Workout Of The Day For 9/28…
Howdy!
Phew… if you’re as tired as I am, you need a day off after Sunday’s race… so that’s what you’re getting today. It’s “Rest & Recovery Day.”
Spin for an hour (see last Monday’s post for a description of a good recovery spin protocol.) Relax. Try to get to sleep early. Get a massage.
Not feeling all that tired?
Do some off the bike work.
Cycling tends to be flexion intensive in the core, and it’s important to work on the extensor side of the equation to keep things in balance, and keep the injury bug away.
Trust me on this – imbalanced muscular development can lead to ugly and severe injury. I speak from experience. It is well worth your time to work on developing a balanced physique. If you look like a cross between a T-rex and a Praying Mantis, I’m talking to you…
So, what the hell does this mean, excercise-wise?
In some ways, it’s pretty simple; you should spend a certain amount of time every week working on the muscles and motions you don’t use in cycling.
Cyclocross is actually way better at working more of the body than most of the cycling disciplines (duh…) but you should still do some maintenance and cross-training work during the season.
Here’s a basic idea of some good excercises to start with:
– Back extensions
– Plank excercises
– low-weight lunges and squats, especially ones incorporating lateral stability work.
– abdominal excercises of all sorts, done correctly and with an emphasis on form (more on this later if anyone is interested.) This doesn’t include sit-ups and and crunches as they are typically done, btw.
– excercises for the shoulder, back, and arms to strengthen them for the rigors of ‘cross, and to help prevent injury from falls.
Make sense?
Oh yeah – don’t forget to stretch…
but do it right….
M
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