Focus on your breathing. Actively try to slow it down, breathe from the stomach not the chest. Thinking is good when the race isn't fully on for tactics etc. but when going full-bore I try to think as little as possible. If you empty the mind that's less blood going to the brain and so more available for the legs!
I just have one warning about pushing past pain, be careful doing it when you are exceptionally tired. It is good to work through pain and to get better but sometimes your metal strength out does your physical and Injuries happen. For me that happened when I was doing 300m sprints and my body was so tired and didn't want to move but I made it go harder thinking it was just mental but I ended up tearing my hamstring and my glutes. So just know the difference between mental and physical pain.
This is a good point. I think the implication in this video though, is that most people's subjective understanding of their pain isn't aligned with the objective injury threshold of their bodies. Most people don't push themselves simply because they don't like to. It feels like it hurts more than it should because they've rarely made such a concerted effort in that particular activity. I once had a trainer who, on performance tests, would chide me when he saw me slacking and ask me, "do you really have to stop or do you just *want* to stop?". It turned out I always had more gas left in the tank. Most people don't find their limit; part of getting in shape is learning to tolerate the discomfort of working closer to one's limit. On the other hand, as you said, it's unwise to push oneself to the point of injury. So there's probably a bit of an ideal midpoint, where you're pushing beyond what feels good, but not to the point that it's actually bad for you. It's worth mentioning that short contained bursts of effort like your sprinting might put us at greater risk for injury than battling through fatigue in a long endurance effort (barring a crash caused by attentional fatigue), because the load our muscles and joints bear per step (or pedal stroke, or whatever) is much greater.
Great video. A few months ago I was doing interval training and said to myself "God this hurts!" And then I thought to change my mental frame and said, "Wow, this is making me faster!" Just that little shift made a huge difference in my power generation and perceived pain.
As a runner as well as a cyclist I have observed few facts whilst running in that bubble. What you call pain determines its effect as a negative, so refer to it as 'discomfort', takes its sting. A positive when in that bubble, mantra's such as; 'the good stuff' 'this is where it happens' Had a bit of a damascus road experience when it dawned on me that 'discomfort' is always in the moment, so thinking about what you have done and what you have to do is irrelevant it's the 'now' that counts. The ice test, research has shown that Elites down to novices have different levels of tolerance shown in the ice test (bowl of ice , hands in up to wrists, how long till you can stand the pain no longer and bail out). Do elites have natural higher tolerances of pain? No its practice....the more you ride/run within that zone, the more you learn to have coping mechanisms. Note; also women have more pain receptors than men, so men do better in these tests not because they are tougher, they just don't have the receptors (some may argue emotionally as well, but that a whole nest of angry wasps worth avoiding). Lastly as stated in this excellent video, pain is a big fat liar, due to the fact we can find something at the end, so thus working with discomfort in the moment.... Still playing with this little demon/liar can be rewarding when you bridge that gap suffer, recover and go again..... Hope this helps and adds to the knowledge base....
I think I'm pretty fast and have never trained for speed, I just casually cycle. It's all mental. When think you cannot go on any more, you're only 40% defeated. You've got tons more in you. Keep going and push through!
Quite possibly my favourite GCN video (and maybe the best dare I say it). I'm going to write my favourite tips from this on a small piece of paper and stick it to my stem for when the going gets tough. Thanks guys
Great video. I bought a small bluetooth speaker recently and have found that being "in the zone" because of a certain track you love works wonders. Some ambient music with a calm beat gets me going.
I once tried the swearing thing when sprinting. It worked, but I should have done my sprint on a country road instead of a road near a elementary school at pick-up-time.
Interesting comment @ 6:40 I had a real problem with hills and thought I was always going to be rubbish at them. I then worked out I was looking at the top (or thinking about how far away it was) and as soon as I did..I was dead in the water. I got over it by only looking as far as the next corner..picking a spot and riding to it. Get there, pick the next point and ride to it. Eating the elephant one bite at a time.
Think the vegan cyclist once said that pain is only a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst pain you've ever experienced, but not necessarily the worst pain your body can potentially experience. If you hurt yourself more than you ever have before, then you're pain threshold rises, and consequently, you're once 'level 10' becomes a level 9 or whatever
I have used many of the techniques you mentioned. However, I think the one I use most often is simply reciting a mantra or phrase: "you got this" "you're awesome" "power power power" or something personally inspirational. To some it may seem goofy, but it works for me.
A big trick that works for me is to look straight down at the ground and follow the road markings to keep you on course. This allows you to not only distract yourself from the long distance that would otherwise discourage you, but also let you rest your neck! Works wonders for me!
