- Hello and welcome to ask GCN Anything!
- This week, we are answering your questions
on mental fitness, smooth pedaling, and
why team mechanics sit in the back
of the car and not the front.
- Good questions, then, and a little bit of everything.
Don't forget for your chance to be with
a free three month subscription to Zwift
use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING and for
anything non-training related use the hashtag
#TORQUEBACK when you leave a question.
Or, just pop it in the comments box.
- Exactly.
- Yeah.
- First up then, we have a question from Eduardo Lorenzo.
Any tips on how to make sure both legs
are exerting the same amount of
effort other than using a power meter?
I often feel my right leg is more tired than my left leg.
- Well, that's quite a good question.
Actually, I think most people have an imbalance
in leg strength and while we would all
love to be symmetrical, most of us aren't.
I remember discussing this with some
sports scientists on a training camp once
and they point out that everyone is asymmetric
and even if you can pedal evenly with both
legs at low power, normally when you're really
at your threshold working hard, one
leg is stronger than the other.
Normally, the longer leg I think.
Yeah, almost no one is symmetrical
but if you're really worried about it,
and you don't have a power meter
that shows both sides, what you could do
is head to a gym where they have a
work bike, or similar, which could show you both sides.
And then if there is a big imbalance
that's giving you problems, you can work to correct it.
For example, if you do single leg
strength exercises, you can work on your core, try and
get the right cadence for you, there's lots you can do.
But single leg strength exercise is the
way to correct it and to find out, head to
a gym or a local testing center where they can
measure that imbalance for you.
- Yeah and whilst you're at it, you could
always check out Si's "Pedal Smoothly" video
that's playing in the background right now.
- So when our pro's aren't pedaling in their
less smooth way, what they're effectively
doing is putting out more power on the
downstroke and then less for the rest of
the way around the pedal stroke.
Except there is one thing and that is
that we can't differentiate between positive force
and negative force using this test.
So effectively, we can't split the difference
between pushing down and then unweighting
on the back of the pedal stroke.
Meaning that Marco Marcato could, in theory,
actually be pulling up on the pedal stroke
which would explain why there is that
great a discrepancy between peak power
and average power per pedal stroke.
- Staying on the subject of pedaling,
Joseph Campbell asks: I keep reading about
mixing in high cadence work into my indoor training.
What is the purpose of this?
Well, the cliche is "spin to win"
Joseph, but I hate that cliche.
What do you think Chris?
- Well, you're not wrong, because actually
science shows that the most efficient
cadence is around 60 RPM and
I'm quite sure cranks as well
through the oxygen use and everything like that.
But, science also has shown that by
including some really high bursts of cadence,
you help make your muscle contractions
more efficient and the culmination
of everything is, well, it's more
in tune and it's actually a really useful thing to do.
So, you're not looking to do load of
really long efforts at high cadence
but really short ones of really,
really high cadence and up towards
170 or more has proven to be really good.
- And the thing I've noticed anecdotally
is that cadence is a very personal thing.
So, some people prefer, Yanil Ricks
preferred to ride at a very low cadence
and I always raced at a very high cadence.
I had shorter cranks as well and
there's no correct cadence, you do
what's best for you and what you do best at.
But often people find if they train
the limits, so do big gear efforts and
high cadence efforts, that that can help
your pedaling technique to improve, basically.
So, that's probably one of the reasons.
- And if you wanna see further on this,
you can check out the video that
James did with Dan in Moscow.
- And they're pedaling pretty fast.
- Session number two is like a micro-interval
session that is focused on cadence.
So you want to get that same 15
minute warm up in at which point
you're going to start your first block
where for the first 30 seconds, you're
at 130 RPM which is really going
some and then for the next 30
seconds, you're down at 90.
You can repeat this 4 to 6 times
per block and between, a slightly longer
recovery of between 5 and 6 minutes.
Try to get in 4 to 5 blocks
per session before you do cooldown.
- Next up we have a question from Christopher Jenkins:
Hi GCN. Can you help with any tips for mental fitness.
