Everyone has trouble, at times, keeping themselves motivated when the going gets tough.  Sometimes this is a sign of overtraining and being burn-out, but more often than not it is a case of mind over matter.  I have struggled myself over my athletic career in getting up at 5:30 AM AGAIN to workout, heading outside in the rain, or cold, or oppressive heat, or just swinging my leg over the top-tube for yet another descent into the pain-cave.  Let’s be honest, cycling takes a lot of time, consistency, and the ability to deal with pain to improve at.  These three things separately, or in conjunction, can all serve to take the wind out of an athlete’s sails.  Fear not though, there are ways to avoid this and even catch it before it progresses to binge watching the next season of Dexter while crushing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey…

1. Set Goals

Goal setting is paramount to staying motivated, and is the first thing I ask my new athletes.  Why do you want to do “x” and what do you hope to accomplish (be it physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.) by achieving “x”?  If you cannot answer this question, stop reading this, put your phone or computer down, close your eyes, and think.  If you have nothing to strive for, you won’t have anything to pick you back up again when you fall down.

2. Make Your Goals Dynamic

The want/need to always find my limit is what keeps me ticking.  Initially it was running around the track once when I was 11 years old, then it progressed to running a sub 5 minute mile, then sub 4:30 mile, then a sprint triathlon, Olympic triathlon, Riding a century, 150+ miler, Cat 5, Cat 4, Cat 3, on and on and on.  As I have progressed as an athlete, my goals have progressed likewise.  Your goals should reflect you and you should reflect your goals.

3. Find Others With Similar Goals

Join a team, start a club, or make plans to meet up for a training ride.  Doing so will make you more accountable, raise your chances of accomplishing whatever it is you set out to do, and you will undoubtably make new friends.  Even better, hire a coach!

4. Relish in Your Accomplishments

Did you just finish your first century!?  You are da man (or woman)!  Make sure you take great pride in whatever goal you accomplish and make a mental note, or write your finishing time/place on the back of your race number, or have someone at the race to take pictures and capture the moment, or just upload it to Strava and watch the Kudos rain down upon you!  Do whatever it is that will help you remember what you just did and how hard it was to get to the finish.  Then, you can look back on it the next time you need some inspiration and realize just how AWESOME you really are!

5. Never Settle

Ok, now that you achieved “x” what’s next for you!?  If you settle and stop at just doing “x” then you will become complacent, lose motivation, and end up like that dude watching Dexter crushing Chunky Monkey, NOOO!  Can you do the same thing, just faster?  Can you ride for longer?  Can you gain more elevation next time?  However great or little it is, just improve upon your last effort.

6. Keep Consistent

Fitness = Consistency over Time is GC Coaching’s modus operandi.  It is better to ride shorter multiple time a week than to ride longer once or twice, and it is better to ride consistently throughout the year than to ride a ton over the warmer months and do nothing once it gets cold.  Keeping consistent and making something part of your daily routine will make it stick!  Some say it takes 2 weeks to form a habit and months to break it.  So, if you consistently exercise for 2 weeks and form a great habit, it will be difficult to break it.

7. Be Flexible

No, not the ability to touch your toes (although, this is important), rather the ability to bend without breaking.  Some days, months, or even years will be harder than others, but it’s what happens when you can’t do something at your regular time that makes you a better athlete.  Recently, I dealt with a series of inexplicable cramping in my legs that prevented me from exercising at my normal times.  This didn’t mean I abandoned that workout for the day though.  Instead, I did some foam rolling, stretching, put my big boy pants on, and did the workout that night instead.  Always try to get your workouts in!

8. Stay Positive and Keep it Fun

Sometimes you’re the nail, and sometimes you’re the hammer.  When you’re the nail, stay positive and understand that even though your legs, lungs, and brain all want you to stop, keep going and get stronger!  When you’re the hammer, life is good and positivity comes easily.  Positivity, (even faking it sometimes) will keep you motivated.  This will create a positive feedback loop and will attract other positive people to you which will in turn make you more positive.  Remove negativity and embrace positivity!  (Could I use positive anymore in that paragraph!?).

So, how do you stay motivated?

1. Set GOALS that are just out of reach, dynamic, and if you can, find others to accompany you in your journey.
2. Once you achieve your goals, take some time to enjoy it, but don’t settle for too long.
3. Then, once you start training for your next goal, be sure to keep consistent, remain flexible at times, and always keep positive!

