Articles are listed in order of newest at the top of the page

OES Monthly Newsletter Archive

Get more out of Carbohydrates
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Heading out on the bike, jersey pockets stuffed with gels, chews and bars, bottle filled with a favorite sports drink-you plot a course for the hills. As you get settled into the ride and start to consume the tasty treasures, conversion of food into usable fuel for the body begins. Have you ever questioned whether you are getting the most out of that fuel? Like miles per gallon in a car, drive it correctly over time and an improvement in mileage can be obtained. This enhancement is more miles for less cost. The human body is cable of similar changes in efficiency.
Carbohydrates (CHO) are one of three macronutrients the human body needs to sustain life... [ read full article ]

Finish strong!
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

The summer event season is well underway. Whether it’s one bike tour, multiple running races or a triathlon series, it may be time to dial in training. [ read full article ]

A Mid Summer’s Day Event Preparation: Be Ready For The Big Day
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Preparation for a race or event can have many facets. Some preparation should have started months in advance and some takes place the morning of the event. The trick to it all is finding the type and extent of preparation that works best for you. This takes practice, practice, practice and should be done each and every day leading up to the event.
Each time a workout is started...[ read full article ]

Prepare for Successful Climbing
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Turn that mountain into a molehill. Many cyclists mentally increase the size of a climb and let it tower over them, when a few simple processes can make the ascent more pleasant.
Mental preparation brings about a toughness that will help you perform better. Having an understanding of the elevation gained over the distance to the top and the types of pitches will help you to formulate a plan to attack it. Take your average climbing speed and the miles of the climb you want to do to assess the time it will take to ascend it...[ read full article ]

Earn Those Saddle Sores: Longer Duration Cycling
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Cyclists are headlong into the spring season with longer daylight hours and more favorable temperatures for outdoor riding, along with fierce headwinds. This combination stokes a strong desire to release our bikes from the constraints of the indoor trainer and let it run free to seek out longer and longer durations. This newly liberated steed can do wonders for our fitness and our outlook on the impending season of events.
Completing several one hour rides on the trainer each week ultimately won’t provide you the specificity of duration needed to complete an event requiring many hours in the saddle ...      [ read full article ]

An Athlete’s Chemical Affair: Lactate as a Fuel
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

As the science of sport evolves, coaches like me must learn to adapt to the new thoughts on how the human body reacts to exercise. In the not so distant past it was believed that lactate caused the muscles to stop working…brought on fatigue…and an athlete wouldn’t be able to do anymore work once they went beyond the threshold for lactate. A much larger school of belief now looks at lactate as an important tool in an athlete’s toolbox.
Well, to tackle the subject of metabolic pathways in a short article will surely be a tough task and I hope to show you the complexity and then explain the simple fact of what is happening...[ read full article ]

Start a Food Journal and Watch Your Endurance Grow
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Our society is wrought with symbols of it to the point of worship. It is our sustenance, nourishment, fuel, energy, calories along with countless other words to describe it. Food. Call it whatever you want, but the revolution of production in the food industry has created a bounty like no other in history. With such an abundance of choice and ideas on how and when to consume it, many of us have lost a sense of what the basic purpose of it is: to provide health and energy. I hesitate to open a dialogue about the world of diets... [ read full article ]

What's strength have to do with it?
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

So, what does strength have to do with it? Well, everything when it comes to health. When performed properly and in periodized fashion, strength training can enhance all facets of daily life. These include daily active living and exercise.
    Daily active living includes a multitude of body movements like: getting in and out of bed, bathing, reaching for the cereal box on the top shelf, walking up and down stairs, and carrying groceries into the house from the car. Basically everything we do as mobile humans involves the use of muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and bones. Without some measure of strength we would be hard pressed to complete even the easiest of daily tasks. With our world of reduced physical labor, it becomes important to take up strength training to maintain our physical being..... [ read full article ]

Triple Bypass 2010 Training Plan Information
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Hard to believe that it is time to talk about the 2010 Triple Bypass. It is anticipated that another record will be set when the registration opens. So, prepare to commit early if you want the Triple as one of your summer goals. With this thought, planning ahead for training should be considered as well so that your summer touring experience.... [ read full article ]

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): The power of data capture
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

With fall upon us and the long days of summer waning, the amount of time to train will change for most of us. This means less time on the bike with possible indoor activities that may not use the same amount of energy. A reduction in energy expenditure per day can happen due to the weather dictating more of our mode of exercise. So, have you thought about the change your eating needs to go through as well?   [ read full article ]

Coaching Myself: Preparation for a 100 mile MTB race
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

A perspective that I believe is often overlooked in coaching, is that of the coach and his or her training. I read many articles about how athletes have achieved this or that through coaching, which is good to see. I would like to give an account of how I coached myself to compete in my first 100 mile mountain bike race, the Breckenridge 100, which took place on July 18th. This article will be an example of practice what you preach and lead by example.   [ read full article ]

