Cycling is done for increasing the body fitness and muscle tone. The cyclists develop a training plan for many weeks riding a stipulated number of kilometers per week. The weekly distance covered gives an idea of the fraction of the stress subjected to the cyclist.
Experienced cyclists ride for more than five hours a day and cover more kilometers per hour than what a beginner does. When the learner wants to cover the same distance as an experienced cyclist is able to do, the former places more stress on his body. Here, the principle of the body’s reaction to stress and the law of diminishing returns comes to play.
A beginner in cycling training should plan a fixed distance and time for each day during the first week. This schedule should not be changed for at least three weeks. By the time three weeks are over, the muscles rehabilitate to the fitness stress and stabilize. The cyclist increases the distance for the same number of hours for next three weeks. After eight to nine weeks of rigorous training, the muscle tone would have reached a good body fitness level. Now, he can increase the base training tempo and go for hill training. Drastic changes in weekly distance covered should not be adhered to do.
If the cyclist does overwork during the period, he is affected by injuries. Injuries can be due to overuse where the cyclist develops knee pain and back pain which inhibits him from training. Due to fatigue, the cyclist may end up in crashing or falling. He may be subjected to bruises, abrasions and cuts. Crashing may result in bone fracture or harm to internal organs which need a lot of time to heal.
Sometimes, the cyclist may adjust his cycle to produce more power. Changes of saddle height and angle, lengthening of the crank and changing the foot pedal position can cause back pain for the cyclist which results in down time of the training program.
This is possible only after multiple seasons of cycling. He should not double the weekly distance to be traveled. For example, if he covers 500 kilometers in the first week, he should not aim to cover 1000 kilometers the next week. Best results are obtained if the cyclist does increments of 100 kilometers every week. Covering larger distances in smaller intervals of time will put an end to the cyclist’s training plan rather than helping him to become stronger. A sense of competition in the minds of the cyclists should not push them to this wrong approach.
Read full articles about training for road cycling and cycling training available here at this web.
Alison Addy is the editor of many articles on determining weekly distance published at http://www.cyclingmind.com .A focused website that offers the articles on training for road cycling.