Do you need a kick in the butt, or want more positivity and structured training in your athletic endeavors?  Get in touch with us!

This is the third article in a series about Zwift, please read the first article and second article if you are unsure of what you need to use the service and/or need help logging in.

Zwift’s workout mode is my favorite part of the entire service!  It has helped me keep my motivation, focus, and tenacity to complete the next interval more than anything else I have tried.  Plus, it looks awesome, gives feedback on the spot, and is continually being improved.  This post will guide those interested in creating their own workouts as well as provide some direction to those using workout mode for their first time.

Creating a Custom Workout

Step 1: Login to the service

 

Step 2: Find/Pair your devices

Step 3: Click on “select workout” as the ride type from the start screen

Step 3a: Click the “custom workouts” via the “select your workout screen

Step 3b: Create your workout

Performing a Workout on Zwift

Steps 1 and 2: same as above
Step 3: Select your workout and RIDE!

Okay, get to it!  Spring is right around the corner.

Stay tuned for more articles about all things Zwift related!  Also, please let me know if you have any questions about the service, or if there is anything you would like me to cover.

Happy Zwifting!

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

This is the second article in a series about Zwift, please read the first article if you are unsure of what you need to use the service.

Ok, you took the plunge and bought an ANT+ dongle (giggity) and signed up for a Zwift membership, good on ya!  What the heck happens next though?  I am glad you asked…

Step 1: Open the program and log in

You will need to create a username and password the very first time logging in to the service as well as input some other objective measures like your weight.  Please don’t be a digital doper, input your CORRECT weight!  Thereafter, Zwift will remember you and all you need to do is click the “Log In” button to access the service.

Step 2: Search for your devices

This step is crucial to allow Zwift to work properly.  Before you do anything, make sure the ANT+ dongle is plugged into your computer and working.  You know it will be working because the ANT+ graphic will illuminate and radiate circles from it.  After this, click “search” under any of the above options to seek out your available devices.

Step 2a: Find and pair your devices

Once Zwift finds your devices, the graphic will change from grey to blue as well as list the serial number of your device under.  Once you have all of your available devices paired up, hit the “ok” button.

Step 3: Select your route/rider/workout

You can select a few options here including what type of route you prefer…

So, flat, hilly, figure 8, follow riders around you, or, if you are the daring type, a surprise route (oh, how exciting!).

If none of these options do it for you, you can search for your friends on the drop down list and ride with them, or select one of the many workouts available on Zwift.  After you are pleased with your selections, click the “ride” button.

Step 4: Ride your bike

Woah mama!  Welcome to Zwift.  Let’s spend a bit covering the main screen here…

To the left, to the left…On the top left corner you will see your watts, cadence (RPM), and heart rate (BPM).  Below that you will see the virtual leaderboards as well as your PRs for each segment.  These will update based on where you are on course.

On the top in the middle of the screen you have your speed (MPH), distance, elevation gain, and elapsed time.  Below that you will find a straight horizontal orange line with a number on the left, in our case 14, and a gift on the right.  This line represents your progress until the next level, the number on the left is your current in game level, and the gift represents the next game unlock (bike, jersey, wheels, etc.)

Onto the right hand side of the screen.  On the top right corner you have the current gradient of the climb/descent.  Below that is the course elevation profile with the KOM, Sprint, and Finish points represented by polka dots, green, and orange respectively.  Finally, below that you have the riders around you, aka, those who will soon feel your WRATH!

Stay tuned for more articles about all things Zwift related!  Also, please let me know if you have any questions about the service, or if there is anything you would like me to cover.

Happy Zwifting!

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

Zwift has become my absolute favorite training tool recently and has helped to keep me motivated to swing my leg over the top tube for yet another ride in the sweat box more than anything else I have tried.  Zwift accomplishes this via its in-game social platform, its achievement/unlock ladder, its graphics, and its superior workout feature.  You do need to possess some things to be able to use the service to it’s full capabilities however, and it can be a little overwhelming and confusing at times getting everything going.  Fear not though! This article will serve to enlighten the Zwift wannabes in their path to trainer righteousness.

What do you need to use the service?

