I Love Bicycling

I Love Bicycling is a website that is geared towards cycling for beginners with road cycling tips, training articles, nutrition tips, weight loss, how to’s and bike repair articles.

JOIN Cycling: A New Training Platform for Cyclists

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Our friends at Dynamic Cyclist had the pleasure of using the JOIN Cycling app recently. Check out what they had to say about this innovative new cycling platform!

As people dedicated to enhancing the wellness and performance of cyclists worldwide through stretching, strength training, and injury prevention programming, we at Dynamic Cyclist have had a phenomenal experience exploring the JOIN Cycling platform. 

Our team has been in the cycling industry for close to a decade, and are no strangers to the digital experience of helping cyclists perform at their best. What JOIN Cycling has created is nothing short of impressive. 

Over the past few months we’ve been lucky to test out the programming and apply it to our personal cycling goals. Our team has been pleased by the ease of use, training efficiency, and adaptable training plans that fit into our busy schedules. Let’s dive into the main reasons why we love using JOIN Cycling!

Adaptive Training Plans

JOIN Cycling’s smart, adaptive training plans are a standout feature. They flexibly fit into our daily routines, allowing us to maintain a balanced training regimen that supports our holistic approach to cycling health. Whether it’s a long ride day or an easy recovery workout, JOIN Cycling’s schedule adjustments keep us on track without having to worry about overtraining.

Easy Access to Data

One of the highlights has been how simple it is to access and interpret the training data. The app presents everything from ride stats to fitness trends in a clear and accessible manner, making it easy to track improvements and understand the impact of each workout.

Community and Support

The social features within JOIN Cycling are a welcome bonus. Meeting local riders through the app and finding upcoming races has allowed us to go beyond our training metrics and further integrate ourselves into the cycling community. 

User Interface

We have found the user interface to be intuitive and incredibly easy to navigate, as well. Some digital training plans out there can seem too information-heavy, making the experience overwhelming and difficult to understand. JOIN Cycling does a great job of organizing everything into categories that transition smoothly and blend well with the social aspects of the app. 

JOIN Cycling is not just a training app; it’s a comprehensive training partner that understands the dynamics of modern cyclists’ lives. It’s been a go-to tool in our training arsenal, and will continue to be going forward. We are impressed with how the training plans adapt, not just to our cycling goals, but also our daily schedules. This perfectly complements our Dynamic Cyclist commitment to riding pain-free! 

Here’s to more cycling, more goals being achieved, and continuing to enjoy the sport we all love so much!

Join Cycling is  the perfect companion app to Dynamic Cyclist, and is offering a 30-day free trial to you! CLICK HERE to sign up for your risk-free subscription today, and discover what adaptive and flexible training plans can do for you.

Gravel Bike Vs. Road Bike: Which One Is Better For You?

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Have you ever wondered what the differences are between a gravel bike vs. road bike? While they’re more alike than different (they’re both bikes, after all), there are unique aspects to both that help them to thrive in their given environments and designed-for purposes. This article will give you the low down on which one might be the best option for you.

gravel bike vs road bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Differences: Road Bike vs. Gravel Bike

Road bikes are primarily designed for speed and efficiency, while gravel bikes are more robust, and provide a convenient bridge between the road and mountain bike for riders who enjoy (or simply require) the versatility of both. While similar enough to be in a conversation together, they have unique differences that set them apart into their own categories.

Road Bikes

Road bikes are typically lighter in weight and less padded in material than gravel bikes. This is a result of their limited off-road capacity, with more emphasis on getting the rider from point A to point B as fast as possible. They’re designed to reduce wind and road resistance through aerodynamic features like a more aggressive riding profile, reduced wheelbase, and thinner tires.

5 Unique Characteristics of Road Bikes

  • Constructed of lightweight materials like carbon fiber, high-quality steel or aluminum
  • Thin, narrow, high-pressure tires that reduce road resistance; more speed with less effort
  • Drop handlebars to emphasize low-profile, aerodynamic riding positions
  • Engineered to be stiff in key areas to increase power transfer from the pedals
  • Typically have a horizontal top tube and shorter wheelbase to reduce wind drag
road bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Gravel Bikes

Gravel bikes are built with a little more grit. They’re designed to handle the scrappier elements of an off-road trail without worrying too much about things like speed. They are still lightweight, but are often a little more robust to handle the shocks and vibrations of trail riding. A more upright riding posture and wider tires are other features that put these bikes into a separate class.

5 Unique Characteristics of Gravel Bikes

  • Frames that range in stiffness and are more durable than road bikes
  • Equipped with multiple mounting points for racks, bags, bottles, etc.
  • Wider tires for stability and traction on uneven and/or rough terrain
  • Lower bottom bracket which lowers the centre of gravity for more stability
  • Typically come with a wider range of gears to accommodate technical trails and hills
gravel bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Which One Is Right For You?

The chief separator between these two classes of bikes is their function. Costs are similar across the different tiers of performance available on the market based on brand, component/material quality, etc. So it really comes down to what you’re going to use the bike for and where. Consider these three questions when making your decision.

