- 3 years ago
How to ride faster for longer: We demonstrate three different cycling sessions to best prepare you for your longest ride.
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00:00 (bike tires screeching)
00:03 - Spring and summer is the perfect time for cyclists
00:06 to do rides or events that are that bit more challenging.
00:10 So whether that's a hundred mile ride, a multi-day epic,
00:13 or even just a long training ride,
00:14 today we're looking at endurance sessions
00:17 and how best to train for them.
00:19 So I'm joined by Coach Watto.
00:21 - Hiya.
00:22 - And I understand that you've put together
00:22 some sessions for me today.
00:23 - I certainly have, yeah.
00:24 We've got three good sessions for you to try today, Rupert.
00:28 It's got the time-strapped cyclist in mind
00:30 that most of us are, you know.
00:31 We're training for longer events.
00:33 We don't always have three, four hours a day to train.
00:35 So we're gonna go that right down.
00:37 So three sessions.
00:38 One is gonna be, I'll call it a pyramid session.
00:40 So that's gonna build up our ability
00:43 to do longer, sustained efforts.
00:46 There's a hill session,
00:47 because we're very unlikely to find a road
00:49 that's a course that's completely flat.
00:51 So we're gonna do some skills that get us over the hill
00:53 and some hard work on that.
00:55 And then we're gonna do some strength work as well.
00:58 It's quite important and something
00:59 that's quite often neglected is a strength work around it.
01:01 So building up a nice solid core
01:03 and some of the leg muscles as well
01:04 that we can utilise then when we're back on the bike.
01:06 - Brilliant.
01:07 Well, it all sounds like a lot of hard work.
01:10 So we should probably get cracking.
01:11 - Yeah, let's do it.
01:12 (upbeat music)
01:15 - So Coach, what is my first endurance session of the day?
01:21 - First session today is a pyramid session.
01:23 So the idea of this is that we're gonna
01:25 build up your endurance by putting some harder efforts
01:29 in during your ride.
01:31 So you're gonna go out in the lanes,
01:32 15, 20 minutes, half an hour,
01:34 just get all nice and loose,
01:35 get in the fresh air, you know, just enjoy yourself.
01:38 And then we're gonna put some harder intervals in there.
01:41 So you start off with two minutes.
01:44 So two minute harder interval, two minutes easy.
01:47 Three minutes harder interval, three minutes easy.
01:49 Then a five minutes hard interval, a five minutes easy.
01:52 And then we're gonna go back again.
01:54 So we start with five minutes, three minutes easy,
01:58 three minutes, two minutes easy, two minutes hard.
02:02 It's all done.
02:03 And then we're gonna have a 15, 20 minute, half an hour.
02:05 And then you're gonna go home.
02:06 Yeah, the intensity is gonna be
02:09 around about an eight out of 10 effort.
02:11 So it's not flat out, it's not a sprint.
02:14 It's manageable, we've gotta get through it,
02:16 but you're gonna feel it.
02:16 You're gonna feel it in the legs,
02:17 you're gonna feel it in the lungs,
02:18 and you're gonna push hard through it.
02:21 And that.
02:22 - Brilliant, okay.
02:23 So the perceived wisdom behind this session,
02:25 as I understand it, is that when you're doing this
02:28 for an hour and a half,
02:29 you can obviously ride at your max threshold.
02:32 But then when you're doing your 100 mile ride
02:35 with your mates or your riding buddies,
02:37 because you'll knock that pace down,
02:38 you won't be riding so difficult.
02:40 You can do it for a longer period of time.
02:43 - Absolutely, that's exactly what we're trying
02:45 to get out of this session.
02:46 So that we want the 100 miles to be sociable,
02:49 nice and enjoyable, out in the lanes.
02:52 It's not the distance that tends to get people,
02:55 it's the intensities.
02:57 So if we can train to a higher intensity in training,
02:59 and ride at a lower intensity for the longer ride,
03:02 then it's that much more manageable.
03:04 - Absolutely perfect.
03:05 I think that is exactly what I need.
