This Stops 90% of Cyclists Getting Faster

Summary

This video offers a unique workout called the 'Magic Hour' to improve cycling speed, emphasizing the importance of proper body positioning and skill over sprint training. It also highlights the role of drag, suggesting ways to reduce it and increase average speed without spending extra money.

Takeaways

• 🏃‍♂️ The video emphasizes the importance of not just sprinting to increase speed but using a workout that can change one's speed forever.
• 📱 The use of a phone to track speed and compare with others on Strava is discussed, highlighting the mistake of comparing oneself with those who may have an unfair advantage like drafting.
• 🔄 The concept of 'magic hour' workout is introduced, which involves planning a route and doing intervals of high-intensity cycling with rest periods in between.
• ⏱ The workout should be exactly one hour long, focusing on maintaining the effort for the duration and stopping as the hour ends for accurate speed measurement.
• 🚴‍♂️ The video suggests that improving one's aerodynamic position on the bike, specifically the 'frontal load triangle' of head, shoulders, and handlebars, can significantly affect speed.
• 💪 Strength and core work are recommended to overcome physical limitations that may prevent one from getting into a more aerodynamic position on the bike.
• 📸 The idea of taking photos to analyze one's position on the bike is suggested as a way to make adjustments and improve aerodynamics.
• 🛠 The video points out that skill is a key component of speed, and that improving bike handling, cornering, and braking can lead to faster cycling.
• 💰 It's noted that spending more money on gear like helmets may not yield significant improvements in speed compared to focusing on body positioning and skill.
• 🔄 The 'magic hour' is positioned as a baseline to measure one's current speed and progress over time, with the suggestion to repeat the workout after a month.
• 🔑 The video concludes by emphasizing that identifying and overcoming individual obstacles to speed, such as skill limitations or physical barriers, is crucial for improvement.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is to provide a workout and tips to improve cycling speed, emphasizing that traditional sprint training may not be the best approach for everyone.

Why does the speaker suggest not to compare oneself with others on Strava?

The speaker suggests not to compare oneself with others on Strava because many people are making the mistake of comparing their average speed with group rides where others are drafting, which can lead to an inaccurate assessment of one's own speed.

What is the term used for the workout the speaker introduces?

The term used for the workout introduced by the speaker is 'the magic hour'.

What is the significance of planning the route for the 'magic hour' workout?

Planning the route is significant because it should be flat, away from road furniture, and ideally with a headwind/tailwind balance to ensure that wind is not a factor affecting the ride's speed.

What is the recommended length of the interval during the 'magic hour' workout for a beginner?

For a beginner, the recommended length of the interval during the 'magic hour' workout is 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

How often should one perform the 'magic hour' workout according to the video?

The video suggests performing the 'magic hour' workout once and then repeating it after a month to track progress.

What is the key component that the speaker says is often overlooked when trying to improve speed?

The key component often overlooked is the frontal load triangle, which includes the head, shoulders, and handlebars, and how it affects air resistance or drag.

Why is lowering the frontal load triangle beneficial for cycling speed?

Lowering the frontal load triangle is beneficial because it reduces the drag caused by air resistance, which can significantly impact cycling speed.

What does the speaker suggest as a solution for triceps fatigue when holding the hoods of the bike?

The speaker suggests doing push-ups and bench dips to strengthen the triceps as a solution for triceps fatigue when holding the hoods of the bike.

What is the term used by the speaker to describe the skill level in cycling and its relation to speed?

The term used by the speaker to describe the skill level in cycling and its relation to speed is 'speed is skill'.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the use of brakes while cycling?

The speaker advises that brakes are meant to stop the bike, not to slow it down, and that continual braking might indicate riding at a speed that is out of control.

How does the speaker suggest improving one's skill level on the bike?

The speaker suggests improving one's skill level by focusing on the flow with the bike, including line taking, cornering, and positioning on the road during every ride.

Outlines

00:00

🚴‍♂️ Enhancing Speed Through 'Magic Hour' Workout

This paragraph introduces a workout designed to improve cycling speed, challenging the common misconception that sprint training is essential. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding one's genetic predisposition to speed, suggesting that while sprint training can be beneficial, it is not the primary method for enhancing speed. The 'magic hour' workout involves planning a route, performing intervals of high-intensity cycling, and resting as needed. The goal is to complete the workout within an hour, with the focus on maintaining a high average speed. The speaker also advises against comparing oneself to others on Strava, highlighting the need for a personal baseline and the potential for misleading comparisons.