I completely disagree with this technique. Glad it works for you. Most people find it better to look up the road. The moment you drop your head, you've given up. I watch other riders when climbing all of the time. When they drop their head, it's time to attack! They have given up on the climb.
Excellent. It took me years to understand this concept and I feel it is a primary barrier to people making big gains on the bike. Once you realize that you don't have to stop when your mind says so, it opens new worlds. If it's joint pain, stop immediately; if it's only your muscles, keep pushing!
I like to try to relax a bit through breathing, thinking of my competition, thinking of the next tough point as being the last part of the race and getting through it and still continuing, remembering that everyone else is just as tired as you are, and that it is only pain. We are all stronger than we think and can push our limits, but only if we get to that point and continue pushing.
Thanks Si... these tips really helped today.... the expletives😋 during climbs and having some fast music helped me get to my first 17mph+ ride over 30 miles ... thanks again. Awesome video.. cheers.
Thanks for the advice gcn I have struggled with my mental state recently on the bike and this is really helpful. I once had a complete mental breakdown during a ten mile roller TT where I couldn't force my body to do anymore in front of all my clubmates
Thanks Si for the great video, I will use this info next weekend at the Leadville 100MTB race. It has 12,600ft of climbing. Race starts at 10,200ft elevation ,and climbs to 12,638ft. Climbing is not my strong suit, so I may be using the swearing tip a few times. And a positive attitude.
Something that really helps me is thinking of why your doing it so for example if you’ve got a race or sportive think of winning that race getting a PB on your sportive
This is a genuinely fantastic video! Truly inspired by it! It's funny, I had not realised how many pain management techniques I use until watching this vid.
I have always a small speaker with me and when I am exhausted and want to get more power out of me ... I listen to my beloved 80s Synthwave music. People always look a bit perplexed when someone on a road bike whizzes past them with music, but so far nobody has complained ... definitely safer than headphones.
watch gcn video like it. and then press the descreption below it will say " enter to the competition" something like that :) the video is: unboxin the quarq DFour & DZero powermeters
I just had an ironman race where the first part of the race felt really easy and was taking lots of riders. Overall 400 riders and was just about the top quarter for pace. Was so much fun it made me go faster without feeling like more effort. The neck and shoulders got achy from the tri bars so focused on completing quickly to solve the ache there. Did get to the point where about 70 miles in my knees started to get painful, and i had to run after. Listened to them and ease off for the last 40 miles but still doing a decent pace. After the race the breathing and effort of doing any movement i realised quite how hard i had really been working. Now trying to get the left knee working properly again. So far taken 10 days to recover that. Only the second time i have ever had such a good feeling on the bike and the first time on a 112 mile bike race.
A mate and I were once battling a 14% grad when the farmers at the vale to the right-hand side decided killing a pig was a neat idea. The pig would cry at every turn of our pedal. Incredible how this can get into your mind. The other thing I hate is being on such or steeper climbs and a passing car has to reduce gears, and your hear the engine revving like crazy, and your mind goes like "I told you, you ***, why do you want this when not even a car can handle it?".
Mahayana buddhists teach not just tolerance of pain, but acceptance of pain as a welcome friend. When you're challenging pain, especially if you're newer to getting serious about exercise I think it's important to move forward gradually.
#Torqueback This is what happens when you find yourself alone, in the mountains, without sufficient oxygen. You sing to yourself, you talk to yourself, you swear at everything--just trying to ignore the pain. Or in Simons case, make a GCN episode.
Great video! When I used to use a turbo on a regular basis for interval sessions, I found that my HR dropped quicker in the recovery intervals if I hummed 'ommmmm' audibly. I can't think where I read about this but it was quite intriguing as an interval sessions with ommming was always more successful (i.e. I could hit the power levels for the full interval duration on every interval) than without. Without the humming, I started each interval relatively more tired and thus often couldn't sustain the power on the last one or two intervals. So maybe those monks have something to offer as well as the sports scientists. However, I have tried ommming when ascending (much to the merriment of my club mates) but I usually didn't have enough breath to cycle and hum - possibly the same limitation applies to singing.
Tricky thing is that when your health isn't the best sometimes you HAVE to pay more attention to what your body says. That said "If you go slow for long enough you'll make it pretty far anyway" is (one of) my motto(s)...
