Crank Cycling

The January issue of  Outside Magazine  has a list of the ” 10 Biggest Fitness Myths”.      I don’t know how they go about calculating the “biggest”, but seeing as how popular magazines frequently get these messages so wrong, or the advice in their lists is just plan silly.  I think Outside did a good job with most of these, so I am going to address a few of them here:

Myth #1: Stretching prevents injuries and improves performance.

This is absolutely true.  The evidence has been piling up for over 10 years.     No matter what your  gym teacher or personal trainer says, stretching does not prevent injuries.    It is a well established fact that stretching   BEFORE exercise inhibits maximal voluntary contraction (  strength and power), and there is a growing body of evidence that it may inhibit maximal aerobic work  as well.     I am not saying here that a warm up does not have its place, or that stretching is not useful in some circumstances.  But   stretching does not prevent injury, and pre- event stretching can definitely hurt  performance.

Myth #2: Running barefoot is better for the body. 

I am a cycling coach  so this isn’t really my area of expertise, and I usually only run if someone is chasing me. 
Myth #3: You need to focus on your core to become a better athlete.

I couldn’t agree more.   I am  just plain tired of hearing about how important the core is.   A few years ago, there was a guy buying adverts on Velonews  suggesting that the best way to  improve your climbing was to improve your core strength, and I saw  recent   blog post from a coach that suggested that core muscles are more important than your leg muscles.  All of your muscles are important!       But  you don’t pedal with  your abdominals or your obliques.  Otherwise all those women   that spend hours in pilates classes would be crushing it on the bike.   You pedal with the muscles in your legs and your butt.  Period.   I am not saying that doing a little core work  is useless.  These workouts have their place.   But the importance of a strong core in cycling and many other sports has been grossly overstated.      You can only train so many hours a week, and you get  faster on your bike by riding your bike, not by doing crunches.

Myth #4: Guzzling water and electrolytes before a race prevents cramps.

Also true.   You need to be properly hydrated  and you need to take in electrolytes for many reasons, but  hyperhydration and taking  in large amounts electrolytes isn’t going to stop your cramps.     Find a cure for cramps that really works and I promise you you’ll be famous though.

Myth #5: Popping ibuprofen before a hard workout prevents sore muscles afterward.

So many people do this, and it is absolutely the wrong thing to do.     Not only do ibuprofen and  others NSAIDS fail to reduce post exercise  muscle soreness  Inflammation  an important part of the muscle’s repair process.  That means that  inflammation  is required to recover from training.    You are hurting your recovery by taking those things.      NSAIDS do have their place,  but don’t pop them willy nilly.   Save them for when you have a specific  pain or inflammation issue that needs to be addressed.

Myth #6: Dehydration hurts race performance.

Outside magazine is wrong here.  WTF are they thinking.  Maybe they only had 9, but wanted to finish off their list.  Dehydration will make you slower, and can be dangerous.   Simple as that.

Myth #7: Ice baths speed recovery.

I’m not sure on this one.  I personally thing the jury may still be out.

Myth #8: Long and slow is the best way to burn calories.

True.  Ride harder and you burn more calories.  That isn’t hard to figure out.    The only caveat here,  is that if you do a  really exhausting 1 hour ride, you may not be able to burn as many calories as if you  do a 4 hour easier ride.
Myth #9: Fructose is a performance killer.

Fructose is a sugar that is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.  It is a great fuel for exercise, and for post exercise recovery.   Too much of it, like any carbohydrate will make you fat.   So   use some common sense here.   But if your sports drink  has some fructose, even HFCS in it.   You are probably getting exactly what you need.

Myth #10: Supplements take performance to the next level.

Most supplements are a waste of time.     I hear people say things like  ” well, I started taking such and such, and I got much fitter”.     I am willing to bet that the same time you started taking that supplement was the same time you started training harder.    It was the training.      I don’t care if your local hero takes a  particular supplement either.   Just because ” Joe Fast Guy” takes it doesn’t mean that it improves performance.    He would probably be just as fast without it.     That being said, there are a few things out there that are helpful.   The number one being a simple carb/electrolyte sports drink!

Thats my 2 cents.  You can find the list along with Outside Magazines comments here: 10 Biggest Fitness Myths

It is coming. It sneaks up on us every year. That first race. We told ourselves that we were going to be ready. We drew up a plan, bought a new training journal, and made a list of goals.

