In this Episode:
- Dean Somerset
- Mindset Evolution
- Squat Loading and Methods
- Individual Body Awareness
- Breathing Training
- Shoulder Position
- Spine Range of Motion
- Injury Prevention
- Tissue Adaptation in Strength Training
- Road Cyclists’ Gym Volume
- Hips and Rotary Stability
- Conclusion
Show Notes:
0:41 –
Dean Somerset
- Plethora of knowledge
- Has been presenting for over a decade
- The Complete Trainer’s Toolbox
- The Complete Hip and Shoulder Blueprint
- With Tony Gentilcore
- His wife is a cyclist
- He trained cyclists and paracyclists up in Canada – where he currently lives
2:48 –
Mindset Evolution
- “Before they used to just walk past the weight room because they didn’t wanna get big and bulky” – Dean
- But now they understand that’s not necessarily the case
- Maintain that watt to body weight ratio and you’ll get stronger on the bike
- Watts/kilo – relative, not absolute, power
- People don’t see the numbers change over time
- Cyclists are all about performance outcomes and biometrics
- As threshold power goes up so does VO2 and RPMs and everything else that goes into the metrics of what makes a cyclist perform
4:40 –
Squat Loading and Methods
- Dr. McGill spoke about a belt squat
- Menachem likes to do a front squat or goblet squat before ever doing a back squat
- Dean likes to start with a front squat with most athletes
- “If you have access to a belt squat machine – great!” – Dean
- A front squat is more specific to cyclists
- It’s anterior loading instead of posterior loading
- “A safety squat bar would be even better” – Dean
- Range of motion is going to be very independent to the individual
- Essentially, it depends
- “Everybody has a bit of a different squat” – Dean
- “Some people have Tony the “shoulder guy” and you the “hip guy”, but you’re well beyond that” – Menachem
- “For a beginner – the best place to begin is at the beginning” – Dean
- Learn how to do a clean squat and a deadlift properly with good body control over compound movements, and then, gradually add loading as you can tolerate it
- You’re not training to be a powerlifter or an Olympic lifter, but you’re using those techniques to benefit cycling performance
9:34 –
Individual Body Awareness
- It depends!
- It’s so athlete-specific
- Series of assessments
- Medical questionnaire
- Helps determine red flags for certain exercises
- Passive range of motion on table
- Active assessment
- Can they generate tension?
- Actually doing stuff
- Can they squat, deadlift, kettlebell swing, etc.?
- What does that look like?
- Can they squat, deadlift, kettlebell swing, etc.?
- Medical questionnaire
- Also depends on their schedule/calendar
- Dean wants junior athletes to learn body awareness, position, technique, etc.
- Get them train based on what they’re looking to do, where they are in the training calendar, and how old they are (masters vs. juniors athletes)
15:00 –
Breathing Training
- “It’s a fundamental component to how a person moves and what they do” – Dean
- Breathing is a mobility and a stabilization tool
- It is extremely essential with endurance athletes
- It’s not yoga – breathing helps to increase your lung volume and lung capacity to allow you to create pressure, stability, and stiffness and increase oxygen delivery to the working tissues
- “Let’s make you breathe better” – Dean
- “If you have somebody who cannot get full thoracic extension – they’re limiting tidal volume – which is gonna affect their performance on the bike” – Dean
- Because then they’re breathing through a smaller bag of air, so it will make them have to work harder and waste more energy
- Rib expansion, thoracic extension, diaphragmatic depression will all inflate the lung into a bigger size
- You have to start young
- Interlace breathing work in everything you do to get maximum performance out of your exercise
- 360º breathing
- “Just become aware of what happens when you breathe” – Dean
23:22 –
Shoulder Position
- “You can’t just have one position all the time that’s anatomically perfect and aerodynamically perfect” – Dean
- So it comes down to if you manage the stress on the body during the positions and after for recovery
- Train shoulder range of motion drills, work on thoracic extension and rotation, and get them to move their shoulder blade
- Foam rolling or lacrosse ball work will decrease tension
- Soft tissue work and basic mobility drills
- So it comes down to if you manage the stress on the body during the positions and after for recovery
- A lot of cyclists can’t separate their rib cage and shoulder
- Lat activation can affect side expansion of the ribs which affects breathing
- Red flags:
- AC joint pain when swimming
- Side stitches with intervals
- Cramping or rib pain
28:34 –
Spine Range of Motion
- Track cyclists typically sit in flexed posture longer than a road cyclist would
- In training, a track cyclist typically has more gym-based time focusing on extension and explosiveness, whereas a road cyclist would likely spend less time there
- It depends on the athlete
- Relatively safe ways for a road cyclist to maintain thoracic extension:
- Stretch and cool down when you get off the bike
- Foam rolling and basic stretches
- Deep breathing or yoga
- Stretch and cool down when you get off the bike
- For cyclists, anything that involves rotation is great
- Hip cars, shin box, shoulder circles 90-90 rotation, etc. are great for shoulders
- Where can people find you?
