Main fitness concerns at track/race days.
1. Cramps -
Mainly due to dehydration as sweating reduces the sodium level in the body which in turn can lead to cramping (sweat tastes salty doesn't it?)
Make sure you drink lots of water the day before and the morning of your trackday to hydrate. (you can also put a small amount of salt on your dinner the night before - not necessary for most people as normally get enough salt from other sources)
On the actual day make sure you drink lots of water, up to double what you may normal drink if its hot (say 2 -3 litres or more) and is an option is to also drink an electrolyte replacement (gatorade or similar, although there are others made by Musashi, Balance etc) but if you're going to do this make sure you drink alternate between water and the gatorade (for example), ie; one glass of water then one glass of gatorade.
Magnesium can be helpful as it helps with nervous tension by keeping the nervous system stable and therefore helping to reduce cramping (it also helps with calcium and potassium absorption). It is found naturally in whole grains (eg breads, not white bread) but you can supplement with tablets/powder.
Bananas are high in potassium and fructose (simple sugar) and are good because the potassium helps with energy production and the fructose is good for energy, but they don't specifically help with cramping.
If cramping is only happening at track days then it’s probably dehydration on the day which can be eased by increasing your fluid intake (water not soft drink - the sugar in it actually increases dehydration
)2. Muscle soreness
Make sure to stretch before you get on the bike (and before you put your leathers on
) especially if you've been sitting in the car for an hour or more to loosen up the muscles an joints and assist in reducing chance of injuring both joints and muscles.The muscles you use (and the angle in which you use them) on the bike are most likely different to the muscles you use in your everyday activities, even if your work requires you to walk/carry/lift during the day as during the day you would be doing repetitive motions using the same muscles continuously without engaging the remaining muscle groups (and there is a lot them)
Doing strength training will help with reducing muscle soreness as your muscles will be more used to exertion and specifically the stabiliser muscles (the smaller muscles such as in your shoulders, forearms, abs, groin, hip etc) will be able to exert more force thereby reducing the reliance on just the bigger muscles. Also, being stronger will let you move around the bike quicker and easier. Strength training can done either using a cable system (home multi gym) or free weight system (bench with bars & weights etc) of which there is a large range at Elite Fitness Underwood
Gyms are good for general strength training and generally take up less room and the ladies like them as they aren't changing plates etc. Their drawback is that only operate (generally) in a single plane of motion whereas a free weight system doesn't (think bench press) and therefore has a greater emphasis on the stabiliser muscles. The major benefit of this is you a looking for size gains (that is to put on a lot of muscle) but if you are after general fitness then it’s mainly a decision based on who is going to use it, size, cost etc.
3. Fitness
There are basically two (generally accepted) types of cardio exercise; fat loss and aerobic fitness
- Fat loss requires exercising at 60 - 70% of your maximum heart rate (220 less your age). The general consensus in that exercising at a constant heart rate is the most beneficial for fat loss. It should be thought of as fat loss instead of weight loss as the goal would be to lose fat whilst at the same time gain muscle (via strength training). Women in particular are too focused on weight loss instead of fat loss. For example, you might lose 10kg of fat while gaining 5kg of muscle but you have only lost 5kg of weight. Fat lose is calculated by measuring your body fat percentage (there are various methods available, some good, some shit) and multiplying this % by your weight. Just by increasing your muscle mass you are increasing your metabolism as muscle burns energy just by having it and therefore contributing to increased fat loss, ie; a bigger engine requires more fuel just to keep it running
- Aerobic fitness requires exercising at various levels of intensity and heart rates. An example would be jogging, bike riding as when you go up a hill your intensity level and your heart rate increases and conversely going downhill reduces the intensity level. This can be replicated by the use of the programs on a treadmill, bike or elliptical (which can also be purchased at Elite Fitness Underwood )
Walking, whilst good for general cardiovascular health, isn't as intensive as running/biking and therefore will required to be undertaken for a longer period, eg: half hour jog would be equal to approx 1 - 1.5 hours walking (dependent upon how fast you jog and how fast you walk). A pedometer (around $40) can be useful for keeping track of how far you actually walk.
Just as a side note, I wore a heart rate monitor at Qld Raceway last month for one session, my minimum heart rate was 87, my maximum was 158 with an average of 137 (although I didn't have any "moments" in the session). My normal resting pulse is about 65 (I'm a bit unfit at the moment
).If anybody needs any more info or help, please feel free to call the shop (let them know you're a bike rider like me
) and my staff will be more than happy to answer any questions or offer any assistance (or help you purchase equipment ). I hope this isn't too long winded, I tried to be brief but I also wanted to be reasonably thorough.