Unfortunately, the off season is filled with holidays, friends, family, and fatty foods. None of these things are truly bad. However they can put a hamper on our best laid plans.

With our friends and family requesting our presence, and commitments filling our time, training can be nearly impossible. This is a time when your own creativity can help you meet your goals.

The majority of cycling disciplines (at their core) rely on our aerobic engine. Training that engine should be a priority during the off season.

Below are some training tricks that can help you. Before you start, you will need to know your upcoming events and the longest duration (time, not distance) you will be competing. Find a date in the future that you will hit that longest duration (date of race) and work backwards, subtracting time trained at your aerobic capacity to the current date. For example, if I am planning to do a 3 hour road race in June, I will plan to ride 3 hours at maximum aerobic capacity in April and subtract 10 minutes every week till I get to the current date.

Block out your training: Find the times that will work best for your personal training. Sometimes that means you will miss your Saturday club ride. At certain times of the year I get up at 4:30 am to be on the the road by 5:15 am. This affords me two hours of uninterrupted training.

Do Doubles: Some days squeezing an hour in before work and adding 45 minutes on the trainer after the kids are in bed is the way to go.

Build a camp: If you have multiple days off and you need to work on climbing, get up early (being up early is good for meeting other obligations, too) and drive to an appropriate cycling terrain on consecutive days. If you build multiple camps over a period of two to three months, you will see your fitness grow by leaps and bounds.

Since the majority of cycling disciplines (at their core) rely on our aerobic engine, there are a multitude of alternative aerobic activities that can help us build our aerobic foundation. Go for a run, it’s easy to get out the door quickly and be back before anyone notices your gone. Does your work have a gym or offer membership somewhere? Take a spin class or kettle bell class before work or at lunch.

Maximize your training time: If you are set on meeting specific goals, don’t go do the epic ride with your buddies and stay away from the super slow ride that does not give you any training benefit.

If all else fails you can race into fitness. Make sure to adjust your goals, planning to do better the second half of the season. Don’t stress, cycling calenders usually have a long season with multiple disciplines and lots of racing options.

Crank Cycling can build you a training plan and even offers cycling camps. Let us know how we can help you reach your goals

See you on the road,
Coach Jesse

A key component to having a good race is having a tried and tested routine that you stick to. You will have some pressure and stress while trying to accomplish your goals. So it is important to feel comfortable leading into the day of your race. You already must be a disciplined individual to prepare physically and mentally for your race. Taking that discipline and utilizing it for your race day prep is important.

Pick a routine that you know works. Try to sleep the amount of time you normally when training. If your race is on a Sunday don’t add tons of extra chores around the house Saturday. You and your coach have done efforts that should mimic your event. Pick foods that you have eaten before these hard efforts and that you know sit well in your stomach. All testing of new foods should be done during training, months before your event. Give yourself extra time during preparation. Plan for everything to take longer and expect that you will need that extra time.

Because competition is stressful physically and mentally it is important to not add any extra stress. Make sure you are comfortable. Plan your meals ahead of time. What will you eat the day before and the day of (pre and post event). Choose the clothing you will wear to your event, during your event, and after your event. Make sure your equipment is the way you want it. Do you always use red TT bars at a time trial. Make sure they are on your bike not your workbench.

Just like discipline in training discipline in preparation is very important. Practice your preparation. You will most likely have similar events leading up to your peak event. Try new things months in advance. Repeat what works, and right it down to review later. Repetition is key to dialing in your routine. Finally if its not broke don’t fix it.

It is always important to remember life is not perfect. Things can go wrong. We all have had mechanical at inopportune moments or forgotten a helmet. If your are having a challenges here are a couple things you can do. Take a deep breath, ask for help. If it can’t be helped let out your frustration out and than let it go. It is very important as an athlete to have multiple goals. Pick two or three races you want to do well at. Then choose multiple metrics to measure your success. There is almost always a success in your performance.

If you want to take your training to the next level, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help you meet whatever training goals you have!
See you on the road,
Coach Jesse Eisner

So it is the end of your season and it has been a long one. You just finished the Everest Challenge which has 30,000 feet of climbing. Or maybe you just did a five day UCI stage race in the Caribbean. For some of the riders I coach, this is the way their season ended. When your season has ended with such lofty goals, you can be left with a lack of drive to continue training.

Some riders force themselves through periods where they lack motivation. This can, and usually does, lead to overreaching and eventually burnout or over training.