  • What will you use the bike for immediately and in the future?
    • A gravel bike can survive on the road, but a road bike will have a hard time holding up on the trails. Any desire to be off-road might have you leaning more towards a gravel bike.
  • Are you focused on training for a cycling race or triathlon?
    • If your racing aspirations are serious, you need to start specializing in equipment at some point. A gravel bike simply won’t cut it when it comes to racing, and it won’t give you an honest representation of where you sit in the field.
  • What is your preferred riding style and comfort level?
    • Road bikes are designed for a more aggressive riding position, which can be uncomfortable. Gravel bikes often have a more relaxed and upright geometry, which can be more comfortable for full-day adventures or less competitive riding.

Road & Gravel Bike Accessories

No matter which one you decide to go with, you’re going to want to supe it up and make it your own! Convenience, style, protection…that’s what you’ll find with the hand selected accessories for both road and gravel bikes we have listed below. 

Road Bike Accessories

BV Bicycle Strap-On Saddle Bag

Benefits: Carry your phone, keys, and wallet without feeling bogged down. Attaches under your seat for easy to access and discreet convenience.

SY Bicycle Computer

Benefits: Have your speed and distance calculated automatically and in real time. Good for those who are taking their training seriously.

Gravel Bike Accessories

ROCKBROS Top Tube Bag

Benefits: Sturdy, waterproof bag that can handle everything you throw at it. Easy access to your valuables without even getting off your bike.

All Mountain Style High-Impact Frame Protection Kit

Benefits: When you invest in a nice bike, you want to protect it as best you can. This easy to apply frame kit is a cheap option that allows you to prolong the life of your frame.

What Is a Touring Bike Good For? 5 Benefits We Know You’ll Love

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Deciding what kind of bike to invest in can be a tricky decision. Many get caught up in the bells and whistles of each year’s road and mountain models, as they are often the ones most prominently on display. But if adventure is your style, commute your objective, practicality your goal, and/or exploration your passion – you may want to consider getting a touring bike, instead. 

touring bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

What Is a Touring Bike?

Touring bikes are a specialized type of bicycle designed for long-distance travel and carrying heavy loads, making them ideal for extended journeys and bike touring adventures. These bikes are known for their durability, comfort, and load-carrying capacity. Several components set them apart when it comes to design and material when compared to other bike styles.

Design

Touring bikes have a unique design that has been engineered for comfort, durability, and function. Multiple mounting points allow riders to attach accessories like racks, mudguards, and panniers to make sure their rig is equipped for anything a trip might throw at them. That could be hauling home groceries from the store or bringing your gear along for a multi-day trip.

Wider tires help to accommodate varying terrain types, from paved to gravel and anything in between. This feature is commonly complimented by a bulkier braking system that can easily control the extra weight on the bike and its momentum, which can be harder for a lighter setup to slow down.

All of this is accentuated by a more upright and comfortable riding posture that reduces fatigue on the lower back and neck. Spending hours on a bicycle can be uncomfortable to say the least, but touring bikes generally keep the journey in mind, and sacrifice things like frame weight and wind resistance to prioritize comfort.

Design Highlights

  • Wide tires
  • Multiple mounting points
  • Powerful brakes
  • Durable Frame
  • Upright riding position

Material

The material with which touring bikes are constructed is typically a metal such as steel or aluminum alloy. This provides the benefit of being both durable and easily repairable. Especially when traveling long distances, you have to be prepared for hiccups and breakdowns with your equipment. The touring bike keeps this in mind, and is designed to take a beating.

A skilled welding or machine shop can often help repair your frame in the event that it starts to wear. We all know that cycling can result in falls and accidents, too, and less durable frames can be easily contorted by such events. Appreciation for the touring bike’s easily workable and widely available materials becomes noticeable when times get tough and resources are limited.

It should also be known that higher-end touring bikes are also available. These models are often constructed out of titanium, which is an exceptionally strong, lightweight, and rust-resistant metal. They’re a top choice for quality and longevity, but you will pay a higher price up front, with less repair options available down the road.

Material Highlights

  • Typically steel or aluminum alloy for weather/rust resistance and durability
  • Widely available and universal materials
  • Economical, low-cost
  • Easily repairable
  • Premium titanium options are also available on the market
touring bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

Top 5 Benefits of the Touring Bike

Now that we’ve given you a more global view of touring bikes in general, let’s nail down the top five benefits of having one of these rigs in your inventory.

1. Versatility

The ability of these bikes to ride on different types of terrain means your options are endless when it comes to travel. Whether you’re staying on main roads or taking detours through mountain trails, these bikes are up for the task. It’s ready to take you where your competition road bike can’t, at speeds that your mountain bike wouldn’t be able to compete with.

2. Comfortable Riding Position

Prolonged riding on the bike can wreak havoc on your hip flexors, neck, lower back, and knees. The touring bike has a less aggressive geometry, however, which allows for a more upright and comfortable riding posture. It’s designed with not hours, but days of riding in mind – giving up some speed to help prioritize comfort and minimize fatigue on your body.

3. Load-Carrying Capabilities

Carrying your gear has never been easier. With multiple mounting points for your rack, pannier, mudguards and more, there’s a place for everything from your tent and repair equipment to your food and clothing essentials. The longer wheelbase typically found on touring bikes helps evenly distribute the load while at the same time leaving enough room for an efficient pedal stroke.

4. Durable & Easily Fixable Materials

Commonly constructed of steel or aluminum alloy, touring bikes have strong, durable frames that can withstand the test of time. Designed to endure thousands of miles through varying terrain and inclement weather, you’re sure to be in good hands while out there on the road. Best of all, they’re easily fixable, and your local welder can likely help fix any major damage that occurs.

