When you start cycling, you will certainly read about the distances and speeds achieved by the other cyclists. Then you will find out that your cycling efforts seemingly fall short of what is expected. Many professional cyclists can cover 55 miles at 20-25 miles per hour few times a week and enthusiasts can cover even much more distance and at faster speed. Equipping yourself with this knowledge will eventually help you push harder in the times when you can only cover 10 miles at 15 miles per hour.

The first thing that you should realize is that cycling is a kind of long term sport. For the first few years your muscles slowly changes and get used to greater speeds and distances. Cycle road training can be very useful for cyclists. Your cycle road training must consist of these four main systems which are aerobic conditioning, reduction of lactic acid production, fast twitch muscle fibers and slow twitch muscle endurance.

Aerobic conditioning takes place during 70 – 80 percent of max rate of heart beat. If you increase the volume of your lungs and build up your muscles, so they can use oxygen more effectively. Your body will become fit for training in this phase. This is done by capillarisation. During this process the capillaries that provide oxygen to the muscle are increased in number due to which muscles can use more oxygen and can work at higher rate.

The training for the reduction of lactic acid production is done between 80-90 percent of max rate of heart beat. Approximately one fifth of complete cycle road training must be done in this phase. The most efficient method for training of lactic acid system is performing 2 twenty minutes intervals in this phase; anyway this training program is very hard and also a little boring. This training will help your body to get used to produce less amount of lactic acid, and will also help your body to remove it more effectively.

The training of fast twitch muscle is done from 90 to 100 percent of your max rate of heart beat. You should do only a small part of training in this zone. Interval training is the best method to train these muscle fibers. Intervals must be less than a minute and with sufficient time for recovery. Your body gets used to training in this phase by using and developing the fast twitch muscle fibers more effectively.

The training of slow twitch muscle fibers is done between 65-80 percent of max heart rate. Most of your road bike training should be done in this zone of heart rate. Training in this zone will allow your body to use slow twitch fibers more effectively and your body will also begin to develop slow twitch fibers.

By: Marek Salzman