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You have
put in hours training on the bike; you have the equipment, the bike and pre race
diet dialed in to the very last detail. Upon arriving at your peak race time
trial or criterium, you start your usual warm-up, spin around, test out the
aero-bars The desire
to be optimally prepared, but not tired out by a long warm up, is often a source
of confusion for athletes. It’s a common misconception that a long warm-up will
only serve to tire you out and dig into your precious but limited glycogen
stores. In truth, a well-planned and lengthy warm-up will prepare your body for
peak performance both physiologically and psychologically. A good rule to follow
when deciding how much time to spend on a warm-up is: the shorter the race the
longer the warm up. The
pre-race warm-up serves as the transition from a resting state to maximal
exercise and prepares the body for the high intensity requirements of racing.
You should be 100% ready to give maximum effort from the gun in a criterium, or
ride above threshold in a TT, and your leisurely spin around the block won’t
adequately prepare you for these efforts. It is important to perform a proper
warm up before racing either a time trial or a criterium, to not only prepare
your body for an optimal performance, but also to protect against potential
injuries that can occur when muscles and joints are not properly warmed up. In
longer road races the pre-race warm-up need not be as lengthy, as the intensity
is generally lower and the first several miles usually serve as a warm up.
Physiologically the warm-up raises the body’s core temperature, increases
cardiac output (heart rate x stroke volume), increases speed of nerve
transmission (increased firing potential), increases blood flow to working
muscles, enhances contractility and force production of muscle fibers and
prepares joints for increased activity.
The warm up should also psychologically prepare you for the rigors of
racing. It gives a concentrated time away from competition to focus on strategy,
relaxation exercises and visualization. The
concept of lengthening your warm-up for shorter events is especially important
for prologues and short time trials (12km and shorter). You don’t want to finish
a 3-mile prologue only to figure out you are just warming up. Prologues and
short TT’s don’t give you a margin of error to warm-up while in the race, so you
need to be 100% prepared at the start. This means arriving early to the venue in
order to have enough time to register, pin your numbers, get dressed and warm
up. Where you warm up is another detail you should consider ahead of time. You
may be at a race where there are few roads and/or heavily trafficked areas, poor
riding surfaces such as gravel roads and/or undesirable weather conditions. Your
best solution is to pack a trainer so you can warm up at any race venue in any
conditions. If you are experiencing extremes in weather, pack your gear
accordingly and be prepared for any condition. In hot weather you want to prevent your
core temperature from increasing excessively, and you can do this by warming up
in the shade or in an air-conditioned building. Be sure to staying adequately
hydrated and minimally dressed to help cool your body. If the weather conditions
are cold and/or wet, you want to be properly dressed and sheltered from the
elements. Place the trainer as close to the start line as possible so you can
hear any changes in start times and be available at a moment’s notice. If you
must do your warm-up on the road, in any conditions, try to pick a relatively
traffic- and interruption-free route. Check the start times and make sure you
are within range to hear any schedule change announcements to ensure that you
make your start. Remember, the clock starts at your start time, whether you’re
there or not.
When
preparing for a time trial effort, start your warm up one hour before your start
time. Your actual riding time will
be 45 minutes but you must factor in a bathroom break(s) and enough time to get
to the start line. You should also have your energy drink readily available
during your warm up routine.
The warm-up
is a series of progressively higher intensity efforts designed to activate the
energy systems used during your race, including those for the production,
buffering, and clearing of lactic acid. Your warm-up should go as follows:
Your total
warm-up time is 46 minutes, and the first 20 minutes consist of an
endurance-intensity spin at 85-95rpm; this can be done either on the road or on
the trainer. Then: ·
10 minutes Tempo,
75-85rpm ·
2 minutes Recovery
·
6 minutes ramping SteadyState 90-95rpm at
or just below lactate threshold ·
2 minutes
Recovery ·
2 minutes PowerIntervals,
105rpm ·
2 minutes Recovery
·
2 minutes PowerIntervals,
105rpm ·
2 minutes
Recovery The 10
minutes of Tempo act as a transition between endurance and SteadyState efforts.
The ramping portion of the 6-minute Steady State (SS) effort at 90-95 rpm is
very important. You should only reach SS intensity, at or just below LT, during
the last minute of the interval. The high-power intervals towards the end of
your warmup will push you above lactate threshold and stimulate your body to
produce, buffer, and clear lactate. The last 2-minute recovery interval should
be as close as possible to the start of your race. The difference between a criterium and
time trial warm up is in the energy systems that are predominant in that
particular event. With time trialling, your emphasis should be on performing a
lengthy SteadyState effort as in the above warm up routine. In
criterium racing more emphasis should be placed on the 2-minute high-power,
high-cadence intervals and less emphasis on the longer SteadyState efforts. You
can manipulate the above routine to suit a criterium warm up by decreasing the
SS effort to four minutes and adding two 30-second maximum cadence intervals,
separated by two-minute recovery periods, after your two-minute high-power,
high-cadence intervals. Keep in
mind that you want to finish your criterium warm up with enough time to get a
decent starting position on the line. Your body will maintain the benefits of a
structured warm up for at least 10-15 minutes after your warm up is complete, so
don’t stress too much if there is a wait on the line. Certain
conditions may require a decrease in the total warm up time. Hot weather conditions can cause a
detrimental increase in core body temperature which may decrease performances in
a time trial or a criterium. If you are warming up for a time trial and you
experience these conditions, decrease by half the durations of your endurance,
Tempo, and high power intervals. If you are doing a criterium warm up, then
decrease your endurnace, Tempo, SS and high power interval times by half. Another consideration is to do your warm
up on a trainer in an air conditioned building, or if this is not an option,
don’t use your trainer for a warm up and instead perform it on your bike so you
have the cooling effect of airflow over your body. Another
consideration when doing a time trial and criterium warm-up is to make sure you
practice it in your training before doing it at a race. By doing it ahead of
time in training, you can work out all the details before the big race
day. A
well-planned structured warm up improves race day performance by physiologically
and psychologically preparing your body for the coming high intensity effort
required of racing. The warm up serves as the body’s transition from rest to
maximal effort. It is important to consider the energy systems utilized in
racing to determine the best possible warm up for that event. By practicing your
warm up ahead of time in training you can work out all the details and possible
issues before the big race day arrives so when you are on the trainer warming up
according to plan you can know you have done everything in your power to put in
your best possible race of the day.
Ivana
Bisaro is a coach for
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