Core work
I have bitten off and chewed quite a bit in the past week. I managed to survive a lot of riding at higher than usual pace. I earned the day off the bike that I took yesterday, but I did not shrug it off completely.
I did my core workout and increased the reps a bit. Nothing too landmark, just wanted to make sure I was keeping things in check. I could really feel the effects of the recent increase in training load so I took a bit more recovery time between sets.
If your riding is not where you want it to be, perhaps it has something to do with you losing sight of your core workouts when the weather became nice and you could ride instead? I don't profess to be a coach, but since my Mark (my brother) turned me back on to core work, my riding has come a long way.
A healthy strong core leads to nothing. That is the best part!
When your entire body is screaming from the work it has done in the saddle for the last couple hours, it is good to have a strong core to support all those nagging muscle groups. What is more, if your lower back is one of those nagging groups you are not going to hang on to that pace for long.
This year I have focused on my abs, hips, and groin muscles. It is surprising what this seems to have done for my climbing.
So if you find yourself noticing something (or a lot of things) after pounding out a few hours in the saddle. May be core work will help you to notice nothing?
you talkin' to me??
you talkin' to me? you talkin' to me? (my best DeNiro accent)
You are 100% correct. I haven't done enough of it, but when I do my stretching and core stuff, it proves effective on the hardest of rides. My bigger problem is that I need to lose more of my core.
Not really
I was not really targeting anyone in particular with that concept. However, when I got done and noticed G-wiz's post directly beneath it I started thinking that perhaps it may serve as a reasonable suggestion.
I can only imagine that a good core program can only be *more* beneficial for an off road rider. That said, I know a lot of MTB guys that see no value in road riding and vice-versa. I will grant you that I have not been riding MTB and it would probably help more than my bone density.
One final thought (my best Jerry Springer accent). The fastest guys always seem to train on the road, on the trails, and their core (in the gym). Till next time, be good to yourself and to each other.