5. See the World on Two Wheels

touring bike

(Credit: Adobe Stock)

By far the biggest benefits of these bikes is what it allows you to do; see the world at ground level, powered by your own body, outside in the air immersed in every single second of it. A touring bike is a cheap ticket to the rest of the world – it just might take you a bit longer to get there! 

Prepare Your Body for Adventure

Looking to increase your strength, flexibility, and injury resistance as a cyclist? Join a community of thousands of bikers worldwide and train for pain-free riding with us at Dynamic Cyclist. We have a huge library of professionally designed, follow-along routines to get you started. Try us 7-days FREE by clicking here!

The Benefits of Cold Exposure for Cycling & Life

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In recent years, the topic of ice baths and cold exposure have become incredibly popular in the fields of sport, health, and fitness. Beyond the social media videos of people jumping in lakes and tubs full of ice, however, is a discipline that isn’t just for show. It can have a profound impact on your well-being and cycling performance, and this article is going to show you why.

cold exposure

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

What Is Cold Exposure?

Cold exposure refers to the practice of deliberately subjecting the body to cold temperatures for varying lengths of time. This can take many forms, including cold showers, ice baths, immersion in natural bodies of water, or even exposure to cold air. Each of these has their own unique benefits and disadvantages. 

Cold Showers

Cold showers are one of the most accessible and moderate ways of introducing yourself to the cold. You can control the temperature if things get too intense, and you’re also only periodically exposing each part of your body to the cold as a result of the directed nozzle. Ending your normal shower with a cold 30 seconds to a minute is a great way to get started.

Cold Bath/Ice Bath

A cold bath or ice bath is a significantly different experience than the shower, because your body is actually submerged in the cold for a given length of time (you don’t actually need ice, your coldest water setting will be plenty). It is best to only submerge your lower body in the beginning, as things get even more intense when the upper body and neck are submerged.

Natural Bodies of Water

Being out in nature and embracing the cold is one of the most invigorating experiences a person can endure. It is also, however, one of the most dangerous. You truly have to surrender to Mother Nature and be able to handle the fact that you have no control of the things outside of you. This mental aspect, though, is also one of cold exposure’s biggest benefits, regardless of setting.

cold exposure

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Benefits of Cold Exposure

The benefits of voluntarily subjecting yourself to the cold are far-reaching, indeed. Prescribing somebody a cold bath, for example, dates as far back as Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, and the classical Greek period (specifically between 460 BC and 370 BC). Cold baths were believed to stimulate the body’s natural healing mechanisms – which turns out to be true. 

Stronger Immune System

Cold exposure is a stress on the body that activates the immune system. Your body responds to the stress by executing a series of defensive processes, similar to fighting off an ailment. This marginal stimulation is similar to the slight tearing of muscle fibers during exercise, which grow back bigger and stronger. The outcome in this context is better disease resistance and immunity.

Brown Fat Production

Brown fat is not like body fat (adipose tissue/”white fat”). It is a metabolically active tissue that helps you regulate your temperature by using body fat as fuel (like a furnace). People who work outside or do regular cold water immersion have higher levels of brown fat, making them more comfortable in the cold, and also serving as an important indicator of health and longevity. 

Improved Circulation

The human body contains a vast network of blood vessels, upwards of 100,000 miles worth (that’s enough to go around the Earth 4 times). When the cold water hits you, everything inside contracts, and blood rushes away from the extremities and towards the core. As you’re warming up, everything dilates, giving this entire network an internal workout and massage.

Waste Removal & Recovery

The flushing of blood helps facilitate recovery through the removal of waste byproducts (such as lactic acid) and the delivery of nutrients to tissues throughout the body. Also, by strengthening your circulatory system through the adaptation to this stressful stimulus, you will be better prepared to recover and perform in future rides, workouts, and other training.

Mood & Alertness

Cold exposure has been shown to produce a staggering increase in noradrenaline and dopamine by 530% and 250%, respectively. Noradrenaline (norepinephrine) is responsible for arousal and alertness, while dopamine is known as the pleasure hormone, and is released when we are doing something that makes us feel good (and also depressed when we are feeling…depressed).

Mental Resilience

Cyclists know how tough our sport is, and how important the capacity to deal with discomfort is. Voluntary cold exposure allows a person to consistently and systematically override their fear response and learn how to handle stressful situations and sensations. Not only is this beneficial for your riding, but for every other area of stress management in life, as well.

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

How Do I Do Cold Exposure? 

Start slow. As we’ve already established, getting into cold water is a stressful event, and needs to be taken seriously. Many people say they don’t like the cold or even hate the cold, and that cold exposure is something they could never do. Well if that’s you, you’re not alone…but you can do it. Here’s some quick technique tips followed by a few pieces of beginner advice.

Technique Tips

Breathing is your biggest friend when doing cold exposure. When you get into the water, everything contracts, and your breath will want to become short and shallow. If this continues, you will panic and get out. Focus on forcing in a big inhale, and then slowly exhaling with as much control as possible, no matter how uncomfortable. 

This will signal your body to relax and surrender to the cold, where you can then focus on managing the discomfort through control of your mind and focus on your breath. You’ll notice as you practice that the less control you have over your breath, the harder it will be to stay in the water, and vice versa.

