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NEED HELP!! Power and endurance!

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NEED HELP!! Power and endurance!

Old 05-05-14, 08:29 AM
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NEED HELP!! Power and endurance!

Hi,

I’m new to road cycling. I went out this past WE and did a 26 mile ride, climbing 2526 feet. It took me two hours and I had a hard time following my friend cyclist. He had to wait for me at the top of some if not most climbs. I HATE THAT!! This is my 3rd time out this season and I HATE having trouble following. What can I say, I’m a competitive type personality. :-D

Is there any gym training exercises to help me be a better climber, faster pace rider and increase my endurance. And/or do I need to ride more? During riding is there anything to bring me to another level.

Thanks for sharing for what works for you.
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Old 05-05-14, 08:35 AM
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Repeat the 26 mile ride until you master it.
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Old 05-05-14, 08:52 AM
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I would like to speed up that process. I’m a WE worrier and have lots of time during lunch time all week long to workout. Biking is something I try to do as much as I can but working 40 hours a week and juggling a family life makes that hard to accomplish. So other than doing that circuit until I vomit, what can I do to improve on my downtime?
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Old 05-05-14, 08:55 AM
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sounds like you want to improve your power to weight ratio.
Fastest way to do that is to drop a lbs or two....but there are limits to that approach. If you lose too much, you start losing power.
It's not a quick and easy fix, but in the long run, you can develop a better ratio by doing hill repeats once or twice a week and during to "offseason" do some weight training such as sqats and lunges.
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Old 05-05-14, 09:40 AM
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I'm relatively new to the whole structured training thing (as opposed to just going out and riding). However, my thinking on this is that once you're strong enough to propell yourself at the speed you want to go, the next limitation to overcome is your body's ability to deliver and use energy. Therefore, gaining additional strength (as in what is gained by lifting weights) isn't going to help a whole lot. What you should think about is starting an interval training program to improving aerobic fitness and your body's ability to deal with lactate. The idea is that you can trigger some of the necessary physiologic adaptions through interval training, that would otherwise require many many hours on the bike. I'm following the Time Crunched Cyclist plan for that, and recommend it. You can do interval training on an exercise bike at the gym, although there are limitations to that if you don't have a way to measure power.

Last edited by Spld cyclist; 05-05-14 at 10:15 AM.
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Old 05-05-14, 10:08 AM
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Get on the bike more.
You said it yourself, it was your 3rd time out this season.
I was sick last week, and upset that I only got 4 days on the bike and 4 strength training workouts in.

It's understandable that you're in Canada and weather won't always cooperate, but get in the gym, as DBA said, if you want to be a better climber then improve your power/weight ratio. Barbell squats and deadlifts would be a good way to get stronger, especially when the weather sucks.
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Old 05-05-14, 10:21 AM
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Looks like your May weather is about like ours here. Get out and ride. There's not really another way. I know people with 40 hr. jobs, wife and kids who ride 20,000 miles/year. It's just priorities. Nothing wrong if biking isn't a priority, but then don't complain if you don't ride as well as folks for whom it is. I ride 52 weeks/year. If I can't go out, I ride rollers.
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Old 05-06-14, 05:56 PM
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I don't think you want to train with weights. You won't gain much bike wise. Ideally you want to slim down. That way your power/weight will work the best for you. Stay as strong as you now are while loosing some weight will make more gains for yourself. This is the fastest way to make gains as you cannot see as much gains in training alone over the entire summer.
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Old 05-06-14, 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Spld cyclist
I'm relatively new to the whole structured training thing (as opposed to just going out and riding). However, my thinking on this is that once you're strong enough to propell yourself at the speed you want to go, the next limitation to overcome is your body's ability to deliver and use energy. Therefore, gaining additional strength (as in what is gained by lifting weights) isn't going to help a whole lot. What you should think about is starting an interval training program to improving aerobic fitness and your body's ability to deal with lactate. The idea is that you can trigger some of the necessary physiologic adaptions through interval training, that would otherwise require many many hours on the bike. I'm following the Time Crunched Cyclist plan for that, and recommend it. You can do interval training on an exercise bike at the gym, although there are limitations to that if you don't have a way to measure power.
All true - for a short-term approach.

Time Crunched Cyclist is a recipe for burnout and mediocre-at-best results if followed for too long.

