4ucycling

Professional cyclists are lucky to have a team soigneur. A soigneur is the person in their team who is in charge of food preparation, laundry, massage and other important tasks. Massage is really important for cyclists because it prepares them for a hectic and stressful activity and it also helps them cool down, recover and heal from the said activity. However, if you're a cyclist and you don't have a soigneur, it doesn't mean that you can't get a massage or perform a massage on yourself. Here are some massage tips that you can do on your own: Warm Up: The first thing that you need to do is do a couple of warm up massage strokes. So you need to sit on a towel. Another option is to sit on the edge of a chair or a bed. Loosen the upper leg muscles by quickly stroking them in an up and down motion. It's just like brushing crumbs off of your hands. Afterwhich, proceed to massaging your lower legs. This action will help loosen your calf, your hamstrings and your quadr...

While training the cyclists, one should keep in mind that they must not go after how much distance they cover every week, it is around 400-600 k/m per week is enough. The time should not be wasted on spending extra kilometers which are of no use. For your on satisfaction, you can go to any limit of the extra kilometers but you will not achieve anything extraordinary. Registering in the cyclists training sessions with a calculated number of kilometers and a proper schedule must be followed. It includes various races along with the period of recovery and the divided training sessions. Endurance is very necessary part of any training however in cycling it must be kept in mind that having a session of anaerobic is more necessary than endurance. There is another training given to how to take a break and get recharged while cycling and still win the race. Anaerobic sessions are given more significance in the training and it requires a high level of attention during the training. It m...

Dutch cyclist Monique van der Vorst is one very fortunate cyclist. At the age of 13 she was an extremely sporty child, who enjoyed playing hockey and tennis. Unfortunately, when she had to go into hospital for a routine operation on her ankle, she sustained considerable nerve damage to her left leg. This became paralysed from the hip down, ending all her dreams of becoming an accomplished athlete. Undeterred, Monique learnt to master 'hand cycling', operating a specially modified bicycle where the wheels are powered from a crouching position by spinning the pedals by hand. She then went on to compete both nationally and internationally. Kitted in Holland's traditional orange, she won six European titles and three World Championship titles. Tragedy overtook Monique once again that same year, when she was struck by a car. This time the damage was far more severe than her earlier leg injury. Her spinal cord was affected, leaving her paralysed from the waist down. Where les...

Help I'm Stuck Being Fat! Every time I hauled myself onto the scales it was same result just a different day: no loss or a little more weight put on.  Even when I mustered the willpower to keep going with a diet I'd cruise along just fine for the first few days and then it all came to a sudden halt.  The scales rising just like my discouragement.  Even when I did manage to lose a little fat, I wasn't sure it was strictly fat. Wouldn't it be great if there was a better way?  Well, there is.  There is the world's easiest diet method.  It is so easy that the Internets number one diet developed its entire fat loss program around this idea.  It is a very popular approach used by bodybuilders to strip fat from their muscles with out losing any muscle itself.  Its called Caloric Cycling or Calorie Cycling. The Nuts and Bolts of Calorie Cycling The way caloric cycling works is by keeping the body not knowing what is coming next..  You see, the bo...

Cycling is good for the health; LED bike lights and your choices Obviously cycling is good for your health! But just how good is it? Of all the fitness related sports and activities, cycling is one of the best because it is very easy on the body. Cycling is a low impact sport, which unlike running does not place undue pressure on joints or bones. Professional and keen cyclists can enjoy fitness levels which are comparable to people ten years younger than themselves! That's no small thing when one considers how much fun cycling is. Riding a cycle is green, cheap and good for you; so what more could we ask for? Good safety awareness is paramount and a responsible rider knows this and ensures their equipment is well maintained and that they have all of the legal requirements on their cycle such as good lighting. LED bike lights are an excellent choice, inexpensive to buy and excellent as far as power consumption is concerned LED bike lights are fast becoming the light of choice for ...

Train for Cycling Indoors Bad weather should not stop your cycling training, especially if you have some basic tools, such as a heart rate monitor and a trainer. Suitable goals for an indoor cycling program include improving things like spinning, maximum power, and lactate threshold. Indoor cycling workouts are much like normal roadwork, except that you will probably perspire more heavily. Without the breeze to help evaporate perspiration, it won't cool you nearly as effectively. You may want to get a fan, especially since wind resistance trainers with ducts to vent the fans towards you are almost gone from the market. You still need to stretch properly beforehand and keep yourself hydrated. You can improve the smoothness of your pedal stroke by spinning with only one foot for part of your workout, and with only the other for as long. This will really show you where the dead spots are in your pedal stroke, and as you continue, how much you're improving in this area. Obviousl...

