Dig Deep Coaching provides a professional coaching service to both recreational and competitive cyclists and its team are passionate about supporting cyclists no matter what level they are at. From now until you embark on the Giant’s Causeway Coast Sportive, Dig Deep Coaching will be bringing you support on and off the bike that you need to be thinking about now and not a week before the event!  From the all important basics of having your bike fitted correctly to ensure you are as comfortable and injury free to making sure you eat well to train as effectively and efficiently as possible.

If you would like to hear more from Dig Deep Coaching please sign up to their ezine to get lots more information on training and nutrition for all levels of cyclists!

The team at Dig Deep Coaching are involved in organising Cody’s Challenge Sportive in order to raise money for the Children’s Heartbeat Trust. This sportive offers participants with a choice of 3 routes and will take place this year on Sunday 20th October, ideal timing for resting the legs in between the 2 events!

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Tips to help you on Torr Head

CLIMBING – What you can do that will make a difference. By Dan Fleeman, Director at Dig Deep Coaching and Professional Cyclist. 

Someone once asked Robert Millar’s advice on climbing – his response was typical of the man; ‘Ride hills, lots.’ For some people, climbing hills comes easily; almost second nature. For others it can be more of a struggle. But we can all improve whatever level we’re at.

With this in mind, below are some points on how to improve your climbing. These are relevant to you whether you’re an elite rider or somebody who is simply hoping to improve for sportives.

1) Improve your power/weight
This one is easy – lose weight and you’ll fly up the Cols, right? While this is partly true, it may be better to focus on improving your power first then look at losing a few pounds in a controlled way.

2) Work on your cadence
To become efficient at climbing you should learn to spin the pedals faster rather than just pushing a big gear at a low cadence. But it’s not just a case of putting it into the smallest gear you have the next time you get to a climb. You need to train your body to adapt to spinning at a higher cadence. Try adding blocks of 10 minutes spinning at 110rpm into your normal rides, first on flat roads and then when you have mastered this, move onto doing the same on a climb.

3) Build a strong foundation
Before starting more specific high intensive training intervals, it’s important to have a strong foundation or ‘base.’ This does not necessarily have to involve riding at zone two for hours on end – although work of this type is required. Try adding blocks of zone three into longer rides; 30-60 minutes continuous zone three will set you up well for climbing long mountains. For riders training for, say, the Etape du Tour but living in a flatter area this is a good way to prepare.

4) Threshold work
After the foundation has been laid then it’s time to move onto higher intensity threshold work which will help raise your FTP (Function Threshold Power). Try doing around 30 minutes in zone four which could be either 2 x 15 minutes or 3 x 10 minutes. If you have climbs of this length in your area that’s to the good. But if not, this can be done on a turbo but lifting the front wheel a little to replicate a slight gradient.

5) V02 Max
The next move is into training above threshold. V02 max intervals are great for improving your anaerobic endurance as well as improving your threshold power. 4/5 x 4 minute intervals in zone five would be a good workout for most riders.

6) It’s not all about average power
There are two types of climber; riders who set a single sustained high level of power all the way up a climb without making sudden accelerations (a la Wiggins) and the other type who don’t set a steady tempo but make constant bursts, changing their pace and causing others who try to match their efforts to explode (Joaquim Rodriguez is a good example). Bearing this in mind it’s a good idea to try varying the power on some of the intervals. You could try riding the first 40 seconds of a four minute interval as hard as you can then settle into zone four for the remainder of the effort; or flip it around and ride Zone four/five for the main part before going flat out in the final 40 seconds.

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Three Months Before!

By now hopefully enthusiasm, determination and focus towards your goal has helped raise your general fitness and the benefits of consistent training are starting to show during weekend rides.

So what’s next?

• Start to build your speed/intensity
• Keep training consistent (challenging with our adverse weather conditions but achievable)
• Stay injury and illness free

Time to raise your game with the fitness!  This is why training is key…it is helping you make improvements on a bike.  Not stand still.  But actually make noticeable improvements.  Increasing strength on the climbs, holding on with a faster group…or maybe you are aiming for the shorter route but with all this training you just might challenge yourself further and aim for the longer one!  Maybe you have surprised yourself with the improvements made and would like to raise the bar again, go for it but be prepared!

