I have seen a lot of people using all different types of bicycles during a triathlon race including mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and touring bikes. Whether you are a serious triathlete or just a weekend warrior, it pays to use clip-in pedals on your bicycle. I can understand if you are hesitant to spend extra money to have your bicycle outfitted with clip-in pedals. After all, that means you need to purchase bike shoes with cleats so that they can be clipped onto the pedals. Or, you may use your bicycle for other purposes and you may not want to modify it. Or, you may be afraid to have your feet secured to the pedals. I know, because that's how I felt when I first started out. I used a mountain bike on my first triathlon. Not only was it humiliating to have just about everyone zoom past me on their road bikes, but my legs felt like rubber by the time I got to the run. So, my first suggestion would be to invest in a good racing bicycle if you are even remotely serious about participating in triathlons. There are a number of decent road bicycles available and the prices range from about $700 on up to about $4000. It goes without saying that the bicycle should be equipped with clip-in pedals. Here's why.
With regular pedals, you can only push down on each pedal stroke. Your legs and knees will take a pounding and you just can't generate even power throughout the entire pedal stroke. It's like a 4-cylinder engine running on only one cylinder. You are making the front of your upper thighs do all the work.
You can add toe-clips to your pedals. Using toe clips is better than not using them, but you can't really pull up on the back side of the pedal stroke (between (B-C) because your feet will come out of the toe clips. Plus, I have found that I have to pull the strap on the toe clip so tight that it hurts my foot and makes my toes go numb.
With clip-in pedals, your shoe has a cleat on the bottom that snaps into the clip-in pedal. There are a number of different pedal and cleat options to choose from (check this link to see our reviews here). The bottom line is, with clip-in pedals, you can generate smooth power throughout the entire pedal stroke. You will be engaging your hamstring muscles and your calf muscles in addition to your thigh muscles. You will be able to go faster longer. You will be able to cruise up hills. Your legs will be "spinning" through the entire pedal stroke.
One of the best ways to train with clip-in pedals is on an indoor trainer. I have a trainer that lets me use my bike indoors by lifting the rear wheel off the ground. In order to create resistance, there is a roller that contacts the back wheel and has adjustable tension on it. There are a number of types of indoor trainers - some provide tension by using a fan, others with magnets and others with sealed fluid (hydraulic). There are also dual-roller trainers where you ride your bike on rollers that are about 18 inches wide. See our reviews of indoor bicycle trainers for more information.
At any rate, there are a number of exercises you can do on an indoor trainer that can help you develop a smooth, powerful and efficient pedal stroke.
One-legged drills
The best exercise that I know of is called the one-legged drill. Essentially, you pedal with only one leg at a time with resistance applied to the wheel. For this drill, I will place 2 chairs on either side of my bike. I will take one foot out of the pedal and let it rest on the chair and leave the other foot clipped into the pedal. Proceed to concentrate on pulling and pushing evenly through the entire pedal stroke. At the very top of the stroke, you will push your foot forward as if kicking a ball. Then you push down through the front of the stroke. At the bottom of the stroke, you pull your foot back and up, like scraping mud off the bottom of your shoe. On the back part of the stroke, pull your foot up and forward back to the top of the stroke again.
As you first try this exercise, try an easy gear and/or low resistance on your indoor trainer. The very first time I tried this drill, I literally could not get my foot up the back and over the top. I had to use my hands to pull my thigh upwards just to get my foot to come up the backside of the stroke! You will be engaging muscles that hardly ever get used, with the exception of maybe climbing stairs. When you first try to pull up hard on the back side of the stroke, it would be like climbing stairs with a heavy weight attached to your shoe.
As you begin to develop strength throughout the entire stroke, pay attention to the sound that your indoor trainer makes. You will notice that the trainer will hum throughout the stroke. If you notice that the hum gets significantly louder during the down-stroke, then your stroke is not evenly-powered throughout the entire stroke. The goal is to have your indoor trainer humming smoothly no matter where your foot is in the stroke cycle. If you can get to the point where you are generating smooth, even power throughout the entire stroke, then you will be "spinning". When you take your bike out on the road, try to remember to spin there as well. It's often easy to forget and revert back to the "only-push-down" stroke.
