In my quest to become the fastest 50+ rider around, ok ok, at least keep on improving, I have met several walls. They are, in no particular order, slow cadence, inconsistency of time on the bike, I do have a life outside of cycling, weight, and weak abs, aka the tranvsrse abdoninis (tva). One more problem I have is that my lung function is at 75%. I have some asthma and my lung capacity has been an issue especially during peak asthma times. I have written before that I am working on the tva with HJ. My HJ workouts consist of breathing exercises and strengthening exercises. Here are my results. It took me about a month and during 1 very hard recent workout I was able to access my tva and get more power and more strength. Unfortunately, I can not engage my tva regularly and I have to continue to unlearn my old habits but I am seeing progress and success. In fact I am really pumped by the little steps I am taking and I am discovering I have more breathing capacity and more core stability.
Recently my breathing exercises came into play during a very hard Tuesday VQ workout. I was doing a LT set when I noticed my heart rate was at LT or just above. (For me that is 173.) I tried my breathing exercises and I was able to reduce my HR by 4-5 beats. That was amazing. Secondly and I was able to increase my power and cadence after my HR was reduced. Another Amazing.
So here are my conclusions. This stuff really works. I did expect the exercises to help but part of me was somewhat skeptical. So I have totally bought into the program and I am breathing more deeply and feel stronger on my right side. However, I have not been able to access my tva on a regular basis. Also, this may sound weird, I can't imagine why I developed such bad posture and breathing habits to begin with and it seems that breathing properly would have been the good stuff to learn when I was younger.
On the practical side, riding has morphed into a more age appropriate goal: learn to breath more deeply, get a stronger tva so it takes the strain off my back. Now if you need me catch me in the gym doing my tva exercises and staying young.
On the practical side, riding has morphed into a more age appropriate goal: learn to breath more deeply, get a stronger tva so it takes the strain off my back. Now if you need me catch me in the gym doing my tva exercises and staying young.
