- Welcome to Ask GCN Anything.
Coming up this week,
we answer your questions on knee replacements, ketones,
and when should you do a recovery ride.
If you do have a question that you would
like answered on the show,
leave it in the comments below with the hashtag #TORQUEBACK,
and to be in with a chance of winning
a free, three month subscription to Zwift,
use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING.
(Whooshing sound)
- Des White up with:
"I am a 70 year old cyclist with a replacement knee
and I now use an e-bike to keep out on the road.
I still have my road bike set up on a smart trainer
but I want to get it back out on the road again.
Any tips for a good training regime?"
Well, Des, this is a brilliant question
and well done for getting back on the bike
after your knee surgery.
We recommend slowly building up the duration of your
indoor rides to try and complement your ability
to go back outside.
Try and aim for around four to five active days each week,
but don't feel the need to do consecutive hard days
back to back.
As we age, we need more time to recover,
so you need to try and allow an easy day in between
your harder or longer rides.
Build up your longest ride each week by no more than
twenty to thirty minutes to prevent overstressing
yourself too much and you should be well on the way
back to your full fitness.
Good luck and enjoy the journey.
Oh, and one final thing.
Don't neglect your e-bike. They are the greatest
invention of modern time in my mind.
And it's the perfect tool to get back out on the road
for longer rides if you are not 100% confident
in how you are feeling.
(Whooshing sound)
Next up, is an interesting question
from Birds On A Stick:
"Do you think it is a good idea to
start taking exogenous ketones?
Would it improve my endurance?
My answer would be absolutely not.
I mean, there has been too little research
on a product that has been around for just under 15 years.
How do you know what you are putting in your body
if there aren't any studies to show
the long-term effects on this product?
It is a synthetic product, and I do believe
we should be quite careful with what we are putting
into our bodies in that regard.
It is also an unregulated supplement.
So the quality of what you are actually purchasing,
how do you know that it is up to standard?
And then, finally, it is only going to give you
around a 2% performance boost.
And is anything worth risking your health
for a 2% boost?
I don't really think so.
Try and eat healthily, try and train healthily,
get your sleep.
There are so many other ways
to improve your performance which is not
taking a bit of a gamble on your health.
(Robotic whooshing sound)
This week's Zwift winner is Arthur Asulyan,
who has a question about sweet spot training.
In the area he lives, there is just not many straights
or long steady climbs. It is more like small but tall hills.
So my effort is always jumping up and down,
and everything that is between the towns
is motorways, so no cycling.
Can you give any advice on how to emulate
the sweet spot training in these conditions?
As ever, this question gets sent off to Zwift,
and their coaches send it back with the answer.
And they start off by telling us just how good
sweet spot training is, and, of course,
if you do have the perfect terrain,
the longer intervals at your sweet spot level
will be more ideal.
However,
it is okay to break it down.
So for example, if your target in any given session
was around 30 minutes of sweet spot,
you can break that down into five minute chunks.
So you would do six reps of five minutes.
So if you have a climb that is five minutes long,
you ride up it at sweet spot, do a U-turn,
and head back down.
Equally, if you have a road that is,
say five minutes or seven minutes long,
you do an interval of that length
and then you turn around.
And if you are to do U-turns on the road,
then, of course, you can just do sweet spot
on the way back as well, if it is on a flat road that is.
Sweet spot training on flat roads
are incredibly effective for your all round performance,
and they actually go on to suggest that
now that you have that free three month subscription,
you can try doing some of your sweet spot training
indoors, where it will open up a variety of different
terrains to you that you perhaps do not have
in your local area.
And I guess that is the beauty of virtual
reality training these days, isn't it?
(Whooshing sound)
Next up, is a question on descending from Dimebag5884.
"Hi Chaps, I am new to road cycling this season
and I am having a great time with solo and group rides.
However, I really struggle with descents.
I am very timid, particularly around corners,
and I find myself grabbing fist fulls of brake.
This is preventing me from riding
with the best groups in my local club
because I don't want to screw up their formation
on their descents.
Any tips for improving confidence on descending?"
Well, my first thing would be to try and start
out on a descent at the back of your group,
and allow yourself a good few meters to the back
of the group so you can watch the road ahead,
but you can also watch what the riders in front of you
are doing - the more experienced riders.
