THERE ARE PROVEN ways to help every rider come back stronger through rest and active recovery. First, it's essential that you listen to your body - it'll tell you when you're overtired and give your ego a break. You must respect the importance of time off the bike, because by overtraining you risk causing strains or injuries (as well as burnout), meaning you may have to spend weeks on the sofa. Time then for your recovery refresh...
What the experts say...
Make sure you include these elements in your recovery repertoire
Boost your core strength to help avoid back pain
01 Forge resilience
●Building strength galvanises your body, according to coach and physiotherapist Nick Cutcliffe. "Firstly, undertake strength and conditioning work. This should include core strength, plus work on joints like the hips and shoulders." Having strong muscles helps protect your joints. "The second part of upping durability is doing long, slow efforts. These need to be easy enough to recover from S and repeat consistently." This builds endurance and stamina.
02 Mobility is key
●Cutcliffe highlights the importance of mobility, not only for performance but for staying injury free. "If you want to be more aero on the bike, you'll need good shoulder and spinal flexibility. These have a huge impact on performance, but if these aero positions are at your limits, you risk injury. Pilates, yoga and variations of these are a great way to get started, particularly if you spend a lot of time sitting at a desk, in the car or both."
03 Massage it
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
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This story is from the March 2023 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
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Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
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