Training With Dr.Romanov: POSE CYCLING Archives

POSE CYCLING

BEGINNER CYCLIST: GEAR CHECK
Today we continue the topic of gear suggestions for the beginners. Let's look at the stuff necessary for the sport of cycling. As with running, swimming and other activities at the beginner level it's important to first focus on learning the "how to" part, the technique of your chosen sport. Getting the right equipment is important, but it doesn't need to be the best at first and it can be done without draining your savings. Plus it would be a complete waste if you were to damage your super equipment due to your not so super, beginner level skills. Tri... [Continue reading...]

CYCLING TECHNIQUE: MANTRA
The running mantra is Pose-Fall-Pull. In cycling it is Pose-Unweight. In action, however, it all happens a lot faster than you might be able to say it. So, know your mantra, but focus on action. From the Pose Method point of view, in cycling, as in running, there is no "push". And, there is no "pull" or "lift". There is "pose" and then "unweight". The key position, or the pose, is sitting centered on the saddle with feet on pedals at 3 and 9 o'clock. The force moment in cycling is between 1-4 o'clock. So "working" beyond that "time" frame... [Continue reading...]

WHAT SIZE CHAINRING TO USE?
As many other parameters of cycling that are traditionally thought to be depended on something else, the size of the chainring is also determined more by the level of your skill of riding rather than anything else. There are three main factors in cycling that separate the better cyclists from the rest of the pack: 1. Skill of movement (ability to use your bodyweight to your advantage). 2. Muscle strength and 3. Aerobic capacity. At the elite level, the latter doesn't play that big of a role because all elite cyclists have more or less similar aerobic capacity. If you... [Continue reading...]

BIKE SET-UP
The proper bike fit and set-up is vital to your performance on the bike. Top cyclists in the world refine their bike set-ups and positions on annual basis. If you haven't properly set up your bike yet, it is something you would want to do sooner rather than later since an improper set up can result in injuries, besides being the cause of mediocre performance and slow racing times. All the experts in the world agree that the objective of a proper set-up is "to maximize a cyclist's efficiency, comfort and performance potential". However, all experts have different opinions on... [Continue reading...]

UNWEIGHTING IN CYCLING
Unweighting in cycling is simpler than it sounds. To unweight your foot is to remove the weight of your body from that foot by shifting the weight to the other foot. When you see cyclists "throwing their bike from left to right" during races - what you're witnessing is maximum application of the person's bodyweight to the pedal by way of bodyweight shifting, which produces faster movement forward. The level of skill of transferring the bodyweight determines who goes faster. Unweighting is also often confused with active pulling of the foot up. The fact is - you can unweight your... [Continue reading...]

4 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL CYCLING UPHILL
Riding uphill could be what breaks or makes your race. Majority of cyclists, amateur and pro, find it to be one of the most difficult parts of riding. This task, however, can be made easier if you know precisely what you're doing. Then it becomes a question of not pure survival but the level of skill. Instead of simply hoping to make it at all, a cyclist with a correct game plan and a trained ability to execute it is looking forward to the climb because this could be a chance to break away and maybe even a ticket to... [Continue reading...]

MORE ON PEDALING IN CYCLING
An improvement in the quality of cycling exhibited and experienced by an athlete comes partially by simply obtaining a better picture of what cycling is. Riding is not something you do to a bike, it is something you do with a bike. A combination of a rider and a bike creates an elegant system for human movement, and in a sense, the marriage of a cyclist to bicycle created the first cyborg, the original man/machine combination. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Terminator and Professor K. Warwick. For such a seemingly simple device, the art (or science) of riding a bicycle... [Continue reading...]

2 REASONS TO WORK ON MAINTAINING GOOD FORM
There are plenty of reasons to work on achieving a proper technique in any sport of your choice and there are even more reasons to work on maintaining that technique. These tasks require focus and dedication, but the return on your investment of time and effort could be of unprecedented heights. One thing is for sure, if you ignore your form, it will not get any better and will most likely only get worse over time, but if you work on it, then at the very least you can bet on staying injury free and in the best case scenario... [Continue reading...]

CLIPLESS OR NOT?
Do we recommend clipless pedals? No and yes. It depends on a couple of things. We don't recommend using clipless pedals to beginners and anyone looking to improve their cycling technique. These devices would not help in development of proper perceptions needed in cycling technique and they would actually simply get in the way since those things require their own getting used to. "Falling over" seems to be one accepted funny "hurdle" on the way to pedaling with clipless technology. It also takes a precious second or ten to get out of them so you would benefit on shorter distances... [Continue reading...]

PEDALING: WHERE SHOULD YOU APPLY FORCE – DOWNSTROKE, UPSTROKE OR BOTH?
There are different recommendations offered and almost all are based on the same facts. It is how these facts are interpreted that makes a difference. You could be riding like Lance Armstrong or simply spinning your wheels based on conclusion you make. It is a known and an accepted fact that somewhere between 12noon-6pm (if you look at the position of the pedals as a face of a clock) is a “power” part, but some say to follow all the way through the 360 degrees of the circle, and others say to pull the pedal through and back up to... [Continue reading...]

5 STEPS TO BECOMING A BETTER CYCLIST
Today we'll talk about how to become a better cyclist. As with the sport of running or most other popular sports for that matter – anybody can pretty much do it. So it's HOW we do it that makes all the difference. Below are the 5 steps to becoming better at cycling recommended by Dr. Romanov. Follow these and ride like never before! [Continue reading...]