03:07 So let's get into it and give it a whirl.
03:09 - Sounds good.
03:10 (upbeat music)
03:12 - So the bike I've been using
03:20 to complete these training sessions
03:22 is the Cannondale Synapse High Mod Disc
03:24 with SRAM Red eTap.
03:26 The Synapse is well known for its versatility,
03:29 its excellent handling,
03:30 as well as its performance pushing capabilities.
03:33 It really is an all out brilliant bike.
03:36 But it's also exactly what you would look for
03:38 in the perfect example of an endurance bike.
03:41 A bike that is going to keep you riding for longer.
03:44 For starters, it's super lightweight,
03:47 weighing just 7.3 kilograms in this size 56
03:50 that I have here.
03:51 It then also has disc brakes for more controlled braking
03:55 and clearance for wider tires.
03:57 It even has a removable seat stay bridge
03:59 so you can fit a mud guard should the weather turn sour.
04:03 But what elevates this bike to an all day super weapon
04:06 is Cannondale's genius use of carbon fiber.
04:10 It's called Cannondale Save System,
04:11 and basically different parts of the frame
04:13 can flex to absorb road chatter
04:16 and the horrible bumps that you might find
04:18 when riding along,
04:19 keeping you in the saddle for longer
04:21 and keeping you faster for longer.
04:23 Which after all, is the most important thing anyway.
04:26 (upbeat music)
04:28 So that was session number one done.
04:36 What a killer it was, thanks for that coach.
04:38 And now we're on to session number two,
04:41 which is about climbing.
04:43 And we're gonna use this hill behind me.
04:44 I'm not a particularly good climber.
04:46 So what have you got in store?
04:47 How much is this going to hurt?
04:50 You're gonna feel it.
04:51 Yeah, you're definitely gonna feel it.
04:53 So the idea of this is it's hill repeats
04:55 and it doesn't get any more difficult than that.
04:57 You're just going up a hill multiple times
05:00 and practicing your climbing style
05:03 and also getting the physiological benefits
05:05 of going hard up a hill.
05:07 So we're gonna start with about six reps,
05:10 six reps of a hill, going up, recovery on the way down,
05:13 spending anywhere three to five minutes recovering
05:16 before you go and start the next descent.
05:19 And then you can build it up as you get stronger and fitter.
05:21 You can build it up to 10 reps, 12 reps,
05:23 however you can manage and feel.
05:26 But the more you do, the stronger you're gonna get.
05:28 Brilliant.
05:29 And as my understanding is,
05:30 this is an important session
05:31 for when you're riding upwards of a hundred miles,
05:34 because if you're doing that type of distance,
05:35 you're almost guaranteed to come across a climb
05:38 of some sort, probably multiple ones,
05:40 depending on where you live.
05:42 And what this will help me be able to do is,
05:45 even if I'm 60 or 70 miles into my climb,
05:48 I'll still be able to get up it
05:49 'cause I'll have that conditioning
05:51 and I'll have practiced it.
05:52 And this will have given me that extra fitness
05:54 and power that I need to get over it.
05:56 - Absolutely so.
05:57 There's no completely flat roads in Britain.
06:00 It's not a mountainous territory,
06:01 but there's no completely flat road.
06:02 So we're always gonna find something.
06:03 And if you're going on a course that's 80, 90, 100 miles,
06:06 then you're gonna find hills.
06:08 Definitely to train it, it puts it in the bank.
06:12 You condition for it and you know how to do it.
06:15 And then you can cope with it much better
06:17 than if it's a sudden surprise.
06:20 So that's why it's very important to do hill repeats
06:22 and it's very important to practice hills
06:24 so that when you get to ride them yourself,
06:27 you know what to do.
06:28 - Brilliant.
06:29 And what type of technique am I looking for on the bike?
06:31 - It's common to bob, you know,
06:33 as it starts to get hard on your bob.
06:35 But when you're bobbing, you're gonna start to lose
06:38 some of your efficiency.