In this I mean being able to suffer and deal
with it or manage the effort you are trying for.
Many times this has let me down over actual fitness.
Particularly on a hillclimb when I didn't have
the mental strength to cope with a substained
maximal effort when I could have pushed more.
- Well I think that's an amazing question.
It's an absolutely fascinating topic
and I don't know about you but I've
certainly seen athletes who weren't
necessarily the fittest but they were
mentally the strongest and they
could suffer the best and win over
athletes who were physically fitter.
So, it's a great question and there's so
much interesting theories and scientific
evidence out there about this.
Basically, your mind is incredibly powerful
and it's not a muscle but it's a bit
like a muscle in that you can train it
to suffer more and it's something
that I notice through the season
is that if I do enough hard sessions
I get better at the suffering.
The thing is though that your brain
wants and needs to protect your body
from damaging yourself so just in
the same way that your brain protects you
from putting your hand on a hot stove,
it protects you from overexerting yourself
and literally training or racing yourself to death.
So, those pain receptors are important
but obviously you want to override them
to a certain extent so that you go faster
and there's a balance to be had there.
And there are lots and lots of
tips and tricks for trying to
push through that pain barrier.
It's unlikely you'll kill yourself so don't panic.
What about you, what tips did you use when you were racing?
- Well, and that's absolutely right and
it's one of those things that is trainable,
learning to suffer, so the more often
that you try and do it, the better
you'll get at doing that and also,
actually, it's been proven that
the fitter you get, the better
you are at suffering as well.
So, I persevere with it and trust
in the fact that the more often you do it,
the better you're gonna get at doing it.
And I'm actually reading a book
about how to suffer, basically, and how
to push through in races and it's fascinating.
There's loads of different ways of thinking
about it but some people find that goal
setting really helps, you know, visualizing
breaking the challenge down into little chunks
and just focusing on the next one.
Some people that's a terrible idea and it makes it worse.
So for some people, they need to
zone out from the race and the pain
and think about something else, almost.
And some people just need to focus on it
and almost sort of suck up the pain and really want it.
There are many different techniques.
You really need to read up on those
techniques and practice them yourself
and find out which ones work best for you.
- Yeah, everyone has their own way of functioning
and their own coping mechanisms.
So, good luck with that and let us know.
(dramatic music)
- Now we're going to our Zwift winner question.
Jonathan Evans is the lucky viewer
who wins three months free Zwift subscription
and he asks: I ride with mates at the
weekend and put in a couple hours
training during the week on the turbo.
As I don't have a whole lot of time
would my time on the turbo be best
spent interval training , or am I better just having fun
chasing PRs on Zwift segments.
My aim is to both stay fit and
also increase FTP so I can climb
hills, and sprint to road signs, faster.
Thank you.
Well, I share your goals Jonathan.
- Well, it's a good question for a start
and if Emma shares your goals
then it's definitely a good one.
So, with limited time to train during the week,
you want to make sure that you're
making them effective and you'll
need to include some intensity.
And one of the best ways to do that
if you're saying you've got two hours
available, you're gonna want to try and
split those sessions, so let's assume
that that is possible for you,
and then you'll want to include
some really high quality workouts.
So, you'll need one structured session
with some intervals and that will give
you an opportunity to really push
and increase your threshold, which
is great for climbing and things like that.
- And there are loads and loads
of sessions on Zwift for this.
You've got a huge choice which is fantastic.
- Yeah, it makes it a lot easier, actually,
to break it down and decide what you're gonna do.
The second thing you wanna do is
then aim to work on the high intensity
but with less structure, you know,
so it stays mentally a little bit fresher
and you can kind of enjoy it more.
So things like taking part in the Zwift races
that Emma and I do is a great way of doing that
and we've seen James and Oscar do that haven't we?
- Yeah, I did my first Zwift race quite recently actually.
I got dropped on the last lap, I was a bit upset.