And I'd think it's a bit early to be recommending any type of structured training program. The OP posted that this was his third time riding this season. I'm not sure when his season starts, but I bet many riders start their season on Jan 1 and hit their third time out by about Jan 4 or 5.

The OP simply needs to ride more.
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Old 05-06-14, 07:24 PM
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Originally Posted by PimpMyBike
I’m new to road cycling.
That says it all right there. I'll share the only tangible wisdom I can offer about climbing for any distance. It's not like riding on the flats, but I guess you know that now. The only way to get better at it is to do it on a regular basis. There is no training plan, gym exercises, and no amount of hours on a trainer that can be a substitute for actually doing it.
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Old 05-06-14, 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by achoo
All true - for a short-term approach.

Time Crunched Cyclist is a recipe for burnout and mediocre-at-best results if followed for too long.

And I'd think it's a bit early to be recommending any type of structured training program. The OP posted that this was his third time riding this season. I'm not sure when his season starts, but I bet many riders start their season on Jan 1 and hit their third time out by about Jan 4 or 5.

The OP simply needs to ride more.
I agree that riding more is likely to solve the OP's problem.

The reason I'm doing the Time Crunched Cyclist program is because I maxed out the level of fitness I can attain from the amount of riding I have time to do. Almost 90% of my total mileage for the past few years has been in 4 and 5 mile bites from my commute. While I'm glad to get those miles in, they don't seem to help me that much if I want to build up to high-paced longer weekend rides. I think TCC is helping, but it's a little early to tell for sure because I haven't finished my first 10-week cycle and also haven't gotten to do any very challenging rides yet. I'll report back to the forum at some point once I have a better idea of how it worked for me.
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Old 05-07-14, 06:15 AM
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Originally Posted by achoo
All true - for a short-term approach.

Time Crunched Cyclist is a recipe for burnout and mediocre-at-best results if followed for too long.

And I'd think it's a bit early to be recommending any type of structured training program. The OP posted that this was his third time riding this season. I'm not sure when his season starts, but I bet many riders start their season on Jan 1 and hit their third time out by about Jan 4 or 5.

The OP simply needs to ride more.
I'm north of the border just above NY state. The season starts in early April usually but this year it's been brutal. I'm a MTB'r and just bought a road bike since my 9y old does triathlon now. I'm not new to biking but more used to technical riding through trees. Road biking is another beast to me. Just trying to gain speed and endurance as fast as possible without spending 60 hours a week on a bike.
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Old 05-07-14, 06:53 AM
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Originally Posted by PimpMyBike
Just trying to gain speed and endurance as fast as possible without spending 60 hours a week on a bike.
If you are not used to doing 2500 feet of climbing in 20 miles, then it's not purely a fitness issue. Just getting your brain accustomed to more sustained climbing (getting into a comfortable rhythm, managing your effort better, etc.) will likely give you a lot of improvement in a short time. A lot of it is mental.
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Old 05-08-14, 09:01 AM
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Barbell squats will help you develop leg strength and you will be faster, especially on short distances.
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Old 05-08-14, 09:21 AM
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Did the same ride yesterday but with a different starting point. This sport is incredibly grueling. I need to learn to like suffering. I was following two TRI racer friends. What a sport!!!
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Old 05-08-14, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by PimpMyBike
Did the same ride yesterday but with a different starting point. This sport is incredibly grueling. I need to learn to like suffering. I was following two TRI racer friends. What a sport!!!
If it weren't for the pain, there'd be no gain.
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Old 06-03-14, 10:21 AM
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Is there any gym training exercises to help me be a better climber, faster pace rider and increase my endurance.
Squat, bench, deadlift, press. Possible addition of pull up and row.

And/or do I need to ride more?
And. Build strength in the gym. Use the strength for more endurance on the bike.
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Old 06-16-14, 08:45 AM
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2nd the comment about barbell squats. Hands down the best exercise for both strength and endurance. Doing them will make everything you do better. If you're worried about technique, hire a personal trainer for just one session to teach you how to do it.

Simple 2x per week strength plan:
Workout 1: Squats, Pulling Motion (like a dumbbell row), Core exercise (planks work well)
Workout 2: Weighted lunges, Pushing Motion (like a pushup), second core exercise
Do 3-5 rounds of 8-12 reps of each exercise. Add weight as you get comfortable with technique.

Add on 2-3 days a week on the bike (with healthy doses of climbing), and you'll be cruising in no time.
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