05:02

🏃‍♂️ Overcoming Drag and Improving Skill for Faster Cycling

The second paragraph delves into the concept of drag and how it affects cycling speed. The speaker explains that the body creates the majority of the drag, and thus, optimizing body position is crucial for reducing air resistance. Techniques such as lowering the head relative to the handlebars and improving core strength are suggested to achieve a more aerodynamic position. Additionally, the speaker discusses the importance of skill in cycling, arguing that skill and speed are closely linked. By focusing on improving bike handling, braking, and cornering skills, cyclists can increase their speed. The speaker encourages viewers to practice these skills during every ride and to identify and overcome the specific obstacles that limit their speed.

10:04

🌟 Mastering Bike Handling and Skill to Maximize Speed

In the final paragraph, the speaker reinforces the idea that skill is a significant factor in cycling speed. They emphasize the importance of smooth bike handling, including cornering, positioning on the road, and pedal stroke. The speaker suggests that by focusing on these aspects, cyclists can achieve a natural flow that enhances speed. They also encourage viewers to identify their personal limitations and work on improving them through each ride. The speaker concludes by reminding viewers that anyone can train hard, but training smart is what sets apart successful cyclists, inviting them to join a free community for further guidance and support.

Keywords

💡Greasy Fast Demon Speed

The term 'Greasy Fast Demon Speed' is a colloquial and vivid expression used to describe an extremely high level of speed, particularly in the context of cycling. It is meant to capture the essence of rapid, almost supernatural quickness. In the video, the host promises to deliver a workout that will significantly enhance the viewer's cycling speed, using this phrase to set the tone for the high-performance theme of the video.

💡Sprint Training

Sprint training refers to exercises designed to improve an individual's speed over short distances. It is often used in athletics and cycling to enhance quick bursts of speed. In the script, the host mentions that many people mistakenly believe sprint training is the key to increasing speed, but the host argues for a different approach to achieve 'Greasy Fast Demon Speed'.

💡Average Speed

Average speed is calculated by dividing the total distance traveled by the time taken. It is a common metric used in cycling to measure performance over a course. The video script discusses the importance of average speed in the context of comparing one's cycling performance to others, and how the host's workout aims to improve this metric.

💡Strava

Strava is a social fitness mobile application that tracks and shares cycling and running routes. It is used to compare performances and has become a significant part of the cycling community. The script mentions Strava in the context of comparing one's average speed with others and how to 'hack' the app to improve one's performance metrics.

💡Fast Twitch Fibers

Fast twitch fibers are muscle fibers that contract quickly and are associated with high-intensity, short-duration activities like sprinting. The script explains that the number of these fibers one has is largely genetic and dictates natural speed capabilities in activities such as cycling. The host uses this concept to discuss the limits and potential for speed improvement through training.

💡Magic Hour

The 'Magic Hour' is a specific workout regimen introduced in the video, designed to enhance cycling speed. It involves interval training with periods of intense effort followed by rest, all within the span of an hour. The script details how this workout can serve as a baseline for improving speed and serves as a central part of the host's speed-enhancing strategy.

💡Frontal Load Triangle

The 'Frontal Load Triangle' refers to the shape created by the cyclist's body as it cuts through the air, specifically the head, shoulders, and handlebars. Reducing the frontal area can decrease air resistance or 'drag,' thereby increasing speed. The script emphasizes the importance of optimizing this triangle to improve cycling efficiency and speed.

💡Drag

Drag, in the context of cycling, is the air resistance that opposes the motion of the cyclist and bicycle. The script discusses how the body creates the majority of drag and how optimizing body positioning and minimizing frontal area can reduce this resistance, thus potentially increasing speed.

💡Skill

In the video, 'skill' is presented as a critical factor in cycling speed, suggesting that the more skillful a cyclist becomes, the faster they can ride. The host argues against the common misconception that speed is purely about physical exertion and instead highlights the importance of developing cycling skills such as cornering and braking to enhance speed.

💡Positioning

Positioning on a bike refers to how a cyclist adjusts their body to minimize air resistance and maximize efficiency. The script discusses the importance of proper positioning to reduce drag and improve speed, including getting low on the bike and optimizing the 'Frontal Load Triangle'.

💡Flow

Flow, in the context of the video, refers to the natural and smooth movement of a cyclist with their bicycle. It encompasses the cyclist's ability to move fluidly through corners and maintain momentum. The host suggests that improving one's 'flow' can significantly impact speed, as it allows the bicycle to move more efficiently through the rider's intended path.

Highlights

The video introduces a workout to change speed forever without traditional sprint training.

Two tips are provided to beat obstacles holding back speed.

The importance of not comparing oneself to others on Strava is emphasized.

A method to hack Strava and beat average speed is discussed.

The concept of 'magic hour' workout is introduced with a focus on interval training.

The significance of planning the route for the workout to ensure optimal conditions is mentioned.

The workout involves varying intervals of 30 seconds to 5 minutes depending on the rider's level.

