Physiological Profile of a Cyclist

Physiological Profile of a Cyclist Preparing for a Competition: A Case Study

Subject

The subject is a male of 36 years old which is an occasional road cyclist who wants to compete in a time trial competition. The characteristics of the subject are:

A time trial competition is a race against the clock, with riders starting a minute apart. This kind of events the distance is fixed, the common distances are: 10, 25, 50 or 100 miles. There are also events with a fixed time 12 and 24 hours with the objective of ride as further as the cyclist can. The equipment that is needed in this kind of races are an aero race bike, an aero helmet, wear tight clothing and use an handlebars as low as they can comfortably go. The position on the bike should be: the saddle height is set by putting the heel on the pedal and with the crank at its lowest point there should be a slight bend at the knee. In this position you should be able to pedal with your heels without rolling about on the saddle. The Lateral position, forwards or backwards of the saddle should be with the cranks set horizontally and the foot on the pedals in the correct position, the knee should hang vertically through the pedal spindle. The handlebars should be at the same width of the shoulders.( http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx) The movement of the feet are a cyclic movement, the parts of the body implies in this movement are the hip, the knee and the ankle.The positions of the body and crank at the times of (A) minimum hip flexion and (B) maximum hip flexion, (C) maximum knee extension, and (D) maximum knee flexion.

[pic 1]

The pedal orientation dips only slightly below the horizontal (heel down position), and this occurs not across the top of the cycle but 90º. The maximum toes down occur at about 75º. (ankle 94)[pic 2]

The physiological requirements of time trialling are stamina, endurance and the ability to produce high speed (racing pace) and sustain it.  http://www.timetrialtraining.co.uk/S4TTElements.htm

During cycling the cyclist suffer some changes in the whole body. The cardiovascular system carries increased amounts of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. The heart rate may increase as much as threefold and the amount of blood pumped by the heart will rise to 20 to 30 L/min. The respiratory system will increase the amount of oxygen needed by increasing both the number of breaths per minute and the depth of each breath. The energy source used for time trial cyclists are fats and carbohydrates. (bruke 2 I 3)

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