There was a good piece in Cycling Weekly recently on Graham Obree. I couldn't find my copy to quote him here but I did find a very similar article on the web via http://velocitynation.com. OK he was training for the 1 hour record not 180km in the Pyrenees but I like his simple approach to training:
- A couple of all out efforts a week ONLY if he felt good enough to go all out
- Strength work - not squats but riding big gears over hills
- Actual training - rides the bike everyday but only about 4 hours per week qualifies as training: "there's no point doing a whole pile of training if it'll be substandard"
- "Did you use an HR monitor..?". "No. What I had was the best cycling body monitoring computer ever invented - the cerebral cortex".
This week has not contained any long rides but I've worked quite hard in the gym. Dare I say I feel quite satisfied (for once!) but how much will this help me on the Tourmalet who knows...
- Sunday: Kettlebells
- Monday: Sufferfest Downward Spiral. Full video. Plus 43km cycle commute ridden hard.
- Tuesday: Deadlifts, pull-ups, 30 mins core specific work, heavy bag 5x2 min rounds, row 16 mins HR at 150-160, 43km cycle commute hard in the morning, easy at night
- Wednesday: Gym brick session pushing very hard - 2km run / 5km bike, 1.5km run / 4km bike, 1km run / 3km bike. Plus 47km commute ridden hard (forgot mobile!)
- Thursday: 30 mins rowing. Lower weights circuit high reps with little rest and core specific work.
- Friday: Rest
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ReplyDeleteHi Andrew
ReplyDeletePersonal thoughts on what your are saying is: As long as you do the miles which you have been doing then thats good. Getting the long miles in the legs is the training you need for the Etape and you can do that.
Reading your blog Andrew the only thing that I have not read much about is your diet. As we know the lighter you are the faster up the hill you will go. It would be interesting to know what your diet is and your daily calorie intake.
From a personal point of view I do not think I will improve much that I am at now by doing more cycling! So I have put all my focus on nutrition and turning that fat in to muscle.
Now I know we cyclists do not want to bulk up but the more muscle mass you have the more fat you burn. I am willing to take the risk and build more muscle to burn more fat. But I know this will lead to weight gain as muscle weighs more than fat. But I will keep doing the heavy weights.
If you are not all ready on a all-in-one protein shake program I suggest it is worth a look. I take PHD Synergy 7 twice a day one in the morning (250kcal) and one after a workout in the afternoon (250Kcal). These drinks are important and loaded with the protein you need for recovery and exercise. I would then have a chicken or tuna roll and some milk which is around 500kcal.
So basically when its time for dinner at night you have only consumed 1000kcal! For dinner if you can keep it down to 800kcal you would be doing well. This is the target I self myself and it was worked a little lost about 3lbs not a lot but it is something and I am now sitting at 79kg.
I have given up all junk food and chocolate midweek and replaced the soft drinks with a Pepsi max. I do have to admit I do indulge some times in a Budweiser or two at night and a nice curry on a Friday but I reckon you have to or life can be very dull :)
So for me I say look at the diet, more kcal out than in with your exercise and I think will get you get good gains in weight loss. It is hard very very hard but it will be worth it. I would focus on that. Of all my years of cycling I have neglected it. I have come home from 100mile rides and eating pizza and kebabs bottles of coke, chocolate, crisps etc etc and it is all counter productive. It is important to get the quality carbs and kcal back in and not the rubbish that loads fat back on.
The way I see it we spend all the time we have pushing ourselves to get a good time in a sportive or do a big ride like the etape but we neglect our diet. Commitment to both (cycling) must be importance to each other (diet) to make weight loss gains.
Thats the way I see it.
Brilliant comment here Alec. I just love this exchange of views, thanks. I tell you I will post more about this and I was interested to see what you posted on your blog a while back re diet.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I posted about a long time ago was my belief that it is food timing that is critical. What has worked for me for weightloss before is to eat 75% of my carbs in a window not extending more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours after my workout. Lately I have not got the timing right at all. I eat nothing before my cycle into work. I graze at my desk up to my lunchtime workout. I come back from the gym and drink a protein shake (Yep I too am a PhD man - amazing!!!) and then I will have nothing until a full scale heavy meal in the evening. This is not good -the timing is all wrong.
I don't drink beer too often but I like a few glasses of wine on a Friday and Saturday with family meals. I do have a sweet tooth and that is my biggest failure. The booze I can live without but wave a box of Jaffa cakes at me and it's carnage.
Since I have been cycling I have found fuelling very difficult to get right. Your advice though is great. One more thing - when I did the Etape du Dales I did have the gels and energy bars on the way round which was fine but then I got in the car at the end and had a BLT sandwich, a huge lump of cake, crisps, a cheeseburger, a couple of packets of sweets and loads of diet coke. I could have carried on binging had I not run out of stuff to eat. Terrible!
Thats the thing when you finish a big cycle you would eat anything! The trick I think is is to keep it to quality carbs like pasta and low fat.
ReplyDeleteHowever easy said than done if you have a sweet tooth after doing 100 odd miles :)
7 weeks! Blimey that came around quick. I must admit I'm struggling to ditch some much needed weight so will peruse these useful replies too. No matter what i do never seem to go below 95kg but had hoped to be down below 90. 95 must be my "fighting weight" so may just have to grin and bear it and haul that up those hill's i guess.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note i got my number today! I'm in the 3600 to 4000 pen so thoroughly relieved that I'll have a slight headstart on the dreaded wagon.
Hope the number lottery is kind to all too......
Hello there zugz: My number hasn't come through yet but nice one on being in that number range. Top half sounds a good place to be! I've been away for a week so I'm dreading hitting the scales.
ReplyDelete