Workouts of the Week - April 29

 

 

Steve's Workout of the Week

WU: Active flexibility for at least 10min

Main WO:
5 rounds for time of,
10 Heavy KB Swings (swing heaviest KB or Dumbell you can without losing form)

10 Ring Push-ups (if you don't have rings or a TRX...then do clapping pushups)

Post Time / Load /Modifications / Successes to Comments Please !


Peter's Workout of the Week
(1.5-2hrs)
WU:
10-30min endurance warmup with 3-5 x 1min @ 110+RPM ... endurance Effort / RPE

Main WO: Endurance Ride High Cadence
6-10 Rounds
- Ride 1 gear easier then you were choosing in endurance warmup for 5min
- Get off and do 10 Burpees w/ pushup & Jump with Overhead Clap

CD: Quick transition then Ride Outside on winter bike for 20-40min practicing cornering / standing / technical skills like hopping over logs/curbs.
- If already outside (lucky!!) then just use last portion of your ride to practice skills

Post Time for each set of burpees and what skills you practiced outside to comments.

Weekend Results

Emily Batty scores 10th at World Cup #2 in Germany (1st Espoir)

 

Mansfield Ontario Cup

P.Glassford - 2nd

M. Mitchnik - 4th

C. Jette - 5th

 

J. Stafford - 7th

L. Gracey - 13th

 

S. Loney - 9th

 

R. Mirvish - 5th

T. Simmons-6th

 

M. Davie - 8th

 

B. Near - 2nd

 

B. Berger-1st

P. Cooney- 3rd

S. Neal -16th

 

B. Smith - 17th

 

B. Bergman - 5th

J. Febrey - 14th

 

Oatmeal

Question: Do you have any special tricks for cooking Oatmeal to 'spice' up the dish?

 

Answer:

 

What I do is put a bunch of oats in a pot (usually steel cut or large flake that I soak overnight in the fridge ... this makes cooking faster)

 

From there let simmer in a pot for 20-30min watching that heat is low and that there is enough water (a wise person measures out their correct water:oats ratio) ... others just add / remove as needed !

 

Once your oats are getting close there are a few options for 'spice'

 

a) combine with 1-2 eggs, some nuts/seeds/granola, some fruit and some spices like cinnamon and then throw in a frying pan and make yourself a pancake without all that artificial mix

 

b) make more traditional oatmeal by throwing any of that above stuff into the pot and mixing it up and serving (or eating out of the pot if you are so inclined!), adding things like flax seed/oil, protein powder (after the cooking) and even fish oil can be done here too to enhance nutrient density.

 

c) a neat variation I learned from a friend down south is to make your oats (or just cereal), put in a bowl and then make a smoothie (your choice here) and pour over top ... very tasty

 

d) another variation from Emily Batty and Adam Morka is to make your oats as in B but then throw in the oven (a healthy dose of cinnamon on top with some apples helps with aroma here) ... watch you don't burn it but I believe something around 15min on high heat / broil makes an interesting dish .

 

Enjoy!

Gearing Up

Winter is gone ... at least it seems that way.

The First Races are coming and the anticipation and nerves are building with each day.

Perhaps you have done a few small races and are ready to get started with your main events.

You are probably ready to let your winter of hard work come to fruition.

A roaring start to ensure victory at the top of the first hill is a popular strategy but is it the best way to use that new fitness ?

One of the biggest performance enhancements you can make is riding YOUR pace, rather than a faster pace off the start.

If you see a decline of more the a percent or two between laps then pacing might be a good place to focus this spring.

There are several great drills that we use with clients for this

The workout for Saturday at http://cranktheshield.blogspot.com/ is a one of these 'drills' because, when done correctly, it requires a steady power application over variable terrain

This skill of riding tempo (or any pace) very steady teaches you to apply pressure over the tops of climbs and on flats, in addition to the climbs where you are forced to push.

During races or pre-rides this skill can then be applied by not going so hard that you 'have' to back off at the top of the climb and into the flats ... losing any time gained during the heroic climb !

Give it some thought ... Give it a Try ... and see if the end result (your total time) improves

 

PS. sign up for your free Training Peaks Account and follow along ... whether you are doing the race or not it can be a great place to start to plan / log your hard work

Workouts of the Week - REMEMBER TO POST YOUR RESULTS !

 

Steve's Workout of the Week

 

Tabata 20 sec ON / 10 sec OFF -- 1 min rest between each exercise

Pushups - chest and thighs to floor

Situps - shoulder blades touch floor - then full range of motion situp - touch feet

Air Squats - squat with no additional load

Burpees - chest and thighs to floor - must get heels on floor before 
jumping - jump must be with full hip extension + clap while hands are 
above head and feet are off floor -

Count the lowest score for each exercise...add them together.

 

Record and Post your total score.

Peter's Workout of the Week

 

On an endurance or recovery ride (or in a warm-up for a bigger workout)

 

- every 8 min for ride duration  

- do 30sec @ 100RPM / 30sec @ 105 RPM / 30sec @ 110RPM / 30sec @ 115RPM / 30sec @ 120RPM

 

 - In between the above intervals ride your normal endurance / recovery pace / cadence

 

 

 

Weekend Round up !

Weekend Results from Around the Continent !

