[MikeT]

This goes for DS/MTX/DH racing:

with aerobic training(road cycling,running, etc.),though you do get in 'shape' and lose weight, I thought that DH was an anerobic sport really...because you are sprinting all out for 3-7 minutes. I thought that aerobic only begins after 10-12min of constant excercise. So wouldn't this mean that regular aerobic training won't help much, in terms of pedaling, and getting faster?

I'm kinda out of shape, and need some help figuring out what I need to do to get back into shape for the racing season.

Problem areas: mainly, exhustion after couple of minutes of all out sprinting.

thanks

-MV

 

[sanjuro]

This goes for DS/MTX/DH racing:

with aerobic training(road cycling,running, etc.),though you do get in 'shape' and lose weight, I thought that DH was an anerobic sport really...because you are sprinting all out for 3-7 minutes. I thought that aerobic only begins after 10-12min of constant excercise. So wouldn't this mean that regular aerobic training won't help much, in terms of pedaling, and getting faster?

I'm kinda out of shape, and need some help figuring out what I need to do to get back into shape for the racing season.

Problem areas: mainly, exhustion after couple of minutes of all out sprinting.

thanks

-MV

Hmm, I am no expert in terms of DH workouts, but I would have to believe even with short bursts of effort, you would still need an aerobic base.

A typical off season program for a roadie would be easy 2-3 hour rides until about 2 months before racing starts. Then they would do power workouts as well as sprint training.

I would think now is the time to do 2-3 hour rides, which are perfect road rides but even XC rides are not bad.

 

[HOOWAH]

MikeT,

You want to build you aerobic base still, like sanjuro said. long relatively easy rides for 2-3 hours 4-6 times per week for several months. It essentially amounts to just riding A LOT! For just DH you can probably lose some of the heavy structuring that roadies or xc people do. easy means ~60-65% of your max HR. It's ok to get your heart up there once in a while, but try to no to let it be more than 5% of the ride time say above 80%.

This is just going to make you fast and relatively strong in general. in fact, you will have an advantage over most dhr's at the race if you do just base.

but after you do base for a few months you want to start ramping up. Do 1.5 to hour rides with 5 or so 5 minute sprint intervals where you go as hard as you can sustain. for however long your interval is, leave 1.5x that amount of time in between. so 7.5 minutes rest for 5 minute intervals. Mix your rides up, some days do 7 or 8 ALL out 30 second sprints where you just have nothing left when they are over, and leave 1.5-2 minutes in between. Also, try a bunch of 15 second sprints on some rides.

The most important things though are the foundation miles, and the 5 minute intervals. in the off season try hitting the gym. Be reasonable though. If you can't spend that much time doing foundation then just cut back to what you can maintain.

A cool book without tons of training mumbo jumbo and more about food, look for chris carmicheals eat right to train right book.

 

[MikeT]

hmm alright, thanx for the advice. thats what i was looking for.

I don't have a road bike. Can I just run instead? or would that be different

 

[sanjuro]

running is always good, unless you have bad joints or shins. no XC bike?

 

[HOOWAH]

cross training is always good in the off season. running, climbing, lifting weights. best to have a mix of aerboic and anaerobic. you don't need a fancy road bike, and can get yourself on the road for about $1K with a shimano 105 bike.

 

[MikeT]

i'm just a college student man haha i can't afford that
and I don't have the time to spend 2 hours just road riding...

what i'm saying is, would running 20min-30min every other day with sprinting, do me as much good as riding a road bike for 2 hours and sprinting

 

[Netguy]

From the sounds of it, you need power and speed for a couple of minutes. Its ok to be out of breath, after you have finished your specific bike event, however you just dont want to be out of breath, half way through it.

Do 4-5 running sessions every week, based on the following.

1 slower than normal jogging session, where you cover distance (45-60 minutes)

2 normal runs (4 miles, jogging or faster pace)

1 hill session, where you are running hills for 30 minutes

1 track session (200 meter sprints at 70-80% pace). Do 5 sprints, resting for 90 seconds between each one. (or the time it takes you to walk back to your starting point. No longer than 2 minutes though.

If you only can do 3 sessions, do the 2 shorter runs, and either hills or track.

If you can do 4 sessions, do the long run, 2 shorter runs, and hills or track.

The running will give your aerobic fitness, while the trackwork and hills will give you the anerobic explosiveness and power that you heed.