This is a very general concept that you can do at home, as well. Similar to spinning, it only differs from this one in that you don't need a professional trainer for indoor cycling. All you need is a stationary bike and a bit of room to put it in. After that, you can start indoor cycling and get into shape. Indoor cycling can also be done at your local gym, as described in another article, in the form of spinning. This is probably what you should be doing at the beginning because it is easier to workout in a larger group. All you need to do is focus and follow the instructor's orders. In any case, you can simply workout there and it would still be called indoor cycling. Indoor cycling is a very popular activity which started way back in the 60's, when the first stationary bikes were invented. People were looking for an easy way to stay in shape and to make sure that they are not wasting too much time on driving to the gym and back. So, the obvious choice was to invest a c...

At first glance the two don't seem to go together do they? Cycling can be so frenetic, and yoga so serene. Yet, yoga can enhance your cycling experience greatly. I started cycling in 1992 with endurance rides in the Colorado Rockies. They typically covered anywhere from 68 miles on a single day ride to 700 miles on a multi-day event. Some of those miles were over 12,000-foot passes and others on the flat wide-open plains of eastern Colorado. After a long ride I would most always pay for a massage to help eliminate the toxins, which had accumulated during the hours in the saddle. Having arrived home I would also stretch to stay limber and decrease soreness. When I started practicing yoga a few years later I happily discovered unexpected benefits, which lent themselves to cycling very quickly and enhanced what I was already doing. In yoga breathing is a vital part of every session. You learn to breath slowly, predictably and purposefully. This practice enables you to focus on...

A Cycling Fitness program will only be effective if you supply your body with the right performance nutrition. As well as eating healthy meals, there is a whole world of nutrition products that can make a big difference, if chosen carefully. It is important before embarking on a long cycle training session, or road ride, that you build up a good reserve of complex carbohydrates, which have the benefit of being metabolised slowly. This way your energy reserves stay at a safe level throughout the ride. Now these carbs can come from regular foodstuffs like potatoes and pasta, but there are some sophisticated complex carb powders and supplements available. As the calories are burnt off during the ride, they need to be replaced quickly and in good time, so carrying a stock of energy gels and bars, and electrolyte energy drinks, is vital for even energy levels all the way to the end. Good quality energy bars can give a boost of both calories and carbs, which are normally burnt off quic...

People involve themselves in sporting activities either for leisure, as a hobby or because of their keen interest in it. If you feel the need to be energized then the most sought-after recreational activity is sporting. Sports also make you active and provide you with refreshing liveliness. Concentrating completely on work and they were taking out time to relax brings in the party and makes you dull. Sporting activities help in keeping you fit and healthy. There are number of individuals who play just because they are interested in the game or play sports because it is their hobby. However, others consider sports as a career itself. People residing in different countries have different tastes when it comes to sports just like how the taste for food changes from country to country. People are different and that is exactly why the choice of sports also is different. For example people in India die for cricket parents and Americans are more inclined to watch baseball and basketball. T...

GPS or Global Positioning Systems are a relatively new invention for consumers although they have been around for the military for a while now. While we're used to seeing in car navigation systems to help us navigate our countries streets. We're less than used to seeing GPS used for sports. The thing is they are incredibly useful for sport. They can help improve your performance in your chosen sport as well as your enjoyment. What is GPS GPS uses the network of 24 satellites that orbit the Earth. The GPS system works when the GPS receiver can "see" 4 satellites at once. When this is the case it can accurately plot it's location. The signal is continuously received and as your location changes then differences or speed of differences can be recorded. The GPS system are advanced electronics and can now fit into the palm of a hand and their reliability is now unquestionable. Why GPS is so useful in sports GPS is so useful in sports because the measurements th...

Spring is in the air and along with it are the thousands of men and women, girls and boys who have waited through the long, cold winter to get back on their bikes. They are ready to say good-by to those long months of too much television viewing and too little exercising. No doubt extra pounds have found their way to many waistlines and muscles are likely much less defined than they were at the end of last fall after a nice long season of regular workouts. Now is the time to change all of that. It's time to turn off the remote, get off the couch and regroup. The cumbersome boots and heavy winter coats can now be stored and out can come the warm weather t-shirts, cycling shorts and fitted cycling jerseys. Hallelujah! This season has not arrived one minute too soon. A good many of us must feel exactly the same way because the streets are becoming crowded with cycling enthusiasts traveling in pairs, in groups and solo. The bright colors of their jerseys are a most welcome sight and co...

On the list of the most high-profile sports in the world, cycling does not necessarily fall within the top ten. In fact, most of us know very little about the sport in general. Though bicycles are among the most familiar objects known to man, we are much more likely to associate them with training wheels and leisurely bike rides, not competitive, heart-pumping athletic activity. While the Tour de France and the Olympics bring some attention to the sport, it remains largely unknown. Cycling seems to simply fly under the radar. And while cycling isn't necessarily the most popular or well-known sport in the world, it is not insignificant. The reality is that cycling is really quite exciting to follow and is extremely beneficial to practice. The bicycle - the tool used for the sport of cycling - is primarily a means of transportation. Largely used for getting from one place to another and for recreation, it is also used in sport and athletics. Cycling races date back to the 19th ...