Recent studies have shown that 11 minutes TOTAL throughout a given week is enough to achieve many of the benefits of cold exposure. This doesn’t mean 11 minutes at a time, but spread out over the course of 7 days. Daily 2 minute exposures in an uncomfortable, yet tolerable, temperature is a great goal to aim for.

Beginner Advice

A cold shower is one of the easiest ways to start. End your shower with a cold shower by turning the tap as cold as it can go (or in between, if you’re really hesitant). The low back and buttocks are the least sensitive, so they can be good places to start. Try 10-15 seconds (or longer). Slowly increase this time until you can do 2 minutes on cold with water covering your entire body.

The next step would be a cold bath. Keep in mind that this will be substantially more intense than the shower. Fill the tub with your coldest water. For your first time, only fill half way so just the lower body is submerged. Try to stay in for two minutes. You can progress to full body submersion to the neck when you feel comfortable. Take your time.

Natural bodies of water should not be attempted until you have built up a high level of confidence in the tub. You should also never be alone. Especially if it is fall/winter time, the water outside will be even colder than the tub (approx. 2-3℃ to 7-8℃, respectively), and you will have other things to deal with like wind, noises, etc. Safety is the most important thing.

After you get out of cold water (shower, tub, or otherwise), try to avoid hopping right into a hot shower or wrapping yourself in blankets. Much of the strengthening and immunity benefits comes from your body working hard to warm itself up through shivering, which also releases a molecule (called succinate) that stimulates the production of brown fat.

ice bath

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

When Should I Do Cold Exposure? 

For cyclists, and athletes in general, there has been some controversy about when cold exposure should be done for the best results. There is evidence showing that immersion in cold water is an effective recovery tool after endurance and high-intensity training (which cycling would fall under). But is after always the most ideal?

When we look at the question scientifically, it’s actually pretty straightforward. When you exercise, you damage the tissue in a minor way, which causes inflammation in the body. These inflammatory markers serve as important signals for the body to repair the tissue and adapt to the stressors that you’ve applied to it. Cold exposure, as we’ve determined, reduces inflammation.

This can work both for and against us. If we are competing in a multi-day event or have to recover quickly between sessions, doing cold exposure immediately after a ride or bout of training can help us recover through reduced muscle soreness, restoration of muscular power and improved perceived feelings of recovery. 

If, however, we are just on a normal training schedule where we aren’t competing, there aren’t time constraints, and we’re looking to reap the long-term benefits of each training session, the protocol is different. Cold exposure should then be done before or significantly after (4+ hours) our training so we don’t inhibit the inflammatory/adaptation process from occurring. 

Closing Thoughts on Cold Exposure

Having cold showers and immersing yourself in cold water is proving to be a phenomenal way to promote long-term health, mood elevation, and athletic performance. Overall, it is an accessible tool that we can all try, experience, and learn from. Something to help us take control of our well-being, ride pain-free, and enjoy the sport of cycling and life as a whole. 

The Ultimate Hill Climb Training Guide

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Hill climbs are definitely a love/hate relationship for most cyclists. We know how good they are for us, and we know how good it feels to finally reach the top and cruise through that descent – but man do they suck. We’re here to give you some tips on how to make hills the strongest part of your ride, and how you can train more efficiently and endure less suffering in the process. 

cycling hill climb

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Classic Cycling Hill Climb Training

If you’re a beginner cyclist, simply experimenting with different routes and building a general foundation of fitness is your first step towards developing any level of hill climbing prowess. There is simply no point in exhausting yourself with specific climbing workouts when you haven’t yet acclimated to general volume on the bike. So that’s step number one.

Step number two is doing repeated hill climbs on the bike. This type of training is definitely effective at developing leg strength and endurance…to an extent. You have to be careful about repeating the same gradients and hill distances (for example, ones in your general area), because you are going to adapt quite quickly if you already have some level of cycling fitness.

Try to vary the routes you take and incorporate ones that involve more, longer, and different gradient-type hills. Experiment with sessions where you isolate the hill climbing component, and spend time doing 5, 10, even 20 climbs on the same hill (depending on the length and severity of it, of course). Wrestle your way to the top, recover on the way down. Repeat.

There are ceilings to this type of training, as there are with all types of training. You are going to find limits not only physically but geographically. The methods we’ve just discussed are always something that should be regularly rotated into your programming, but let’s now take a look at some more conventional techniques that will greatly supplement your time on the bike.

cycling hill climb

(Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

In recent years, studies from the running world have shown the efficacy of doing short, high-intensity, sprint-type workouts for improved performance in the longer distances. This is great news for cyclists, and even more specifically for the benefit of hill training on the bike. Let’s briefly explore how we can use this information to our advantage. 

A HIIT workout using hill climbs will differ from the aforementioned hill climb repeats in the following way. You’ll want to keep the hill short and steep, and you’ll want to attack the climb with as much effort and intensity as you can manage, as opposed to just steadily making your way up. Descend and take whatever other necessary rest period, then repeat. 

This form of training allows you to significantly reduce the amount of time you’re actually riding, but still get a massive benefit in the form of improved maximal oxygen uptake, cycling economy, and other physiological adaptations both muscular and metabolic. Let’s now extrapolate this method to an even more intense variation that you can do off the bike. 