It is important to give ourselves time to relax from the rigors of training and racing even if you have come off a stellar season, accomplished your goals, and have a new level of fitness. It is important to remember that even if you are not physically overreaching or over trained, that you may be mentally tired. Our minds need just as much care as our bodies when it comes to recovery.

There are always alternative training methods to maintain and rebuild a high level of fitness. These alternatives can give us a break from a rigorous training schedule and still be fun. One method that some cyclists use is Cyclo-cross. Cyclo-Cross is like mountain biking and running mixed into the same workout on road style bicycles. Cylco-cross race courses are run on road, grass, and single track trails with minimal technical sections, but have areas where the rider must dismount and carry his or her bike while hurdling barriers.

Mountain biking is also another good alternative of riding. At the end of a long season, our training and competing can become only a means to an end. Sometimes this leads us to forget about the fun aspects of riding bicycles. Most of us started riding bicycles because it was fun and our competitive natures pushed us to compete on our bikes. Mountain biking leads us back to trails, keeps our brains engaged picking good lines on technical sections of these trails, and usually leads us to mud; and everyone knows that getting muddy is fun.

If you want to be as functional as possible in your off season, lifting weights is also a good thing to take up at the end of your season. Weight lifting is something you should talk with your coach or trainer about as you can very easily injure yourself lifting. Lifting weights should also incorporate the same movements that your cycling discipline does.

When starting to rebuild your overall fitness and transitioning into the off season, it is important to break up the rhythm of your training to include cross training and conditioning in a fun environment. Allowing your body to rest and recover from anaerobic efforts is important. Allowing your mind to rest from pushing yourself to accomplish your workouts is also very important. Training comes in building cycles. All building cycles whether weekly, monthly, or yearly should include rest periods.

Our long term goals as athletes should include rest, recovery, and relaxation at the end of a long season and taking that time will renew our inner drive. I am writing this blog post from Monterey, California, where I just took a few days off to relax, read books, and ride a mountain bike on beautiful Fort Ord, and believe me, I got muddy.

If you want to take your training to the next level, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help you meet whatever training goals you have!
See you on the road,
Coach Jesse Eisner

About 2/3 of the athletes I coach  use power meters to train, and the majority of them use heart rate monitors as well.  But even with athletes that use all of this fancy equipment, sometimes a  “Rate of Perceived  Exertion” (RPE) scale  is the best way to explain  the subjective  intensity of the workout.       This a basically  how hard  you are going on your own personal 1-10 scale.   While  the scale is 100% subjective, it winds up being quite reliable, and has been validated in multiple scientific  studies. ( you can do a Google Scholar search for GAV Borg or Gunnar Borg)

The scale is typically given like this:

• 0 – Nothing at all
• 1 – Very light
• 2 – Fairly light
• 3 – Moderate
• 4 – Some what hard
• 5 – Hard
• 6
• 7 – Very hard
• 8
• 9
• 10 – Very, very hard

But I also sometimes explain it like this:

• 0 – Nothing at all
• 1-2  Super easy, like a slow walk
• 3-4 Moderate effort, you  aren’t going easy anymore, but you can hold this for a long time
• 5-6 Hard  holding this for an extended period is difficult,  at or just below   race pace
• 7 -8 Very hard     race pace, as  you can only hold this for a couple of minutes
• 9 Almost as hard as you could possibly go
• 10 – This is as hard as you’ve ever gone your entire life, like someone is chasing you with a cattle prod.

This is  useful for large groups of people such as stationary  cycling classes ( such as the classes I teach at the  Navy and VA hospitals), or situations where athletes don’t have have access to, or don’t want to use devices such as power meters  or heart rate monitors.  It is also     frequently  use the RPE scale even with athletes that DO use these training devices.   The fact is, that an athlete needs to know  how to go off of feel,  to gauge their own physiological  responses,  just get a  handle on  what they can do,  and when they need to do it.      Don’t get me wrong.  I love training, coaching, and racing with power.   But if you you don’t know and  understand what  your boy is doing at the moment, and what you are capable of on a purely primal level.   You’ll never really reach your maximum potential.