Really great presentation, Si, thank you, and I subscribe to pretty much all of it, with the addition of games like trying to get past that telephone pole or through that corner before being overtaken by a motorist. And if I get overtaken by a fellow cyclist, well, it is game on, no matter what, if only to accelerate and warn the speedster that he'd better keep crankin' or I'm gonna catch him. And I do that playfully, of course, as really, it is all play, except in the harshest weather or fiercest pain. But for the most part, it is big fun and pain can be fun, too, and sometimes I like to think that I am speeding toward the line on a solo break--I won a handful of races that way--and I marvel that I am still out there in the big ring or, well, truth be told, the smallest ring on my triple, sigh. But there's no way that car coming up behind me is beating me to the junction at Rt. 997. Oh no, that ain't happening.
I have a motivational music play list for trail / gravel riding / training. The music is all personal stuff and ranges from the Rocky film theme (sad but true!) to Pavarotti songs, to stuff from dark divorce days. It's very powerful and my best training sessions are when I get emotional and loose myself in that zone. In my most epic 'in the zone' ride ever, I started to cry!! In fact ... sob my heart out. The more I sobbed, the harder I pushed, the harder I pushed the more it hurt, and the more it hurt the better it felt. So I pushed even harder. It was frankly, the most amazing endorphin induced bike ride i've ever had in my life which I will never forget. (This included a Mark cavendish style sprint through a city ring road, whilst sobbing to Motorheads Ace of Spades which was in itself utterly exhilarating!!) 'That's the way I like it baby - I don't want to live forever ... '
I'm a new rider but when I'm going up hill, I try not to look up as much so, I don't get discourage, I only look up to see if I don't have any one in front of me or too close. I breath in and out . I sing during my rides and when I feel is too hard I'm talking to God to help me get there! 😀 it works great!!!
We sing cadences during runs in the military. The miles do seem to fly by without notice. Likewise, I like singing out loud while riding my bike. Swearing at yourself (tough love) does seem to get me through some steep intervals.
I think knowing the climb is very important to calm down the mind. I believe our mind - if knows there is long unknown length of a climb ahead - will start to limit us/our body (put into pain, whatsoever) to save energy, to be ready if there is more climbing than we expected. I feel like climbing is already considered by our mind as "fight or flight", so until there is no real danger, mind may try limit the body, to have some extra energy in case of "danger".
Hi. You neglected to mention the infamous Cipollini technique ... distracting the mind from the pain and boosting the testosterone levels by looking at a Pamela Anderson pic on his bike's top tube! Perhaps the female riders could use your recent Cipollini pic on this week's GCN show for similar results :-)
That's why the preworkout is so important. I really notice a difference, especially when mountainbiking. If i arrive pumped up at the track, thinking about the trails i'm gonna rip up and listening to the appropriate music , then i'll actually do it. Same with cycling in a group that's too slow and keeps moaning about the speed. When you finally are "released" you'll be very very fast. I'll feel the pain, but won't act on it. Just make some weird noises and faces probably
I used to do the counting technique when I was a teenager and I used to jog the 2 miles back home on a Friday or Saturday night after a night on the town when I didn't have enough money for a cab. I used to find it help regulate my breathing. Nowadays I just seem to get lines from songs stuck in my head for the entire ride, not through choice, it just happens, annoyingly.
When I was in the military (quite a while ago) I used to quietly hum the theme song to the Smurfs during particularly pain inducing situations. I haven't done that in a while but it really did work and let me press on. 😀. No idea why I chose the Smurfs. It just popped in there one day and stuck.
I ride in a park and do that. A polite "Overtaking." then a snarl of "Sprint lazy $&&($ back to tempo". A little old lady I pass every morning starts laughing when she hears my brakes behind her.
Weirdly, I found out that I went harder than I would have done today because it was raining. Started my ride not feeling very fresh (3rd day in a row, was aiming for bit of endurance riding), but it started pelting it down so I took a short cut back up a nearby hill. Wasn't really aiming to smash it but was just focusing on getting up it as I wanted to get home as fast as possible. Pulled a time of 4:44, only 8s slower than my personal best, which was me absolutely smashing it when completely fresh.
On my bike tour through the western alps (big bags, tent, stove, the works!) I got into a weird, and unexpected habit of saying to myself "there's only 2km to the summit, now you can really go for it!". it worked every time. But I suspect the main reason was the ridiculous number of 2000+ metre summits I'd crested for days on end, making me pretty fit. At least for a few weeks. That was a real thing though. Never forget it! "Just 2 km. Easy, see? Go for it!". I caught a couple of folks on unloaded racing bikes (Vars and Cayolle, and also a few on the way along the bottom of the Izoard who I surprised by keeping up with them at 40 + km/h. Apart from the last ones, that was really mean of me. I bet the guys on the racing bikes rarely felt worse pain in their lives than when I caught and passed them, with the full set of Carradice, plus saddle bag, plus tent.... :-)
Impressive pace to your climb while conversing. I would add that a good forceful primal scream now and again can be good for the psyche. Perhaps the same effect as swearing without being offensive.
