- Would you choose to ride on the TT bars,
or on the hoods?
I think it's fair to say that for the majority of us,
if we had the choice, we'd go for a road bike
without TT bars for everyday riding.
However, if you're a triathlete,
unless you're doing purely draft legal races,
you're going to need to get accustomed
to being in the less natural position,
down on the TT bars, and here at GTN,
we get asked the question all the time,
as to when you should train on your bars,
and how much time you should spend there.
I'm afraid to tell you right now,
there's a lot to consider.
It's not black and white.
In actual fact, I think it's going to take me
a whole video to explain the different scenarios,
so you can work out what you need to do
for your personal situation.
So, here goes.
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In the winter months, we see a lot of the pros
giving their mountain bikes or gravel bikes
a bit of an airing.
We saw Lucy Charles actually mention
on her social media that she wanted to give
cyclo-cross a go, and then we saw none other than
Jan Frodeno going bikepacking.
And even if the other pros don't go to quite such extremes,
it's very unusual to see them riding
their TT bikes all year round.
But, the question is, how much do they ride their TT bikes?
Well, we'll come back to that in a moment,
but there's something major we need to consider first.
We are not quite like the pros, us age groupers.
There's a few major differences,
and that goes beyond the obvious
of their wonderful selection of bikes.
It's what money can't buy, so experience,
strength, and flexibility.
You can't beat time spent on the aero bars,
and just in the saddle.
You've probably heard of muscle memory.
Well, that's the same for riding in the TT position,
so if you have had years training and racing
in that position, you're naturally going to find it
that much easier to get back there.
And also, you're going to be mentally prepared for it too.
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As athletes, we like numbers and examples,
but getting a coach to give you an exact amount
of sessions or hours to spend on your TT bars
is quite difficult, but try to remember
the aerodynamic advantage, and just think
of your TT bars as your go-to, default option.
But if you really want a target,
then we'd suggest that aiming
for 50 to 60% of all of your riding to be done
in this TT position, and definitely
all of your hard reps and intervals on the bars.
And with that, try to stay there for your recovery as well,
and not just automatically come back to the base bars.
And then your long steady rides as well,
just really get used to spending a long time
on the bars in one go.
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Okay, so, that's the numbers covered,
but there's still so much more you need to consider.
For example, some of us are more flexible than others.
Some of us might be more ambitious
with our desired aero position.
Even if you are flexible, and you find
it really easy to get into the aero position,
I expect there's still some work you can be doing,
and some of which can be done off the bike,
but more on that in a moment.
When you're riding in a TT position,
you're going to find that the hip angle,
so that angle at the front of your hip,
is going to be decreased.
Basically, the distance between your thigh
and your stomach will be reduced.
And if you do have really stiff hips
and you struggle to get into that position,
then that natural curve that you normally have
in your lower back will be flattened to compensate,
and your thoracic spine, your middle bit of your back,
is going to end up getting more arched,
in order to try and reach the aero bars.
So, in order to work on that off the bike,
you need to do a lot of stretching and mobility work.
Yoga's also a good idea, and time spent in the gym.
And then of course, also, time just practicing
being in that aero position.
And then there's strength, because there's no point
in being really flexible and able to get into
a great aero position, if you can't actually
hold it for more than a few minutes.
And it does depend a little bit
on how stretched out, and how narrow
you've gone with your front end,
but your shoulders are going to need to be flexible,
and to have a lot more strength
than they would do if you were just riding on your hoods.
And the final area to address, which you really
can not forget, holds you all together.
Yeah, it's your core.
There's plenty of exercises which you can do
in the gym to replicate getting stronger in the core,
but realistically, to get the smaller specific ones
working that you need to hold this position
for a long time, the best way is,
yeah, you know it, it's time in the saddle.
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I expect you're starting to realize
that there's more time required training
on the aero bars than you first thought,
and I was in the same boat as you,
and I know it is really tempting
to just want to ride your road bike
all day when it's so comfortable,
but I'm hoping that by the end of this video,
both you and myself will be convinced
that now is as good a time as ever
to dust off the aero bars and get training in this position.
So what else do you need to consider?
Well, there are still a lot of things,
such as what bike are you riding now,
compared to what bike you might be racing on.
When is your race?
How long and how hilly is it going to be?
What are your goals?
What have you changed since last year?
How confident are you riding in this position?
I told you, it isn't a simple answer.
I can't cover every bike scenario,
but maybe you're someone who rides
a road bike in the winter, and then you just
put clip-on bars for the summer.
Or, you have a TT bike that you ride indoors in the winter,
and then come race season, you get that out,
or maybe you're one of those lucky people
that has a winter bike, and then a summer race bike.
Whatever the situation is, you're just going to
have to get used to changing over,
and if you are someone who does
just have a TT bike, and you ride it on the turbo,
well that's great, 'cause you're going to
get used to this position, but do make sure
you're honest to yourself,
'cause I know that I don't spend
as much time on the bars as maybe I should think,
and remember your head position,
because there's one thing being really aero,
when you're on the turbo, with your head down.
When you come out into the real life situation,
remember you're going to actually have to
look where you're going.
And the largest difference would be
if you were riding a mountain bike
for cross training in the winter,
and then you're jumping on something like
a TT bike, come race season,
but I think you get the idea.
The bigger the contrast between the two bikes,
the longer you're going to need to get used to it.
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Next thing to consider is, when is your race,
and how long is it, and how long are you
going to be needing to spend on the aero bars?
Say you've entered a sprint distance triathlon,
well, 20K, you've got on the bike,
you're going to be in this position for less than an hour,
but at the other end of the spectrum,
if you're doing an Iron Man, well,
you're going to be lucky if you're spending five hours,
but realistically, it's going to be many more
in this difficult position.
And then I ask, when is your race?
Well hopefully, it's not too soon,
as if you're trying to rush time spent
on the aero bars in training,
it can be just as problematic as it would be in racing.
Next question, what is your goal?
Are you going to do the event to just enjoy it,
and you want to make sure that you're really comfortable,
or are you going there to get a personal best,
or maybe even a place on the podium?
Obviously this is going to influence the way
you approach all of your training,
but I expect you know by now,
that spending more time being
efficient in the aerodynamic position,
where you can still put out that power,
will mean the faster you'll be able to go.
(upbeat music)
At the end of the day, you're going to be driven
by your goals, and your desired time trial position.
If you're new to riding in this position,
or you've made a lot of changes since last season,
just give yourself plenty of time,
so that you can make tweaks to get comfortable,
and confident in that position.
Anyway, it's enough of me talking.
I think I need to practice what I preach,
'cause I know I'm definitely guilty
of not spending enough time on these bars.
But before I go, give us a like, and whilst you're there,
why not hit that globe on screen, and subscribe to GTN.
And finally, there's a couple of videos
I think you might like if you've enjoyed this one.
One is how to get comfy and aero
on your bike at the same time.
You can find that just here.
And then the other one, if you're riding a road bike
at the moment and you want to get TT bars,
you're not sure how to clip them on,
you can find that just here.