The importance of recording the workout and analyzing it on Strava for average speed and peak power is highlighted.

The concept of frontal load triangle is introduced to reduce air resistance and increase speed.

Tips on how to lower the frontal load triangle by adjusting bike position and body posture are given.

The role of strength work and core exercises in improving cycling speed is discussed.

The video suggests using photographs and apps to analyze and improve body positioning on the bike.

The idea that skill and speed are interconnected is presented, with skillful cycling leading to faster speeds.

Advice on improving cycling skill through better braking, cornering, and bike handling is provided.

The video emphasizes the importance of identifying and overcoming personal obstacles to increase speed.

A call to action for viewers to subscribe for more content and join the free community for extended discussions.

The video concludes with a reminder that anyone can train hard, but training smart is the key to improvement.

Transcripts

we need greasy fast Demon Speed speed's

what we need that's what I'm going to

give you in this video Yeah speed but uh

we're not going to chase chickens well

not yet and we're not going to do any

sprinting no is that the mistake you're

making cuz it's the mistake a lot of

people are making Sprint training to

increase speed no I'm going to give you

a workout that will change your speed

forever and I'm going to give you two

tips that will help you more than likely

beat the obstacles that are holding your

speed back let's get on with it or

should I say let's get started okay

before we kick off you've got your phone

yeah because your phone is where straa

likely is and if you're interested in

speed you're interested in average speed

and you've been comparing yourself to

others who have got a higher average

speed than you so the drill I'm going to

give you can also show you how to hack

straa and beat well most people's

average speed the way that we input the

data it's not something that's massively

interesting to me

I'm actually that old that I was riding

my bike before the internet before straa

before apps that actually speed mattered

because you were quicker than people on

the road but straa now shows us rides

that can be group rides or solo rides

and a lot of people are making that

mistake comparing themselves to people

who are sucking wheels and following 10

other Riders and the r speed is higher

than you so I want you to relax okay oh

well you've got your phone hit that

subscribe button apparently YouTube said

that 85% of people watching my videos

are not subscribed I told YouTube it's

cuz they're old okay and they don't know

where the button is it says

subscribe and it's actually spelled for

you and it's probably in the corner of

the screen hit it please help yourself

now relax take yourself back to when you

were 10 years old our 10-year-old self

is the same person we are today fast

twitch and slow twitch fibers you're

genetically gifted with more or less

fast switch fibers mean you're fast

you're fast when you're young you're

fast when you're old I don't care if

you're wearing a fat suit now okay

you're still the same muscle fibers you

cannot convert slow to fast and Fast to

slow no you recruit and you activate

fibers so you're either fast and you can

get faster with training or you're slow

and you can get a little bit quicker by

recruiting more but you're never going

to become an Olympic champion Sprinter

if you're born slow game over okay but

we can get quicker because quickness is

Fitness Fitness is fastness so by doing

Sprint training it's completely

irrelevant to somebody who hasn't got a

high abundance of fast twitch fibers you

get me but Sprint training can come

later oh later I mean join the free

community with over 3,000 other people

and you'll get longer videos on these

types of topics okay let's talk about

the workout now now this workout is so

simple remember over complicating

workouts is usually a sign that

cognitively you're not really dialed

into what you're doing even worse you

might not be enjoying the workouts so

this one is hard but it's super simple

to do now I call it the magic hour the

first thing you're going to do is plan

the bloody workout okay so you plan the

route the route is key you can keep it

flat you can keep it away from Road

furniture and you just make sure that

you've got a kind of out and in what we

call a headwind Tailwind type ride if

that's possible okay so that the wind is

never a factor for your ride yes the

wind that's something that straa doesn't

pick up on there are people people even

in my area that will get on a train with

their bike and they'll cycle home with a

tailwind and then post that they got a k

don't become one of them okay cuz you're

never going to enjoy your cycling but

what we're going to do to hack stra a

little bit is you do your warmup 10 15

20 minutes stop or lap send that to

space I was going to say there send that

to the internet okay send it to straa

and then do the magic hour now V2 is the

key so those 30 seconds to 3 minutes for

a beginner or 30 seconds to 5 minutes

for more advanced that's the length of

the interval you're aiming for in your

head so you set off hard okay set off

hard go for as long as you can dictated

by the terrain and the road okay you

rest for as long as you need then you go

again then you rest then you go again

then you rest you might get 7 10 12

intervals inside your hour it's entirely

up to you but you watch that clock 59 50

59 55 59 59 60 boom hit that LP button

boom you've got your hour send it to

straa space it'll be uploaded you can

analyze you can see your average speed

your Peak power different things that

you can extract from that it's a magic

hour and it's a baseline that gives you

a starting point you do your cool down

is a discrete workout and you send that

to straa you get three uploads for the

one but it's the one whereby you're

dialing into that average speed now