On a hill of all things and I thought
that the hill was gonna be the best bit for me
but no, it was really hard and the great thing
is that it was an hour of really
quite intense work so it was super
intense training but I didn't feel like,
mentally as draining as it does
to go out on the road and push
hard on your own for an hour.
So it's super time efficient.
You know, less time sorting out
bikes and stuff and going out on
the road and an hour of really
good quality workout that didn't feel
mentally as tiring, it was quite
exciting and fun, yeah.
- That's neat.
And if you met the other session,
that really structured dedicated session
that's really goal oriented then
you get a good balance throughout the week.
- Yeah, and those two quality sessions
with limited time, you can't do much
more than that in a week anyway
so that's actually perfect to balance
out with your weekend more fun relating
where, you know, if you're doing a
longer ride with your friends you're
not getting as much intensity
apart from sprinting for those road
signs obviously, so it's probably quite
a good balance even on quite a small amount of time.
- Good luck!
- Our next question comes in from Lorenzo Relia and he asks:
#torqueback It is not hard to see pro mechanics
adjust riders bikes in the middle of
the race hanging from the car
without stopping, so why are they always sitting
behind the passenger's seat and not behind the driver?
The majority of adjustable things on
a bike are on it's right side?
Good question!
- Yeah, and it's true, most of the things
are on the right hand side, so with that
in mind, it's actually easier for the rider
to hold onto the car at which point he's
able to maintain the same distance from the car.
A mechanic can reach up and over whilst also
holding onto the rider himself, it's
a little bit ungainly, and then adjust
things without pushing the rider
away from them impulsively.
So that's a lot easier.
You can also sit opposite the driver,
so not on the same side as the driver
so that you can actually see through
what's going on.
[crosstalk]
- They always take the headrest off the
passenger seat so the mechanic can
see what's coming up as well because
it's very useful for the mechanic
to see crashes ahead and see what's happening.
Also probably so they don't get carsick.
And because it's very boring sitting
in the back of a car in a race if
you can't see what's happening in the race.
- And finally, normally you would pull over
to the right hand side of the road if
you stop so when the car opens you
don't want to be opening your
car door into moving traffic.
- Or into the race, which would car door
a rider which is really bad form.
So yeah, it is actually a really,
well obviously, its a really hard
job being a race mechanic.
They basically have to be sprinters
and amazing mechanics as they have to
you know, when they see a rider holding up
they really have to be able to
dash out there as quick as possible.
- And don't panic.
- Yeah, and don't fall in a ditch.
I've seen mechanics injured by falling into ditches.
It's a bloody hard job, yeah.
And if you wanna see more about being
a mechanic in a race, you can check
out this video here which is a day at the tour
- In the Mavic Neutral Service car.
- Which is very exciting to a cycler to sit in with Mavic.
(upbeat rock music)
[mumbling]
- God! Fuck this shit!
- Izzytdi: Just finished my first summer
of easy coffee run group rides and
want to train hard this winter to
come back much faster next year.
I've gotten my VO2 max estimate from
garmin and its a rather disappointing low 47.
Is it low because I have not done
much hard training in the past or will
I expect that it will go up this
winter, and how would I best go about doing that?
- Well, first of all, don't panic.
Your VO2 will probably have dropped
if you've spent a whole summer doing
easy rides and not doing any hard training.
Don't worry there is good news,
but also kind of bad news.
The good news is that you can improve
your VO2 max 2 training up to a certain
limit but if you haven't been training
hard, you definitely haven't reached that limit.
So there's loads of scope for improvement.
Bad news is, it's gonna take some hard, painful
training sessions to make those improvements
but that's okay, because we're butt
riders and we love pain, right?
- Apparently. Anyway.
- Sometimes.
- Yeah, sometimes. On a good day.
We've got a good video though. With Dan and Si
telling you exactly the sort of
intervals that you wanna be doing.
So, probably worth checking that one out.
- Check that out, I probably should as well.
- Our second session is a little
bit simpler but no less painful.
We're doing 4 minutes almost at max.
So, power meter uses, that means
again, about 120% of your FTP.