06:39 So you wanna keep it nice and tight
06:41 'cause it's the hips and the legs
06:42 that are gonna be doing all the work.
06:44 Gear selection is very important as well.
06:46 So you wanna be changing gear before you have to.
06:48 So as your legs start to lock, you're changing up,
06:51 changing up, you know, you've got 11 gears on the back,
06:53 or most people have 11 gears on the back.
06:54 You've gotta use them, yeah?
06:56 And do that.
06:57 And then the pedal stroke as well.
06:59 So you're not just pushing down with your foot,
07:00 you're pulling back as well.
07:01 So you get a nice pedal stroke
07:04 and that'll carry you up the hill.
07:05 - Brilliant, okay.
07:06 Well, this sounds like a lovely, tough session.
07:09 So I reckon we should just get into it and give it a whirl.
07:11 - Yes, do it.
07:12 (upbeat music)
07:15 (upbeat music)
07:17 (upbeat music)
07:20 (upbeat music)
07:22 (upbeat music)
07:25 (upbeat music)
07:27 (upbeat music)
07:30 (upbeat music)
07:33 (upbeat music)
07:35 - So that's the first two sessions completed
07:39 and they were great.
07:40 Really enjoyed those.
07:41 - Enjoyed them, yeah?
07:42 Brilliant.
07:43 - I think they're really useful, actually.
07:44 Especially the climbing one.
07:45 Always something I need to work on.
07:47 But now I understand that you've got a circuit session
07:49 for me to do.
07:50 - I certainly have, yeah.
07:52 It's a circuit based on building up some strength.
07:55 Core strength and leg strength off the bike as well.
07:59 This is really, really important
08:00 'cause the more stable that we are,
08:02 the better that'll transfer over onto bike.
08:05 - Sure, so by the sounds of it,
08:06 flexibility is as important as strength
08:09 when it comes to cycling.
08:10 - 100%, yeah, yeah.
08:11 Because we've got to be agile on the bike.
08:14 As we pointed out in the hill session,
08:16 we don't want to be moving around on the bike.
08:18 The only thing we want to be moving really is our legs,
08:21 which is pushing the pedals around,
08:22 which is our engine to get us where we need to go.
08:25 So if we can be agile and flexible,
08:28 then that can only be a good thing again.
08:30 - Perfect.
08:30 Well, I think we should take a look at them
08:32 and look at the form and how you're meant to do them.
08:35 - Absolutely, yeah, I'd love to do that.
08:36 - Brilliant.
08:37 - Okay, so what we're gonna do,
08:38 we're gonna start off with the lunges.
08:40 So if you move to the side like that,
08:42 so what you need to do is you're gonna take
08:44 a big step forward and you're gonna stretch out the quads,
08:49 doing a step forward.
08:50 But the form of this as well is we don't want to be
08:53 your knee going over the edge of your toe.
08:55 So a nice big step forward and then like that.
09:00 - Okay. - Yep.
09:01 Keeping your back nice and straight.
09:04 How's that feel?
09:05 - Yeah, I can really feel it in the hamstring, yeah.
09:07 - That's looking better.
09:08 Forward again.
09:09 Keep your back nice and straight.
09:10 Stand up.
09:11 Okay, so what we're doing, we're doing,
09:15 let's try with, start with eight on each leg
09:18 and then you can build it up then so you can do it to,
09:20 you know, eight, nine, 10, 12, whatever,
09:22 as you get fitter and you get more accustomed
09:24 to the exercise.
09:25 But remember, keep it low early on
09:27 because we're gonna be doing four exercises in a row
09:30 and we're gonna do three sets of that.
09:32 So we wanna make sure that we get through
09:33 the whole routine and then we can build it up week by week.
09:36 Okay, so the next one we're gonna go into a plank.
09:38 You ever done a plank before?
09:39 - I have done a plank.
09:40 - Okay, so if you wanna go into the plank position for me.
09:42 - So how would I do a plank?
09:46 - So plank position, exactly what you've got there.
09:48 So arms nice and straight, back nice and straight.
09:53 That's good.