It is essential to know your strengths and weaknesses before adding specificity to your training plan. There are two common approaches, 1) further develop your strengths, and 2) focus on your weaknesses. Riders training to their strengths dedicate time and energy where their skills and abilities already lie; others, focus on their weaknesses in order to develop a well-rounded set of abilities. The Crank Cycling Climbing Camp can help both types of riders.
The Crank Cycling Spring Climbing Camp is where a dedicated rider can harness the power of specificity in order to achieve new levels of performance. After determining a focus area and attaining a base-level of cycling fitness, adding training specificity complementing and stretching your abilities is the next step. If you are a climber, more climbing and specific gradients that mimic upcoming events, including appropriate duration and intensity, is essential. Planning on competing in a century race with a 3-mile climb? If so, then you will want to reflect that exact effort in your training. Do you have upcoming touring century rides? The first goal for specific training is to start with duration barely exceeding your existing limits. To maximize your training, the goal is to incrementally extend that duration until reaching the desired effort level for a given event. Accurately answering the following questions will effectively shape your training program:
1) Does the event have repeated efforts such as a circuit race?
2) Is the event a point-to-point event with continuously rolling terrain?
3) Are there repeated climbs?

After these efforts are added into your training plan you can take specificity a step further
by adding continuous blocks of the chosen discipline to stimulate further adaptation—a training camp is a perfect opportunity for this. Training camps can be as simple as a long weekend with multiple days of riding, or as intricate as choosing multiple specific climbs over 3 to 5 days while maintaining specific power or heart rate output.
Crank Cycling just completed a spring climbing camp in some of the most challenging and beautiful terrain in Southern California. For three days riders enjoyed a FULLY-SUPPORTED experience including a follow-vehicle, food, drinks, spare clothing, mechanical support, expert coaching, and evaluation. Riders climbed over 21,000 feet, sped down winding descents, and pushed themselves to new levels—all developing their riding skills and pushing their physical limits.

“It felt like I was on a 3 day vacation, except I was never more than an hour away from home. I got to push my body over some of the most beautiful climbs San Diego has to offer, while feeling very “pro” the entire time. There is nothing more relaxing than knowing you have a support vehicle near you at all times. A raise of your hand gets you anything you need, water , food, a jacket, a wheel change, sometimes just a word of support, or the directions to your next turn. I will be the first to sign up to Crank Cycling’s next climbing camp!” ~Jose Cepeda~

Summer Climbing camp

Jose and Coach Jesse

Coached athlete Justin Farrar

If you want to take your training to the next level, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help meet whatever training goals you have!

See you on the road,
Coach Jesse Eisner

I had a Retul bike fit done with Chris Bennet at Studeo DNA in Carlsbad last month, this is Part 1 of a 2 part entry on my experience with Studeo DNA and the Retul System.

I’d like to start off with my  thoughts on bike fits, and fitters in general.  A good bike fit is can be one of the most elusive parts of a cyclists training and fitness regime. Fitting an athlete and a bicycle is equal parts science, rider feedback, personal experience, black magic and voodoo. I’ve always been skeptical of expensive bike fits that use lasers, smoke machines, and other fancy equipment. After all, the most important part of a quality bike fit is the fitter himself. You often see shop mechanics doing bicycle fits, but this never made much sense to me. I don’t go to TP Automotive for my shoulder pain, so why would I go to a bike mechanic to help me with a bike fit. Even a week at some bike fit school, and a certificate on the wall doesn’t necessarily impress me. I’m not saying that all bicycle mechanics are bad bike fitters, I’ve met many excellent fitters who also know how to turn a wrench. My point is that working in a bike shop does not necessarily qualify someone to do a good bike fit. In my opinion, the most important aspects of a bike fitter are( in no particular order) are:

1) Experience on the bike:
A good bike fitter should have logged literally thousands of hours on the bike. This means that they have several years of experience riding bikes themselves, and simply know what it means to pedal a bike for mile after mile, hour after hour… and how to pedal a bike hard. Their understanding of how a bike and a rider fit together needs to be more than academic, it needs to be experiential.

2) Experience watching others:
Ok, this mostly comes with logging the miles themselves. But spending all those hours riding with others riders allows a good bike fitter to instantly sense when something isn’t right, to recognize the “suplesse” of a a bike and a rider working in perfect harmony, and to try and help you replicate that yourself.

3) An understanding of biomechanics and physiology:
A good bike fitter has to have a fundamental understanding of how our muscles and bones work together to put the power to the pedals. This is where some good old fashioned book learning comes in. Fitters can be self taught, take college classes, go to weekend or week long bike fit classes, or combination of these things to learn and understand the biomechanics of pedaling a bike.  A good background in biomechaincs  allows an experienced fitter understand how parts of the body are related, and adjusting one part effects the rest.

