Training

Dear BCSM, Can you explain the benefits and drawbacks of plyometric training?

Sean Madsen answers a reader's question on hand numbness

A reader asks if he should start using chamois cream.

A reader asks if time-sensitive athletes can substitute high-intensity workouts for high volume.

Real race footage, good music and workout cues to help distract from indoor boredom

Can dry needle therapy help with knee tendonitis?

I have a question about supplements. I'm a Category 4 racer in my local area and do fairly well, most of the time. But as I consider the move up to Cat. 3, I am thinking about supplementation in my diet — things like Optygen or similar have been suggested. Are there supplements out there that are safe, legal, and effective? If so, can you run through a list of these for us readers to help us make sense out of a lot of advertising jargon about things that are supposed to make us go faster?

New book "Racing Weight Quick Start Guide" can get you lighter fast

Follow these 10 tips to reduce your chances of injury

Cycling-affiliated healthcare providers offer tips for dealing with head injuries, as Julie Emmerman explains

Frank Overton gives guidelines for developing your own annual training program

How cold weather affects training and nutrition.

Shoulder separations are the most common injury in cycling, most commonly when riders “endo” over the handlebars

Training in the heat improves performance in cool conditions, a study finds.

Is VO2 max solely genetic or can you train to improve it?

Boulder Center for Sports Medicine's Andy Pruitt walks readers through the many kinds of health care professionals serving athletes

Advice on training for cyclocross

What to look for in a sports drink for cycling

How can cyclists benefit from an annual medical exam, and what special tests should be requested?

A reader asks about the benefits of over-the-counter orthotics for cycling

Check out Judy Freeman's author page.

Your best food for cycling? It may not be what the pros eat.

Your diet may require adjustments for cyclocross, especially during race season

Strength training can help your cycling and help prevent bone density loss, says BCSM's Matt Scheider. Here's how.

A few nutritional adjustments for cyclocross season.

Andy Pruitt says even the most graceful pedalers can't apply power on the upstroke, but it's still something to strive for

Coach Frank Overton shares some of his favorite 'cross workouts

Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan discuss some simple ways a power meter can help riders track performance changes over time.

A reader asks about the most effective way to stretch for improved cycling performance

Ever been injured, sick or unable to train, race or just ride? Singletrack.com's Judy Freeman looks into various ways being out of action can throw athletes into a funk and what to do to get out of the weeds and back on the trail.

A former racer returning to the fold asks the coaches for advice on adding intervals to his workouts.

"Fo ahz hahd": Imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "four hours hard." That's a workout Dave Wiens learned years ago from Euro rider Gerhard Zadrobilek.

Ready of the big ride? Proper tapering in the final week can make the difference.

Massage can do a competitive cyclist's body good, but Judy Freeman says a good sports massage is a bit different than what non-cycling folks get.

You may not be able to race the Tour de France, but you can simulate it at home.

Katrina Vogel responds to the many questions about her column earlier this month on asymmetry in cyclists.

Getting down a mountain you have just climbed is half the fun of climbing, and in a long Gran Fondo descending is more or less unavoidable.

A bike fitter asks why so many clients require spacers for their left pedal spindles.

Sugestions for a rider with one leg three centimeters shorter than the other

A reader asks how to best peak for a race just two weeks away.

The third part in our series on training for Grand Fondos and other long rides. This week's subject: climbing.

Yoga helps in stretching, strengthening, and lengthening muscles. It is also a fabulous method of preparing for cycling

A reader new to cycling asks for saddle soreness help, and wonders if his numb hands are related

Luna Chix Katerina Nash and Marla Streb offer some off-season training tips for the Sea Otter Classic in April.

A tired reader asks how to tell if he is overtrained.

A reader asks the coaches panel how to overcome a nagging Achilles tendon problem

The first article in a new training series for riders preparing for Gran Fondos and other challenging events.

Getting into position: what's the difference between bike sizing and bike fitting, and when is close-enough close-enough?

A reader asks whether he should continue his training when he is a bit under the weather.

A reader asks how to determine the optimum handlebar height and reach.

Does the type of protein supplement matter?

If the highest point near your home is a freeway overpass, that long-planned mountain biking vacation in the high country this season could end up being a tour of misery. Here's how to avoid altitudinal agony — at least a little bit of it.

If you're frustrated because you can't afford bodywork on a regular basis and you can't seem to work out your own kinks, buy a foam roller.

Competitive cyclists can be wound a little tight, so Singletrack.com columnist Judy Freeman is resolving to indulge more and abstain less.

Marathon and endurance events are becoming more popular. Read on to find out how to train for these mountain bike races with either a power meter or heart rate monitor.

Nutritionist Monique Ryan answers some more questions about the effects of cycling on bone density.

A reader asks the panel how he can keep to his base-building program when he can't bring his bike on a trip.

A rider asks Eddie Monnier, 'what are some good intervals to boost VO2 max before starting base training?

Paul Swift and Katrina Vogel answer a question about leg length discrepancy and the use of cleat shims.

Do bodies absorb warm or cold water faster?

New book, "Racing Weight," is the first to help endurance athletes train for weight-loss using healthy and effective methods.

Getting through cycling's 'transition season.'

Frank Overton lays out what it takes to step it up a notch: planning and ... more hours on the bike.

Paul Swift answers a reader question about what pedal system is best for bow-legged riders.

How can bike fit fix a 'dropping hip'?

Should base training consist of only long, easy miles?

It is not unusual during a full season of racing to hear about a pro cyclist or two breaking a clavicle or other bone in a multi-rider pile-up. But is there something inherent to cycling that increases your risk for developing a break when you hit the pavement hard? A growing body of research indicates that being fit through cycling training alone does not guarantee optimal bone density. Cycling only may be bad for your bones.

Gale Bernhardt, USA Cycling and USA Triathlon coach, and author of numerous books, including Training Plans for Cyclists, has some fitness tips for flatlanders looking to head to the high country.

Excess weight increases risk for a number of diseases, and the current weight epidemic is actually an overeating epidemic.

Race simulations are a great weapon to have in your belt. Try these training tips and you'll be plenty prepared for exploding off the start line and getting a jump on the competition.

Some experts believe that poor vitamin D status can often be a problem among athletes, and affect your overall health and ability to train.

PRESS RELEASE

This past May the Food and Drug Administration moved to ban the diet product Hydroxycut after receiving 23 reports of health problems

I’m back. After my last fit session, I rode several times with my new saddle, new pedals and new position. I felt good, but I was still feeling that all-too-familiar burning sensation after about 90 minutes of recovery-pace riding. I was beginning to get really frustrated. I thought that I had plateaued and really wasn’t making any improvements. I decided to take a few weeks off the bike; the decision was partially my own, and partially dictated by my schedule — final exams were coming up and I really had no time to do anything but grade my students’ work.

Now that summer is here, I am guessing just about all of the VeloNews readers are training for a goal event that’s coming up soon. You’ve prepared for months, meticulously laying down your “base;” performed intervals up the wazoo and participated in numerous group rides. Now what?

Don’t take this the wrong way, but there is a lot more to riding bikes than just training for the next race. And while I know that might sound obvious, for me anyway, that simple truth got lost for a little while. During the last year, I’ve been willingly immersed in an exciting new world of power meters, intervals, thresholds and watts. I trained indoors on powder days, bailed on friendly group rides so I could stick to my workout plan, and skipped a few Friday night bacchanals so I’d be fresh for Saturday’s ’cross race.

A look at the diet used by some Garmin team pros