1. A bicycle, duh.
2. A trainer – You can either use a traditional trainer or smart trainer.  I personally use a traditional trainer with a power meter and have not had any issues.  Some people I have spoken to like the capabilities of the smart trainer as it will automatically increase or decrease resistance if you are going up or down a hill, as well as decrease resistance once you get into another rider’s slipstream.  I guess I am more old-school in this arena though and would rather find the right gear and keep the power down instead of worrying about changing my gears to keep the correct wattage output.
3. A computer with working interwebs – The newer the better and the graphics card makes a big difference.  On my computer at work Zwift looks like garbage, but on my Mac it looks awesome.  Plus, if you can hook it up to a nice big screen it makes the experience far more immersive.
4. The Zwift program – This can be download at Zwift.com
5. An ANT+ dongle – That word always makes me laugh immaturely, but yes you need

   to have a dongle for your computer so Zwift and your equipment can communicate with one another.  Zwift can also use Bluetooth, but be warned it is still in Beta and is prone to dropouts.  You can purchase dongles at many places, but always support your local bike shop whenever possible!

6. Cash money – Zwift offers a 14 day free trial and a longer trial to premium Strava users.  Thereafter, it costs $10/month and can be cancelled/resumed at any time.
7. An objective measurement device  – This can be a speed sensor, power meter, or smart trainer.  Zwift uses these to establish your speed and power output as well as numerous other parameters.

That’s about all you need to get started using the service.  However if you are more into the social aspect and less into the hurt of Zwift, you may want to pick yourself up a wireless keyboard (with waterproof cover) to allow you to respond to other riders, and/or a headset with microphone to be able to speak to other riders in your virtual group ride or race.

Stay tuned for more articles about all things Zwift related!  Also, please let me know if you have any questions about the service, or if there is anything you would like me to cover.

Happy Zwifting!

Further Zwift Articles:

First Time Logging In

How to use the Workout Mode

Questions?  Get in Touch!

Neck and mid-back pain is another common complaint I get from cyclists of all ability levels.  I have noticed most of the athletes I coach experience neck and mid-back pain at the beginning of their first build phase, as their volume increases, or when we transition off of the trainers and back outdoors.  This is due to the amount of increased time spent with our heads looking down the road.  If our neck muscles are accustomed to riding for 1-2 hours and we increase our ride volume to 3-4 hours, you can bet those muscles will be sore and tired post-ride.  This is amplified if you spend the majority of the time riding in an aerodynamic position as the neck extension angle increases.

You can see from the above images what I am talking about; the cyclist on the left is assuming a traditional riding posture with relatively little neck extension compared to the cyclist on the right who really has to crank his head up to see ahead of him.  ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET!!!

How to stretch

• Ideal best time to stretch statically is POST WORKOUT.
• Stretches should be held for 30 seconds minimum.  Physiologically, it takes your muscle fibers ~30 seconds to relax enough to make static stretching beneficial and allow the muscle fibers to lengthen.
• Stretches should be performed in a comfortable range of motion, so no crying because it hurts so much, but you also want to feel like you are doing something too.
• Alternate each side with each consecutive stretch, so as 1 side is resting, the other side is being stretched.
• Perform the stretches 2-3 times each.
• Stretch out 2-3 times daily if you are really having an issue with your neck/mid-back.  For maintenance, or if your neck/mid-back only hurts after an intense or long event/race, once a day is okay.

Pictures of my favorite stretches to help with neck and mid-back pain

Thoracic/Cervical Spine Mobility

Middle Back Stretch

Pectoral/Anterior Deltoid Stretch

Latissimus Dorsi Stretch

Upper Trapezius Stretch

Levator Scapulae Stretch

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

THIS IS THE THIRD ARTICLE IN A SERIES REGARDING THE INTRICACIES OF BICYCLE ROAD RACING…MORE TO COME!

Last week, I spoke about the best ways to conserve your energy during a race to ensure you have the strength to drop the hammer when the time comes.  This week, I want to discuss the best ways to drop said hammer, make your competitors wish they just stayed home, and hopefully get yourself onto the top step of the podium!  Before we get to the good stuff though, let’s talk a little about matches…

What is a “Match”?

A match is something cyclists, coaches, race announcers, and other hipsters have been using to describe when a cyclist puts in a hard effort and digs deep.  Match burning can happen quickly (jumping out of a peloton in an attempt to form a break, sprinting for the finish) or over longer periods of time (climbing for >20 minutes at threshold), but whenever you

burn a match you will be doing “harm” to yourself and you will need a recovery period afterwards.  I put harm in quotations above because even though you may be gassing yourself, you need to take some risks to improve your overall chances of winning a race.  If this means sacrificing some of your sprinting power at the end of a race to form a break or stay in contact with the peloton up a climb, so be it!