4) Experience doing actual bike fits:
Practice makes perfect.   That is not to say that all new bike fitters give poor bike fits,  simply that experience counts.

Each of these things is equally important and helps a bike fitter make you more comfortable, faster, and injury free on your bike. What you sometimes find in a bike shop employee is someone who has some background and understanding of biomchanics because they went to a “fit school”, yet I assure you that all of these things cannot be learned in a weekend. Many bike shop employees loves bikes, and love to ride them but don’t get all that , much saddle time. If a fitter has not had long hours riding the bike and watching others, a good understanding of biomechanics, and actual experience doing bike fits, then approach with caution.*

Studeo DNA in Carlsbad specializes in doing bike fits only.     Chris is an experienced masters racer, with many miles on under his belt, and one look at Chris clues you in to the the fact that he is a former bodybuilder.   As a bodybuiler and cyclists, Chris  has spent  years   studying and absorbing information about the human body and biomehanics and is as well versed  as anyone how all of those muscles, bones,  ligaments and joints work together.    Chris would be using the Retul Fit System to  help examine my current bike fit, and  possibly recommend any changes in my bike fit.   People usually get a bike fit because they are either new to cycling, have pain or discomfort, or simply want to find a more aerodynamic or  improved biomechanical position.     I had no particular reason to change or  alter my current fit, but I figured I would see what these guys have to offer.

Coming next…the actual fit process:

* I don’t want to seem as if I am bashing bike shop employees here, I’m just trying to drive home the point that being a good mechanic  and  being a good bike fitter are not the same thing!   I have also seen non bike shop  bike fitters that posses all of the attributes I’ve mentioned, at yet still give terrible bike fits!

A warm up is an important part of your race preparations.   It  is rather silly to  train for countless hours,  travel to a race, and payg entry fees if  you aren’t  going to be properly warmed up. A  proper warm up may not necessarily  win  you the race, but it can definitely lead to a sub-optimal performance and can lose you the race.   We have posted  warm ups for road racing, cyclocross racing, crit racing, time trialing, track racing, and mountain bike racing.    These warm ups are not set in stone, and you may have to experiment a little bit to find out what works best  for you.    If you haven’t been doing a structured warm up, or are looking for something new, consider them a starting point.   If you like them, stick with them,  but  feel free to experiment a little.     You’ll more find  information   links to all of our warm up  protocols here.

Crank Cycling will be holding a bike handling and group riding skill clinic on April 16th.   If you are  new to cycling or just need work on some of your riding skills such as  safely riding in traffic, over  or around hazards  such as railroad tracks, dirt, sand, and other debris,  cornering in wet and dry corners, pacelining and drafting, riding in close proximity to other riders, and more.   This clinic is intended primarily for beginner to intermediate  level riders, and  is a great way to help you finish your events   faster, safer, and upright!     You can find more information and registration here, or contact Jesse at Jesse@crankcycling.com

What are you capable of doing? Most athletes do not know what the top of their peak performance can be. One of the hardest parts of training is objectively viewing your own performance and determining whether your efforts are adding to a progressive or regressive state. We, as finite beings, are for the most part incapable of training to our personal best without some outside perspective. Productive training consists of disciplined efforts performed on a razors edge, trying to push beyond our current limitations to achieve what may seem impossible from the outset. We most often find what we are capable of doing by pushing beyond our current limitations to the point of failure. Failure is not a bad thing. Failure shows what our weaknesses are and points us in a direction in the pursuit of improving our performance.In a recent conversation with one of my clients, he shared that he thought he might be doing too much and was probably not capable of attaining some of our midterm goals. We discussed the workouts he had completed and his overall recovery.

Here are some important questions you can ask yourself to make sure you are not over training: Am I able to do and complete my workouts correctly? Am I recovering on my rest days? Am I staying healthy (not getting sick)?   This is where a power meter can be quite useful.   If an athletes is feeling good, but the power keeps improving, we know that the athlete is not over trained.

So objectivity will help us to determine our training progression. Pushing beyond our seeming limitations reveals our true limitations, and failure is just a learning tool.

All of these elements can be more easily attained when consulting with a coach. Crank Cycling coaches will help you to do all of these things. Give us a call! Let’s sit down and discuss how we can help you to assess your capabilities.

See you on the road,
Coach Jesse