When I first started doing one-legged drills, I could barely go 30 seconds on each leg. I would go 30 seconds, then add my other foot and go both legs for a minute or two, then pop-out one foot again for 30 seconds and alternate legs back and forth this way.
Try to work up to longer and longer periods of time with only one leg. I also count my strokes to make sure both legs can turn at the same RPM. I have found that one leg is a bit weaker than the other, so I can't turn as many RPMs. In this case, you may want to do a few more one-legged drills on the weaker leg until it can catch up to your stronger leg. As you develop strength, try a harder gear or add resistance to your indoor trainer.
Also, you will notice your heart rate and your breathing will increase during each one-legged phase. Always be safe and use a heart-rate monitor when you train. You should never begin an exercise program without obtaining clearance from your doctor. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded at any time, or if you feel sick, stop the exercise immediately.
Indoor Interval Training
Another great way to train indoors is to do interval training. A good way to do this is to purchase some training videos (see our list of training videos and reviews.) I like to use them because the videos are about 45-60 minutes long - enough time to get in a good workout. I don't have to worry about weather, traffic, darkness etc. Usually the workouts contain a variety of intervals, speed work and levels of difficulty. This is great because you can practice keeping your stroke even and powerful regardless of the type of interval. For example, some intervals may be high RPM with less resistance, or lower RPM with higher resistance. Interval times can also vary. By having a few different videos available, you can mix up your workouts to help prevent boredom.
If you don't have training videos, you can create your own interval workouts. Make sure you give yourself at least 10-15 minutes of time to warm up before doing any hard intervals. Once again, you should always be safe and use a heart-rate monitor for training so that you don't exceed your recommended maximum heart rate. You should never begin an exercise program without obtaining clearance from your doctor. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded at any time, or if you feel sick, stop the exercise immediately.
You can try all different types of intervals. For example:
Do 40 minutes in total, maintaining at least 90 RPM. Start in an easy gear and go 5 minutes. Then, drop to a harder gear while maintaining the same RPM for 5 minutes. Then switch back to the easy gear and keep repeating this pattern of easy/hard/easy/hard etc. Try to concentrate on an even, spinning stroke the whole time, even in the hard sections.
Or, you can do ladders. Start in an easy gear, and pick a moderate RPM (60-90 RPM). Every 30-60 seconds, drop down to the next harder gear while maintaining the same RPM. Keep going until you get to your hardest gear. When you get to the hardest gear, work your way back up to the easy gear. Once again, try to maintain the same RPM throughout the entire ladder. You can do a variation on this by dropping back down to the easiest gear in between each harder gear. For example, if 1 is the easiest gear and 8 is the hardest gear, the interval would go 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-7-1-8-1-7-1-6-1-5-1-4-1-3-1-2-1.
You can try sprint intervals, too. For example, start in a moderate gear at about 90 RPM. Then, go hard for 30 seconds at 110-120 RPM then drop back down to 90 RPM again for a minute. Repeat the whole cycle 5-10 times.
There are an infinite number of intervals you can do. Use your imagination and come up with your own variations. Once again, the important thing to remember is to stay in a safe heart-rate range and concentrate on maintaining a smooth, powerful stroke throughout the entire range of intervals. You can also combine the one-legged drills with your interval workouts and do one-legged intervals.
Finally, just training indoors on the indoor trainer and doing a static workout is helpful. This workout is a bit boring, but you can just ride at a steady pace in a moderately hard gear for 30-45 minutes. Warm up first, then go steady in a gear where you can maintain at least 90 RPM and stay at about 70-90% of your maximum heart rate. Concentrate on maintaining an even RPM and an even, spinning stroke the whole time. Concentrate on pushing and pulling both feet evenly throughout the entire stroke cycle. This will get you used to spinning at a good RPM for long periods of time.
If you do just one indoor workout a week, you will notice a big improvement in your ability to maintain a higher speed when you ride outdoors.
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