Either way, when you get to the end
of your first 4 minutes, you should
feel like you have a little bit left
in the tank, but not very much.
- Now we've come to the quickfire round
so, hold on tight, it's gonna be fast.
First question is from disgruntledtoons who asks:
What's a good strategy for introducing
children to cycling? #torqueback
I suspect this might be worth an entire video.
Chris, how do you introduce your children to cycling?
- Well, I had a brilliant answer
until you said what you thought was the best
way to do it and that was just
ban them from cycling.
- Yeah, I reckon kids love a little
bit of rebellion, especially if it was
teenagers, I'd say forbidden to cycle
and then they'll really want to.
- Yep, failing that though, you could
just introduce them to the shiny
pictures and videos that we have on
the channel because, well that's what
everyone likes is about cycling isn't it?
Originally? Beautiful sunshine.
- Yep.
- Stunning bikes, that sort of thing.
And then take them out on the bike perhaps,
somewhere quiet like a park.
- Yeah, I think the key thing is
it's gotta be fun hasn't it?
You don't really want to be forcing
your children to take up cycling.
I think a lot of my friends' kids
who see their parents loving cycling
they automatically want to take up
cycling because they see how fun it is.
But I think that pressurizing children
to do a sport or anything else for that
matter is probably not great, unless it's
homework which everyone has to do.
But give them the opportunities and
let them enjoy it and make it fun.
- Yeah, kids did exactly that.
They took up cycling because they
saw that I enjoyed it so they
wanted to do it as well.
- Yeah, there you go.
You just have to be a perfect role model.
Next question comes from Aaron who asks:
I am relatively new to the world of structured
bike training and was wondering if it was
reasonable to do various months long
structured training plans year round
until I can get as fit as my physiology
and mental commitment will allow?
Should there be a couple of weeks
break in between plans? Love the show!
- That's a great question Aaron and
the answer is quite simple: you
can't continually train without taking rests
as it's those rest weeks that allows
your body to adapt and actually get stronger.
So two to three weeks of building an
increased load or intensity and then a week
to recover and kind of absorb those efforts.
- Yep.
- Easy. Next up we have Erik Matonickin.
How do your years, say your
age, have an effect on cycling?
Does age matter in cycling? Thank you for your answer.
- Well, yeah, age does matter I'm afraid
but less than you might think because
cycling for most of us, road cycling,
is an endurance sport and your
endurance gets better as you get older
so there are actually some very
successful pros still racing into their 40s.
For example, there's plenty of men but
there's also, for example, Kristin Armstrong
who won the her last gold medal
in the Olympics in her 40's.
Quite a good example.
And there's plenty of 60 year olds,
70 year olds, still super strong on the bike.
What you might find though is that
balance of your physiological strengths changes.
So, people normally, their sprinting gets
weaker because your muscle strength
generally tails off as you get older
but your endurance gets better
so older athletes, older cyclers should
try and do more strength training, basically.
- Yup, there you go, that's a good answer to that.
Tommy Tom writes in: Do cyclists
carry on shaving their legs in
the winter, over the winter months
when they wouldn't be wearing shorts?
- Well, I do, I don't know about you.
What do you do Chris?
- Yeah, I do, I don't think my
wife would let me in the house if I didn't.
- If you didn't shave your legs?
- Yeah, it'd look so weird where you
shave them year round and then all
of a sudden you grow hairy legs.
- Well personally I think that if
I can be bothered to shave my
legs then my partner should as well.
So, I hope he's listening.
Next question from Dennis Sujik:
Is it better to buy a pre-build bike or build your own?
- That's a really good question and one
you should probably ask the tech channel
but you'll probably get a better value
for money if you buy a pre-built one
however you can completely customize
it if you build it yourself.
- Yep, and you also have to have the skills obviously
- Well, yeah.
- To build it yourself.
- If you enjoy the project it's
a good way to spend your time.
- Next question, Dan Bates: is e-tap worth it?
- I would answer that one with
simply surely it is because imagine life with no cables.