Sled Training for Hill Climbing Strength

(Image credit: Adobe Stock)

Pushing and pulling a weighted sled is enormously transferable to cycling, mainly because of the lack of eccentric contractions in both. Refer to these brief definitions:

Concentric Contraction

The concentric phase of muscular contraction is when the muscle is shortening, thereby pulling on the tendon and moving the joint. This is typically seen in the lifting part of the exercise. For example, when you push yourself out of the bottom of a squat, your quadriceps (thigh) muscles are working concentrically to extend the knee joint.

Eccentric contraction

The eccentric phase of muscular contraction is when the muscle is lengthening under load, storing energy in the tissues and resisting the force that is being applied to it. This is often seen as the lowering part of a lift. In the squat example, when you are lowering yourself down into the bottom, the quadriceps are working eccentrically and resisting the force being applied to them. 

In cycling, there are virtually no eccentric contractions, only concentric contractions. You’re never resisting a load under stretch, muscles are either working concentrically or are relaxing and going through a passive stretch. When you push a sled, it’s the same thing. You press your leg into the ground, but as soon as you lift it to take the next step, that leg relaxes. 

The benefit of the sled is you can grossly overload the leg drive that you need to push a pedal, which will make those hill climbs feel so much easier by the time you’re doing them. It also gets you off the bike to train in a new and invigorating way, helping to reduce the likelihood of overuse injury. Try different sled pushing and pulling variations in your next workout.

Overall Strength & Conditioning

Similar to the use of a sled, performing separate strength training sessions, mobility, and other injury prevention work while off the bike is going to contribute massively to your hill climbing strength on the bike. By bringing up the weak points that cycling misses, your body will be in a better balance and more able to produce force when the incline gets tough.

Focus on building up your glutes through exercises that forcefully extend the hip, such as hip thrusts, deadlifts, and lunges. Also, having a strong core gives your legs a stable foundation from which to push off of. Challenge your abdominal muscles in various ways by doing exercises that flex the trunk, rotate the torso, lift the legs, and bend your body in all different directions.

Our programming over at Dynamic Cyclist has all the strength and mobility workouts you need to ride pain-free and become a force to reckon with when it comes to hill climbs. Simply press play, follow along, and do your best, no matter where you are. Included in the membership is a BONUS 4 week training plan specifically for mastering hill climbs. Try it out for 7-days free by clicking here.

Note on Mental Strength & Cycling Hill Training

A benefit to isolating hill climbs in your training and focusing specifically on them is learning how to deal with the negative self-talk and self-defeating programming you may or may not have already worked through. Tackling a nasty hill can make for some of your darkest moments while cycling, and learning to conquer that beast is something that usually takes a fair bit of practice.

By incrementally progressing to tougher, longer, and steeper climbs, you will gradually learn the limits of your body, and build confidence in your abilities on the bike (which will transfer over to the rest of your life, as well). 

Remember this, you are far more capable than you think, you can always do one more pedal, and the pain will be all but gone just minutes after stopping. So, are you going to quit? Or are you going to keep going? Only you know that answer.

Is Cycling Good Cardio? The Answer Is Yes!

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Is cycling good cardio? Absolutely. It’s not only good cardio exercise, but maybe one of the best forms of it out there. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, annually claiming the lives of almost 18 million people. All forms of cycling have been shown to reduce it significantly. Let’s get the world cycling, so we can all live longer, happier, healthier lives!

cycling cardio

(Image credit: Adobe Stock)

What is Cardiovascular Health?

Let’s start with the cardiovascular system, also known as the circulatory system, which is a system that comprises the heart, lungs, and blood vessels, all working together to help sustain bodily functions. The heart pumps blood throughout the body, while the blood vessels serve as its conduits. The lungs oxygenate the blood and remove carbon dioxide from it.

Cardiovascular health, then, is the ability of this system and all its components to be able to do their job efficiently and effectively. Being able to transport oxygen and nutrients to the body’s tissues and organs as well as removing waste products is what helps a person regulate their blood pressure, maintain proper circulation, and have a strong, healthy immune system.

To develop this health, this fitness, we need to subject it to a certain level of stress. When people hear that word they often jump to the negative, failing to understand that there are positive stresses as well. Exercise, in the right dosage, can be a positive stressor that triggers beneficial adaptations. And for cardiovascular longevity, cycling is one of the best exercises you can do.

Cycling for Cardiovascular Health

When you take into account how adaptable cycling is to any fitness level, any level of socioeconomic status, any body type, and almost any geographical location, it’s a sport that the world can enjoy as a whole. It has a low impact on the body but a big impact on your cardiovascular health, and is something you can do at any age.

Learning to ride a bike is a common skill many of us pick up as kids, but even the inexperienced can learn later in life, and make cycling an activity that is a regular part of their routine. As a form of cardiovascular exercise, cycling can easily regress to train even the most deconditioned of individuals, and progress all the way up to elite cyclist’s with world record VO2 maxes.

By pumping the legs while pedaling, you’re placing considerable demand on several muscles, particularly the quadriceps. These muscles need oxygen and nutrients to perform those movements for you, and is one of the reasons why cycling can become so exhausting (in a good way). Our cardiovascular system needs to feed these tissues in order for them to perform.