Best ways to burn matches based on rider type

The best times to burn a match/es during a race is extremely subjective and race scenario dependent, but with a little knowledge of your strengths, power to weight ratio, and wind direction you can give yourself the upper hand!

Skinny Dude/ette

If you are a lightweight rider with a high power to weight ratio, your ideal time to burn a match is whenever the road goes up, and the steeper and longer it is the better!  Your matches will be more of the long-stick variety in the sense that they will not burn very hot, but they will burn for a LONG time.  Use this to your advantage and put the other riders that are heavier, or just not in shape, on the ropes and hopefully drop them.  The last thing you want to do is keep the effort level on a climb easy and drag those pesky sprinters to the line with you.

Always COMMIT yourself whenever you are burning a match and keep the pressure on for as long as you can!

Heavy Dude/ette

If you are a heavier rider, you have the advantage when the road stays flat, is rolling, or even downhill.  Your best time to burn a match is when you can quite literally throw your weight and higher overall power around.  These rider type matches tend to have an extremely hot flame, but do not burn for a long time.  With this in mind, be sure you are COMMITTED, no matter what happens, to your decision to attack the peloton.  Even if you see people behind you and you aren’t getting a gap, you can bet you are shredding the skinny climbers out the back and improving your chances of winning!  Keep the pressure ON!

Best ways to burn matches based on race scenarios

Climbing

Mountains or other generally hilly races obviously suit the climbing specialists.  Match burning in the mountains is not very exciting to the casual viewer, but can be awesome to watch if you know what to look for.  Team Sky competes in the mountains better than everybody and have developed an efficient and effective way to utilize their team to drop every other rider except for the GC contenders.  This video showcases this tactic perfectly.  Forward to the 20 minute mark when Team Sky takes over the pace making and watch what happens to everyone else, then as the last domestique peels off, watch Froomey make a monster attack and burn his “Match” when it matters most.  Now, we all don’t have teams working for us, but you get the idea here: if you’re a climber attack on the mountains!

Exiting Corners

This is one few people think of, especially during a flat race.  If you are feeling good, sprint to the front of the field so you are the first one to enter the turn.  Then, take the corner normally, but slower (while being safe!) than you would normally.  Upon exiting the corner, DIG DEEP and explode to try and create a gap between the riders behind you.  Doing this will cause an even greater accordion effect in the back of the pack as they enter the corner which will allow you to gain even more of a gap.  A little bit of a dirty technique, but racing is racing, right?

Descending

As discussed last week descending can be a great opportunity to conserve energy, but also a chance to separate yourself from the peloton.  If you are on the heavier side, posses good technical skills, and have ice in the veins, try and attack on a decent descent (see what I did there?) to get a gap.  Similar to the taking a corner first technique, descents tend to cause riders to string out in one long line, become more cautious, and elicit an accordion effect.  You can exploit this by being the first one to the turns, taking the corners aggressively, maintaining a low and aero body position, and DIGGING into your match book!  As always though, don’t be a fool and put yourself or others in danger doing this.  You need to get to the actual finish line to win the race.

Crosswinds

Utilizing the cross winds to gain an advantage can best be seen in Belgium during the Classics season.  The winds in this part of the world are notorious for ripping a peloton to shreds and causing echelons to form…

When these echelons form, all it takes is one rider to lose a little bit of a wheel and an entire field can be left behind.  For this reason, when you see echelons starting to form, or you did your research like a good cyclist and know where the cross winds on the course will be (hint hint), get your butt out of the main field and up to the front of the race.  Then DIG back into the match book and attack AWAY from the wind to try and get a gap on the field.  Remember too, keep as aero as possible!

Road Furniture

This can be placed into the “dirty riding” category I suppose, but can be an excellent way to get a gap on the field if done properly and safely.  My favorite example of this is Peter Sagan in the 2014 Tour of Oman when he literally hopped a curb and got a gap on his breakaway companions.  You can also use rough pavement, roundabouts, or traffic medians to achieve a gap by taking the better lines, short way round, or sharper turns.

For more information on GC Coaching and how we can help you improve your fitness, please visit www.gaffneycyclingcoaching.com

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability in the world, a big reason people miss work, and many athletes I have coached have missed workouts because of it.  The first 2 facts are terrible, but missing workouts too, c’mon!  The majority of back pain in athletic populations, in my experience, is caused by muscles becoming tighter due to fatigue and overuse.  This fatigue can come from many areas ranging from an increase of training workload to a tough race.  Fortunately, for most sufferers of back pain there are a few easy exercises you can do to loosen up the muscles and increase the joint range of motion to help decrease the pain.  There are many conflicting studies regarding when to stretch and how long to hold the stretches for, this is what I have seen work best for me and the athletes/patients I have worked with.