- Instagram – Dsomerset1
- YouTube – Dean Somerset
- Website – deansomerset.com
33:35 –
Injury Prevention
- Connutation and nutation have a big impact on the SI joint and pelvic positioning
- One of the main goals for a triathlon is to see if you survive
- Don’t try to increase volume or intensity too suddenly
- Give yourself D-load weights
- Take time off
- Programming accounting is very important for keeping yourself healthy and away from potential overuse injuries
- Maintain tissue quality and integrity
- Injuries are bound to happen – so do your best to prevent them
- Adding strength training can add resiliency if you’re consistent with it
- “Decreasing your ride time on the trainer, and added 10-15 minutes consistently – 3-4 days a week – can really help with those tissue qualities” – Menachem
41:00 –
Tissue Adaptation in Strength Training
- Almost a form of cross training from what you do on the bike
- “If you do it concurrently with cycling, you’re cycling performance goes up” – Dean
- The most adaptation will be neural, compared to anything structural
- The tissues may become more pliable
- Joints tend to move better when exposed to force or range of motion that’s different from what they’ve been put through on the bike
- “Strength goes up, power output goes up, range of motion improves, and wattage to rate ratio improves as well” – Dean
- “Mass = gas” – Dean
- It depends what kind of cycling you’re doing – mass can either be an advantage or a detriment
- Important to pay attention to weight and diet as well
- “For most endurance athletes, it’s gonna come down to weight to power output” – Dean
- Strength training will probably injury-proof a lot of their joints and tissues down the line
- Cyclists typically don’t do much upper body stuff
- 2 sets of 3-5 – once or twice a week – you can maintain strength pretty well
50:18 –
Road Cyclists’ Gym Volume
- It depends
- Training calendar, time in off-season, specific sport, etc.
- Phase training in off-season is typically:
- Introduction into strength training, max. strength, strength endurance, power endurance
- Shows huge improvement in strength training
- One guy went from 1800 watts – 2000 watts
- Shows huge improvement in strength training
- You should have 1-2 reps left in the gas tank after you’re done
- Introduction into strength training, max. strength, strength endurance, power endurance
- “I don’t max test any of my athletes” – Dean
- It can increase the risk of injury
58:15 –
Hips and Rotary Stability
- Look for impingement
- 2 coaching tips:
- Don’t hurt the client in the gym
- Make them better at their sport
- You need to train strength, not just test strength
- Basic hip stuff:
- Brace, breathe, create tension, hold tension through range of motion, etc.
- Dean’s goal: get them into a training environment where they can get a loaded adaptation to what they’re trying to do
- “Why is that important to you?” – Dean
- Then break into their belief system
- Ask a runner what they feel getting tired on them after they run
- If they say quads – then they’re not using glutes
- They’re probably stooped forward, have a hard heel strike, and knees are flexed as they hit the ground
- Using a knee extension eccentric contraction to control their stride
- If they say it’s their glutes – then they’re using their glutes
- If they say quads – then they’re not using glutes
- “In terms of rotary stability, the glutes and a lot of the hip musculature are a power source” – Dean
- It just comes down to how you actually run and cycle
- “The glute med is like the rotator cuff of the hip” – Menachem
- Pulls head of femur back and into acetabulum
- “The glutes operate as a complex – so let’s get the glutes to actually operate as a complex” – Dean
1:11:28
Conclusion
- Key takeaways for listeners:
- “There is nothing that will replace compound strength” – Dean
- Get good at basic compound strength because that stuff you can take with you anywhere you go
- “You won’t get bulky” – Dean
- Train to get stronger, don’t train to fail
- “You should always have one or two reps in the tank” – Dean
- Train mobility of your joints
- “There is nothing that will replace compound strength” – Dean
- Where can people find you?
- Australia in July
- Instagram: dsomerset1
- Facebook: Dean Somerset
- Website: deansomerset.com