Weekend rides: Aim for increasing your average speed either for the total duration of the ride or for just 20-30mins during the ride, e.g. if you average 16mph on your weekend ride aim for 17/18mph or if this is not possible start with building blocks of 18mph sections in 20-30min during your ride, you will be surprised how much this can raise your fitness with these short ‘bursts’ at a higher speed.

If you feel a good base has been built along with starting to raise you intensity/average speed you can also build the volume of your rides. Try the following-

 Increase your weekend ride volumes:

• Add 12%-15% total time to one of your rides at the weekend, keep this duration the same for 2-3 weeks until you feel confident that both your training days at the weekend can be increased to this volume without compromising intensity/average speed of each ride.
  • 80/115 mile challenge – build the Saturday ride from 2hrs to 2hrs 20min (maintain Sunday’s ride at 3hrs for 3 weeks) then increase Sundays ride to 3hr 30min. This is a gradual build-up of volume without reducing intensity or adding too much volume/intensity and causing too much training stress.
  • 35 mile challenge – build Saturday 1½hr ride to 1hr 45min and maintain this for 2 weeks then build the Sunday ride from 2hrs to 2hrs 20min, at the end of this 3 week period both your rides will have increased in duration while maintaining your intensity and speed.

Place more emphasis on cycle training:

• The best way to develop fitness on the bike is to train on the bike.  If you are completing mid-week gym sessions or spin bike classes, start to replace these with structured training on the road or turbo. Three mid-week bike sessions lasting from 1hr to 1½hrs would be optimal in the 3 months leading up to the event. Keeping your heart rate (HR) in a higher aerobic effort, i.e. 75%-80% of maximum HR or 85%-90% of threshold HR, will help increase your fitness and make the most of your time to train. This is relevant for all routes.

How to keep CONSISTENCY?

Turbo time.

The weather often can be a restricting factor to train with poor conditions leading to a decrease in fitness as illness and poor care of your immune system results in time off the bike so what do you do?  Ride the turbo.

A turbo is every cyclist’s essential tool.  It provides a great training stimulus in warm conditions in your own home and can help increase and maintain your fitness.  A 1½hr session on the turbo can bring as much benefit to fitness as a 2½hr cycle out on the road if conducted properly.

With a turbo you don’t free wheel, you don’t have to stop at traffic lights, you don’t have the benefit of drafting in a group, and you don’t have to deal with wind and rain.

How to make these sessions quality.

• Warm up: 15min 60% max HR
• Session: 3x10min 80% max HR
• 15min rest between the efforts at 60% of max HR
• Cool Down: 5min 50% max HR

This is a simple session that will bring great benefits to aerobic fitness and can build your endurance as good if not better than riding on the road for 2½ hrs.  Plus it’s a great way to avoid the weather!

Make sure you’re maintaining good nutrition during this time, some pointers include:

• Stay hydrated on and off the bike
• Don’t let yourself get hungry on the bike (this leads to immune system stress)
• Eat plenty of ‘whole’ foods and avoid processed additives in meals
• Look at the nutrients in your meals, not just calories, the nutrients are what is essential for keeping healthy and losing weight
• Enjoy your food

All of the above are new ideas to include in your weekly training and I am sure you will see changes in your fitness and lifestyle with some of these basic tips. Enjoy!

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Five Months Before

With only five months to go until the Giant’s Causeway Coast Sportive, now is the time to start planning and preparing the body and mind for the challenge ahead around the Causeway!

Why structure how you train?

Often cycle training or coaching has been interpreted only for those riders who are competing or riding as professional cyclists.  This is not the case.  Due to the tough nature of the sport, there are cyclists the world over who balance a full life of family, work or education commitments but still want to get better on the bike.  This is where structured plans and training advice comes in. This is why DigDeep Coaching are on board to help you get ready for your Sportive.

Structuring your training for the next 5 months will give you confidence you have put in the work you need to, focus on the challenge ahead and mental strength and discipline to cope when the Sportive day arrives that you will complete it.