Periodized training for the Triple Bypass
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Part :1 Traditionally when training for an endurance-specific event like the 2009 Triple Bypass, a cyclist will need to go through several phases of training over the months leading up to the event. The physical demand and mental preparation it takes to complete 120 miles over three mountain passes is such that attention paid to planning out details and performing certain types of workouts will allow for an enjoyable day in the saddle amongst friends. Preparation and base training are the introduction that provides the body with the initial stimulus to advance fitness.  [ read full article ]

Part :2 Preparation and base training were discussed in the March Bike Beat; the next phase of training to promote a stimulus to advance fitness is the build phases. Traditionally when training for an endurance-specific event like the 2009 Triple Bypass, a cyclist will need to go through several phases of training over the months leading up to the event. The physical demand and mental preparation it takes to complete 120 miles over three mountain passes is such that attention paid to planning out details and performing certain types of workouts will allow for an enjoyable day in the saddle amongst friends.  [ read full article ]

Part :3 The last segment of Periodized training to discuss is the taper. This phase is simple, but very important for realization of the goal designed in a training plan. Traditionally when training for an endurance-specific event like the 2009 Triple Bypass, a cyclist will need to go through several phases of training over the months leading up to the event. The physical demand and mental preparation it takes to complete 120 miles over three mountain passes is such that attention paid to planning out details and performing certain types of workouts will allow for an enjoyable day in the saddle amongst friends.  [ read full article ]

Stay on track
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

With the change from summer to fall upon us and winter quickly showing up to the party, it seemed like a good time to look at some tips that will help you complete your workouts now and through this winter. Below are ten suggestions to consider when the seasons throw you off track of your training plan.  [ read full article ]

A Three Part Series: Loading, Fueling, and Replenishing Carbohydrate for the Endurance Athlete
By Cindy Stonesmith B.S. Human Performance & Sport

Part 1: The concentration of muscle and liver glycogen prior to exercise plays an important role in endurance exercise capacity. The body stores approximately 450-550 grams of glycogen within the muscle and liver for use during exercise. At higher exercise intensities (>65-75% VO2max), glycogen becomes the main fuel utilized for energy production.            [ read full article ]

Part 2: How quickly an athlete can reestablish muscle glycogen from an exhausting bout of exercise is an important factor for performing optimally in tomorrow’s training session. Although a normal diet, high in carbohydrate (65-80% of total diet) has been shown to restore muscle glycogen levels to normal over a 24 hour period, most endurance athletes do not have the luxury to wait 24 hours between training sessions for their muscle glycogen levels to be topped off. This is why your post-exercise carbohydrate meal becomes vital to your weekly training plan. [ read full article ]

Part 3: It’s the night before your big event and you’ve been looking forward to a big spaghetti meal with garlic bread. You’ve been contemplating marinara or alfredo sauce all day. You even skip the wine and go for the beer because you know beer has more carbohydrates. You’re carbohydrate loading and this ritual, as an athlete, is just as important to you as your daily workouts. [ read full article ]

Pre-Event Warm-Up Strategies for Cyclists
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

With the 2008 season of events for cyclists in Colorado underway, I thought it would be good to present some strategies for preparation. Nutrition, equipment, trip planning, knowledge of the course and warm-up are a few of the items on the top of the list.   [ read full article ]

Core Stability and Balance for Cyclists Revisited
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

In last year’s article I discussed the following core stability moves: planks, hip lifts, hip lift with knee extension, floor back extensions and oblique crunch. I would like to introduce two more core stability moves that increase the intensity of these isometric contractions: prone ball roll and supine leg curl. These are both done with an exercise ball and can be further increased in intensity by isolating to one leg.  [ read full article ]

Train with a purpose
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Each spring, the little voice that has been locked away, endurance training, calls out for some attention. This is especially true for those folks who want to do well in events or races this summer.  [ read full article ]

Spring Training, Triple Bypass on your mind?
By Rob Lockey, CSCS

Looking outside at the snow makes it hard to believe that as of March 1st the Triple Bypass is less than 20 weeks away. Time to get moving ahead on the spring training that brings hours of enjoyment on the bike during the summer months. Several things should be happening at this time of year to prepare us for the long hours in the saddle doing centuries, tours and even races. Think about your core/body strength, your training structure and ways to bring improvement into this 2008 season of cycling. [ read full article ]

By Rob Lockey, CSCS

As the sun finally decides to take up residence in our hemisphere this summer, the many outdoor activity seekers are inclined to live in a dehydrated state while trying to improve their athletic abilities. [ read full article ]

Core Stability and Balance for Cyclists
by Rob Lockey, CSCS

As the winter slowly disappears and the days get longer and warmer, many cyclists will come out of training hibernation. You may have been hard at work but chained to a trainer, burning rubber. [ read full article ] 

OPTIMIZE ENDURANCE SERVICES - mobile coaching, testing and training for the endurance and recreational athlete Rob Lockey, CSCS, ACSM/HFI . USA Cycling L2 Certified Coach ph: 303.356.9893 . e: rob@optimizeendurance.com