When I listen to Rhythmic music whilst riding, I always go faster. My theory is that it calms my mind and keeps the focus on the ride and not the pain.
singing loudly on climbs might make you look tad excentric, but has potent training effects! it enforces conciously controlling your breath, to not pass out, and strengthens the whole respiratory systrem, and the diaphragm in particular. think of military PE. "DADA DEEDA DEEDA DAH" some argue that judas priest or rammstein lyrics dont work quite as well, but make you feel about exactly 54.321% more badass, significantly boosting the tolrance to ANLwS (achy noddle leg whining syndrome) and increasing over all performance by the quare root of pi or something.
Visualization: Imagine an enormous current flowing from your heart to every part of your body through heavy-duty copper cables. You feel strong, powerful -- you have great energy.
Do you have a review video for dashcam system for cyclists? Myself being a victim of an accident, i'm thinking about buying a camera system. Keep up the great work!
Thirty five years ago when I was racing, I would use mental tricks on my competitors in a race. While riding next to someone, I would just casually say, "Quite a head wind today, huh?" This would work many times as that guy would start to think there was actually a head wind. I could then just ride away, pleased with myself for ruining his race.
Let us know your tricks for winning the mental game here 👊
Global Cycling Network go in a pair or more so that you have someone to talk to and have a healthy competition
Global Cycling Network others have more pain than you
This works for me; have been using this technique for climbs, tell yourself " this climb is easy" and attack!
Focus on your breathing. Actively try to slow it down, breathe from the stomach not the chest. Thinking is good when the race isn't fully on for tactics etc. but when going full-bore I try to think as little as possible. If you empty the mind that's less blood going to the brain and so more available for the legs!
When are you doing a video on how to everest
5:35 best gcn line to date.
Yeah, totally agree... I laughed my ass off at this :P
You must know Morse code or something cause I couldn't tell what he was saying at all..
Matt 4114 Sounds like me trying to get my big ass up a hill, but with less profanity. :D
Gold
Still the best.
I just have one warning about pushing past pain, be careful doing it when you are exceptionally tired. It is good to work through pain and to get better but sometimes your metal strength out does your physical and Injuries happen. For me that happened when I was doing 300m sprints and my body was so tired and didn't want to move but I made it go harder thinking it was just mental but I ended up tearing my hamstring and my glutes. So just know the difference between mental and physical pain.
This is a good point. I think the implication in this video though, is that most people's subjective understanding of their pain isn't aligned with the objective injury threshold of their bodies. Most people don't push themselves simply because they don't like to. It feels like it hurts more than it should because they've rarely made such a concerted effort in that particular activity. I once had a trainer who, on performance tests, would chide me when he saw me slacking and ask me, "do you really have to stop or do you just *want* to stop?". It turned out I always had more gas left in the tank. Most people don't find their limit; part of getting in shape is learning to tolerate the discomfort of working closer to one's limit.
On the other hand, as you said, it's unwise to push oneself to the point of injury. So there's probably a bit of an ideal midpoint, where you're pushing beyond what feels good, but not to the point that it's actually bad for you.
It's worth mentioning that short contained bursts of effort like your sprinting might put us at greater risk for injury than battling through fatigue in a long endurance effort (barring a crash caused by attentional fatigue), because the load our muscles and joints bear per step (or pedal stroke, or whatever) is much greater.
Great video. A few months ago I was doing interval training and said to myself "God this hurts!" And then I thought to change my mental frame and said, "Wow, this is making me faster!" Just that little shift made a huge difference in my power generation and perceived pain.
This is it. If I have to pick top 3 fav GCN video, this is one. Good one!
"Turn a corner and find the summit not metres but kilometres away"
Well, start swearing...
This has got to be one of the best GCN videos yet
Genuinely one of the most interesting videos on cycling technique from you GCN boys
As a runner as well as a cyclist I have observed few facts whilst running in that bubble.
What you call pain determines its effect as a negative, so refer to it as 'discomfort', takes its sting.
A positive when in that bubble, mantra's such as; 'the good stuff' 'this is where it happens'
Had a bit of a damascus road experience when it dawned on me that 'discomfort' is always in the moment, so thinking about what you have done and what you have to do is irrelevant it's the 'now' that counts.
