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Cycling Time Trial warm up
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So, have some time trials coming up.

I'm not from a cycling background.

Time trials range from shortish 10milers to longer 25 milers.

Have got plenty of time to do a warm up.

What's the recommendation?
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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Some people need more of a warmup than others. The consensus on my team is that as you get older you feel the need for a longer/harder warmup. I spend more time warming up for a shorter race than a long one.

For crits and TTs I like to ride pretty easy for 10-15 minutes. Then I'll put in some threshold pace for a few minutes, back it off, and then do 1 hard anaerobic effort. Then I spin a high cadence for a few minutes and head to the start line.

I know a lot of people that say if you're not sweating on the start line you didn't warm up hard enough. For me personally, any more than what I just described doesn't seem to help. There's no science behind what I do, but it is what feels good to me.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [sxevegan] [ In reply to ]
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I agree about needing more warm up as you get older. I'm not doing anything as short at 10mi for a TT. For 40k, I'm doing a half hour plus. Nothing really hard, just enough to get the legs spinning and get to the line starting to sweat. At 45, I needed 10 minutes or less. At 54, 30 minutes is barely enough. If this keeps up, it won't be long before I have to start warming up in January. ;-))
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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For time trials especially, I find that one good 3-4 minute effort at FTP and then spinning recovery helps "open up" my legs..or at least get me used to the pain. :-) Seems like I can putz around at low power forever, but that first hard effort HURTS. If I get it over with in warmup where I can back off and recover, then it seems to hurt less, or at least I can ignore it and keep going, during the TT.

Kendall Frederick

Orange Park, FL
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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Don't know why you're getting so much old guy perspective on your question, but I'm another one. The older I get, the more I need to warm up. More accurately stated, the older I get the longer it takes for me to feel like I am warmed up.

More to your question, the general rule of thumb is that the longer the TT, the shorter the warmup. You'll need more warmup for a 10 mile TT because you'll need to be putting out a higher level effort. I know some guys who swear they're warmed up enough with 20 minutes on the trainer for a 10 mile TT and I've had some good races with no more than that. They were the exception rather than the rule. I consider 45 minutes the average time frame with a few surges at TT pace towards the end of the time. About 15 minutes before the race, I hit the bathroom, stretch, do some deep breathing, clear my head, try to focus, pray, try to calm myself a bit, make sure I have all my aero equipment right, etc. Then with about 7 or 8 minutes I get back on the bike and do a few short jumps to simulate the start and make sure I know what gear I want.

A key consideration is whether or not to use a trainer. If I have a road available, I'll ALWAYS use the road for warmup. The air movement keeps your core temp down. It's too easy on a hot day to get WAY overheated on a trainer. Sometimes you have no choice but to use a trainer, though. So it's a good idea to have a trainer warmup routine worked out.

Good luck.

.

Bob C.

The "science" on any matter can never be settled until every possible variable is taken into account.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [psycholist] [ In reply to ]
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I heard about "the shorter the TT the longer the warm-up". While this may be proportionally true I do believe it's highly personal. After the Paris-Nice prolouge (only 5 miles) Chris Horner wrote that he only warmed up for 20 minutes prior to racing. So, I think the above statement is misleading at the least.

If you really think about it warming up shouldn't be very important for a TT. Even if you are a complete monster and can average 400 watts for the duration that really isn't all that much power and anyone could produce it instantly but not sustained. That leads me to believe it's much more a mental thing than a physical thing.

"Oh you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar."
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [bikerbrian] [ In reply to ]
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Horner - I don't believe him. Top level athletes can be secretive and prone to providing misinformation regarding their training and racing routines.

Your second point really makes no sense. Because I can jump on the bike and produce high power instantly, this somehow shows that the necessity of a thorough warm-up is a mental thing?

Do you TT? Do you have any experience with different warm-up strategies for different length races? Performances to compare?

