- Welcome back to another
Ask GCN-ything
This week were talking about
why the cyclists shave their legs
and not their arms,
how to lose weight while cycling,
and also how to build your endurance.
- And don't forget if you'd like to get involved
on next weeks show then as always,
use the hashtag #TORQUEBACK
and if you want the chance of winning three months
of free subscription from Zwift,
then to use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING.
- Right, get your laptop out
let's get the questions going.
- So the first question comes in from Doug Mason.
Looking to replace my handlebar tape.
I've reviewed your instructional video
and get the concept.
My question is,
adhesive or non-adhesive tape?
What are your thoughts on the two options?
Right, first off,
I'd go for adhesive.
It's got a sticky back tape
so you can really
get some tension in it,
it sticks better,
and, yeah, then you don't take it off,
and it stays in place.
- Whereas I prefer the nonadhesive
because you could take it off,
clean it up properly, - Controversial.
- Not so sure,
clean it up properly and then re wrap it.
And also generally speaking,
a bit stretchier,
the nonadhesive stuff,
because you don't have like a layer of
stickiness that didn't stretch that well.
- So, nonadhesive, adhesive,
make your own mind up
but have a go and try both.
- Yeah, probably best to
make your bar tape choice
based on the actual stickiness off the bar tape
and not what's underneath it. - Yeah, true.
Go on Chris tell us
who the lucky winner of this weeks three months
free subscription from Zwift is.
- This weeks lucky winner is Todd Vranas with,
how does one go
about establishing their actual max heart rate?
I am never able to get into zone 5
even including hard finishing sprints.
- Good question, there is a calculation
you can make which is..
- 220 minus your age,
so 220 minus your age,
mine's 31 so it would be 189.
But I know for a fact that doesn't actually work for me.
- Yeah so, to get your actual
max heart rate you can actually do
a test or you can do an exercise or a workout,
and we've put one on Zwift
that you can try out and
it's basically a go til you blow.
- Yeah, exactly, so
set your threshold, your power,
no matter what your actual power is
to 100 watts in Zwift.
Every 2 1/2 minutes you increase your intensity by,
I think it's, 25 watts.
And you maintain that until you explode,
basically when you can no longer continue.
Make sure you do this when you're really really fresh--
- That's super important because
the fresher you are then you can actually get to your max.
If you're fatigued
then you won't really reach your potential.
- Yeah, you also mentioned in your comment that
you're finding it hard to get to zone five so that
kind of implies that your heart rate zones currently
are not calculating correctly
because it should actually
be relatively easy to get your heart rate up there.
- Hundred percent, so give that session a go
and please do let us know how you get on
in the comment section below.
- Next up is a question from Marko Piellc,
I started using a fan to keep cool during indoor cycling.
But only a couple of days later I got sick.
I have tried it again after that,
but I would get sick every time
in the next two or three weeks
Could this be a coincidence?
Is anyone else having the same problem
and what can I do to resolve it?
Can your body adapt to riding with a fan blowing at it?
- Right, interesting question,
I personally have never had an issue
using a fan but,
what could be going wrong
is that your fan could be kicking up some sort of dust,
or something from your house,
and that could be getting into your system,
and you could be having a reaction.
- Yep, or it could be that
you're now pushing yourself that much harder
because your body is a little bit cooler,
you're immune system's a little bit weaker
because you've pushed harder,
and you're picking something up that way.
- Or, you have just got an illness
and you haven't really fully recovered from that illness
so every time you push hard,
it's just putting yourself that bit over the edge.
- Yep, so trying to experiment with--
- Maybe going outside,
so, just setting up your turbo outside,
or setting it up in a garage,
and hopefully some of those
things won't happen.
- Basically it shouldn't be making you ill, should it?
- No.
Alright we've got a question from Dreamer,
I like your name there.
I do roughly 40 miles a day four days a week
but really struggle with losing my weight.
I also love sprinting,
seems to turn my fat into muscle.