The ice test, research has shown that Elites down to novices have different levels of tolerance shown in the ice test (bowl of ice , hands in up to wrists, how long till you can stand the pain no longer and bail out). Do elites have natural higher tolerances of pain? No its practice....the more you ride/run within that zone, the more you learn to have coping mechanisms. Note; also women have more pain receptors than men, so men do better in these tests not because they are tougher, they just don't have the receptors (some may argue emotionally as well, but that a whole nest of angry wasps worth avoiding).
Lastly as stated in this excellent video, pain is a big fat liar, due to the fact we can find something at the end, so thus working with discomfort in the moment....
Still playing with this little demon/liar can be rewarding when you bridge that gap suffer, recover and go again.....
Hope this helps and adds to the knowledge base....
I rode 100 miles for charity: my sister has MS and riding for the MS Society made me focus far more, set PBs, the lot.
Gcn pushed the envelope with this one again. This is one of your finest. Bravo
I think I'm pretty fast and have never trained for speed, I just casually cycle. It's all mental. When think you cannot go on any more, you're only 40% defeated. You've got tons more in you. Keep going and push through!
Quite possibly my favourite GCN video (and maybe the best dare I say it). I'm going to write my favourite tips from this on a small piece of paper and stick it to my stem for when the going gets tough. Thanks guys
Getting angry and swearing definitely works. I got angry after being cut off by a taxi and sprinted after him for over a km to remonstrate with him 😐
i just sing the Hime Hime theme like Onoda did
Cpnl
I'm not yet halfway through this video, and I already believe it's the video of the year, period.
Great video. I bought a small bluetooth speaker recently and have found that being "in the zone" because of a certain track you love works wonders. Some ambient music with a calm beat gets me going.
Si swearing up the climb was a laugh out loud moment! Great job making a serious topic fun.
I once tried the swearing thing when sprinting. It worked, but I should have done my sprint on a country road instead of a road near a elementary school at pick-up-time.
I tried swearing at myself up a tricky climb. I kept calling myself a fat b&&&&&d. It didn’t work. I’m still fat 🤣
Interesting comment @ 6:40 I had a real problem with hills and thought I was always going to be rubbish at them. I then worked out I was looking at the top (or thinking about how far away it was) and as soon as I did..I was dead in the water. I got over it by only looking as far as the next corner..picking a spot and riding to it. Get there, pick the next point and ride to it. Eating the elephant one bite at a time.
Think the vegan cyclist once said that pain is only a scale of one to 10, 10 being the worst pain you've ever experienced, but not necessarily the worst pain your body can potentially experience. If you hurt yourself more than you ever have before, then you're pain threshold rises, and consequently, you're once 'level 10' becomes a level 9 or whatever
Vegan food would be pain worse than any hill
That's hilarious, mate. And, I am a Vegan. :D It's definitely helped me push my pain threshold.
Just rode 4200 miles across America on my bicycle and this video resonates with me on a higher plane of existence :-)
Whenever I'm trying to push myself harder on a bike I often think of Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park saying, "Must go faster! Must go faster!"
I have used many of the techniques you mentioned. However, I think the one I use most often is simply reciting a mantra or phrase: "you got this" "you're awesome" "power power power" or something personally inspirational. To some it may seem goofy, but it works for me.
A big trick that works for me is to look straight down at the ground and follow the road markings to keep you on course. This allows you to not only distract yourself from the long distance that would otherwise discourage you, but also let you rest your neck! Works wonders for me!
I completely disagree with this technique. Glad it works for you. Most people find it better to look up the road. The moment you drop your head, you've given up. I watch other riders when climbing all of the time. When they drop their head, it's time to attack! They have given up on the climb.
F**k!
Here they are... 24 watts!!!
Marginal gains at its finest.
LOL!!!!! Crisis, you killed me with that comment mate :D
This is a great video. I seem to forget to engage my left leg as much as my right when I pedal, but when I remember to do it I get more power.
Excellent. It took me years to understand this concept and I feel it is a primary barrier to people making big gains on the bike. Once you realize that you don't have to stop when your mind says so, it opens new worlds.
If it's joint pain, stop immediately; if it's only your muscles, keep pushing!
I like to try to relax a bit through breathing, thinking of my competition, thinking of the next tough point as being the last part of the race and getting through it and still continuing, remembering that everyone else is just as tired as you are, and that it is only pain. We are all stronger than we think and can push our limits, but only if we get to that point and continue pushing.
I think there was a Porsche meeting or something in the Dolomites
Don't compliment Simon like that. We all know he's closer to a Lada than a Porsche.