- Yeah, I find electronic shifting
for all reverences it doesn't make
you faster, I definitely prefer it.
Small hands, less force needed, love it.
- Yeah, especially in the winter
when you can't feel your fingers anymore.
- Yeah.
- Alright then, Nick Bonne: I
have an old set of rollers and
I'm looking to use a smart trainer
on the cheap in the Spring.
Is it possible to train on basic rollers?
- Well, yeah, you can definitely train on them.
People did for many, many decades.
It's especially good for high cadence work and
trying to train your smooth pedaling technique.
They're also kind of a bit more interesting
than a static trainer because you've
got that added thrill of "am I gonna fall off".
The only thing is of course, that
you can't really add resistance to rollers
so you can add a little bit more resistance
by reducing the tire pressure but
basically you're stuck to spinning
and if you want to do intervals, you're
doing super high cadence intervals
'cause you can't add any resistance.
- You ride with rollers Emma.
- I have done, I'm not saying I can now.
But I had to at certain points.
- You just don't strike me as a track rider.
- No, I'm not a track rider.
I had to in Beijing before, between
road racing and time trial we
didn't have any turbos for some reason
and the mechanic, bless him, held
the back of my bike while I got going
and promised he would hold it for the whole session.
And so I could do my training session on the rollers.
And then I look 'round about halfway
through and he'd gone and I was
balancing all on my own and I
was so freaked out I fell off.
- That sounds like everyone's introduction to rollers.
- Alright then, Cyclone Fruitbat,
I'm guessing that's not your real name:
After rides, the muscles in between
my shoulder blades are always tight.
How could I fix this?
- Well, you can do some stretching
and check your position, it might be
that you're holding your shoulders
funny on the bike and if you're
also carrying too much weight on your arms,
if your handlebars are really low
and your seat's far forward, then that's gonna
really stress the muscles in your back
but likely it sounds like you've got
a funny shoulder position so I definitely look
at your position and then to loosen the
muscles off once they've got sore
you could try using a tennis ball
and putting it between your back
and a wall and rolling it around.
That works pretty well for easing off tight back muscles.
- Yeah, definitely.
- HappyPhace asks when riding over
5 hours how important is it
to use electrolyte replacement tabs
in one of your bottles?
Similarly how should I be using?
- Well, that is a really question.
Answer is quite dependent though.
So, it depends on how much you sweat
personally, but also how hot it is
where you're riding, and the intensity of the
ride you're doing, more so than the duration of your ride.
You can test all of those things,
or you can certainly test how far in
intensity you're riding but you can
also test your sweat rate so it's
worth researching that online and having a go.
TV ZERO writes in: How can I
balance my training with school?
How can I make sure that my training is actually enough?
- Right, well unless you're a teacher, TV ZERO,
the chances are that if you're still
at school age you don't really need
to be doing much more than 6 to 8 hours a week
because you're still growing and developing
so you don't want to overdo it.
But it is a great age to build
cycling skills and a base for later.
So, skills on the bike, comfort, pedaling
technique, all these things, sprinting,
but you definitely don't need to be doing many hours.
I think there's a danger if you
do too much too young that you can
actually do some of a bit of harm.
So, concentrate on high quality
but also having fun and those skills
that I wish I had learned as a
kid but I didn't ride a bike as a kid
so I can't do a wheelie, can't do a track stand.
- It's a great time to be getting
comfortable riding in a group as well.
Most kids, most of the pros that you see
were great bot riders when they were
kids and that's because they met
up with their mates and they went out
and they pushed each other's limits,
not just physically but technically as well.
- You learn to ride on a peloton,
on a wheel, all that stuff.
- Hopefully you found some of these answers useful
and if you have any of your own
questions remember to drop them in the
comments below and use the hashtag #ASKGCNTRAINING
for that chance to win three months subscription
to Zwift which is pretty awesome or you can
use the hashtag #TORQUEBACK if it's not a training question.
You can give us a thumbs up, share it with
your friends, and if you'd like to see a video
about why power to weight is actually
rubbish, you can click down here!