All sports have physical conditions that increase the demands on different muscles. However, cycling is among the disciplines that exercise the greatest number of areas. Hence, details take precedence and are considered suggestions to improve your cycling performance.
It is normal that repetition makes perfect. However, those who practice cycling understand that this statement is not always true, as there may come a time when a certain stagnation is perceived in terms of resistance and minimum times. In these cases, only changes in mental, dietary and technical habits will make a difference.
So, we propose 7 suggestions used by industry experts which can mean the ultimate evolution of your cycling performance. Discover your maximum potential!
Tips to improve your cycling performance
There is no single way to improve your cycling performance, because every athlete has different lifestyles and routines that generate different needs. Understand this, in the following 7 tips that we have collected nutritional aspectstechnical and mental.
1. Increase your carbohydrate intake
Carbohydrates are sources of energy that the cyclist must understand how to exploit. to maximize your performance. Energy preparation before a race, a trip or a grueling workout begins 2 days before.
During this 48-hour period, your carbohydrate intake should be increased every three hours and you should choose to drink plenty of water. Additionally, workouts performed during that time will be less demanding, so muscle glycogen is preserved.
2. Eat an early and hearty breakfast
The advice to increase your carbohydrate intake goes a long way towards muscle glycogen stores. Despite this, it is essential to recharge your energy tank on the day of training or competition. The recommendation is to do it 3 hours before to start physical activityusing a high load of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Also helpful is the implementation of a high carbohydrate drink. Also, it is essential to remember that eating too close to practice will be a factor in significantly affecting maximum endurance.
3. Take care of the cadence
Just as important as maintaining good back posture and establishing a correct position in the saddle, is taking care of your pedaling cadence on all types of routes. The ideal value on flat ground is between 85 and 95 rpm. For its part, for the climbs it is better to move in a range that varies between 60 and 70 rpm.
4. Refill halfway through
In the middle of the routes, wear is fast, therefore one of the best ways to improve one’s performance on the bike is with the immediate restoration of energy. In this sense, the goal is eat between 300 and 400 calories in the entire practicewhich must be distributed in 20-minute intervals.
A good measure is 60 grams of carbohydrates built up in 60 minutes. Furthermore, the recharge moments can be defined according to the kilometers traveled and not according to the time, which is favorable resort to 10 or 15 grams of honey every 20 kilometres.
5. Train without a bike consciously
The adaptation on the bike is the basis, but the additional exercises that are performed must make sense to maximize the response of the most used muscles and favor specific racing scenarios. Therefore, some of the executions with their respective contributions are as follows:
- Abdominal plank or axes: stabilizes the nucleusprevents injuries in the abdominal area and gives an extra for the climbing phase that needs the increase in speed.
- burpees: increase what is known as explosive trigger forceas well as sustained endurance and coordination.
- Squats with weights: they are favourites sprintthe ascents of the ports and the strength in the midst of long outings.
6. Challenge your weaknesses
To improve your cycling performance, you need to pay particular attention to mental work, since many times the body is sufficiently prepared to give better results, however the mind has the task of slowing down growth with barriers that are difficult to evade in moments of maximum pressure.
One strategy to get change is suppose the limit of resistance in the body is further than we know. But how to unlock the obstacles? Using an internal dialogue that stops considering defeat as a failure and values it as learning. Once this is done, fears and insecurities will begin to diminish.
Learning to live with pain in competition is a flattering point for high performance athletes. Although you need to know how to differentiate ordinary pain from high demand and the presence of injuries.
7. Improve your breathing
the last of suggestions to improve your cycling performance is related to improvement of breathing. The onset of fatigue can be delayed with an ideal breathing mechanism. Otherwise, many features will start to suffer sooner than expected.
Breathing is conditioned by posture, since it is the one that gives more or less work to the muscles involved in the process. Abdominal tightening should be avoided, keep your back straight and ensure that the process of inhalation and exhalation is harmonious.
Put these tips into practice to improve your cycling performance
Consider applying for suggestions to constantly improve one’s cycling performance, but without rushing the body’s adaptation to changes. At the start, Changes can be hard to assimilate, but the goal is to turn them into habits.
Also, take care of the rest between practices so that the regeneration is complete and real performance growth can be assessed. Don’t forget to try different routes in each session, thus preparing your muscles for all kinds of scenarios.
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