What Zwift training session would you recommend
to help me go down?
I'm guessing in weight.
- Good question, Dreamer.
There are loads of work outs on Zwift, which,
if you type in fat burning or something like that,
will help you.
But as it comes to losing weight you actually
just need to be in a negative calorie deficit,
so you need to make sure you're eating less
than you're burning.
- Yeah, 100%, so make sure you're eating clean,
you're not eating too many like,
carbohydrates 'cause obviously
if you're eating all those big carbohydrates
that's gonna put on weight.
But, it's basically a balance really.
So making sure you're putting out
enough fitness and enough exercise
to burn those calories.
- And it may be worth trying to do a fifth day
in the week as well,
because actually if you're only doing four days
that's only just over half the week.
So, you may be missing out,
you know, space two rest days throughout the week
so you can have like a Tuesday and a Friday
as a rest for example.
- Yeah, and lastly I would say
maybe do an hour before breakfast,
and a pre breakfast ride.
It's something I used to do a lot.
And I did feel it helped me,
but then, it's all personal preference really.
So yeah, try those,
and see how you get on,
and other than that I would
check this video out
on losing weight through road cycling,
and maybe get out on the ride,
do some endurance rides and see how you feel.
- Good luck.
- So here's a neat little trick for you.
When you get in from your ride,
drink a really big glass of water,
maybe a pint or so,
before you have your meal.
Let it settle in your stomach,
and that way when you do come to having your meal,
you won't feel quite so hungry,
and therefore you'll be a little less likely to overeat.
And you could also use this trick
before your main meals of the day
breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
and even before your mid morning and mid afternoon snack.
Happy days, cheers.
- Next up then, Phil Barker
Hey chaps, why do cyclists bother to shave their legs
and not their arms?
Surely the same, dubious, arguments
apply to hairy arms.
- Interesting question, but,
a lot of cyclists do shave their arms,
Oscar Pujol, for example--
- He's just weird.
- He does shave his arms but,
yeah I guess we don't.
When you get a massage every night,
as a pro especially,
if you had hairy legs I think it'd be quite painful.
- Yeah, it'd be pulling on the hairs, wouldn't it?
- Yeah so, we, as cyclists, tend not to shave our arms,
and having shaved legs and shaved arms
I don't think it makes a massive aerodynamic.
- No it's so negligible,
it's worth like a watt to two watts or something
at certain speeds, isn't it?
- Yeah, but if you'd like to know what the pros do,
then check out this video.
Actually, that's Sam Williams.
- He's a model now, that guy.
- He is a model, yeah.
Lastly, talking to our ex teammate.
- Why do cyclists shave their legs?
- When I first started cycling,
I didn't really know either I was
a rugby player and,
I didn't really want to shave my legs but,
it's a lot to when you really crash,
your hairs can trap bacteria and stuff and it can
lead to complications with, you know,
infections and stuff like that.
So it just keeps everything clean.
- Right, we've got a question
from Robbe Deweerdt.
Is that good pronunciation?
- Robbe Deweerdt, yep.
- Hello GCN, just like any other Belgian,
De Ronde Van Vlaanderen,
is that good?
- It's close.
- Is one of the highlights of the year.
This year, I've signed up
to ride the amateurs race, 229 kilometers.
Now I don't really mind the cobbles and the steep...
- Hellingen.
- What scares me the most is the distance.
My longest ride ever is 160 kilometers, mostly flat.
Any tricks to train for the distance?
I can train on Zwift and outside.
Thanks guys, love the show and the channel.
Well, thanks for your question.
- Well, Robbe, I would say
that if you were comfortable with 160 kilometers,
then you shouldn't actually have any issue doing that extra
70 kilometers afterwards.
What I would do, though,
is build it back up to that 160 kilometers,
somewhere within two to three weeks before the event,
just to remind your body what it's all about,
you know, activate those energy systems it would be using
for such a long endurance ride,
and then make sure you fuel sufficiently.
