Winter continues the cold and flu season. While fitness is associated with strong immune function, actual training and/or dieting can suppress our immune systems, giving opportunistic germs a better shot at both getting established and hanging around longer than they …
When racing twice or more over a weekend, your between-race recovery activities will determine how well you feel and perform in the later races. Follow this guidance to improve both. Wenzel Coaching Head Coach Scott Saifer, M.S. raced over 300 …
Recovery Tips for Stage Races, Omniums & Multi-Race Weekends Read More »
by Jami Min That’s right. You’re going over your season in your mind, reviewing all those spots where if you’d just been a little stronger, a little faster…if you’d had just a tiny bit more endurance it would have made …
Cooling down after a race isn’t cool any more. I mean, when The New York Times has pointed to studies showing that cooling down doesn’t reduce muscle soreness, it’s likely the practice won’t survive for long. If it doesn’t reduce …
The Quadriceps, Hamstrings, and Calves are the major muscle groups that directly power the pedals of a bicycle. When Quads and Hams are not in balance (one group is tighter than the other), a number of bio-mechanical problems can occur, including …
Quadricep, Hamstring, and Calf Stretches for Cycling Performance Read More »
The positions and movements of cycling stress certain muscle groups, which can create muscular imbalances and dysfunction. The hip flexors (iliacus and psoas, sometimes together called iliopsoas) are muscles responsible for pulling the thigh towards the abdomen and are used …
On April 2nd of 2011, I was racing the criterium stage of a regional stage race in The Dalles, Oregon. It was a nighttime criterium, and I was feeling positive about my chances of achieving my goal of winning the …
Joe stomped hard as the light changed. It was supposed to be an easy day, but a few hundred yards ahead he spied prey, another rider. Accelerating, he dropped into an aero position, elbows deeply bent and knees in close …
Will You Win Your Races or Your Training Rides? Control Your Competitive Drive! Read More »
Sleep is the elephant in the room when it comes to training plans. If you want to be a champion cyclist, your training hours need to roughly match those of your strongest competitors. It is possible to tweak training to …
You have followed all the suggested post ride recovery procedures such as stretching, glycogen restoration, hydration, and more but your legs still feel tired and heavy post training. As a result of intense exercise, there is an accumulation of fluids …
Updated for 2013 by Kendra Wenzel, with contributions by Jeremy Nelson. Because the gains from stretching aren’t always immediately obvious, it’s easy to put off stretching or forget it altogether. But before you put off reading this article, consider this: …
Stretching: The Truth – It’s about flexibility, recovery and preventing injury Read More »
Over the years, watching hundreds of athletes train, it’s become clear that for most, the limiter for performance is how much training they can handle. The upper limit is not based purely on how many hours they have available to …
Fall is finally here, and for many of us roadies this means the end of the racing season has also arrived. It’s time to take a well-deserved break from all the hard work you’ve been doing on the bike. The …
Rest for Road Racers – Should You Take an End-of-Season Break Read More »
All Wenzel cycling and triathlon programs include annual extended recovery periods, usually about a month in length, though cross racers might break the month into two chunks, one before training for cross and one before training for road or MTB. …
By Head Coach Kendra Wenzel If you’ve been racing consistently since early spring, it’s very likely that you’re reaching some kind of burnout now, especially if you don’t have major late-season goals or don’t plan to race cyclocross this fall. …
Dealing with End-of-Season Burnout, and How to Remedy It Read More »