1) Boston Marathon
Sarah Caylor clocks a new PB for her Marathon time and for Boston of 3:42:03
(also Big congrats to Peter's Uncle Mike Mcnamara who did a huge PB at 3:23! )


2) Paris to Ancaster
- Matt Farquharson = 18th overall (3rd in Cat)
- Lucas Gracey = 112th (9th in Cat)
- Tammy Simmons - 228th (1st in Cat)


3) UsCup Pro XC #2 - Sea Otter Classic - California
- Emily Batty - 1st in ST / 11th in XC
- Amanda Sin - 12th in XC
- Mical Dyck - Lap in ST / 24th XC
- Peter Glassford - Lap in St / Dnf XC


http://www.steveneal.ca

Wednesday Endurance Workout - Post Your Bike Choice and Distance

 

Workouts   Hello crank shield, Your Workouts for Wednesday: Workout #1:  Bike , Planned duration: 1: 30  60-90 min endurance - 65-80% MHR / 6-7 RPE - 90+RPM

Workouts of the Week April 14

Congrats to Cam Jette on Winning the 'Hell of the North' This past weekend

Steve's Workout
3 rounds of 20 reps each (except bike for time)...1 min between rounds:

pushups

air squats

situps

mountain climbers

Bike 1 minute all out


Peter's Workout

Complete 10 x 30sec spinups to max cadence / 3-5min easy endurance b/w at comfortable cadence

- during spinups accelerate to max cadence and hold it for the last 10seconds focusing on not bouncing excessively and staying as smooth as possible at this high turnover

http://www.steveneal.ca

Sign Up Yet ?

Couple Reminders about things we are up to as the 2009 Season Starts up.

FEEL FREE TO POST QUESTIONS

1) Sign up for Free Training Peaks Account and the 2009 Crank the Shield Program ... You don't have to be doing the event to sign up (but you should be doing it !).
- The account is a great resource and the program gives you some great ideas and a place to discuss training/racing ideas !

www.cranktheshield.com
OR
http://cranktheshield.blogspot.com/ (link at top left to sign up)


2) Remember to either sign up yourself or let friends/family know about the Learn to Ride Clinic Presented by Heart Health in Mono Centre
More info is available Here

3) Have you Decided where your 2009 Weekly Races will be taking place ?
Check out SuperFly Racing (LINK) for 2 solid mid week series close to you ( well likely close to you !)


http://www.steveneal.ca

Workouts of the Week - April 6 2009

Photo Courtesy Sharky

Steve's Workout of the Week

Complete the following decreasing # of Reps for 5 Sets total

50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 of:

Dumbell or kettlebell swings

Skipping - double unders or 4x the number ... so 50 doubles and try your best! or 200 skips

Ball slams

Peter's Workout of the Week
- 45-90min steady endurance ride with cadence >100RPM Average on slightly rolling terrain
- wattage / RPE should be in endurance zone, hr may be slightly higher but watch breathing is normal for endurance
-

http://www.steveneal.ca

No Exit ?

When you see the sign above do you ever wonder if there is a way through ? How often do you just turn around without checking out the possibilities beyond ?

There are often dead end roads and unmaintained roads that have this sign at their entrance ... but many are actually passable by bike or on foot.

Taking these paths less traveled can provide for great adventures. While sometimes it may mean extended hike-a-bikes and perhaps a few grumpy ride companions, these opportunities often open up new routes and made for great stories to tell.

Drawing the concept out a bit further ... 'No Exit Signs' Pop up in life often as well ... how often do the words 'impossible' or similar phrases come up ? Often in life there is a way around these obstacles if we are able to think beyond the conventional or endure some short term discomfort.

This weekend make it a goal to explore some new territory and look beyond that 'no exit' sign, whether it is on your bike or your life.

Enjoy (and keep it safe and legal please !)

ps. Remember to sign up for your free Crank The Shield Training Account Today!

steveneal.ca

The Many Faces of Sprinting

You can see Amanda climbing out of the saddle with great form and power. Taking full advantage of this sprinting opportunity. This comes from practicing the drills listed above during training...and not just attempting to stand while racing.

Sprinting is a very flexible workout element and a valuable skill to master.

There are so many ways to use this skill and the improvement of the physiology and technique can have wide reaching benefits for cyclists in any discipline.

• like cresting hills
• getting back on a wheel of a rider ahead, after a corner or break in the paceline
  
• accelerating to get into single track first

A few of the different ways to use sprints in your workouts.

Warm-up
- quite often we will use sprints, cadence drills or both to prepare for the workout ahead.
- This could be as simple as 5-8 x 15sec sprints, a mix of seated and standing often works well here to help with activation of all the muscles/postures you will use in the workout at a high intensity. 2-3 min for recovery is usually plenty here

Goal here is to influence the workout in a positive way and not bring excess fatigue before starting your main workout set.

Physiological - This would be accomplished by using sprints as the main focus of your workout, letting endurance take a back seat for the day/phase and instead
- Focus would be maximal effort on the sprints with very easy recoveries b/w for 3-5min.
- Usually looking at 8-20reps of 10-20sec sprints is what we use ... starting at the lower end and adding in sets if reps get higher then 8

Technique - Beyond the actually ability to sprint well, practicing / training sprints benefits several aspects of cycling ... these are just a few !
- Many cyclists are awkward/inefficient while standing. Riding out of the saddle is important and if you can't stand properly you are missing out on a fraction of your potential ... sprinting seems to help teach the idea of rocking the bike and not the body.
- Corner Sprints are a good example of a road application
- Starts for MTB racers are very important (try including some start sprints in your workouts ... perhaps at the odd traffic light)

http://www.steveneal.ca