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Articles
MANY CYCLISTS KEEP BACK PAIN AT BAY BY EMBRACING THE POWER OF PILATES AND YOGA
Sacramento Bee| February 2009 | By: Blair Anthony Robertson
Cyclists can have unusual bodies. They use their legs so much – and in such a specific way – that they "tend to have overdeveloped quadriceps. It creates a muscular imbalance," said Jean Muniz Keese, a certified cycling coach and owner of Sattva Yoga & Pilates in Rocklin.
The imbalance can lead to injuries, especially lower back pain. In recent years, more and more cyclists have turned to working on their core strength and flexibility, often through yoga and Pilates.
"It helps improve your position on the bike and alleviate the back pain you get from hours on the bike," Keese said.
A cyclist long before she became a yoga and Pilates instructor, Keese said she noticed her cycling improve when she began working the two disciplines. Now her upper-body strength is more in line with the power she always had in her legs.
Further, the breathing exercises in yoga have helped with all the inevitable huffing and puffing on a tough bike ride.
FOR TOUR RACERS, WARMING UP IS THE HEART PART
Sacramento Bee| February 2009 | By: Blair Anthony Robertson
When you arrive downtown today to watch the 2.4-mile prologue stage for the Amgen Tour of California, you may be surprised to see what the cyclists are doing ahead of time.
They're riding their bikes. And riding and riding.
With their colorful high-tech machines clamped to sturdy little contraptions called stationary trainers, the athletes will go through a warmup that lasts about an hour and will include several bursts of high-intensity riding to get their heart rates up near the maximum.
It's hard work, and the race hasn't even begun. What's more, the course, in which riders go off one at a time and race against the clock, will take about five minutes to complete.
But what a five minutes.
Have a bad warmup – too rushed, too abbreviated, too lackadaisical – and an excellent rider will invariably have an off day.
It's all part of science of cycling that is playing an increasingly large role in the sport, whether at the highest level in the Tour of California or for the recreational rider striving to improve.
The race actually starts with the prerace meal about three hours before the start, according to Roberto Quintana, an exercise physiology professor and director of the Human Performance Lab at Sacramento State.
The cyclists will likely eat complex carbohydrates – bran cereal, steel-cut oatmeal with a banana. These foods break down gradually, Quintana said, providing a steady stream of glucose during the race.
Then comes the warmup, beginning up to two hours before.
When pressed about why professional cyclists take it so seriously – as you will notice if you arrive early today – Quintana grabbed a pencil and hastily drew two charts comparing two riders of equal ability. One warms up poorly, the other thoroughly.
The key line on the professor's sketch shows how much energy is expended to reach full power and settle in for an all-out effort through the downtown streets.
The one with the poor warmup doesn't get to his aerobic capacity (known in sports labs around the world as VO2 max) for about three minutes. And in doing so, in clawing his way to that level, he encounters a large oxygen deficit that essentially dooms his race. In other words, he is blowing up.
The good warmer-upper, if we can call him that, gets to capacity much more efficiently because he has come to the start line with a higher heart rate and doesn't have to do as much to reach his maximum. He is bound to have a superior result.
But let's assume most of these pros will get the warmup right. What is happening to their bodies as they go around the course? After all, it's only 2.4 miles. Isn't that pretty easy for these guys?
"This is exceptionally hard," said Daryl Parker, also an exercise physiology professor at Sac State. "If you do that course all-out, you'll find your body is absolutely screaming with pain."
Our pain and their pain are pretty much the same. Only their pain happens at much higher speeds.
Top cyclists can reach those speeds – and more importantly, hold those speeds – because they are able to utilize oxygen more efficiently than we mortals who ride bikes for fun.
That aerobic capacity is measured in a performance lab by putting athletes through a strenuous test. They breath into a tube and ride a stationary bike in which the resistance is gradually made more difficult. That's the popular VO2 max test, measuring the amount of oxygen used every minute per kilogram of a cyclist's weight. It's pretty much an athlete's motor. VO2 max tests cost $65 at the Sac State lab and can cost $100 or more at some labs.
Parker says a 20-something physically fit athlete with a 55 VO2 max would be in the 90th percentile for his age group. Let's call that a Honda Accord.
An average elite cyclist would have a VO2 in the 70s – a Corvette. And the stars of the sport are in the mid-80s – Ferraris and Aston Martins.
Not all pros have good lab numbers. Sacramento native Mike Sayers, who enjoyed a long career before retiring last year, had a mediocre VO2 max. In fact, he says his lab numbers suggested he shouldn't even be a pro.
Sayers had to do everything else to near-perfection – riding properly in a pack, positioning himself in crosswinds so he wouldn't expend energy, attacking at only the right times.
"I've only been able to survive on my instincts and what my head was telling me because I didn't really have the numbers to survive in the pro peloton," he said.
Getting back to the pro vs. weekend athlete comparison: In an hour-plus race on the flat American River bike trail, how would the fit 20-something fare?
"The elite guy will blow him away," said Parker.
In fact, the pro will be 2 3/4 miles ahead in an hour, according to the professor's calculations, factoring body weight and how much power each rider could maintain at 70 or 80 percent of VO2 max.
That huge gap is just a little longer than the course the pros will be riding in Sacramento today.
With the inevitable poor warmup by the amateur, that gap goes from glaring to ugly.