You will start to learn when they are braking,
and when they are starting to turn in to the corner,
how much lean they are putting on the bike,
and things like this.
Try not to get too nervous on descents.
It is actually really important to try and relax
as this is the best way for the bike to flow underneath you.
And if you are still struggling,
then try and take one of the more experienced
riders in your group to one side
and ask them for a little one-on-one tuition.
Generally speaking, the more experienced riders
on club rides will do anything to help newcomers,
and to try and help them feel like
they are improving with their cycling.
It is rewarding for them, but it will be
rewarding for you too.
Try and relax, try and enjoy the descent.
They are the reward for the hard work
getting to the top of the climb.
- Now we have got observation covered,
the next golden rule is never to exceed your limit.
Actually, you want to ride within 90% of your limit.
This will make descending a lot more fun and enjoyable.
- Kibric up next with a question on recovery:
"Hello, and thanks for the great videos as always.
While I was up on the internet,
I have noticed people mentioning recovery rides.
Why and when do I need this? And how is it to be done?
Well, there is a brilliant video here
on how to recover.
The idea of recovery ride is to help
accelerate your recovery.
So the day after a big event, when your muscles
are really sore and really tired,
it will actually help to flush all of those toxins
and all of the lactate out of your muscles,
and increase your ability to recover
and get yourself ready back for another training ride.
It is the sort of ride you do in between hard sessions.
It will help flush out that residual fatigue and soreness.
(Upbeat techno music)
- Now before we start to explain
exactly how to do a recovery ride,
what actually is one supposed to do then?
Well, it is a way of gently boosting
blood flow around the body through gentle exercise,
and then the theory is that it will help deliver
nutrients to your damaged muscles,
and also start to flush out
some of the waste products from them,
that will have accumulated through hard training.
- Halffastcyclist wants to know:
"What are the difference between a hack and a bodge?
I have watched this segment of your weekly GCN show
and I am yet to figure out the defining
characteristics of these terms."
And I think to be really honest,
no-one knows.
I would perhaps say that a bodge
is an unnecessarily forced repair;
something that you could have avoided,
and a hack is something that genuinely improves an item.
I am not sure if that is a little bit vague.
There is no grading system, and basically,
it depends on the photo that has been submitted.
Quinn Hughes wants to know about shoes:
"If the old adage says not to use brand new shoes
on race day (or any big ride),
how do the pros ride in shoes with one-off designs?
Do they ride in them prior to race day?
Or during training or recon?
Or do they cover them prior to an unveiling?"
Well, it's a good question, but I,
from experience, and having seen how every
other rider around me did it,
you would generally use a new pair of shoes
in the week leading up to the event,
maybe on the indoor trainer to set them up.
But to be really honest,
a pro is so in tune with their setup,
that they can probably throw a set of cleats
on to a pair of shoes,
and know within minutes
whether they are accurately set up or not.
And not have to worry about any niggling side effects
that could be caused by setting up new shoes.
Vincent Pribish would like to know
how to recover from a respiratory illness.
How quickly can you get back out on the bike?
Our advice is, as always, listen to your body
and don't overdo it.
Especially with respiratory illnesses
as they can easily flare back up again.
So start by 30 minute rides indoors perhaps, low intensity.
And once you have done one or two of those,
back to back, you can start to increase
either the duration or the intensity.
You certainly don't want to increase both of them
at the same time as you could end up
digging yourself a bigger hole.
Expect it to take around three times the duration
to get back to full fitness than your period of illness was.
So if you were off for two weeks,
it could take six, maybe even a little bit longer
to get back to the fitness that you had before.
Unfortunately, that is just the way it is.
The best thing to do is accept that early on
and rebuild slowly.
(Whooshing sound)
- Johannes Bilgeri writes in with:
"My toes hurt when I do a century ride.
Is this just a thing that cyclists have to get used to?
And have you experienced similar pain?"
Well yes, I have definitely experienced similar pain,
but that is generally because I either had a pair of shoes
that didn't vent that well
and something that you can do to get around that
is to drill holes in the bottom of the soles.
Or, because I really like to clamp my shoes up tight
to prevent any loose movement within the shoe,
and then, generally my toes will go numb
after doing that.
Heat can cause your feet to swell.
And is that happening? Is that causing
your nerves to be trapped and then
you are losing the sensation in your feet?
