No. While it is an all out effort since your HR is pegged to the max, the power output is not all out and smooth. It is not like a time trial effort. While yes FTP is key but you need to mix in a lot of 5 and 10 min efforts.

A good 1min effort off the line, then a good 5 minutes pegged to the max to stay with the leaders. Also you will be in varied terrain, dismounts, etc. Then you'll settle into a threshold pace, then toward the end you'll probably ramp it up again because A: you have someone in your crosshairs, B: someone's got you in the cross hairs, or C: Trying to get away from your lead group to take the win.

show up n' throw up.

cross is for tough guys, not sissies.

Man, I wish somebody had told me that a year ago before I tried it and saw how fun it was. Now I'm hooked, but I'm certainly not a tough guy. On the plus side, I don't mind getting my jersey dirty.

new goal. gonna try to improve my cardio. running maybe? or just keep riding?

a good 1min effort off the line, then a good 5 minutes pegged to the max to stay with the leaders. also you will be in varied terrain, dismounts, etc. Then you'll settle into a threshold pace, then toward the end you'll probably ramp it up again because a: You have someone in your crosshairs, b: Someone's got you in the cross hairs, or c: Trying to get away from your lead group to take the win.

++1

I do both. But for me running is a social thing. I do alot of 5k and 10k's but mostly for the chicks that do the races. Running has ALOT more hot girls than cycling. At a typical 5k there will be 1000 girls and at a typical cross race there will be 15.

Hot damn, first cross race is only 11 days away. I am PUMPED !!!

new goal. gonna try to improve my cardio. running maybe? or just keep riding?

I get most of my "training" time on the bike by riding to work. The mix of stop signs and traffic lights sort of (just a little bit) simulates the sprint and stop pace of a cross race, but a long light can take me out of the cardio zone in a hurry. So this year I've been running to get my cardio prep in.

I suspect it's a poor substitute. You really need to get a feel for what your maximum sustainable effort is, and that's generally different between on the bike and running.

Yeah Andy is right, cross has many ups and downs, unlike most running or many bike races. You really need to prepare for the high intensity and plan to spend more time above your max than you can possibly train for.
Cross races are short and there are NO sections of races where people cruise and recover.
Its evil like that.

Yeah Andy is right, cross has many ups and downs, unlike most running or many bike races. You really need to prepare for the high intensity and plan to spend more time above your max than you can possibly train for.
Cross races are short and there are NO sections of races where people cruise and recover.
Its evil like that.

paraphrasing Allen Lim "if you cant do it in training you cant do it in a race."

If you are not looking for areas to get a bit of recovery you are not doing it right. High speed areas should be used to drop below FTP, and slow areas are where you should be going above FTP.