Increasing your speed, incline, and gear are all ways to make cycling even more challenging. As you get stronger and more fit, you can ride farther, longer, and through more technical terrain like mountain paths and forest trails. The cardio demand on your body is one thing, but there are other parts of cycling that contribute to your cardiovascular health as well…

(Image Credit/Adobe Stock)

Social Benefits & Nature Exposure

Stress reduction is key when it comes to lowering cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Lucky for us, the sport we love or are just getting into reduces stress in a number of ways. Exercise in general is a potent stress reducer, and exercising in groups can be even more effective for its social benefits.

Cycling is commonly done with a partner, as a family, or as part of another club or group environment of some kind. The social benefits of this sport should not be overlooked. We are social beings who need connection with others in order to thrive both physically and mentally. Cycling contributes to cardiovascular health not only directly but indirectly in this way, as well.

One last note worth pondering, is the exposure to nature and our connection to the planet as a whole. It is becoming evident that we need to actually look at and be in nature for optimal health. We did not evolve living in skyscrapers and staring at screens, our modern society has forgotten that we are products of the world around us, and we need to spend time in it to be healthy.

The process of breathing itself is an intimate entanglement with the world around you. You breathe in the oxygen produced by trees, and expel the CO2 that they absorb, utilize during photosynthesis, and release back into the atmosphere as oxygen. Cycling outdoors brings you into the heart of this incomprehensible and never-ending dance. 

The bronchi in your lungs are hauntingly similar to the branch networks of trees. They branch off smaller and smaller into what are called bronchioles and eventually alveoli, which are tiny sacs where gas exchange occurs between the lungs and the blood stream. The alveoli are like the leaves on the ends of the branches of your lungs, for leaves on a tree are also responsible for the absorption and release of gasses (CO2 and O2, respectively). (Image credit: Adobe Stock)

Increase Your Cycling Cardio

Dynamic Cyclist was designed to help cyclists worldwide get better at their sport and to ride-pain free! We have hundreds of high-quality follow-along routines to help you get stronger, more mobile, and less susceptible to injury. Join thousands of cyclists today and try out our programming for 7-days FREE by clicking here! We’ll see you there!

How to Treat & Avoid Shoulder Pain While Cycling

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In cycling, the shoulder doesn’t get challenged in many ways, apart from the load we bear as a result of leaning on the handlebars. Many of us have experienced shoulder pain while cycling, and it can be largely due to a number of factors, including the inadequate stimulation of all the tissues that surround, support, and move this complex joint.

shoulder pain cycling

(Image credit: anut21ng/Adobe Stock)

Shoulder injuries are one of the most common gradual onset injuries in recreational cyclists. This means that they develop slowly over time, usually as a result of the overuse of some muscles to the neglect of others. It often starts as a dull, aching sensation that gets worse with further use, as opposed to a sharp, acute pain that we really only see as a result of falls and accidents.

It’s important to know that the most mobile joint in the human body is the shoulder joint. Several bones, muscles and other tissues have influence on its structural integrity and movement capacity, which can make the causes of non-specific shoulder pain from cycling hard to identify. However, there are some common issues cyclists face simply due to the nature of the sport.

Poor Bike Fit & Prolonged Riding

Making sure your bike is fitted properly to your body is always one of the first things you should check when addressing pain. This is because as cyclists we stay more or less in the same positions for long periods of time, making us incredibly susceptible to overuse injuries and muscle imbalances.

If your handlebars are too low or too far away from you, it will force you to lean more forward, and you’ll resultantly have to support more of your bodyweight over the handlebars than you would otherwise. Think of an incline pushup (where your hands are elevated on something), and how the pushup gets harder as you move your hands lower towards the floor.

The constant weight bearing on the arms has a significant effect on the shoulder, and can often result in something called shoulder impingement syndrome. Pain when lifting the arms, pain while trying to reach overhead or behind you, pain in the front/side of the shoulder, arm weakness and stiffness are all symptoms of shoulder impingement syndrome.

Two of your four rotator cuff muscles (infraspinatus, supraspinatus) have tissues that pass between the humerus (upper arm bone) and acromion (top outer part of the shoulder blade). Constant load bearing on the arms, like you see in cycling, can compress, rub against, pinch or otherwise impinge upon these tissues, resulting in the symptoms previously listed.

(Image credit: VectorMine/Adobe Stock)

How to Fix It

  1. Get a professional bike fitting: Find a local shop that can do it in person or use an AI app like MyVeloFit to do it yourself at home. Either way, ensuring your bike is fitted to your body will immediately reduce your likelihood of injury and increase comfort while riding.
  2. Reduce cycling intensity: If you are dealing with some sort of shoulder impingement syndrome, you can see, just by its nature, how it’s not a problem you can simply work through. The body needs time to let this irritating condition settle while you work on creating more balance throughout the joint (next step).
  3. Strengthen the rotator cuff muscles: Cycling doesn’t challenge the shoulder in many ways, which is a disaster for shoulder health. It needs complex stimulation from a variety of exercises. Having a well-balanced program that trains the shoulder from all angles and in all positions is key to avoiding shoulder pain from cycling.

