30 Seconds before an up hill ride or sprint; start breathing like you are sprinting.
I actually have to breathe to go faster on my bike. Imagine that. While reading “The Lance Armstrong Performance Program“ the book mentions that it takes about 30 seconds to get the oxygen from your lungs to your muscles. So if you do a quick sprint on the bike, the heavy breathing starts about 30-45 seconds after your start. But at this point you are trying to catch up. Your body already needs the oxygen and your lungs are struggling to give it. There is lots of talk about Vo2 max etc related to oxygen intake, but that just makes my mind fuzz.
I noticed when normally riding a hill I would burn out once I got to the top and coast a little to catch my breath. So today I started deep breathing about 30 seconds before I hit the hill. Wow, what a difference it made. Hill after hill I was able to maintain 18-19 mph and keep powering through once I got to the top. Once I got the oxygen into by body I could keep going. It took me a few hills to get used to and consciously start breathing at the right time. I started doing the 30 second prep-breath on the last 25 miles of a 50 mile ride, so I wasn’t just powering through.
So here is the simple new rule:
30 Seconds before an up hill ride or sprint; start breathing like you are sprinting.
Simple enough? Try it, it worked great for me.