2 Porsche and 1 Alfa with a luggage/bike rack....
comment of the week
I have lost that battle against the mind many times. This is surely going to help!
Your Videos are so super helpful! Really enjoy them, wether mechanical, pro news or spirit videos like this one! Thanks guys :)
Wow! Thanks GCN! Your absolutely right, positive mental attitude is all you need to endure the pain. Great video, it helps a lot!
Thanks Si... these tips really helped today.... the expletives😋 during climbs and having some fast music helped me get to my first 17mph+ ride over 30 miles ... thanks again. Awesome video.. cheers.
Thanks for the advice gcn I have struggled with my mental state recently on the bike and this is really helpful. I once had a complete mental breakdown during a ten mile roller TT where I couldn't force my body to do anymore in front of all my clubmates
Thanks Si for the great video, I will use this info next weekend at the Leadville 100MTB race. It has 12,600ft of climbing. Race starts at 10,200ft elevation ,and climbs to 12,638ft. Climbing is not my strong suit, so I may be using the swearing tip a few times. And a positive attitude.
Something that really helps me is thinking of why your doing it so for example if you’ve got a race or sportive think of winning that race getting a PB on your sportive
Here's my favourite. Imagine a horde of zombies is bearing on your rear wheel. If you stop, you die. It really works.
The promise of a post-ride cold beer keeps me going through ANYTHING.
Matt is sooooooo FUNNY!!! I love to watch every GCN video!!! Keep up the GREAT work guys!!! I LOVE IT!!! :-)
Excellent topic!
This is a genuinely fantastic video! Truly inspired by it! It's funny, I had not realised how many pain management techniques I use until watching this vid.
That was a great video guys
I have always a small speaker with me and when I am exhausted and want to get more power out of me ... I listen to my beloved 80s Synthwave music. People always look a bit perplexed when someone on a road bike whizzes past them with music, but so far nobody has complained ... definitely safer than headphones.
Great video :) again nice guys. Im keeping my finger crossed about the power meter give away :)
Aimilianos DD I keep my finger cross every giveaway
Aimilianos DD how do we enter in the giveaway?
watch gcn video like it. and then press the descreption below it will say " enter to the competition" something like that :) the video is: unboxin the quarq DFour & DZero powermeters
I just had an ironman race where the first part of the race felt really easy and was taking lots of riders. Overall 400 riders and was just about the top quarter for pace. Was so much fun it made me go faster without feeling like more effort. The neck and shoulders got achy from the tri bars so focused on completing quickly to solve the ache there. Did get to the point where about 70 miles in my knees started to get painful, and i had to run after. Listened to them and ease off for the last 40 miles but still doing a decent pace. After the race the breathing and effort of doing any movement i realised quite how hard i had really been working. Now trying to get the left knee working properly again. So far taken 10 days to recover that. Only the second time i have ever had such a good feeling on the bike and the first time on a 112 mile bike race.
Needed this.
Thanks GCN!
This is a brilliant video. Well done.
A mate and I were once battling a 14% grad when the farmers at the vale to the right-hand side decided killing a pig was a neat idea. The pig would cry at every turn of our pedal. Incredible how this can get into your mind.
The other thing I hate is being on such or steeper climbs and a passing car has to reduce gears, and your hear the engine revving like crazy, and your mind goes like "I told you, you ***, why do you want this when not even a car can handle it?".
Mahayana buddhists teach not just tolerance of pain, but acceptance of pain as a welcome friend. When you're challenging pain, especially if you're newer to getting serious about exercise I think it's important to move forward gradually.
#Torqueback This is what happens when you find yourself alone, in the mountains, without sufficient oxygen. You sing to yourself, you talk to yourself, you swear at everything--just trying to ignore the pain. Or in Simons case, make a GCN episode.
Great video!
When I used to use a turbo on a regular basis for interval sessions, I found that my HR dropped quicker in the recovery intervals if I hummed 'ommmmm' audibly. I can't think where I read about this but it was quite intriguing as an interval sessions with ommming was always more successful (i.e. I could hit the power levels for the full interval duration on every interval) than without. Without the humming, I started each interval relatively more tired and thus often couldn't sustain the power on the last one or two intervals. So maybe those monks have something to offer as well as the sports scientists. However, I have tried ommming when ascending (much to the merriment of my club mates) but I usually didn't have enough breath to cycle and hum - possibly the same limitation applies to singing.
Tricky thing is that when your health isn't the best sometimes you HAVE to pay more attention to what your body says.
That said "If you go slow for long enough you'll make it pretty far anyway" is (one of) my motto(s)...