Oh and lots of situps. Nothings better for biking than a strong core.

However just take it really easy to begin with. What I wrote above is just a guide, and everybody is different. Start slow and work your way up.

 

[MikeT]

damn that sounds like a hardcor plan haha. I definately don't have enough time to do all that. But this is a good outline. Thanks.

I think I might try the 3 day thing. I'm also getting a free trainer, so I think i'll do that the other 3 days (1 day rest) ?

 

[Netguy]

Yes. If you can put in some weight training in your off days, thats a really good move. Dont need to do much weights on the legs though.

Just take it easy, and work into it. 1 day of rest is not much. However if you can handle that pace, I say do it.

 

[MikeT]

hmm... i donno then how to schedule all that?

2 days sprints/running, 2 days on the trainer, 2 days weight lifting??

or is that too little of every category?

 

[douglas]

its amazing how winded you can get in 5 minutes riding down a mountain!

aerobic, definitely!! - building up my cardio was a major reason why I was able to go from coming in last to making the podium at DH races

I wouldnt worry about being super structured or doing long (90 plus min) rides

winter time = weights & cardio (trainer, tread mill, elipitical)...work on building a base

and make sure some of your cardio is spent doing intervals

 

[jimmydean]

I have been going to the gym 5 days a week. I work a normal job, so I only have about an hour in the morning. Here is what I have been doing to build for this year:
M/W/F, 30 minute interval program on the stationary bike, then 20 minutes of low weight/high reps (three sets each) of pull downs/shoulder press/bench press/preacher curl. This covers arms, chest, back, and shoulders.

Tu/Thur, 30 minutes on the treadmill with a 3% incline (25% less stress on knees and ankles when inclined) doing interval sprints. Then I do sit-ups/hyper exension/roman chair. That covers upper abs, lower abs, and lower back.

So far I have shaved off 15 pounds and can ride harder for longer in just 4 weeks. I hope to be down to 210 by race season and be fully sprintable.

 

[MikeT]

how do u do ur intervals on the bike and running?

thanks

 

[Jettj45]

I started training for Dh racing this winter. What i like to do is incorporate aerobic and anerobic into the same work out. I work out 3-5 times a week college schedule permitting. Everything I do is at a gym. I ride a stationary bike for 20min on a high level sprint standing up. People look at me funny but it works out the same muscles as Dh racing does. I do that to get the blood flowing and to wake myself up. Then leg curls,extentions,press 3sets 10. Then goto upperbody I usually just do what I feel like(nothing special). Bench press(chest), curls(bicepts), skull crushers(tricepts), forearm curles both ways, and for my back not sure what you would call them its like an inclined lift and im on my stomach and lower back lifts. Then I ride a stationary bike for 40min keeping the rpm lvl between 100-120rpm's. This usually takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes, because I dont take any breaks. I also sometimes swim 3000yds if i have time. I think as long as you lift and do something aerobic in the same work out about 3 times a week and do something aerobic everyday you will be in good shape.

 

[SuspectDevice]

excerpted from an article I wrote for Transcend last year...

Let’s start by breaking down an ideal season from a classically periodized training standpoint. Rad Romanian Tudor Bompa formalized the concept of periodization back in the 60’s while coaching the Soviet rowing team. Periodization means breaking down the year into 3-5 periods of Macrocycles, and then breaking those periods down into further 3-4 week segments called Mesocycles, then breaking those down further into week-like segments called Microcycles.

Above is an example of a training plan over-view I created for an elite dh racer last year, the 2 main periods for the year are “training” and “racing”, within those periods I created macrocyles that became progressively more intense in terms of total workload, and more specific in terms of application to racing as the beginning of the “racing” period approaches. The structure of this program allows a gradual and progressive build to the beginning of the race season, and laying everything out in this way allows a coach and athlete to make sure they are structuring enough technical training, and that the distribution of the physical training is right for optimal performance.
A proper training program is structured so that rest is an integral, important part of each macro, micro and mesocycle. As once again I want to emphasize the importance of recovery in optimal training.

I'm assuming that you have already done at least a month or two of general preperation (xc rides, gym time, all the good stuff), so now it's time to start adding in some more strucuture and some more intensity

From research I’ve conducted using measures of oxygen consumption during actual DH runs I’ve concluded that, assuming a maximal effort by the athlete, the energy demands of DH racing are distributed 45% to anaerobic glycolysis, 45% to aerobic glycolysis and 10% to the ATP-CP system. What this means for the training DH racer is that a strong aerobic base is needed for DH competition, but high intensity training is needed in about equal amounts.

