THE THREE LEGS OF YOUR “TRAINING STOOL”
By mastering these three areas, this allows riders to see the opportunities forachieving success. These three areas are just like legs on a stool at your kitchenbar: they have 3 legs and are stable only because all the legs of the stool are ofequal length and angle.
The First Leg: Physical Training
The first leg of the riders stool that you must train and master in order to be successful is the purely physical training. You must commit to your trainingprogramme with a sense of dedication. You have to get out there on a day-to-day basis and put in the miles. There is no substitute for this; you HAVE to put in your time on the bike. This is the first step of achieving success in cycling, because ifyou do not master this leg, than you needn’t worry about the other two. Each leghas many facets to it and the physical leg is no exception. You need to develop a solid plan to your training and you need to work your plan. Once you identify your
goals, you need to identify your weaknesses and strengths and then get to work !
We always love to train our strengths and hate working on the things thatchallenge us.
Have you noticed how those power riders only want to go as hard as they can on the flats? It is easy to train your strengths because you already excel in them. This allows you to “feel good” about your workout when you focus on an area that you are already good in. In reality though, if you really want toexcel as a cyclist, you need to be able to do all the different areas that composecycling well. You will need to practice your sprints, hills, power efforts, jumps, speed change, etc. Most importantly, you will need to really work on the things that you do not enjoy or do not really excel in. So, it is very easy to define yourweaknesses, but it is tougher to get out there and do the work to improve them.
Training for a cycle ride doesn’t mean you have to just focus on your ‘legs’:
Running & cycling will build your quads and calfs
Swimming will give you ‘strength, suppleness and Stamina’
A combination of Aerobic (cardio) and Anerobic (weight-training) is better than
just focus on one of these areas.
Attend Spinning (stationery bike) coach lead training sessions to rehearse
simulated cycling trails.
The lesson here is that if you do not identify and be honest with yourself about your weaknesses and strengths, then you will not be able to achieve your ultimate potential.
The Second Leg: Mental Training
The second leg of the stool is the mental training. You have to do the mental training that will MAKE you BELIEVE that YOU ARE A SUCCESS. Now, go back and read the second sentence in this paragraph again. It has two important points in it: the words “Make Believe” and “Believe you are a success.” First off, one of the most important points in mental training is that you visualize yourself
having already succeeded in your goal. We are playing, “Make Believe.
” There ispower in that. Your brain does not know the difference between a vividly imagined event and a real event. The key is that you have to “FEEL” the sensations as they would “FEEL” when the real event occurs and you have to “see” the after effects of your accomplishment. What happens after you complete the event is just as important and seeing yourself throw your arms in the aircrossing the finish line.
You have to “believe” that you are success, and once you cultivate that belief, once you “pre-tend,” “make believe” that you are a success, then the belief will come. Only when you have the belief that you can successfully complete the ride, will you actually be able to do it.
Once you have the belief that you can successfully complete over 140 miles of the ride, will you actually be able to do it.
The belief comes first, the success follows, then that brings about more confidence and a stronger belief which builds more success. It’s an UPward spiral of success.
The Third Leg: Nutrition
The Third Leg of your training stool is the nutritional side. This is also super important and makes a difference. You have to build your body from solid, good, clean, strong building blocks. If you build a body from ‘junk’ food (carbo rich) and Diet Soft Drinks, than you are restricting yourself from the start line.
I know some people, that only drink Diet Soft Drinks, and never pure, clean water. Their fundamental building block of their entire body is from a toxin! They are building a polluted body from the very foundation. It’s no wonder that people get, “mysterious” diseases and ailments . . . maybe a diet drink every once in a while won’t hurt you, but if that’s all you drink, you are eventually going to feel the effects of a weak leg in your training stool. What you eat TODAY will impact you six months from now.
Your body is in a constant state of re-building, you are building new muscle cells, new bone cells, new brain cells, etc. So, if you eat smart for six months and feed your body good foods, pure water, high quality vitamins, then and only then will you have a pure, strong and clean body.
Sure, you say, what about all those guys that eat junk and still do well on the ride? Well, eventually it will catch up with them, maybe not in the next few rides or even years, but eventually garbage in equals garbage out.
You should aim for a balanced diet and we will be issuing a nutritionalist guide from Ealing Hospital in London over the coming days at our website www.charitybikeride.com.
So, there you have it, the three legs of the athletes stool. Each is important in it’s own way and there are many facets to each one. We highly recommend that you start by learning as much as you can about each through reading books, talking with others, and learning from your mistakes. One of my favorite quotes was by the famous Tour de France Winner, Fausto Coppi. When asked what the three most important tips he could give to someone wanting to improve in cycling, his reply was, “Ride the bike, Ride the bike, Ride the bike !” Make it a great training ride!