It's gonna take your roughly two hours longer
than a 160 kilometer ride I would think,
and it's a pretty testing course,
especially at the back end.
- And I would say, though,
is remember on race day,
you get a whole 'nother
massive load of energy,
because the adrenaline's going,
it's an event.
So, you kind of,
your first 50 kilometers
doesn't feel like you've
even ridden that fast. - Exactly and you'll be in a
big group, it'll be a big ride,
so you'll have a load of draft support as well.
- And it'll be motivating, and exciting,
and I think you'll be fine.
So yeah, do some 160 kilometer rides and
100% you'll be flying through.
- It's gonna be an amazing atmosphere I'm sure.
- Yeah so, good luck with that
and let us know how you get on.
- Chad Paulin up next,
I became a father of two beautiful children,
13 months apart.
Congratulations - Hard work, there.
- Yeah, this has made my cycling suffer significantly.
We are now in a routine
and I'm on the bike roughly five hours a week.
I have been pushing myself with
high intensity interval training rides but,
cannot get back to where I want to be.
I've leveled off in my power output and cannot break it.
Would it be more beneficial doing longer rides
just below my threshold,
or start cross training to build new muscles?
Thanks.
- Good question, and I think,
with that five hours a week you've got
you can actually make some serious gains
with that amount of training.
- Yeah you can, and also,
if you get to a point where you're feeling
like you're not progressing then maybe you want to address
the intensity of all your rides.
You cannot do every single ride each week flat out,
I've noticed I've two kids,
and I don't ride my bike much more than
five hours a week at the moment.
I've noticed that every time I ride
I try to really push it but that doesn't work so,
one or two rides each week,
I've to set myself an intensity ceiling,
so like 75% of your max heart rate
and then ride at that for
up to an hour and a half or maybe
two hours if you're lucky to have the extra time.
- But be patient with it,
fitness doesn't just come.
I think you have to just,
you know, work your way in,
and just put the time in
and try and string those rides together,
and you will see an improvement.
Just be patient.
- Yep, good luck.
Tommy van sante up next,
I really like cycling and cycle a lot.
But I'm still in high school and have lots of home work.
How do I keep fit?
- Right, good question Tommy,
but I would say enjoy cycling.
Please don't stress about staying fit,
staying at the top of the level,
just go out, enjoy it,
home work really does come first.
You know, because,
it does make a difference,
making sure you're doing your home work.
And school is important.
- Make sure you do loads of other sports as well,
because they will really help you at your age
to develop your body in a well-balanced,
all around fashion,
and also it'll keep you fit to do your cycling.
- Yeah, next question is David Shelly.
I recently bought a 56 centimeter Allez sprint
I had a 56 centimeter Raleigh.
But for some reason my foot rubs on my front wheel,
whereas it never did on my old bike.
Does this mean my Allez just is too small?
- No, long answer short is,
it just depends on the geometry of the bike,
doesn't mean it's too small.
So maybe your new bike has steeper, sharper racing angles
which will make it more agile
when you're going quickly,
but it will mean that you've got a little bit of
toe away for that.
- Yeah, or it's just your cleat set up.
Maybe you've just got your cleat on the
middle of the foot,
and on your last bike you had it
on your toe.
So, it could be either or.
- Next up, Nobleazure.
Can a one single training ride become so hard
that it is no longer beneficial.
If so, how do I know my limit
before I should call it quits?
- Yes, but, it's gonna have to be incredibly hard.
And it's gonna make you feel exhausted after it--
- Something like you did the other day,
the 10,000 calorie challenge.
- Yeah, that's probably not the best way
to go about training.
- No, you've literally did a months training in a day.
- Yeah, and I probably didn't get much out of it
it just probably made me go really slow
for a really long time.
- Yeah, if it's taking you more
than four to five days to recover from,
that's probably the tipping point of
where you're no longer getting any benefit.