At first glance this seems like and obvious conclusion, but the importance of a well-developed aerobic system cannot be over-emphasized. Anaerobic glycolysis is not as efficient in terms of energy production (we could term it “throughput”) as aerobic glycolysis Roughly a third the number of ATP are produced through anaerobic pathways as aerobic pathways, and anaerobic glycolysis also increase acidity in the blood to a greater degree than other forms of glycolysis. PH is our mortal enemy in DH, as increases in blood acidity lead to what is commonly knows as “lactic acid burn”. This gives lactate a bad name however, as it is actually lactate that were are breaking down to form energy in anaerobic glycolyisis, lactate is your friend, it’s waste products are you enemy. As an added bonus the more efficient the aerobic system is the less the recovery time is needed for the non-aerobic pathways.


Some exercise scientists speculate that the “threshold” at which the ph increase-linked lactate concentration begins to cause more performance decrement than energy benefit occurs at approximately 9 milimoles per liter of blood in healthy, active people. It is easy to measure blood lactate concentration using something akin to the glucose meter your diabetic cousin might use. A simple pin-prick is taken and a small strip is placed into a machine that is roughly the size of a deck of playing cards. What this means outside the lab is that a rider’s power output is maximized in terms of “through-put” at this level. A national champion road racer that I know continues increases in his power output all the way up to 22 milimoles per liter concentration. In a 1996 test, John Tomac was able to buffer PH increases all the way up to 24 mm/l. It is very likely that if we had test data available for Nico, Kovarik or Peaty they would demonstrate a similar capability to continue working at high lactate concentrations.

Making the aerobic system more lactate friendly is best accomplished with intervals in the 15-40 minute range at an intensity slightly below or at threshold. This is where powermeters come in handy, as you can do you efforts outside on a variable course (think corners and hills) and as long as you are maintaining the proper power average for the duration of the interval you know you are doing okay. Lots of really important physiological adaptations happen at this level of effort, but there is no denying that this kind of training is not very fun for most DH riders. Try as I might, I haven’t come up with any better way of doing these kinds of workouts than on the road or trainer. It takes a lot of focus and control over the situation to really get the most out of this kind of workout, so it looks like you might just have to spend upwards of 2 hours a week flossing the lycra while doing threshold work. I think it’s a great trade-off and a decent way to be spending your time in the pre-season.

Training at maximal-intensities for durations of 30 seconds to 3 minutes is what causes adaptations in your musculature to more effectively mute the PH effect. This “buffering ability” is one of the main things that separates professional athletes from skilled elite athletes in laboratory testing. In this early part of the year it is probably ideal to keep the duration of workouts like this below 1:30 to give yourself room to increase the duration of these efforts to bring on a peak. The aim here as opposed to in threshold training is to just blow up your legs to engender the chemicals that buffer lactate to make themselves more available. Start intervals, race simulations and hill repeats are three of the best methods I’ve used to train this ability.


What is the most effective (and fun) way for DH riders to increase their lactate tolerance and anaerobic capacity? Doing race pace dh runs of course! If you have access to a legit training course that is 5-10 minutes or longer, nothing in cycling produces more lactate than the whole-body act of riding DH, and the specific adaptations in the musculature you need for support functions in DH are hard to come by any other way, except maybe by riding moto, but even then it isn’t exactly the same.
The course that you would choose would ideally have a lot of hard pedaling sections, and maybe even short 20-30 second climbs thrown in. You can’t beat the specificity of riding your dh bike, and by adding a mixture of anaerobic capacity and threshold training into one workout you are able to get in some fun, specific training.

As the months get on, and we get closer to the meat of the season, there is other high-intensity work that needs to get done. Right now you can still get the basics covered by riding a lot and getting in a few specific workouts in a week.

With any high-intensity training sessions, try not to do more than 3 in a training week, and make sure you take at least one easy day in between hard workouts. You will probably find it the most useful to only focus one kind of interval workout for a few weeks so you benefit from the consistency of imposing the same kind of demand. After you’ve been working on the same kind of training for a few weeks, take a rest week (I like to play at the dirtjumps on rest weeks mmmmm…. dirt).

 

[MikeT]

hmm alright. Thanks for the info everyone.

So I should be changing the training routine, about every 4 weeks?