Personally, 45 minutes on the bike, mostly easy but varied with and with some high intensity, is what I need to produce a sustained maximal effort.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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For your reading pleasure:

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=4536
http://www.truesport.com/...rticle.asp?recid=296
http://nencycling.org/...al_pacing_strategies


basic principle is that the shorter the TT, the longer the warm up.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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I usually do about 30 minutes, as another guy said, if there is road available use it, but sometimes the road is being used by the race so then its time for trainers or rollers. I usually like to do like 10x30seconds and maybe a few 1 min pick ups to just get blood flowing and "open" up my legs. For a TT, its during my warmup that I take in any nutrition/hydration that I am goint to and I try to finish the warmup about 10-15 minutes before the start time.

works for me.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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I do TT and I like to think I'm decent. Is a 52min 40k fast enough to make me decent?

I just think people make too much of a big deal out of a warm up. We are producing relatively low power over an extended period. Call me crazy if you like.

"Oh you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar."
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Horner - I don't believe him. Top level athletes can be secretive and prone to providing misinformation regarding their training and racing routines.

Your second point really makes no sense. Because I can jump on the bike and produce high power instantly, this somehow shows that the necessity of a thorough warm-up is a mental thing?

Do you TT? Do you have any experience with different warm-up strategies for different length races? Performances to compare?

Personally, 45 minutes on the bike, mostly easy but varied with and with some high intensity, is what I need to produce a sustained maximal effort.


Horner isn't the only pro who didn't overdo warm ups -- Chris Boardman often would do ten minutes or less, and he was a pretty good tester.

More to the point, what few studies I've seen on the subject have confirmed the importance of warming up but raised questions about the needed duration. For example, one recent study of 3K TTs found that both hard and easy warmups significantly increased oxygen uptake in the early part of the TT, but only in the first kilometer (Med Sci Sports Exerc 2005; vol 37, no 9, 1608-1614).

That would suggest that the body is pretty quick to get up to speed, wouldn't it? So what's wrong with suggesting that preferred warm up routines are mainly personal preferences?
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [jstonebarger] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
... Chris Boardman often would do ten minutes or less, and he was a pretty good tester...


Sorry, I guess I was exaggerating -- I went back to his book and found that Boardman advocated warm ups of up to 15-20 minutes. But then, he also claimed he saw some very strong athletes lose TTs because they "warmed up" too much. (Or course, Boardman could be lying just like Horner!)
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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15 minutes starting very slow and building to an easy aerobic effort, then 3-5 short pickups to race pace+ of about 30 seconds each with long recoveries btwn. Try to finish no more than 10 mins before the start.

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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [bikerbrian] [ In reply to ]
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You're talking to a guy that beat you in the only TT we ever did together which was the only one I have ever done, hungover with a flappy jersey to boot. Does that make me better than decent?

I don't think you're crazy. I think you are probably in your 20's is all. And isn't that Carlisle course a little short? ;>)

Come back down to the VA state TT champs this year. I'll bet you a six pack my warm-up strategy will triumph over yours. Winners choice of course. Stone Ruination for me.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [jstonebarger] [ In reply to ]
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Nothing wrong with that. I agree with the somewhat personal preference stance for sure. But continually stating that because the power is relatively low as a reason we don't need to warm-up to produce it effectively seems like a stretch to me. Relative to what? Relative to my car? Yeah the power is low compared to many things, but the important thing to remember is that for we humans, it is a maximal effort. So using a few pro's who cite 15-20 minutes is really agreeing with a more thorough warm-up approach. Especially if you consider that is probably on the low side of duration for a thorough warm-up even for pros, and most pros are in their 20's, on average.

I can get a thorough warm-up in 20 minutes, but I need to force it a little. If I go 30-45 minutes, things just start to click on their own at some point towards the end.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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Here is another question, do you time your warmup so you can roll to the start line and take off or do you want a few minutes cool down but not > 4-5 minutes or what?

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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [msuguy512] [ In reply to ]
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You can show up 5 minutes after getting off the trainer. That works just fine for me.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [msuguy512] [ In reply to ]
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For a TT, one shouldn't expect to just roll up at the last minute. You should be there about 5 minutes befor hand. It reduces the chaos and makes for smoother starts.