Faulty Breathing, Tense Neck & Shoulders

These three things are all related, and commonly found in the average cyclist. Because of the intimate and complex relationship between the humerus (upper arm), clavicle (collarbone), scapula (shoulder blade) and all their attaching tissues (which collectively form the shoulder joint), compromising any one of them can negatively influence the others.

x-ray showing shoulder joint

This x-ray shows the complex arrangement of bones that meet to form the shoulder joint. (Image credit: Nut/Adobe Stock)

Cyclists are prone to inefficient breathing and excessive stress on the neck through their positioning on the bike. The head juts forward and back the more you bend over on the bike, this can place a load of 60+ pounds on your cervical (neck) spine, because the head’s weight gets multiplied every inch it moves forward in front of the body.

A forward folded position can also inhibit movement of the diaphragm, your primary respiratory muscle. This encourages you to breathe through the chest, which strains small secondary respiratory muscles in your neck responsible for lifting the ribs. Because cycling is such a cardio-intensive activity, this type of breathing can cause significant irritation.

Both of these things can carry over into daily life, and both can contribute to shoulder pain while cycling. By compromising the head, neck and upper back through poor breathing and positioning, the shoulder will have no choice but to try and compensate. This is one example of how shoulder pain is not always directly linked to the shoulder itself, but its surrounding parts.

How to Fix It

  1. Strengthen the neck extensors & upper back: The muscles that pull your head back, as well as extend (flatten) your upper back, tend to get very weak if all you do is cycle. This is because they are constantly being stretched out on the bike. This article will show you what exercises to do and why they work for less neck and shoulder pain while riding.
  2. Practice diaphragmatic breathing: This means breathing into your belly. Most neck and head pain in cyclists can be attributed to faulty chest/neck breathing patterns. A good exercise is lying back over an exercise ball and taking long deep breaths. This stretches the abdominals while stimulating the diaphragm and forcing it to be more active.
  3. Relax the neck: Stretching the neck muscles prior to and even during your ride can force them to relax while you focus on breathing more into your belly. Being conscious of how much tension you’re holding in your shoulders will also be beneficial. Try to catch yourself while riding if your shoulders get shrugged up close to the ears.

Note on Nutrition & Cycling Shoulder Pain

Many people fail to consider the role of the organs when it comes to shoulder pain in cyclists. The phrenic nerve is a major nerve that originates from the third to fifth cervical spine nerves (C3-C5) in the neck. It descends through the thorax (chest cavity) and travels between the lungs, in front of the heart and along the surface of the diaphragm. 

You have two phrenic nerves, one going down the left and right side of the body. If the stomach, which is on the left side of the body, gets too distended or inflamed, it can press on the diaphragm and irritate the left phrenic nerve. Similarly on the right side, if the liver becomes enlarged, it can press on the right phrenic nerve via the diaphragm.

When these tissues become irritated or inflamed, they can send pain signals to the spinal cord through the sensory fibers of the phrenic nerve. In the spinal cord, the incoming pain signals from the phrenic nerve can activate nerve cells (neurons) that also receive sensory input from other areas of the body, including the shoulder. This is called referred pain.

Attention should be paid to the diet of a cyclist who is experiencing shoulder pain, especially if physio/massage interventions are proving ineffective. Stomach problems can contribute to left shoulder pain/weakness, and liver problems can do the same for the right shoulder. Common irritants like dairy, gluten and alcohol should be looked at as initial culprits.

Phrenic nerve

Phrenic nerve, highlighted in yellow. This is a frontal view. The diaphragm is the large dome-shaped muscle at the bottom. Under the elevated right side would sit the liver, and under the left side would sit the stomach. (Image credit: vesalii/Adobe Stock)

Eliminate Cycling Shoulder Pain!

By incorporating a well-rounded strength, mobility, flexibility and injury-prevention plan into your training, you can greatly reduce the risk of injury to your shoulders and every other part of your body. That is exactly what the programming at Dynamic Cyclist is designed to do. Try us out for 7-days FREE by clicking here!

Training With Power

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One of the biggest revolutions in cycling training has been the introduction of the power meter as a training tool. It has rapidly thrown cycling into the highly technical world of sports science, and the benefits can be enormous – Chris Froome’s win in the 2013 Tour de France was aided greatly by Team Sky’s extensive use of power meters in both their training and racing plans. So what is power training, and more importantly, can it benefit you?

Training With Power

What is Power?

Everyone has heard of power, but unless you have a particularly good memory of high school physics, you may not be familiar with what it means in a technical sense. Power is defined as the rate of work; how much ‘work’ is done in a certain interval of time. Work is defined as a force applied over a distance. So power is essentially a measure of how hard you can push on the pedals (the force) and for how long (time). The harder you can push, and the longer you can maintain a certain level of ‘push’, the faster you go! And going faster is what bike racing is all about.

Why Should I Use it?Training With Power

Now, you might be saying to yourself ‘OK, that’s nice. So what?’ Well, the ‘so what’ is that cyclists can use power to train and race much more effectively. Power is ultimately a measure of how hard you are working, and by using a power meter on your bike, you can more precisely monitor your effort. Other ways of monitoring effort do exist – rate of perceived exertion (a subjective assessment of how hard you feel you are working) and heart rate are the two most common methods, but neither comes close to the precision you get from a power meter.

This precision can be extremely beneficial to cyclists. By using a power meter on a climb, for example, you can ride the entire climb at precisely your optimal power output – never going too hard and pushing yourself into the ‘red zone’, but also not being too conservative and leaving too much in the tank at the end. You can also train more effectively, doing intervals at an exact percentage of your maximum output, or riding a tempo ride right at your lactate threshold to name a few possible applications.

