DannyBlog

Happy Recovery Riders,

Zone 4 - Congratulations

For all of you who completed our Zone 4 period, congratulations.   While this year, our time in Zone 4 was just four weeks this cycle, you all worked very hard.  I know some of you really pushed yourselves to new limits - expanding your mental and physical abilities.  Good job!

Recovery / Rest Period - Important - Please Read.

To truly achieve peak performance and complete and incorporate the benefice of our Zone 4 training, you must rest and recover!

Riders should completely cease exercise and cease thinking about exercise for the first two week and up to four weeks of the rest period.  All additional workouts during Recovery should be conducted in Zone 2 and take the lowest priority in a rider’s daily routine.   These are the official recommendations of the Spinning ® program.  This is based on a year long periodization program.  We actually have two periodization cycles in a year, so our time in Recovery is adjusted accordingly.

For the next three weeks, we will enter the Recovery Phase.  We will have two weeks of active recovery and one week of passive recovery.

Why Rest?

Mental rest is just as important as physical.  When no rides are scheduled or even thought about, the compulsion to exercise - which often masks as fatigue - is eliminated.  Neglecting the rest period will hinder future periodization cycles.

Complete rest will allow the body to “bottom out” and achieve deep rejuvenation that is required to continually improve the body and mind without breaking down.  Taking a break mentally will restore motivation so that you will be able towards higher goals in the season.  Time off the bike should be appreciated to the fullest.  This is the only way a rider can apply the focus and attention to attain peak performance later in the season and still maintain a healthy lifestyle balance.

The physical effect of a complete rest is similar to what happens when we take vacation.  Liberation from unabated stress of our daily schedule and daily alarm clock, our bodies will naturally strive for balance by getting sleep and the relaxation time that is is needed.

Riders who do not rest…

Riders who never take time off or stop thinking about exercise often become compulsively and overly attached to the results of the their training.    No only does this inhibit the full enjoyment of exercise, it inhibits peak performance. When riders fail to get adequate rest and balance for their minds and bodies, fatigue and stress accumulate until they reach a state of burnout, injury and illness.

Break the cycle

If you are one that is having difficulty breaking the exercise compulsion, what is really keep from rewarding your body and mind with rest and rejuvenation?  Why are you making excuses to “have to exercise”?  Why do you spend more energy fighting the concept of Rest and Recovery than just taking a week off from training?

We all know those who will make every excuse not to exercise - something always comes up.  But also on the opposite side it the compulsively training person.  Never able to slow down - ignoring what they know is good for them, having excuse after excuse of why they just “have to” train.  They feel like they are different than all performance training athletes and have special needs.

Both of these extremes… the underachiever / unmotivated and overachiever/ over-motivated … are not honoring their bodies and minds.

Think

Think about it.  give your self these next three weeks… with at least one week off… see an old friend you have not had time to see… clean up the messy desk draw… re-appreciate an old hobby… sleep in … enjoy life!

Happy Holidays…. rest and be merry

Danny

Hey Riders,

I hope you are all stuffed from your turkey and pie, because we are now again back to work.  Believe it or not, we have only three more weeks of of Zone 4.  So, if you are like me and have been off the bike for the Thanksgiving Holiday, you are probably itching to get back in the saddle.

This week we will be doing pacelines.  For those who have never done this or have forgotten, this a simulation of an outside riding technique.  The idea is you are lined up in columns of 4 riders.  Each takes a turn being the “leader” and pulling the rest of your line.  On the real road, if you are leading, you would be breaking the wind and lead rider.  After your time is over, you slow down and move to the back of the line and recover.

Since we cannot move our spinner bikes, we will simulate that with calling on certain riders from each row to work in Zone 4 in a different position than the rest of your line.  Once you finish, you will recover and the next rider in your line will take over.

Don’t worry if this is confusing, it will be explained in class.

We are building up our Zone 4 tolerance as you move your hearts into the anaerobic energy system and heart rate zone.  Please bring your heart rate monitors and your best game this week

See you in line,

Danny

Hey Riders,

We are down from the hills, recovered for a week and now ready for another intense period of training.  You all have been doing a great job!  Here is the final piece - anaerobic training.  You see, so far we have been in heart rate Zones 1 through Zone 3 - efficiently exercising the heart and training it in an aerobic capacity.  Our bodies have adapted to start to defer to burning fats when exerciseing in these zones - which is what we want.  Over the past few weeks, we have probably even burned more calories from our fat stores with the heavy hills we were simulating taking us to the top of heart rate Zone 3.

Now it is time to shake it up again!  This time, we will ask our bodies to switch energy systems from aerobic to anaerobic energy system.  In anaerobic training, your body will convert a lot more of your carbohydrate (sugars) stores into the energy needed for this intensity of work.  That is why we “push it” into Zone 4.

Zone 4 is where we transition between the aerobic to anaerobic and is marked by intense, yet short, periods of work.  Think of this as your “sprinting” period.  During class, we will go through Zones 2 and 3 and then finally Zone 4.  We will stay in Zone 4 for only a few minutes before recovering and starting the cycle over again.

