5 Effective Ways for Cyclists to Improve Cycling Power

You, as a cyclist, must really really dream of mastering a strongly great power, especially on a bike. Most of you are fond of cycling probably out of building body and looking for excitement. Excitement usually derives from fast speed. And often, speed is on the basis of great power you have. So great power is the Holy Grail on a bike. But, you know, developing the cycling power is difficult and it takes a long time to do. Don't worry, I have "shortcut". Here are five effective ways to improve it.



Ride in climbing uphill
When it comes to increasing muscular endurance, it occurs to me that is climbing uphill. It is an ability to pedal a relatively large gear at an appropriate cadence for an extended time. This is practical. That's because cyclists are inclined to reduce cadence while increasing the average effective pedal force during riding uphill(i.e., push the harder on the pedals). There is a way boosting your power that gradually overloads climb distance. For example, ride up hills with 1,000 feet of climbing and add slowly distance. You can train it until you can conquer complete 3,000 feet of climbing in a single outing. Another effective way to enhance the cycling power is to do the short, high-intensity sprint intervals up steep hills. Of course, it would be better that the sprint lasts 60 to 90 seconds. And then ride downhill to recover, after that, keep on sprinting up again. Each workout adds up to 12 sprint intervals.



Use the bigger gears
Using the bigger gears can make for a consistently higher power output. Particularly, it comes to effect at the same cadence in a special set of conditions. You can use this way via spending gradually longer time in a bigger gear while on a typical ride. For instance, if you usually ride up a three-mile hill in a gear combination of 34 x 19, you can change your gear into 34 x 17 for three minutes(this assumes you're cycling with a 50/34 crank and an 11/28 cassette).The next time you train your cycling skills, ride in 34 x 17 for four minutes and then five minutes, etc. You can train it for several times until you can ride the whole hill in 34 x 17 at the same cadence you held previously in 34 x 19. this wold be a great help in increasing your cycling power!



Ride against the wind
Riding up hills is basically for the cyclists who do not live in flatland. If you live in flatland, it doesn't work for you. But you can ride against the wind, it can be of great effect. It's also a great way for you to improve the muscular endurance as well as riding in bigger gears and riding uphill. You know, you cannot make a plan for a headwind ride in advance. However, you can make the most of a windy day through riding a rectangular circuit about two miles in length. It can actually provide you with the consistent time of headwinds, tailwinds, and crosswinds. What your goal is to speed up every headwind. And then recover while in tailwind and crosswinds.



Block training
We cannot deny that block training is really an effective way. Block training is one which is composed of hard workouts for two or three consecutive days followed by an equal amount of recovery(days off or easy workouts). Block training is actually a practical way to facilitate the physiological adaption process and enhance your power due to the severe pressure placed on your cardiovascular systems. But the point is that make sure you give your body enough time to recover after the training block. For instance, you can train a four-day block training which is comprised of hill intervals Day 1). Sprint intervals Day 2). A day off Day 3). An easy recovery ride, Day 4). Likewise, you could perform a racing block which consists of the criteria on Saturday and a road race on Sunday followed by a day off and an easy recovery ride. you can subject your body to consecutive days of high-intensity effort that followed by easy recovery days. Do remember that make sure you have fully recovered from a block training before attempting another high-intensity workout.



Follow the 75% of the rule.
The 75% rule means that while a given training week, at least 75% of your miles(or time), should be at or below 75% of the maximum heart rate(MHR). In other words, at least three-fourths of your weekly training should go on in Zones 1 and 2 (50-70 percent of MHR, 65-85 percent of lactate threshold heart rate and a maximum of 75% functional threshold power). That's right, most of your cycling should comprise of easy recovery and endurance building rides. So what do you do to get faster? This is the other part of the 75% of the rule. Ten percent of your weekly mileage should be in Zone 5 (90-100 percent of MHR, 105 percent of LTHR and 106 to 150 percent of functional threshold power). It should be involved in really, really intense riding. This is exactly what allows you to modify your physiology—A relatively small amount of really intense effort combined with endurance work and enough recovery.

So guys, remember to follow what I have mentioned above while improving your power, it is really really a great help for you. By the way, wish you become a professional cyclist.