How to Integrate Power into your Training

Hopefully you’re convinced that using a power meter can make you a better cyclist. The obvious question is how? First things first, you need a power meter. Debating the merits of the many options available on the market will be the subject of another article, but in short – invest in a good one. You might be tempted by the low cost of some models, but these are no where near as accurate as the better ones, and accuracy is the whole point of using a power meter. The cheapest worthwhile option I know of is the Stages Power meter, which retails for $700.

Training With PowerAfter you have your new power meter ready to go on your bike, the next step is to do some baseline tests to determine your power profile. Ideally, you will want to determine the maximum power you can produce for 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and 30+ minutes (this last one is referred to a Functional Threshold Power). All-out 5 second effort is easy enough, and even a 1 minute maximum effort isn’t too daunting. The 5 minute and 30 minute efforts take a bit more planning to execute properly, but when you know all these numbers you will have a much better idea of your strengths and weaknesses as a rider. There are tables available online that provide approximate equivalent levels of power for each duration. If your values for 5 second and 1 minute power rate higher than your 5 minute and 30 min values, then you know you are relatively weaker aerobically, and can emphasize aerobic training.

Power meters also help you to gauge efforts better. If, for example, you know that your FTP is 300 Watts (watts are the standard unit of power), then you know that in a time trial that will take you about 45 minutes to complete, you shouldn’t be riding above 300 Watts at any time. Riding with the most even power output over the course of your effort will give you the best results.

It is impossible to cover every aspect of power training in a single article – there are entire books written about it. If you are an aspiring racer, or even just someone who loves to track progress, a power meter will be your best friend. Now that you are familiar with the basics, you can start your journey into training with power!

What To Do After a Bike Accident

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What To Do After A Bike Accident

what to do after a bike accidentSo it finally happened. After years of close calls and near misses, you finally hit the deck. Maybe it was a errant patch of gravel, or someone’s back wheel that was the culprit, but the end result is always the same – you leave a significant portion of your skin behind on the road. Recovering from a crash can be a tricky process, and you will only ever do it the wrong way once (it hurts that much!). To spare you some learning pains, here are some tips on dealing with the dreaded road rash.

Cleaning the Wound

The first thing you want to do is wash the wound out as well as you can – unless you managed to fall on hardwood floors (velodrome?), you are going to have a ton of grit and dirt embedded in there. This needs to come out. A lot of people are tempted to use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to ‘disinfect’ the wound. DON’T!!! These substances will damage your exposed tissue, potentially increasing the likelihood of scarring, and delaying recovery. Warm water and a mild soap, and/or a saline solution are all you need. Try to get as much of the dirt out as possible, but don’t scrub too hard and inflame the area. A small squirt bottle can be really handy here.

Now that you have a relatively clean area to work with, it is time to disinfect the wound. Depending on how much things are hurting at this point, I will use a couple different methods. If the pain is really bad, I have a antiseptic spray that contains lidocaine (a numbing agent) that works so well I think it might be some sort of witch magic. After spraying it on and letting it dry off a bit, I will cover the affected area with a triple antibiotic ointment like Neosporin. If you can find the stuff that also has ‘pain relief’ get it – it’s not lidocaine, but it will help. You want to have a thin film of the ointment covering the area – don’t gob the stuff on!

Bandaging the Wound

Hopefully by now, things are hurting a little less, and you can think about dressing the wound. This was where I made my biggest mistake on my first crash – I used regular dressings, and didn’t change them soon enough. By the time I got around to switching my bandages a day later, my skin had started growing back into the bandage, and I ended up spending two hours soaking in the bathtub, slowly ripping my own skin off as I peeled the bandages off. So beware!!!

In general, you should always keep the wounds covered – if your raw skin gets too much sun it will scar for sure and letting them scab over will leave you with a couple of weeks (or more) of very stiff, painful, awkward moving about. By keeping the wounds covered, you allow the new skin to form underneath, and when it has completely closed up, you can take the bandages off and be just about good as new! There are a couple of options for dressings. If you are super fancy, you can use what are called semi-occlusive dressings – these allow the wound to breathe while still sealing fluids inside and other contaminants outside. All of the professional racing teams use these – the best brand is probably BIOCLUSIVE. The downside is that they are pretty pricey – depending on what size you need, up to $5 per patch.

My low-tech alternative to these was a combination of the non-stick gauze pads you can find at any drug store and vaseline. I found that the non-stick pads alone weren’t quite non-sticky enough, but with a thin layer of vaseline on them, they worked perfectly! I used mesh wrap to hold them on. You will have to change these a bit more frequently than the Bioclusive dressings (once a day, versus once every few days) but if you can’t find the fancy stuff, these are a great second option.

Now you should be well on your way to a successful recovery! Change your dressings frequently, and don’t try to do too much too soon, and you will be back riding in no time. After the aforementioned crash and skin peeling incident, I was back racing (still slightly bandaged up, albeit) in two weeks.

Why Cycling Is Better Than Running

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There are many benefits to both cycling and running and they can often be used together when you train. However, if you’re going to pick between running and biking there are several reasons why biking is the better choice. Here’s a couple of facts why cycling is better than running. [Read more…]

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