In Zone 4, you will be breathless, panting, uncomfortable and trying hard to maintain a constant level of performance - both physically and equally, mentally. Sounds fun, huh?  I can be.  You will be above 80% of your maximum heart rate and your lactic acid will build up quickly forcing us to recover.  It is important to listen to your bodies … don’t worry you all can do this if you have never tried.

The good news is because of this intensity, you should only be doing two of these types of cardio sessions per week.  No more!!  You must take the other days to recover.  

I will go over this at during class… but wanted you give you some ideas of what is going on for the next month.

See (and hear you) in class this week,

Danny

Hey Riders,

This week marks our final week in the hills.  We will have pushed through 12 weeks of aerobic training, then bolted on some resistance as we have climbed hill after hill.  We have this final week to add additional strength to our legs muscles and joints.  Remember to do this by adding heavier resistance (turning your tension knob to the right) and slowing your cadence.

As I have been mentioning in class, we will take next week as a recovery week.  Here is a chance to let your body repair itself from five weeks of heavy climbing.  You can either take the week off entirely, or if you chose to ride or do cardio exercise, try to remain in Zone 2 and let your body rest.  Our next period (Anaerobic training) will be the most intense.

Memorial Day/Week Class Changes.

Fitness First Seven Corners - Saturday 23 May 2009 - Recovery ride.  Pam will be subbing as I will be out of town.

McLean Racquet and Health - Monday, 25 May 2009 - 6:00 PM Class - In honor of Memorial Day - there is no class scheduled.

Other classes will be held, but taught in Zone 2.

Have a great weekend and see you on the hills one more time,

Danny

Hey Riders,

As mentioned in class, I am offering to ride the beginning portion of Skyline Drive this coming Sunday, 17 May 2009.  This is not an officially supported gym activity.  It is just a group of us who want to challenge ourselves and add a final test of our conditioning of the strength phase.

The beginning of Skyline Drive (Front Royal Entrance) is a 5 mile incline to a rest area.  We will then push on for about some rolling hills for a few more mile before turning around.  The real challenge is the initial ascent.  The road is nice a smooth in a park setting - however, there is car traffic.  This is why we will be going early (starting at 8:30 AM out in Front Royal area).

If you plan to ride, you will need to have a bike in good working order, a helmet, a water bottle.  We we last did this ride we finished around 10:30 and back in the DC area around noon.  It will take about an hour to get to the park entrance.

Please send me an email if you plan to attend.  If you are not a registered member of dannyspin.com, please sign up at class registration.  You will receive an automated email, you can respond to that email to let me know if you plan to attend.  If you already are a member, please let me know via email if you plan on on riding and I will send out more specifics.

Have a great week,

Danny

Hey Riders,

Congrats on your training so far in the hills.  We have been working on various strength profiles, emphasizing adding resistance and/or using our body weights to challenge our leg muscles and leg joints.  Climbs have been numerous and varied.  All of this work is to prepare us for 5 weeks of Zone 4 / Anaerobic training.

We will be finishing our Strength Period next week, so this is your final time to work on cycling with resistance.  Also, as mentioned in class, please remember to try to incorporate more Strength cardio workouts during your week.  You can do this by increasing the level on your gym equipment, taking a walking or running route through a hillier area, etc.

Enjoy the last push in the hills… soon we will be racing in the flats.

Have a great week,

Danny

Hey Riders,

Congratulations on making it through our Aerobic Base Building Period in our Periodization Schedule!  It is now time to a take a week to recover before the next period.

We worked really hard over the past 12 weeks, keeping our heart rates in Zone 3 - building our aerobic capacity.  We will next move into our Strength Period.  This period, as the name implies, will be five weeks of strengthening our muscles and joints by adding more resistance to our spinning rides.  We will be a lot more climbs (in and out of the saddle), with varying degrees of resistance.  The music will slow down to feature more rock.  This is to prepare us of doing our Anaerobic (Zone 4 Pushes) at in May/June.

So, for this week, we should take our Spring Break as a recovery.  If you choose to not ride for this one week, that is great - and actually ideal.  If you do plan to ride, your classes this week should be done in Zone 2.  This will give our bodies a chance to recover, relax and replenish.  You will not lose anything by this week - it will actually make your bodies stronger.

For those riding at Fitness First - I will not be riding on Saturday 11 April 2009.  David will be there to teach class.  At McLean, my classes that week will all be taught in Zone 2.

So take a week to recover.  The hills await us.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those observing these holidays.

Danny

Hey McLean Riders,

On Sunday 1 March 2009, I will be teaching a 90 Minute Spinning class.  This will start at 8:30 AM.  We will be riding mostly in Zone 3 to continue to build our aerobic base.

This is a good way to augment your weekly training.

I look forward to riding with you on Sunday,

Danny

Hey Riders,

I will be subbing for Pam Wednesday evening (6:30 PM) on 4 Feb 2009.

Also for the next three Saturdays (7 Feb, 14 Feb, 21 Feb), I will be teaching both AM classes (8:30 and 9:45).  So if you are having difficulty reserving your bike for the 8:30 class, you now have the opportunity for taking the later class.

See you on the bikes,

Danny