I remember seeing something about how far in advance TdF riders had to be in the start house. I don't remember the details, but I remember being surprised at how long it was.

Does anyone have any info on this?

Thanks!
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Horner - I don't believe him. Top level athletes can be secretive and prone to providing misinformation regarding their training and racing routines.

Your second point really makes no sense. Because I can jump on the bike and produce high power instantly, this somehow shows that the necessity of a thorough warm-up is a mental thing?

Do you TT? Do you have any experience with different warm-up strategies for different length races? Performances to compare?

Personally, 45 minutes on the bike, mostly easy but varied with and with some high intensity, is what I need to produce a sustained maximal effort.

his point makes perfect sense, and he's completely correct; warm up for TT's that start out at less than vo2 pace are unnecessary, unless you 'really believe you need to warm up'...

The forces involved simply aren't that high that the physiological effects of warming up are beneficial to time trialing, unless you're starting a pace close to vo2. I'm not saying 'don't warm up'; I'm just saying 'don't pretend there's a physiological benefit to doing do for a 10 or 25 mile TT'.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I can get a thorough warm-up in 20 minutes, but I need to force it a little. If I go 30-45 minutes, things just start to click on their own at some point towards the end.


What are you forcing? And what clicks? What does a warm up need to achieve? The increase in oxygen uptake cited above was achieved with 15 minutes at a very easy pace, which makes me wonder if a harder warm up could be considerably shorter. And I agree with Boardman, that there's significant risk of tiring with an extended warm up.

While I'm familiar with "the shorter the event, the longer the warm up," it sounds more like tradition than science to me. I also know a good number of masters racers who basically say "from the car to the start," and I'm not sure that's any less valid.
Last edited by: jstonebarger: Apr 1, 10 9:10
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [jstonebarger] [ In reply to ]
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If you can last for about 90mins (which you really should be able to ) then do a good 30mins warm up then at least 10mins cooldown
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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I think a TT warm up is very individual. You'll get facts, stats & opinions for/against whether you need it or not. Last year I experimented with no/short/long warm up and can honestly say there was no epiphany in any direction. Instead I came up with a few simple guidelines that I follow:

Dos
20-30 min total -- sometimes a little more or less depending on how I feel
~10 spin to wake up legs
~10 min at ME
~5 min total in 1 or 2 min intervals, just kissing TT pace
Pound a Red Bull

Don'ts
Roll up to line cold
Ever go over threshold (someone said :30 sets anaerobic - never)
Roll up to the line late. Better to have an extra minute or 2 to get collected and not miss a start

That's it - pretty straightforward.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Carl Spackler] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Dos...
Pound a Red Bull...


What, no Tylenol with that?
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dynamic Du] [ In reply to ]
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There was a pretty long discussion on this topic a while back, and a fair bit of data was presented.

Definitely worth using the search function to find it...




.

Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
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Re: Cycling Time Trial warm up [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
You're talking to a guy that beat you in the only TT we ever did together which was the only one I have ever done, hungover with a flappy jersey to boot. Does that make me better than decent?

I don't think you're crazy. I think you are probably in your 20's is all. And isn't that Carlisle course a little short? ;>)

Come back down to the VA state TT champs this year. I'll bet you a six pack my warm-up strategy will triumph over yours. Winners choice of course. Stone Ruination for me.

You're one fast dude. I'm gonna try to make it back to the VA state TT champs this summer but I'm not sure if work will allow. That day was a beast with the crosswinds. Also, not to make excuses(which I am) but I got food poisoning the day before from roller dogs from a 7-11. I can certainly add roller dogs to my "Don't" list. I'll bring your beer and look for you if I can make it.

Now back on subject. I like to get in a 20 minute warm up. 10 minutes easy spinning, 5 minutes at or slightly below tt power and then 5 more minutes of easy spinning.

"Oh you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar."
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