Strength and conditioning to improve your cycling

If you’re serious about your cycling you’ll integrate a couple of interval sessions into your training week, but have you ever thought about strength and conditioning?  Common in most other sports and the secret tool of the pros, this approach to training doesn’t get much attention in cycling, but it’s set to explode!  Be ahead of the game and learn how to use strength and conditioning exercises to improve you cycling. A year-round strength and conditioning program for a cyclist is an essential aspect of training for every level of rider Continue reading →

I Miss My Bike…

It seems like an eternity since I last felt the saddle between my cheeks, the wind-rush in my face and sweet smell of chammy cream in my nostrils. Fantasizing of those good things in life, home and play I feel fit and strong – all the riding seems to have paid off, training for something entirely different. I’m a million miles away from my trusty carbon steed, hauling large rucksacks around the rain forest, climbing previously un-scaled cliffs, exploring new cave passages deep with the Continue reading →

Riding the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo

What it takes to “Ride into the legend” on the iconic dirt roads of Tuscany… There are a handful of professional cycling one day races that have become true legends of the sport. This is because of their history, their courses and their champions. The most recent event to gain this status is the relatively youthful Strade Bianche run each year in March in the world heritage setting of the medieval city of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan hills. This race involves a tough hilly Continue reading →

Cyclists, the wait is over – BikeFit is now available!

Get fit off the bike to perform better on the bike, with BikeFit guided video workouts developed specifically for cyclists! Based on the success of the SkiFit and TriFit programmes we have now developed and launched BikeFit, a programme designed by our own clinical human performance expert Neil Maclean-Martin to increase performance while also developing robustness against injury, especially for all cyclists. This four phase, 8 week programme adopts a similar incremental model to SkiFit with each 50 minute workout building on the last and Continue reading →

How To Cycle Faster Up Big Hills – Don’t Copy The Pros!

The BeFitApps team suggested that I write a post on how to climb cols like a professional cyclist which is a topic frequently covered in magazine articles and online features. As I cycle up large alpine passes regularly, competitively and even for “fun”, they assumed I would have some secret professional tips that I could pass on which would help them to also enjoy this hobby and improve their performance in competitions and sportives. The existing magazine articles are based on the premise that if we Continue reading →

Our 5 Top Tips to Improve Mountain Biking Performance

Rolling through forest trails, struggling over high mountain passes, cruising down long flowing descents, getting off the road and away from it all…..these are just a few of the many things we love about mountain biking. It’s great getting out there with friends but imagine if you could have an even better time out on the trail? What would it take to improve your performance as a mountain biker? How could you last longer and go further offroad?  If you’ve ever pondered these questions, then read on – these Continue reading →

Bali – An Unlikely Mountain Biking Destination

From volcano rims to lava fields, from forests to rice paddies, from weird tropical fruits to swimming in infinity pools…. You can expect all this and more if you go for a week’s mountain biking in Bali! After the world physiotherapy conference in Singapore Tony and I wanted to make the most of the trip over to Asia and do something a little bit different.  Too hot for climbing, keen to have some beach time but also up for a challenge, we signed up for the Bali Mountain Bike Boot Camp with Continue reading →

What Do Pro Cyclists Do When They Can’t Ride?

If you’ve been watching this year’s Tour de France you have probably witnessed some of the horrific crashes which have been occurring with spectacular regularity. With only a flimsy piece of lycra for protection, crashes such as these can take a heavy toll on the riders’ bodies resulting in bloody lacerations, painful dislocations and quite often, broken bones . It does seem that professional riders are impervious to pain as many will battle on to finish the stage and even complete the whole Tour in spite of these debilitating Continue reading →

Why Do Cyclists Really Shave Their Legs?

It’s that time of year again when grown men find themselves glued to ITV4 or Eurosport for hours every day watching the world’s biggest bike race unfold over three weeks in July. As the camera pans down the bunch of over 100 brightly coloured riders there is one strange characteristic adopted by these elite athletes (which is even adopted by most amateur cycling enthusiasts) that many non-road cyclists find deeply troubling. They all have shaved legs… As a long term male road cyclist I have Continue reading →

Ten Tips For Your First European Cyclo-Sportive

For most of us riding in a large well organised sportive in the French or Italian Alps is about as close to feeling like a professional cyclist as we are ever going to experience. With superb organisation, fancy starting and finishing set ups, spectators, motor cycle outriders, rolling road closures and incredible roads and scenery, this experience should be on every cyclist’s bucket list. Here are a list of tips for your first cyclo-sportive which I have learnt almost always the hard way! 1. Organise Continue reading →