Lisa Sabin’s - Running And Being

Train moderately

Building fitness on the bike means that an adequate base period must be established. Many cyclists get excited and push ahead to do anerobic workouts before they have established a strong aerobic base. The aerobic base lays the foundation for endurance, force and speed skills. Adaptations to aerobic conditioning include, increased ability to tolerate lactate. The body produces less lactate as an individual becomes more endurance trained. The heart and lungs become more efficient at delivering oxygen to the working muscles. Stroke volume increases. More blood flows to the working muscles with each beat of the heart.

Train Consistently

A training effect occurs when the body is put under stress, then recovers from that stress. This is called “Overload Principle” Applying intensity, duration or frequency of exercise to which the body is not accustomed will cause an adaptation. The body recovers from the work out and the next work out is a little easier. Continuing to challenge the body with increased efforts builds fitness gradually.

Rest

Making sure there is adequate rest time is just as important as work out time. Training at higher intensities should only be done 1-2 times per week. The majority of training time should be spent doing moderate aerobic work outs.

Develop A Plan

Periodization is important. Athletes cannot expect to be at top form all the time. The season can be broken down into macrocycles, which include: preparation, base 1, base 2, build 1, build 2, peak period, race period and transition.

• The Cyclists Training Bible, by Joe Friel
• Training Bible 2, by Joe Friel