Lead It Out Cycling at D1 Birmingham
OFF SEASON PROGRAM FOR ENDURANCE ATHLETES
Endurance athletes train hard, but most of us lose sight of strength, flexibility and balance during the long demanding season. We at Lead It Out Cycling have created a winter program at D1 Sports complex of Birmingham, that targets these areas, as well as your fitness on the bike. Not many of us are willing to spend the time and effort to work on the small, but very important things that make a big difference in our fitness off the bike. Birmingham has needed a training facility for endurance athletes for a long time, and now we have one. Join us to get the fitness and skills you need to make next season your best season ever!
On the bike
How is this indoor training different? I train your output, not just your input. We will train your power output and do specific testing so that you actually see the results and know that the hard work you are putting in is paying off. This program was taken from the thoughts and ideas of the pro cyclist and coaches I have learned from over the past few years and I am confident that it can help you, just as I have seen it help many others. We will use computrainers for testing and rollers for training. This program will graduate from month to month, increasing in workload by either duration, intensity or both in a classic method of periodization, with a mainstay focus on threshold power, the real measure of fitness.You will see an Increase in your threshold, vo2 max, and muscular endurance leading to longer, faster rides with much less effort! One on one computrainer testing will be done before and after, for individuals participating in the entire 12 week program.
Off the bike Strength Training
With the help of the D1 Birmingham’s personal trainers, along with their state of the art equipment, we will offer strength training to target power, muscular endurance and explosiveness. along with assessing muscular imbalances and core strength. We all have muscular weaknesses and imbalances that we subconsciously compensate for while training, only to make the problems worse. We are all willing spend thousands of dollars on stiff wheels, crank-sets and frames, but are we willing to do what it takes to improve the stiffness of our bodies. What good do strong quads and stiff bike parts do when were pushing against a weak core!
Flexibility
Chiropractor, cyclist and group fitness instructor Terri Jones has offered to teach “yoga for cyclist” to help us with our flexibility. Being flexible is more than touching just your toes. Overall fitness involves strength, endurance AND flexibility. This is the area of fitness that most of us ignore, leading to weakness, injuries and longer recovery times, as well as bad overall positioning on the bike and less efficient riding. The majority of endurance athletes are tight and weak in the hips and hamstrings due to the overuse of their quads and the in line repetitive movements required for competition. Most are weak in their core and tight in their shoulders because of the hours and hours of a hunched over positioning.“Yoga for cyclist” is a less stressful type of yoga that targets recovery as well as flexibility.