Really great presentation, Si, thank you, and I subscribe to pretty much all of it, with the addition of games like trying to get past that telephone pole or through that corner before being overtaken by a motorist. And if I get overtaken by a fellow cyclist, well, it is game on, no matter what, if only to accelerate and warn the speedster that he'd better keep crankin' or I'm gonna catch him. And I do that playfully, of course, as really, it is all play, except in the harshest weather or fiercest pain. But for the most part, it is big fun and pain can be fun, too, and sometimes I like to think that I am speeding toward the line on a solo break--I won a handful of races that way--and I marvel that I am still out there in the big ring or, well, truth be told, the smallest ring on my triple, sigh. But there's no way that car coming up behind me is beating me to the junction at Rt. 997. Oh no, that ain't happening.
Looking at the tarmac...or thinking about a Vivaldi Oboe Concerto allowed me to climb the struggle and Honnister Pass
8:40 I tried telling her that but she wouldn't believe me.
Bonkers
I have a motivational music play list for trail / gravel riding / training. The music is all personal stuff and ranges from the Rocky film theme (sad but true!) to Pavarotti songs, to stuff from dark divorce days. It's very powerful and my best training sessions are when I get emotional and loose myself in that zone. In my most epic 'in the zone' ride ever, I started to cry!! In fact ... sob my heart out. The more I sobbed, the harder I pushed, the harder I pushed the more it hurt, and the more it hurt the better it felt. So I pushed even harder. It was frankly, the most amazing endorphin induced bike ride i've ever had in my life which I will never forget. (This included a Mark cavendish style sprint through a city ring road, whilst sobbing to Motorheads Ace of Spades which was in itself utterly exhilarating!!) 'That's the way I like it baby - I don't want to live forever ... '
This whole video is a metaphor for life in general !
Why didn't you call it Cycology for cyclist
Richard Kaz or is it SI-cology
I call it cyclotherapy.
I'm a new rider but when I'm going up hill, I try not to look up as much so, I don't get discourage, I only look up to see if I don't have any one in front of me or too close. I breath in and out . I sing during my rides and when I feel is too hard I'm talking to God to help me get there! 😀 it works great!!!
Bernard Hinault said "As long as I breathe, I attack" - and that keeps me going when it hurts.
We sing cadences during runs in the military. The miles do seem to fly by without notice. Likewise, I like singing out loud while riding my bike.
Swearing at yourself (tough love) does seem to get me through some steep intervals.
Wow Si is a decent baritone! I'm a cyclist and Choir director. Good singing! (4:10)
Beta Alanine and Tylenol. Both studied and shown to improve performance. Tylenol tells the brain to shut up and you can push further.
Brilliant video, funny and very revelant at the same time, haha
Not sure how much of a good idea it was to use a GCN video on pain, to distract myself from the pain while doing a workout on Zwift!
My mind's telling me no, but my body's telling me Jens
I think knowing the climb is very important to calm down the mind. I believe our mind - if knows there is long unknown length of a climb ahead - will start to limit us/our body (put into pain, whatsoever) to save energy, to be ready if there is more climbing than we expected. I feel like climbing is already considered by our mind as "fight or flight", so until there is no real danger, mind may try limit the body, to have some extra energy in case of "danger".
Hi. You neglected to mention the infamous Cipollini technique ... distracting the mind from the pain and boosting the testosterone levels by looking at a Pamela Anderson pic on his bike's top tube! Perhaps the female riders could use your recent Cipollini pic on this week's GCN show for similar results :-)
Did he really do this?
Yep. estaticos.elmundo.es/deportes/ciclismo/tour99/imgs/ciclistas/grandes/manillar.jpg
I use a similar trick, with the Lamborghini Diablo SuperVeloce
Just a pic of Si being Si would do.
he should totally feel bad for doing this oh king of cycling knowledge...
That's why the preworkout is so important. I really notice a difference, especially when mountainbiking. If i arrive pumped up at the track, thinking about the trails i'm gonna rip up and listening to the appropriate music , then i'll actually do it. Same with cycling in a group that's too slow and keeps moaning about the speed. When you finally are "released" you'll be very very fast. I'll feel the pain, but won't act on it. Just make some weird noises and faces probably
so far probably one of my favorites.
Classic cycling comedy while delivering powerful message
This is one for lasty😉
I used to do the counting technique when I was a teenager and I used to jog the 2 miles back home on a Friday or Saturday night after a night on the town when I didn't have enough money for a cab. I used to find it help regulate my breathing. Nowadays I just seem to get lines from songs stuck in my head for the entire ride, not through choice, it just happens, annoyingly.