In which case, an orthotic insole
can absolutely work wonders.
Now, really good ones are not cheap at all.
They are probably the price of a very expensive
pair of shoes.
But they will absolutely transform your comfort
on the bike. And generally speaking then,
you can have one set of insoles
that you can transfer from shoe to shoe to shoe
over the years.
I know riders that have had their insoles
for around ten years and they are still going strong.
Whilst they could have them remade every single year,
there isn't always any point.
Orthotic insoles honestly do more to help
your comfort on the bike than almost anything else.
Good luck with your quest.
Start by perhaps trying to find some venting on your shoes.
(Whooshing sound)
- Kim Jarkou wants to know how to wear
leg warmers properly. Do you pull them over your shorts?
Or do you put them underneath?
Well, I suppose traditionally they should
be worn underneath.
This isn't always that comfortable though,
so if you want to go for comfort,
I would recommend pulling them over the top.
This gets rid of that little bit of chaffing,
where the - if you have bigger thighs -
where the saddle and the top of the legwarmer
can often meet.
If you want to wear them underneath
and get rid of that chaffing,
then you can turn the elastic over.
That often works quite well.
And if you want to look like a Belgian cyclist,
something which every young rider did when I was younger,
you would always wear them over the top as well
and then put your socks over the top
of your legwarmers.
Although that's a dying trend fortunately.
If you want to keep your sponsors happy,
always wear your legwarmers underneath your shorts,
otherwise you will be blocking the visibility
of any sponsor on your shorts.
(Whooshing sound)
Question up from Miguel Saez, who is about
to arrive home to his first power meter,
which is going to be quite an exciting event.
"Is it fundamental to have an FTP test
as soon as possible?
Or can I do that in a period of time after
I have adapted to training with the power numbers?"
My advice would actually be to continue
your current training regime for around two to four weeks.
That way you get to collect data on what
you have already been doing and you won't be
adjusting too many things.
Often when someone gets a power meter,
they become obsessed with the power number
on their screen and then negate all the
other aspects of fitness that there are.
They forget how to pedal,
they forget their heart rate,
they forget their own perceived exertion.
So build up a bit of back catalog
on using a power meter as a data collector
in the background.
And then once you've done that,
you can start to look to actually train
with that power meter.
And after around four weeks, you will have
already gauged quite a good estimation
of your FTP from your current training.
And then you can start to work with the
power numbers moving forwards and
do a dedicated FTP test.
Or use clever online software,
which can estimate your FTP for you as well.
Good luck and enjoy. You have got a
whole new world of data crunching
to get stuck into.
(Whoosing sound)
- And the final question this week comes in
from Luis Solaegui.
I am so sorry if I have ruined your name.
"Hi guys, I am struggling with a pain
on my rear end since I have started
working on my sprints.
Right after a maximum effort at the saddle,
I then sit back on the bike and feel
a dull pain right where my hip bone meets the saddle.
The pain lasts for a few seconds,
and then goes away completely,
only to come back after another round of sprinting.
Could my technique be wrong?
Is it a bike fit issue?
Or maybe I am just not built for sprinting?"
Well to me, Luis, it sounds like you
may be struggling with something called Bursitis,
which is the hardening of the soft gel pad
that runs underneath the connective tissue of
your muscles on to the bone.
If these become inflamed, they can give
quite a dull, or sharp pain in extreme cases.
And something that you can do to alleviate that
is to start trying to massage that point.
So, if that point is really hurting,
you can even dig the nose of your saddle into it
whilst you are on the bike.
That will give you a good indicator
if this is actually the issue.
Strengthening the opposing muscle groups
around it - so your hips - and then stretching
those muscle groups as well.
If all of that fails, then you can try
and have your hip bones, or your sit bones measured,
and see if they actually match up to your saddle.
And there are certain places you can go which
do, essentially, undercarriage mapping
to try and determine which saddle is actually
perfectly matched to you.
Good luck. Don't be concerned about it.
It is not the fact that you are not built for sprinting.
There is another issue going on,
which you can probably quite easily solve.
Hopefully that helps.
That is it for this week.
If you do have a question,
remember to use the hashtag #TORQUEBACK,
and to be in with the chance of winning
a free, three month subscription to Zwift,
use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING.
You can do that in the comments below,
over on Twitter,
or even on Instagram.
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