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| | | | Trifecta Shorts (6011) | Trifecta Shorts (4012) | | YOU ASK -
OUR TEAM ANSWER "Hi TEAM JAGGAD, I have been riding for about 4 years now, and am 51 years of age. I would like to have more speed on the flat roads and uphill. What would be some good tips to achieve this. Many thanks, Deb" Read below to see the TEAM JAGGAD DEVELOPMENT TEAMS responses.. Want to ask the TEAM a question? Simply email us at enews@jaggad.com. |  Dana • Speed is a combination of a variety of factors, but technique and training are two things we as athletes can affect easily. One of the most common ways to increase speed in general is to perform interval workouts. As with anything you want to ease in to allow your body to recover without injury. Here are some ideas of interval workouts • 60 min ride: warm up 15 min (easy cycling), then perform 3 min hard effort (HE) with 3 min rest - repeat 5 times, cool down for the rest of the ride - pattern can be altered to increase time of interval (HE) and decrease rest. On a longer ride you can do series of these throughout the ride • 60-120 min ride: ride the middle 20-40 min HE • Hill repeats: much dreaded (except by Chrissy Wellington!), find a hill in your area and climb it hard and fast, recover down. - Repeat 5-10 times or more depending on fitness.
|  Kim • Hi Deb, as a 47 year old cyclist, I can share with you some ways I have got faster. These are: Lose weight • Find and love the hills, riding them regularly • Ride with others who challenge you • Join a cycling club and enter races • Find a safe stretch of road (flat and uphill) and have your own ‘time trial’. Good luck and enjoy! |  EJ • Intervals have worked really well for me. • On the flats I like the minute fast and a minute slow, and then for going uphill faster hill sprints are something that I do on a regular basis. I have also found that doing Spinerval Training DVDs on the home trainer work pretty well for getting faster too (these are always nice just in case the weather is kind of cruddy outside). |  Don • Hey Deb, great question. One of the first things you should do, if you haven't had one in a while is get a professional bike fit. The better multisport shops will have what called the "Retul" bike fit. It utilizes lasers and sensors which captures your every move on the bike from several different angles and displays it on the computer screen. You and your fit professional can see your movement while sitting in different positions and look for any energy leaks. These leaks can be tweeked to give you a greater feel on the bike and most importantly greater power output. It's amazing what an adjustment in a few centimeters of your saddle or bars can really do. I've had this done and noticed a difference right away in the power that I can put out while in the aero position. • Just like in running - to get faster you need to do speed workouts. The same goes with the bike, you need to do speed intervals and get comfortable at going faster on the bike. They can be as simple as doing pick-ups until the next lamp post or tree down the road. As you get comfortable, you can extend the distances which will give greater speed and endurance over the long haul. Do some of theses everytime you ride and you'll notice a difference in a short period of time. |  Chris • To get good power on the flat I good regime of Big Gear work ln the trainer or up hill TT efforts will increase overall power. |  Wendy • In order to increase speed, you would need to add speed training to your current workouts. Hill training can improve your speed on hills and on flat sections because they will feel easier and your legs will be stronger. One of they ways I incorporate this into my training is ride over to one of the hills in my area, and will do hill repeats. How many I do depends on how long I have and the length of the hill. Once that hill becomes easier, I move to one that is a little steeper. I have been able to do progressively steeper and steeper hills with this method, and actually look forward to the hills, and the flat sections are fast as well. •
If you don't have hills close by or the weather is bad, you can also create a similar workout using a bike trainer. One way is to use a clock to do intervals with the intensity turned up in between. Another way I will mix things up is use music and alternate my intervals with each song. Sometimes I get a long one, sometimes a short one. The actual hills would be the preferred method, but the trainer will work in the winter. Good luck with the training. |  Tim • If you are looking to gain speed on both flats and Hills, then you are looking to improve overall performance. Her are some tips that may be helpful. • Do a long endurance ride each week at a fairly low intensity to ensure you have adequate endurance for you rides and /or events. • Get in the weight room 2x per week. As we get older, we lose strength power if it is not worked on specifically. A well designed strength plan will help reduce injuries and help turn back the clock. • Build your Threshold power by doing 2x20 minute time trials at your best average watts or HR. • Ride a hilly route 1-2 times per week and ride the hills seated and slightly over geared. This will build muscle endurance and specific strength. • Make sure to incorporate these in a fun manner so that you enjoy your training and ride with enthusiasm.
|  Debbie • I would take a three part approach as follows: • 1. Incorporate weight training into your training program, specifically working on your core as this is one important area that people forget about. Don't forget some work on your upper body also. •2. Intervals on the bike will also assist with your speed, especially intervals incorporating hills. There ae many places the find some interval sessions for the bike on the internet. Try downloading some sessions and give them a go. • 3. Block sessions of cycling will also assist. If you work full time, then both your weekend mornings should be riding days as well as Friday or Monday morning. Probably Monday morning would be best. Hard rides on the weekend with a recovery ride on Monday. Backing up day after day is something that I found makes me stronger on the bike. A block of three days on, then the rest of the time weights / cross training or swimming and running if you are a triathlete. Also remember that running assists you in cycling, not the othe way around. • Doing your training with others also assists with motivation. • Most important of all though, is to enjoy yourself. |  Finnbar • Everyone wants more speed!! • To increase your race speed you need to have certain workouts that are designed to take your body past the speeds it has been before. These sessions should be short with short intervals and good length recoveries (a 1:1 to 1:2 ratio of effort to rest, would work well!). The spin bike of stationary trainer is a great place to do these as the resistance is controlled and you can push very hard whilst still being safe (ie cars etc). Try doing a warm up and then following this with some short sharp intervals where you try to go faster and harder than you ever have before followed by some total rest. To simulate hills you could put the front wheel up on blocks. • The thing to remember here is that this is an intense type of exercise so be very careful to listen to your body - there will be pain but you don't want injuries! |  Melissa • One way to improve hill climbing speed is to get into a strength program. This will involve doing dynamic squats with weights and hill repetitions. I would advise being supervised especially if you haven't performed weight training before. • In reagrd to hill repeats try and find a gradual climb over 10 min duration and perform between 2 -5 reps, 60-70rpm depending on current fitness, other sessions and try to build. Ensure you're riding position is custom set up of again you risk injury when trying to generate more power. Some ideas and best in strength base phase of training not in racing phase (unsure if you're in Aus or USA). |  Stephanie • I do a lot of “big gear” workouts to build strength in my legs. For example: I will be in big ring, hardest gear and do 5 X 5 minutes. 5 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy (easy is small ring, easy gear.) You can do this on flats, hills, or on your trainer. | | |
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