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Best Way to Warm-Up for a Cycling Race | What Pro Trainers Say

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Gram Smith
Best Way to Warm-Up for a Cycling Race | What Pro Trainers Say

Cycling is a very healthy sport for people belonging to any age and gender. Cycling is a very beneficial activity for health. In the modern era, the use of bicycles has reduced to such an extent that you would hardly ever witness someone riding a bicycle. Despite the benefits associated with cycling, people don’t consider riding a bicycle a lot.

 

Pros of Cycling

There are a lot of benefits associated with cycling. Some of the most prominent services are:

  • Our legs remain strong.
  • The muscles and joints remain healthy.
  • The immunity system stays strong.
  • Our cardiac system stays fit.
  • The digestive system also works well if we perform cycling in routine.
  • In addition to that, the person stays active throughout the day if he performs cycling.
  • A lot more benefits are associated with cycling, and the list goes on and on.

Importance of Warming up before the ride

On a cold day, you wouldn’t take a car straight out of the garage without first warming up its engine. As a cyclist, you’ve got to do the same for your muscles before hammering away at climbs and town-line sprints.

“Trying to push it too hard too early will make the beginning of your ride not feel great, and that will set the tone for the rest of the ride,” – Kendra Wenzel, head coach at Wenzel Coaching and co-author of Bike Racing 101.

Ideally, it would be best if you gave your legs at least 15 to 20 minutes to ‘wake up’ before hitting the first significant effort of the day, or you could miss out on untapped watts.

There’s also the injury prevention factor: Warm muscles function better than those pushed into challenging efforts right away.

“Cycling is such a low-impact sport that even if a cyclist doesn’t warm up ideally, it’s unlikely that they would become injured just from lack of warm-up at the beginning of a ride. However, if they were going to do something very intense like uphill sprints in big gears, the risk could go up,” – Wenzel.

Who should focus on warming up before riding?

All athletes of all ability levels should ensure they get a good warm-up in before competition! While the type of event will dictate the length and type of warm-up needed, you always want to have your system ‘primed’ and ready to go! In general, the shorter and more extreme the event, the longer and more focused the warm-up will need to be. So light spinning for 10 minutes might be acceptable before a long road race, while a more intense and structured warm-up routine is necessary for a time trial or criterium. The exception will be if that long road race starts right away with a long and steep climb!

How soon should the warm-up start before the race?

It depends somewhat on the type of event, but for a time trial, I like to end the warm-up 10 minutes before the athlete’s start time. This should give the rider time to get to the start without any unnecessary drama or added stress. Some people like to cut it as close as possible before the start time, but I think this makes a rider stressed for no good reason; when to start the warm-up, you work backward from your start time. So if you have a 45-minute routine, you would get on the trainer 55 minutes before your start time.

Mild Ride

The experts we consulted all agreed that riders should take things slowly at the outset, spinning easy for 10 to 12 minutes. The idea is to let your body gradually and naturally warm up.

Meditate and Visualize

Wenzel says that It’s not only your cycling muscles that need to warm up. Use those easy minutes of spinning to evaluate your current mental state and visualize the ride ahead.

“The first 15 to 20 minutes of any ride will be a period of self-reflection,” – Wenzel.

Also, check-in with your body. Pay attention to things like how your legs feel: Are they heavy? Are they sore anywhere?

If you haven’t ridden for a few days, it may take more spinning before your legs start opening up.

Keep track of the numbers.

After a bit of easy spinning, quantitatively gauge your efforts against your heart rate and power history, if you train with heart-rate monitors or power meters; if not, go by perceived exertion.

Bear in mind! Does it require you to put in the extra effort than the usual, or does it seem more manageable? If your heart rate is significantly higher or lower than your historical average, this may indicate that there’s some overtraining going on, or maybe even illness. These are the signals that could assist you in deciding whether you should continue with a ride as planned or not.

Conclusion

The way you perform in a cycling race solely depends on your warm-up. If you go into the race without any warm-up, then there is a high possibility that you perform low in the race. The more prepared you are with your warm-up, you always have an edge on your under-prepared opponent. Your winning and losing mostly depend upon the extent of the detailed warm-up you perform before the race. Make the most out of the hard work you have done and be ready when the whistle blows!

 

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