you're going to come back and do this in

a month but in the meantime there are

two little other key things that you're

going to dial into and I'm going to show

you now how to extract them from the

workout that's going to change change

your speed okay right let's now look at

one of the key components that many

people Overlook because you're going to

spend money on it and that is getting

Arrow your body is going to create the

biggest drag can we say drag now drag is

not going to fame people is it you know

what I mean okay the drag that's created

from that air resistance no matter how

much money you spend on an AO bike your

body will always have at least 80% of

that drag and You' got to work on that

and let me let you into a little secret

your AO helmet all helmets are Arrow to

a degree and the little gains that you

make by spending another couple of

hundred is not going to help us here

it's about our body shape through the

front so let's talk about frontal load

triangle head shoulders handles okay

your handlebars right so your hoods your

drops and this frontal load triangle

we're going to try and get it as low as

possible now every Cycling Club has a

guy

who's going to tell you to get that stem

slammed you're too high okay

it's all about how high our head is

compared to our handlebars we want to

decrease that okay so any structure

that's going into the wind is going to

cause drag and the higher our head from

our handlebars means there's a bigger

shape in front of that wind so what

we're going to try and do is get low now

here's the thing that no one really

tells you there are obstructions to that

what are they you've got to dial into

them so what's going on do your triceps

hot after a couple of minutes holding

onto the hoods getting really low can

you not get into your drops why is that

what are you doing about those things

many people say I can't do it so I'm not

going to do it and don't shout at me

coach I'm trying my best okay I'm not

shouting at you what I'm saying is you

got to dial into it as Mickey says to

Rocky what's this can't there's no can't

you can okay so if your triceps hot get

doing push-ups bench dips okay if you

can't get into your drops what the

hell's going on with the bike okay

you've got to practice by getting Arrow

we can add more than 1 mile an hour to

that average speed it's not fre speed

but it's certainly worth the investment

in your core work in your strength work

and your positioning on your bike so try

and get some photographs of this frontal

you can easily do a photograph and there

are apps online now where you can put

grids and you can count the grids that

you cover in the picture oh yeah now if

you come into my free community you'll

see me doing stuff like that okay it's

an easy gain right so you do the first

ride and then next month hey we're going

to do the next one and we're going to

try and get lower on those shorter

efforts sure you can set up when you're

on the recovery phase boom we're going

to get you arrow and we're not going to

spend any money no we're going to save

money

yeah okay the last point is something

that's easily overlooked and it's one of

the obstacles that many people don't

know how to overcome and I call it speed

is skill think about this at any level

any sport the more skillful we become

the faster we do it if I take myself and

I think about how slow I am at taking

the trash cans out how slow I am at

doing the hoovering how slow I am at

doing the washing I'm at those jobs

I don't often do them because I'm so bad

at them my wife won't let me cuz I'm so

slow okay no be serious the thing is

skill and speed go along you would agree

with that yeah so if that's true why are

you not cycling faster even though

you've been cycling for years in fact

you're getting slower think about the

skill of the bike think about how flow

with the bike when do you actually sit

back and think about it hey I really

rode well today I was breaking well I

was cornering well what if I said to you

as a coach your brakes are to stop not

to slow down to stop if you're

continually breaking you're maybe riding

at a speed that's out of control how's

your driving do you speed up hit the

brakes speed up hit the brakes think

about it yes of course I'm being a bit

flippant you are going to have to to

slow down going into some Corners if

you're going downhill fast of course but

think about the skill level the line

that you take so when you're doing your

magic hour the line the cornering the

way you position yourself on the road

sure you've got to be safe but the way

that we handle our bike and the way that

we flow with our pedal stroke the way

that we smooth into Corners the way that

we exit Corners this has got a great

bearing on the speed that we will travel

at so think about the obstacles you face

what are the trigger points that slow

you down what are the limitations to

your skill and how are you going to

improve them how are you going to work

on them every single ride on the bike

has an opportunity to improve your AO

positioning sure everybody's focusing on

the intensity the power of the interval

But ultimately that's easy very

few people Now dial into the feel okay

that natur natural flow of the bike and

trust me that's where the real speed is

how you let that bike flow because

ultimately the bike is designed for

Speed it's you that's slowing it down so

let's speed it up folks magic hour dial

into your arrow positioning and dial

into those skill levels that you can

increase by first of all identify what's

holding you back and then work through

it I'm going to out to do my magic hour

and if you want more of this make sure

you're subscribed if you know where the

bloody button is don't give me that

excuse I might see you in my free

community yep the links floating

everywhere and it's in the description

as well lots to share we can do longer

stuff in there as well you take care

keep

smiling keep spinning and remember

anyone can train

hard but there's only

one that can train smart