Tips to Enhance Your Cycling Performance

For anyone seriously interested in boosting their fitness through cycling, some training strategies are likely to be more effective than others. There is some dispute about the use of heart rate monitors or HRMs – they are not ideally suited to group training and can occasionally give inaccurate results, especially when measuring heart rate after a change in exertion. That said, there is no substitute for a mechanism, however imperfect, which monitors true exertion of the heart and thus aids in producing the desired goals of training. As of today, there is no better device for the average athlete or routine exerciser than the heart rate monitor.

Maximum heart rate (MHR) varies from one sport to another and from one genetic constitution to another, but this figure does provide a guide to one’s capacity to absorb and use oxygen while exercising – the VO2max. Other than expert analysis, which is highly recommended, the MHR is obtained by spending 15 minutes cycling on flat surfaces to warm up, followed by cycling up a long, steady incline, increasing effort every minute for five minutes until maximum speed has been reached. Following this, stop the bike and check your heart rate for 30 seconds, then double the number. This number is your MHR.

The key to an effective training strategy is to combine ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ cycling exertions. The amount of time one can cycle at 100% of MHR will be limited, even for professional athletes; there is a finite duration during which their heart rate can remain in the 80% to 90% of MHR range.

A good weekly training regime might look like this: one long ride at 65% to 70% of MHR. Include a ‘day event’, equivalent to the race being aimed for, mixing exertion from 10% or 20% of MHR to full MHR. Several ‘interval’ days should be incorporated, involving cycling exertions starting from warm up level to 90% MHR, split into bands of intermediate exertion. These might include 20 minutes at 70% to 80% of MHR, 5 minutes at 80%to 90%, seven intervals where the goal is to reach 90% and then drop down to 60% to 65%, another five minutes at 80% to 90%, 20 minutes at 80% to 90% again, and finally a warm down where one levels off at 65% of MHR.

No harm and much benefit will result from resting two days out seven. Overtraining, far from enhancing your cycling fitness, may ultimately result in long-term fatigue and is almost always counterproductive. A heart rate monitor is essential to avoid overtraining, as perceived exertion may not always be accurate.

Using a heart rate monitor, try the following test: Do a warm up that takes you to the foot of an incline and then start to climb, you may notice one of four different results. If your legs feel tired and your heart rate is higher than normal (i.e., for the same exercise level), this is a sign that you need rest and will be overtraining mode if you continue. A normal heart rate and tired legs or a higher than normal heart rate (despite fatigue felt in the legs) also suggests that rest is advisable, although not to the same extent as in the first scenario. If the heart rate is normal and the legs feel strong, then it is safe to continue training.

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