Track Cycling: Velodrome Racing and Training Area - Training and injuries

I posted this in the road forum as it seems to get the majority of the looks. My focus in cycling is track right now as I'll never be a competitive road rider due to my size. I'll probably suck at track too, but at least I wont be able to ***** about a fat guy beating me :) Anyway, I'm sure some of you have had to deal w/injury too, what do you think?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/859804-Sucks-cant-ride-for-a-week-or-more-looking-for-some-training-advice

Dude, that is a ton of volume. If you were a sprinter I'd tell you to cut out about half of that. I have three rest days per week. Also, Cybex squat machine? Carleton can take it from here...

Dude, that is a ton of volume. If you were a sprinter I'd tell you to cut out about half of that. I have three rest days per week. Also, Cybex squat machine? Carleton can take it from here...

I'm no sprinter, just a wanna-be beginner (but its what my focus is for now - cuz I'm big). Thanks for the advice, its the same as the others that I've discussed this with (that I value anyway).

Nice blog by the way - I enjoy your writing.

Thanks man. Seriously, it seems like you should scale things back. I assume you make time for a job in there somewhere, too? I think I saw something about a wife in there as well. I know when something is new and fun it's easy to want to do it ALL THE TIME, but that will really be counterproductive ultimately, and injury is one way this can manifest itself.

During the work week, I never do successive training days. The mental and physical load of training plus work, wife kid and life in general can be a lot to recover from when all combined. Especially for sprinting, it's quality, not quantity. Try to eliminate "junk miles" from your training. Either be REALLY training, or doing recovery. Eliminate "kinda hard" stuff, it won't make you faster. And there will be less wear and tear on your body and fewer injuries.

So for now, I'd take your doctors advice. Don't do anything for a week, and reset the clock.

1) What's wrong with taking a week off? We aren't getting paid to do this. If you took a week off, you'd likely come back stronger (from being rested) and refreshed. Those are good things :)

2) Like Baby Puke said, that's a lot of volume. The body needs rest in order to grow.

Thanks for the replies. I've been a weightlifter my whole life and a cyclist just a few years now (only as a real hobby for a year or so). I'm sure that spending more time on the bike (geared and fixed) will be much better (stronger bike legs and reduced mass) for me than squatting a lot and adding mass.