The thought of cycling all year may sound appealing but cyclists need to show their bodies and their two wheels some respect or before too long something is going to give. For a racing cyclist it is physically and psychologically impossible to expect the body to perform at that high level all year without the possibility of injury or burnout. Even for recreational cyclists cross-training would help improve riding endurance and strength if the goal is a cycling vacation riding for a few days or up to a few weeks.
Cross-training is a way to work on more than one aspect of your physical fitness at the same time to benefit your overall fitness level for your sport or multiple sports.
Cross-training in the off-season would make for a stronger start to the spring training at any level cycling. At the gym a variety of weight training exercises to improve endurance, strength, agility, coordination and balance plus indoor cardio not just on a bike trainer. Also in the winter season there are many outdoor activities to challenge your body in different ways such as downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snow boarding, hockey and speed skating. If you're not a fan of the winter outdoor activities there are many other indoor activities like soccer, volleyball and basket ball, floor hockey, racket sports such as squash and tennis, martial arts like karate, wall-climbing and swimming. Other activities such as yoga and Pilates can be done throughout the year for improved core strength and flexibilty.
At the end of my cycling season last December I decided to put more focus through the winter months on weight training to improve my overall endurance and strength for the following season. I also planned on starting to run a couple of times a week at the gym on the treadmill as part of my cardio training. I purchased and good pair of running shoes and with the advice from an experienced marathon runner I was literally off and running. The first month I was not enjoying it as I haven't done any running since high school. But into the second month I was up to a half hour and my body was moving more naturally. If someone was running on the treadmill beside me I felt more motivated to push harder. For variety in my cardio I used a variety of equipment like the elliptical, the rower, stationary spinning bike, stair climber stepper and a stair climbing machine. The length of my cardio workouts were from one to two hours and for more variety I would switch after each hour to another type of equipment for a different workout and this helped keep my workouts enjoyable.
Benefits of Cross-Training
Preventention - Reduced risk of developing overuse injuries (Repetative Strain Injury) resulting from continuous, prolonged stress on particular joints, muscles and tendons.
Rehabilitation - When an injury does occur cross-training helps by maintaining fitness despite being forced to exercise less or not at all at your favourite sport or sports and correcting the cause of the injury.
Active Recovery - It is often overlooked that workouts help you achieve your athletic conditioning only when followed by rest and recovery-promoting activities. Quality rest with good nutrition and hydration are essential in recovery to see further athletic improvement over time.
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