How can DigDeep Coaching help?

We believe in helping riders who want help. The following information is a snap shot of what DigDeep Coaching can provide cyclists.  We want to help you prepare for the Giants Causeway Coast Sportive as far in advance as possible to make it a great experience, one that is completed injury free and ultimately gives you a great sense of achievement.

What to think about first.

• Be realistic with your current fitness, strengths and areas you know you may need to work on such as climbing or riding in a group confidently.
• Be honest with how many hours a week you can commit to training.  Consistency is key.  Aim to stick to these times as much as possible.
• Have you thought about an optimal weight to reach before the challenge?  How are you going to achieve this?
• Set out a general plan including steps of how you are going to build on your weekly cycling to complete the Sportive comfortably and injury free.
• Plan your weeks ahead.  Most of you will not have the luxury to ride your bike as and when you want therefore it is CRITICAL to plan your time to train.  Your confidence and fitness will start to show in no time!

Now it’s time to start!

For the coming couple of months the following is how you should be planning a typical week depending upon the challenge you are targeting:

57 km Route

• Back to back cycles:  Aim to ride back to back cycles at the weekend, Saturday and Sunday.  The rides would normally be 1-2hr, preferably in a group that is not above your current fitness level.  The aim is to complete these weekends not feeling knackered or run down but happy with a solid weekend of training.
• Midweek: Aim to get a minimum of 2 training sessions in mid week, either a turbo/spin class one evening with gym/circuit/strength training. Keeping injury free is a must at this time of year.

126 & 182 km Routes

• Increase the durations of your rides at the weekend: Riders should plan for 2-2½hr training sessions at the weekends.  Optimally this would be completed on both the Saturday and Sunday.  However if time is constrained get at least one ride of 2½ hr and the next day 1-1½ hr.
• Midweek: Greater intensity in your mid week turbo session in the months of April and May.  For those with heart rate monitors (HRM) aiming to raise your heart rate to 80-85% of its maximum BPM for periods lasting 5-10min, 2-4times during each session.  This would result in a better training stimulus.

ALL ROUTES

Don’t underestimate the impact of a strong core.  Aim to work on your core, start if you don’t already and build on what you do if it already is part of your weekly training.  Critical to staying injury free throughout the year and will help your body maximise the power being put through your pedals.

Injury and nutrition are two key areas to have ‘boxed off’ as fine before embarking on consistent training between now and your event.  Below is a check list of some considerations:

INJURY

• Do you have a long term injury that does not seem to improve with treatment?
  • As you increase your time in the saddle make sure your bike is fitted properly, adequate bike fit is essential to injury prevention and cure along with maximising strength and power on the bike.
  • If you have knee problems always check your cleats on your shoe, change these before they get to worn and make sure they are fitted in the same position as previous (if this position is set correctly).
  • Consider a core/strength programme to aid any muscle imbalance that might be causing injury.

NUTRITION and ILLNESS

• Do you take adequate minerals and vitamins via your diet (not supplements) to enable your body to fight off illness? Increase your consumption of ‘real’ food to prevent poor health, i.e. spinach, broccoli, brazil nuts, quality/essential fats, berries, quality oats, honey, etc.
• Do you train at night? Cold air in the open road in adverse weather can be difficult to maintain a good immune system. Perhaps switching to turbo/roller sessions with less volume will help prevent illness.  Training load may be reduced but staying illness free takes precedence and the ability to keep training, illness free.
• Lack of adequate care taken post training or poor clothing choices.  Never ever leave home without a rain cape/jacket whilst living in the UK or Ireland!  Keeping warm in your local cafe in the mid ride cake stop, showering quickly on return from training.  All these things matter.
• Inadequate glycogen storage that is required for your body to maintain and perform the training you are doing.  This can lead to your body unable to perform at the required intensity and lowering of performance along with lowering of immune system thus leading to illness.

This should be your basic guide to what you need to plan for and how to set out your goals. Don’t leave it too late to get started with your training, make the most of your enthusiasm and get out there and work hard and enjoy seeing yourself improve week on week.

To view training advice from 2012 by DigDeep Coaching please click here.