Bytagread the publication "Pre-race unlocking: instructions for use"
The warm-up ride is traditionally the last ride before a race or cyclosportive. Generally done the day before the event, its delicate role is to prepare for the intense efforts of the next day without tiring you out. Finding the right balance isn't always easy, especially since it varies from one cyclist to another, but there are some general guidelines that limit the risks as much as possible... before you can choose your own method.
Text: Olivier Dulaurent – Photos: depositphotos.com
The real unlocking
A muscle contracts more easily and efficiently if it has already experienced stimulation before. This is the principle of muscle warm-up. On a larger scale, it's the role of unblocking: by doing a short outing the day before the race, at a relatively low intensity overall (in endurance) but by using all the energy systems, you will get your legs going and the next day's results will be even better.
You've all experienced the following: not having ridden the day before, you're a bit "tired" in your legs: just ride a few kilometers and everything returns to normal. You also feel less tired after your training session. This is exactly what you should be looking for with this so-called warm-up ride. When it's time to start, your legs will have to respond immediately, especially since the first kilometers are often among the fastest, regardless of the race format.
Explore different areas
In the main principles, it is therefore accepted that the release output is intended to "sweep" the entire spectrum of intensities linked to the energy sectors, and this without generating fatigue. These intensities are seven in number, as defined by Frédéric Grappe (sports science researcher), including this table is a reference.
To put words behind these intensities, let's find I1 (or zone 1) which coincides with the relaxation zone or the one allowing you to ride for hours without fatigue, I2 which is sometimes the racing pace perfectly hidden in the wheels on large routes, I3 which is typically the tempo pace (in breakaway or more exposed to the wind), I4 (the threshold, climbing hills in the race), I5 for intense passages of a few tens of seconds up to a few short minutes but also sometimes in breakaway at the time of taking over, I6 for the restarts or even I7 when it is very intense to get back to the peloton after a moment of freewheeling.
In fact, and since the cyclist will naturally ride quietly on the eve of the race, he will mainly explore zone 1. But to prepare for the next day's efforts, it is strongly recommended to ride at high endurance, generally between the top of zone 2 and the bottom of zone 3, for example over two 10-minute sections, preferably to be carried out on the flat, for the “involving” aspect that this pace requires in the absence of a positive slope. In concrete terms, this means riding at 65% of your Maximum Aerobic Power (MAP, see F. Grappe's table above). This method avoids most errors related to over- or under-relaxing, and should suit many cyclists.
But since this session the day before is ultimately quite individual, some will feel better with a more intense session, while others will be more comfortable with the session mentioned above, it is normal to fumble around to find what suits you.
This personalization pushed to the extreme was the vision of the ex-professional Yoann Offredo who, based on his experiences, preferred to ride 200 km on D-3 then rest completely for two days, that is to say without taking the bike out! But this way of proceeding, completely personal and probably unique, is hardly current and above all, at a very high level the tendency is for it to be the coaches who "dictate" the sessions, obviously provided that they are understood and validated by the rider himself.
On the other end of the spectrum, some runners will have their best legs on the day when they've already run a race the day before! For them, the warm-up needs to be pretty intense.
But without going as far as doing a race the day before or even a very intense session, It will often be more effective to make some additions to the “two 10 min sessions at zone 2/zone 3 pace” mentioned above, with a certain number of higher intensity sections.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
The proper management of this pre-race session will also depend on your level of practice: the duration could therefore range between 45 minutes and two hours.
This unlocking session will therefore have the effect of providing stimulation, for which the body will have overcompensated the next day. It will also involve engaging the fast-twitch muscle fibers, which will then respond more effectively on the big day.
In practice, it will be advisable to ride generally in endurance but also to distribute, in order, the following efforts (according to the cyclist's level):
– 2 times 6 to 10 minutes at pace I2 (60% of PMA) therefore at a level very slightly lower than that proposed if we do this exercise exclusively, in the manner suggested above
– 4 to 8 times (25 sec pace I5 – 35 sec pace I1)
– 4 to 8 min at pace I4
– 4 to 8 sprints of 10 seconds, alternating between seated and standing efforts, and varying the pedaling cadences.
Finally, and since the real effectiveness of the unblocking session is quite individual, It is strongly recommended to try several ways of proceeding by playing on certain parameters such as the duration of the session itself, the number and length of repetitions and the chosen intensities. The result is then given by the sensations of the next day and it is these which must guide the relevance of the “right” unblocking.
Bytagread the publication "Pre-race unlocking: instructions for use"