How to stretch

• Ideal best time to stretch is POST WORKOUT.  The reason for this is because stretching a muscle statically will decrease its ability to contract which will result in a decreased amount of power produced.  We train too hard trying to increase our power and strength to reduce it right before our event!
  • Instead, try a dynamic stretching routine pre-workout if you feel tight.  Performing dynamic stretches will improve your range of motion, and you won’t lose any contractile force of the muscle, a win-win.
• Stretches should be held for 30 seconds minimum.  Physiologically, it takes your muscle fibers ~30 seconds to relax enough to make static stretching beneficial and allow the muscle fibers to lengthen.
• Stretches should be performed in a comfortable range of motion, so no crying because it hurts so much, but you also want to feel like you are doing something too.
• Alternate each leg with each consecutive stretch, so as 1 side is resting, the other side is being stretched.
• Perform the stretches 2-3 times each.
• Stretch out 2-3 times daily if you are really having an issue with your back.  For maintenance, or if your back only hurts after an intense event/race, once a day is okay.

Lumbar/Thoracic/Cervical Spine Mobility

From a quadruped position bring your head forward, round your back, and bring your hips forward.

From a quadruped position bring your head and hips towards the ceiling and arch your back.

Lumbar Spine Mobility

From your stomach, press up onto your hands (or elbows if you’re very tight) and arch your back. Relax your glutes.

Hamstrings

Piriformis

Place your foot on your opposite knee, reach for your thigh, and pull towards your chest until a deep stretch is felt in the buttocks.  Sometimes this causes knee pain, if so only perform the stretch below  

Pull your leg up and then across your body until a deep stretch is felt in the buttocks.  Try and keep your shoulders flat and try not to rotate your lower back too much.  

Glutes

Latissimus Dorsi

Sit your buttocks back and reach your arms forwards.  You will feel a stretch along your outer torso and towards your arms or back depending on how tight you are.  

Foam rolling, or self-myofascial release, can be beneficial as it increases joint ROM without decreasing muscle performance and reduces perceived pain after an intense bout of exercise (source).  Be warned though, it DOES NOT usually feel good during.

Imagine the scales of justice for a moment, on one side of the scale you have training and on the other side you have foam rolling, massage, stretching, resting, etc.  If you do too much of one area, your scale will become unbalanced which will lead to injury or poor performances athletically.  So, if you are one of those athletes who just trains themselves into the same hole every year and the same old injuries keep creeping up, learn from your previous mistakes and start doing some foam rolling!

What is Fascia?

Fascia can be described as a casing surrounding each muscle that helps to give the muscle greater structure and separates individual muscles and organs.  Fascia was described to me in school as a “sausage casing”, but it actually makes total sense and is a great way to think of it.  Fascia is extremely fibrous and dense and can become bunched up in certain areas forming a trigger point.  These trigger points are the areas that can be very painful when foam rolling, but need to be released to enable the muscle to function properly.  Trigger points are caused by muscles being overused, traumatic events, or general training.  Since cyclists use their glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves when they pedal their bike, you can bet there will be many trigger points in these muscles!

The Rules:

1. Find an area where you have some room to breathe, won’t be in the way, and are comfortable moving around in.
2. Use a yoga mat or other forgiving surface underneath your body.
3. Pick a foam roller density that gives you enough pressure, but doesn’t cause your eyes to water from the pain.  Usually the darker the roller the more dense it is.
4. Start from the top and work your way down.  So, upper back -> lower back -> hips, etc.
5. Spend a few minutes rolling each individual muscle group and always start with less time initially.  Once you have some practice rolling, you can spend more time on the muscles that are more of a problem for you and less time on the muscles that aren’t as tight for greater efficiency.
6. When you find those pesky trigger points, work each one individually for 20-30 seconds and move on.  You can either hold direct pressure, or perform quick back and forth and/or rocking over them to release them.
7. Smile at how good you feel and how loose those muscles are afterwards!

Thoracic/Cervical Spine Mobility

Piriformis/Glutes

Hamstrings

Quadriceps

Iliotibial Band

Calves