09:55 And so what you should be doing is feeling it
09:57 on your abs there now, yeah?
09:58 - Yep.
09:59 - And--
10:00 - Feeling it on my one ab.
10:01 - On your one ab.
10:03 And you shouldn't be feeling,
10:04 the back should be nice and straight.
10:05 So that's looking good.
10:08 And then what we can do to make this a harder exercise
10:11 is if you bring your knee towards your elbow
10:14 and then take it back again,
10:17 then do it with the other side.
10:19 And back again.
10:20 They're called Spider-Man planks.
10:22 How did that feel?
10:23 - Yeah, that's tough.
10:24 - So start off with the normal planks first,
10:27 but that's just a progressional thing you can do
10:29 as you get better at it.
10:30 - Sure.
10:31 - And do that.
10:32 Okay, you can stop now.
10:33 Again, sometimes you can do that and leave it
10:36 for as long as you can go,
10:38 but 'cause we're doing this in a circuit,
10:40 let's start with 10 to 20 seconds of doing the plank
10:43 and then we'll keep doing that circuit free
10:45 and then we'll see how we get to it from there.
10:47 So the next one's the hip flexor.
10:49 So what we're gonna do now is you're gonna go back
10:51 into that lunge position.
10:52 Hold it there.
10:56 And then what you're gonna do,
10:57 you're gonna stand up and bring your knee to your chest.
11:00 And then back into the lunge position.
11:02 And again.
11:03 That's it.
11:05 So we're gonna do eight of those in each leg.
11:07 Stand up, nice and straight.
11:08 Leg up, that's it, and down again.
11:11 Okay, stand up straight.
11:12 And then do the other leg.
11:14 But the beauty of this exercise, again,
11:16 is it's a real stretch out for the hips
11:18 'cause we spend a lot of time bent over on the bike
11:20 and with the hips we can get quite sore.
11:25 So it stretches those out.
11:27 It's also stretching the glutes and the hamstrings
11:28 as well as you can feel as you're going up.
11:30 So it's a great all over workout, that one.
11:33 Okay, next we're gonna do some glute bridges.
11:35 So if you line your back for me.
11:37 Okay, knees bent.
11:41 Put your knees in, that's it, about there.
11:44 Close together, put your feet together.
11:46 Okay, and then what you're gonna do,
11:47 you're gonna raise your pelvis up as high as you can.
11:50 That's it, hold that for a second or two,
11:53 and then back down again.
11:55 And again, up, hold it for a second or two,
11:57 and back down again.
11:58 Okay, so again, we're gonna do about six to eight of those
12:02 depending on where we are with the circuit.
12:05 But what they're doing as well, good core exercise,
12:08 stretching out the core and the glutes
12:09 and the hamstrings as well.
12:11 So really giving a good workout post-bike
12:15 and hopefully unlocking those muscles
12:17 and adapting those muscles that you might be
12:20 not using as much or being a bit lazy with on the bike.
12:23 - Brilliant.
12:24 - And that's something you can do anytime.
12:26 It shouldn't take too long.
12:28 You can do that anytime.
12:29 You can do it straight off the bike,
12:30 isn't a bad thing to do, actually,
12:32 you know, while you're still warmed up
12:33 and it gives you that activation
12:35 and it's something that you can fit in quite easily
12:36 then before you have your shower and anything to eat.
12:40 - So there you go.
12:41 Three, hopefully not so gruelling sessions
12:44 that you can all try at home,
12:45 guaranteed to help boost your fitness
12:47 and help you ride further, faster for longer,
12:50 which after all is the goal.
12:52 So thank you very much to Coach Watto,
12:54 head coach of Team London.
12:56 They're some brilliant sessions.
12:58 - Pleasure.
12:58 - Thank you very much.
12:59 But guys, if you have any sessions
13:01 that you like to do at home
13:02 or if you've got any big plans for this summer,
13:05 do let us know in the comment section below
13:08 and don't forget to like and subscribe
13:10 and we'll see you next time.
13:11 (car engine revving)
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