Re: Cycling--Improving Speed

[Guest guest]

> I started doing outdoor cycling this summer. My speed

> is pretty good but I am unable to maintain it for the

> full 25 mile ride (which is a short ride in the

> cycling world!)

Endurance does take a little time to build. Good thing is once you are there

it is easy to maintain.

>Anyway I was wondering if doing leg

> work with weights would help

Although it goes against specificity I have found that weights has helped

most of the endurance cyclists I train. European Professionals are also

hitting the gym in the off season. Lance Armstrong even did a little in

season after last years Tour de France. Not suprising that one would lose

strength after 21 days of 3 to 7 hours in the saddle.

> (or if it is simply a

> matter of cycling farther each ride) and if so,

I have found Interval training of great benefit. 50 sec hard 10 sec easy.

This type of effort was used to great effect by British rider Boardman

in his build up to the World Hour Record where he rode over 30miles (56k) in

60 min.

> particular leg exercises people would suggest I

> emphasize (everything?).

All the usual suspects. Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges and Step Ups are all

excellent exercises.

Hamish Ferguson

Christchurch, New Zealand

[Guest guest]

Anonymous note just received:

<Intervals are a great way to improve speed - example, 20

second sprints every 1-5 minutes, increasing to 30 seconds, 40

seconds etc. for an hour or so.

Or one minute hard and fast, 2 minutes recovery, building to 2

minutes hard,one minute recovery, etc.

This is also supposed to increase your VO2 Max.>

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--------

Joe Kavanaugh <jkava2@y...> wrote:

> I started doing outdoor cycling this summer. My speed

> is pretty good but I am unable to maintain it for the

> full 25 mile ride (which is a short ride in the

> cycling world!) Anyway I was wondering if doing leg

> work with weights would help (or if it is simply a

> matter of cycling farther each ride) and if so, what

> particular leg exercises people would suggest I

> emphasize (everything?). I appreciate any advice in

> this regard. Thanks for your help.

* Don't forget to sign all letters with full name and city of residence if you

wish them to be published!