The Swearing Method! Love it. Have been doing this more and more, mostly when no one is in hearing distance, LOL!
Where was this filmed? Awesome climb.
When I was in the military (quite a while ago) I used to quietly hum the theme song to the Smurfs during particularly pain inducing situations. I haven't done that in a while but it really did work and let me press on. 😀. No idea why I chose the Smurfs. It just popped in there one day and stuck.
At 5:35 I lost it. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard as I just did.
LMAO I thought I was the only one who cussed myselfout while riding. On a climb I really call myself all kinds of nasty crap.
I ride in a park and do that. A polite "Overtaking." then a snarl of "Sprint lazy $&&($ back to tempo".
A little old lady I pass every morning starts laughing when she hears my brakes behind her.
Great video guys, this is all so true. These would be great things to include in your coaching on your Zwift and Cycling Club content.
Also I tend to do basic mental arithmetic as a way of distracting myself but also keeping my lucidity near the end of harder rides
Weirdly, I found out that I went harder than I would have done today because it was raining. Started my ride not feeling very fresh (3rd day in a row, was aiming for bit of endurance riding), but it started pelting it down so I took a short cut back up a nearby hill. Wasn't really aiming to smash it but was just focusing on getting up it as I wanted to get home as fast as possible. Pulled a time of 4:44, only 8s slower than my personal best, which was me absolutely smashing it when completely fresh.
From my knowledge, I think your mind limits your body to stop injury and over working your muscles. So I agree this point can be trained
On my bike tour through the western alps (big bags, tent, stove, the works!) I got into a weird, and unexpected habit of saying to myself "there's only 2km to the summit, now you can really go for it!". it worked every time. But I suspect the main reason was the ridiculous number of 2000+ metre summits I'd crested for days on end, making me pretty fit. At least for a few weeks. That was a real thing though. Never forget it! "Just 2 km. Easy, see? Go for it!". I caught a couple of folks on unloaded racing bikes (Vars and Cayolle, and also a few on the way along the bottom of the Izoard who I surprised by keeping up with them at 40 + km/h. Apart from the last ones, that was really mean of me. I bet the guys on the racing bikes rarely felt worse pain in their lives than when I caught and passed them, with the full set of Carradice, plus saddle bag, plus tent.... :-)
psychology is so important, winter 1995 Riis told telekom he'd win the tour next year and so he did because he believed in himself.
EPO probably helped, too
I knew somebody would say it 😂don't forget HGH, insulin, prozac, lets face it even the lantern rouge was probably doping back then haha
Telling me that swearing improves performance is a relief to me because of how many short, steep climbs I have and I am very good at swearing.
Really, really helpful - thanks GCN.
Tnx for these tips. Very soon me and my club is going to Sirdalen in Norway to doo an 7km. long and ca.10% steep climb
Det vi heter That's nothing!
I would pay good money to see the uncensored version of Simon swearing loudly through the mountains
Impressive pace to your climb while conversing. I would add that a good forceful primal scream now and again can be good for the psyche. Perhaps the same effect as swearing without being offensive.
When I listen to Rhythmic music whilst riding, I always go faster. My theory is that it calms my mind and keeps the focus on the ride and not the pain.
singing loudly on climbs might make you look tad excentric, but has potent training effects! it enforces conciously controlling your breath, to not pass out, and strengthens the whole respiratory systrem, and the diaphragm in particular. think of military PE. "DADA DEEDA DEEDA DAH"
some argue that judas priest or rammstein lyrics dont work quite as well, but make you feel about exactly 54.321% more badass, significantly boosting the tolrance to ANLwS (achy noddle leg whining syndrome) and increasing over all performance by the quare root of pi or something.
Visualization: Imagine an enormous current flowing from your heart to every part of your body through heavy-duty copper cables. You feel strong, powerful -- you have great energy.
That kit looks FUEGO
The swearing on the climb had me in stitches
Si's singing was painful enough that Team Sky could probably use it for training.
Do you have a review video for dashcam system for cyclists? Myself being a victim of an accident, i'm thinking about buying a camera system. Keep up the great work!
"With the mind, you have done great things, but without the mind, you would have done more"
Thirty five years ago when I was racing, I would use mental tricks on my competitors in a race. While riding next to someone, I would just casually say, "Quite a head wind today, huh?" This would work many times as that guy would start to think there was actually a head wind. I could then just ride away, pleased with myself for ruining his race.
I just keep telling my self, I've got this I've got this really helps especially when trying to hit them KOMs on Strava 👍