Improve your cycling performance with the power of your mind

Photos courtesy Carrie Wagner

Learn how to apply mental training techniques to cycle stronger, faster and longer. Grow your confidence and feel at one with your bike. Shift your thoughts into positive gear to enhance your physical training and realize your true cycling potential.

Ryan Robinson shows tension in his face. Gail o'Reilly suggests relaxing.

Go on a rewarding journey of self-improvement and inner awakenings that lead to tangible results, as cyclist Tanya Bottoms experienced after implementing mental techniques into her training.

"I feel like I am totally focused and engaged in my cycling," she said. "I don't feel like I am working any harder, but my power wattage has increased 20 to 30 per cent, and my cadence is higher on average by five to seven rpms."

An integral part of mental training is learning how to free your mind of the tension and stress associated with doubt, fear, anxiety and other distracting and negative thoughts. When you minimize tension in your head, it has a domino effect on minimizing stress in your body. As a result, cycling often feels easier. When you are relaxed, you are able to use your diaphragm, a powerful breathing muscle, which improves the quality of your breathing by increasing the amount of oxygen you take in. This reduces muscle tension and, in turn, impacts the amount of force you can generate cycling.

"There is a relationship between the length of a muscle and the amount power it can generate," said Lori Meisner, a registered physiotherapist and cyclist. "A tense muscle is a shortened muscle. Consequently, there is too much overlap of the contractile components within the muscle. For maximum power output, you need to keep your muscles relaxed."

When you cycle in a super-charged zone, racing with adrenaline, your heart rate, blood pressure and rate of breathing increase, as well as the amount you sweat. You may also experience a jittery, uneasy feeling in your stomach. To maintain this high level of energy output, your body has to work harder, and ultimately burns out faster. Cycling at this intensity level is required at times, but staying in it too long will adversely affect your performance.

It is important to understand there are lesser degrees of stress and you may be cycling in this zone without realizing it. Muscular tension is the major contributor of adding stress to your body. Be aware, when you grip your handle bars tightly, grit your teeth, tense your shoulders or put a lot of pressure into your pedals, you are increasing muscular tension.

Your dedication and preparation will pay off, as it did for Ironman competitor Michael Wetherup.

"Now before a race I stay calm and keep my heart rate down by using relaxing techniques," he said. "This prevents me from burning out at the start and getting less fatigued during the race. I ride stronger because I am not wound up."

Mental training is about finding the right balance and steadiness.

"There is an optimal balance for every cyclist. It is a blend of being focused and keeping one's stress under wraps, while being absolutely ready to seize the moment at the right time," said Martin Zauderer, a psychotherapist, USA Cycling Level 2 coach and Masters road racer.

"Almost every three seconds or so towards the end, I'd have to say ‘relax' and then I'd let my shoulders and head relax, and I'd think about putting on the power, and then I'd feel the tension creeping up again, so I'd think about relaxing again, then power, relax. I knew that in order to have power, I had to be relaxed."

Incorporating mental training techniques into your cycling routine may seem daunting at first, but is actually quite simple. Here is a three-step process you can follow.

Step 1: Connect with your body and engage your senses
Focus your thoughts on something specific you are doing on the bike. Feel your handgrip, sit bones, space between your toes, or your knees lifting over your pedal stroke. Pick whatever you prefer. Now feel, really feel into it entirely. You are now cycling in the present moment.

Step 2: Take three to five slow breaths to melt away tension
With a tall spine, relax and draw into deep breathing with your diaphragm. Inhale through your nose if it feels comfortable. Think of full dimensional breaths that grow into your belly, ribs and back. Slow down on the inside. Relax your muscles on the outside, particularly around your jaw and face, as you exhale. Listen to the sound of your breathing. Hear an even, soft rhythm, instead of huffing and puffing.

Gail O'Reilly practises deep breathing through a straw in her mouth.

Inhale slowly through your nose and use a straw to exhale out of your mouth. Ensure you are holding the straw gently in your fingers. Avoid biting it in your teeth and gripping it in your lips. This will only create tension in your breathing. Notice the length of your exhale and how it draws up from your belly. Keep your face soft as your practice. Stay away from puffing out your cheeks.

Relate to this exercise when you are back on the bike. Exhale with depth, and then match the length of your inhales. Remember to relax your cheeks, jaw and lips.

Step 3:  Apply a mental training technique
You are now in the right mental zone to use one of the following techniques.

Trigger words
Quick positive reminders to say out loud or in your head:

• Relax . . . breathe.
• Power (steady).
• Cadence (keep smooth).
• Rhythm (stay in it).
• Soften (your muscles).
• Even (power in legs).
• Big circles (pedal stroke).
• Lift . . . lead . . . sweep (pedal stroke).

Calm and relaxation
Useful ways to help release tension:

• Smile (even when you really don't feel like it!).
• Laugh - think of a funny joke or event.
• See yourself in a mirror calm and relaxed.
• Imagine getting a photo taken and showing no signs of discomfort.
• Visualize a warm light shining down on you and completely melting away stress.

Extra support
Great for hill climbs, wind resistance or drawing to a finish line:

• Feel a gentle push from behind on your back or seat.
• Hear words of encouragement from your coach, friends or family.
• See the faces of people smiling and waving at you.

Simulations
To help you with speed and endurance:

• Imagine driving a powerful sports car.
• Visualize yourself as a fast animal running (cheetah, race horse, gazelle).
• Feel yourself soaring like a bird or floating lightly as a feather.

Deeper connection
These are ways to engage more into your cycling (continuation of Step 1):

• Feel the rhythm of your legs.
• Feel a smooth cadence.
• Imagine lifting over and around a beach ball.
• Visualize a small circle of light growing bigger and brighter as you emphasize your pedal stroke.
• Think of holding eggs in your hands.

Conscious breathing
(Continuation of Step 2)

• Count your breath cycles. Observe how many seconds you take to inhale and exhale. Grow the length of your inhale, then match your exhale to it.
• Visualize your breath as a colour of light. Inhale and imagine filling your lungs with a radiant colour. See the light release as you exhale.
• Feel the soft pressure of a hand between your shoulder blades. Feel your breath expanding into the hand.

Feel positives

• Pleasure over pain/discomfort.
• Warmth instead of burning.
• Letting go instead of resisting.
• Strength instead of struggle.

Believe in your ability and say to yourself

• I am strong.
• I am fast.
• I am great.

There are many mental training techniques you can experiment with. Some will resonate with you, while others will not.

Come up with your own, as Ryan Robinson, Cat 3 road racer, did. "I sing my favourite song. I think about being on the beach in Hawaii. I also think about my other passion of snowboarding, and how cycling greatly benefits this."

The most important aspect of mental training is to stay positive, keep your goals in mind and practise with patience. Give yourself 20 to 30 seconds to adjust to intensity changes and feel the techniques. And, like all training, the more you do it, the better you will become. Every cycling experience is unique, so manage expectations and keep an open mind. Remember the three steps: connect (with your bike), breathe (three to five cycles), and apply (a technique).

Gail O'Reilly teaches Cycling For Balance workshops on how to increase cycling efficiency. She is an experienced cycling instructor, certified personal trainer and registered yoga instructor. She is an avid road and mountain biker.

"The Power of Mental Training" first appeared in the 2010 May/June Multisport Issue of IMPACT Magazine.