Summer Cycling Routines

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Use the Tour de France as an inspiration to start a summer cycling routine.Training at a variety of “tempos” and terrains will optimize your workout.Rest is particularly important between workouts when you’re cycling.

“From a strength standpoint, cycling is preferable to running as a cardiovascular workout. “

Watching the Tour de France can be a serious buzzkill for a guy trying to get in shape. Cyclists are among the most physically fit athletes in the world, and watching those guys go up a hill can be enough to make a guy trying in vain to get in shape to throw in the towel.

But if you can’t beat ‘em, as they say, join ‘em. Cycling is an amazing way to get in shape, and the benefits start showing soon. Instead of letting the Tour de France discourage you, use the physical fitness of the cyclists as an inspiration, and introduce cycling to your summer workout routines.

Cycling is a great way to not only improve your conditioning this summer, but also to enhance your physique. Some of the best benefits you’ll see with cycling training are the body’s enhanced utilization of oxygen, increased muscular strength and power in the legs, improved ability to buffer lactic acid buildup, and decreased body-fat percentage. From a strength standpoint, cycling is preferable to running as a cardiovascular workout, since you will be constantly working against resistance. That said, there are some important things you should consider when coming up with a summer cycling routine that will help you maximize your training.

One of the most important factors to consider when putting together your bike workout is variety. If you’re doing the same workout day in and day out, your body is going to adapt to it very quickly and you will stop showing results. By changing it up on a frequent basis, you will keep your body guessing as you work your muscles on a variety of levels at the same time.

Including one or two “tempo” sessions will help you build a good base for your summer cycling routine. In these workouts, you will be riding at a constant, fairly high intensity for 20 to 25 minutes. The idea here is to help your body grow accustomed to tolerating lactic acid so that when you do decide to push harder, you will not fatigue as quickly. These workouts will also help to push up your relative speed, thereby increasing your performance.

One session per week should be dedicated to a longer-duration workout, as this will help you build cardiovascular endurance. Not only is this good for proper health, but it will also give your body a break from the very high intensity workouts. Aim to cycle continuously, at a comfortable pace, for about 45 minutes to an hour. There is no need to overdo it during these sessions, unless you are training for an endurance event. Excessive endurance training will lead to issues with recovery and will take time away from other workouts you should be concentrating on.

Finally, adding one or two sessions of sprint training is a smart move, as these are what will really bump up your fitness level. Aim to go 30 seconds to a minute at a very hard pace, and then take a rest period for two to three times the duration of the sprint interval. Repeat this process 6 to 12 more times before starting your cooldown.

The next factor to consider when putting together your summer cycling routine is rest. Rest is absolutely critical if you hope to see progress, because if you don’t allow recuperation to take place, each session will only tear down your muscle fibers.

Along with scheduling days off, take into account any cross-training activities you participate in, such as weightlifting or other sports. If those are highly demanding physically, you will again need to scale back slightly on the cycling workouts so you do not overtrain.

Eating right is an essential component of any summer cycling routine… Next Page >>

Cycling: Vege-power faces test on Tour

The substances consumed by a professional cyclist usually make headlines for all the wrong reasons, but when America’s David Zabriskie pedals away from the starting line of the Tour de France this weekend, he will also be starting a unique nutritional experiment.

In a move never before attempted in the 108-year history of his sport’s most gruelling event, Zabriskie, who announced his conversion to veganism at the end of last year, will try to complete the 3430km three-week race without consuming any meat, eggs or dairy products.

It’s a challenge because cyclists on the Tour need to have roughly 8000 calories a day. They have traditionally scoffed large portions of meat to replace lost protein and aid muscle recovery.

Animal products also replace missing iron, which produces haemoglobin that helps transport oxygen around the body.

Zabriskie, who is 1.8m tall and weighs just over 63kg, began experimenting with his diet last season, after a blood test done by his team chiropractor revealed that he was highly sensitive to certain types of food.

During last year’s tour, he began cutting down on meat, believing it required too much energy to digest. Then he cut out milk and cheese, and was pleased with the results.

During the off season, which began in October, he decided that it was time to “make some major changes” to his lifestyle, and announced he would be becoming a vegan.

Since then Zabriskie claims to have been in some of the best form of his career, a fact he attributes directly to the new diet.

“I think a lot of people see food in terms of whether it’s going to make them fat or make them skinny,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

“I’m seeing food in terms of how it’s going to make me think and will it give me clarity.”

He said his overall health had improved, and that minor ailments, including canker sores and a persistent saddle rash had all begun to clear up.

Even his eyesight had sharpened, he told the newspaper.

Zabriskie has adopted the new diet for reasons of health, rather than animal welfare, so he takes a pragmatic approach to some of the demands of a true vegan lifestyle.

In a move which might disappoint purists, he has decided to “cheat” by eating small portions of salmon twice a week during the tour, to increase his ability to absorb iron.

The other secret of his daily diet is a brand of vegan energy shake, which contains hefty portions of hemp seeds, flax seeds, and protein from brown rice. He began drinking them after suffering from low energy levels earlier this season, and now consumes at least four a day.

That has been enough to keep his physique more muscular than the vegan stereotype.

But although Zabriskie’s animal-friendly diet may be relatively common in his native Los Angeles, it still stands out in professional cycling, where protein shakes tend to be infused with raw egg whites.

Zabriskie’s employers, the Garmin-Cervelo team, admit they were initially concerned by his vegan diet.

The team’s director, Jonathan Vaughters, insisted he ate extra portions of leafy greens, such as spinach, and took regular blood tests to monitor his level of ferritin, the protein that stores iron.

Their fears dissipated when he hit a run of good form, winning the time trial during this year’s Tour of California and then coming first in the US national time trial championships.

On paper, Zabriskie still does not have much chance of winning the Tour de France, which he has entered five times and completed three times.

But he did win the time trial in 2005 and hopes to replicate that feat.

Said Vaughters: “The proof is in the pudding. He’s won more time trials this year than he has in his career.”

The next three weeks, he added, would be “the ultimate test of the vegan diet”.

- INDEPENDENT