And if you're past seven days
and you're still feeling the effects of it,
you've definitely done yourself more harm than good.
- Yeah, so try that,
just think about
the training before hand.
Next up is dsteed77,
as a 110 kilogram rider,
I can compete at the high level.
I can lose 10 kilograms but my body type,
tall, broad, and big-boned,
is not suited to be lightweight as other riders are.
Should I train differently than normal riders?
- Well, dsteed,
cycling is not just about pathway
is it, at all? - No.
- Luckily if you're riding in a race,
then tactics, and drafting, and all of these other things
come into play as well.
If it was simply an uphill 30 minute time trail,
or a one hour time trail,
then pathway is the defining factor,
and there's not a lot you can do about that.
You should aim to structure your training
based on the type of rider you are,
and what weaknesses you feel you have,
not your weight.
- 100% and that's a really good answer so,
we're gonna move straight on from that.
- Next up, disgruntledtoons,
I may be mistaken about this,
but there's one aspect of cycling
that I see little of on this channel, charity riding.
Some of us race,
but a lot of us are more focused on riding for charity.
If you could cover at least the majority of charity rides,
ones with multiple thousands of riders,
those rides would get some much needed exposure.
- 100% and we here at GCN are
massively fond of pushing charities,
especially ones that are cycling related.
And actually, Emma did do one for the buffalo bikes.
So go and check out that video,
where she did some pretty incredible work for them.
- [Emma] 95 pounds or $147 is one bike.
35 pounds or $50 is a tool set.
And 450 pounds pays for a training course
for a local mechanic
to learn to build and maintain buffalo bikes.
In effect, they train one mechanic
for every 100 bicycles delivered to their
Bicycle for Educational Empowerment program.
- Next up, is Kevin O'Brien.
Hi, there, looking to get out cycling
but it's quite wintry here in Ireland.
What would you say is too windy and not worth going out?
This weekend winds are our forecast,
winds are forecasted, sorry,
for around 40 to 50 kilometers per hour.
What do you think?
- That's a really good question,
and I think it depends on how confident you are,
quite a lot, as a bike rider,
because, if it was 40/50 kilometers an hour
some parts of the ride
might be quite sheltered and you'll be okay,
you might not even notice
the winds-- - It'd be fantastic if you had
that for a tail wind.
I mean Strava,
Koen's would come toppling down but--
- Yeah I always get a load of emails when it's
windy like that.
- Yeah but I would definitely take Chris' advice,
and if you go outside,
and it's blowing a hooly,
then it's probably worth not taking your bike,
and it might be worth just staying inside.
'Cause ultimately safety is key,
and we don't want you to hurt yourself.
- Stijn Ritzen, I recently started Zwifting
and am absolutely hooked.
Also I did my first online race recently,
but now my question.
When you do such heavy exercise like a race,
where the cool down is not included,
what do you have to keep in mind with the cool down
not to have any injuries afterwards
and which stretching will simulate
muscle growth and recovery?
Kind regards, Stijn.
- Right, a warm down is so important.
Especially after a race,
because you do go so hard,
and the end of the race is normally
a max effort and a max spread.
The last thing you want to do is jump straight off the bike
and go and do something else
or sit at the table and have food or whatever,
because then you'll stiffen up,
and you will really feel sore the next day.
So, putting in around 10
around 10 minutes after the ride of easy pedaling,
and that way you'll bring your heart rate down
to around 55% as well,
if you max.
- Yeah, and then a little bit of light stretching
will also help with the recovery but,
the main reason for doing any stretching
is injury prevention. - Yeah, 100%.
- And for feeling,
you know, it does help you feel better.
- Right on that note it's the end of this weeks
Ask GCN-ything, and you know what to do to be involved
on next weeks' show.
What do you do Chris?
- That's right, use the hashtag #TORQUEBACK
for all your cycling related questions.
But, to be in with the chance of winning a free
three month subscription to Zwift,
use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING.
- And before we go,
do go check out the shop,
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