# Looking for TT warm up advice!



## Cervelo S-5 (Dec 16, 2011)

Hi all, I am pretty new at the whole race game but have decided to pin on a number and go for it regardless of how good I am. I will be in the masters catagory 46-50 YOA and have trimmed from 210 to about 195 this winter. Obviously, I will not be the kickass climber and thus will lag in the hilly road races, but feel that perhaps I may do well in the TT game. I realize that every rider is different and thus there regimes will be; but I am looking for any advice that you have on a good warm up (time, distance, trainer or road etc.) for both 20 km & 40 km TTs. I have never done one officially in a timed competition but managed to simulate one this past weekend. I did about 11km warm up on the road with some up hill some flat and varying cadences and intensities over about a 25 minute period before I headed to the start line. 40 km out and back with a slight tail wind out and the same headwind back :cryin:. The time I was able to post was 1:00:31 which I was very happy with for my level of experience. I would really appreciate any helpful advice on warm up and or tips to improve on this for the coming season!

Thanks! 

"Ride safely, vehicle bumpers hurt!"


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

There are some good ITT warm up routines out there...some of which I think are way overkill for the average rider.

Generally speaking...the shorter the ITT the longer the warm up.

With that said, I generally keep my warm ups to 30-40 minutes and they generally look something like this:

Ten minutes of easy spinning
2 sets of One Minute hard, One minute easy
Two minutes rest
Two minutes hard
Two minutes rest
2 sets of One Minute hard, One minute easy 
Six minutes of spinning

Get off the trainer...put everything in my car, head to the line and race. If it's a shorter 20k ITT I'll usually add 10 minutes of spin time to the beginning of the warm up.

I basically like to go hard for a little while to get used to the hard effort...but not enough to really start using much energy. Others like to do a few longer efforts in their warm ups, which may last 45 minutes to an hour.

Basically find a few warm-ups...figure out what works for you and go with that.


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## Cervelo S-5 (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks for the advice Wookiebiker. It is obvious that you prepare on a trainer over on the road. A similar warm up that I have seen from Troy Jacobson. Your input is respected and appreciated!

Cheers!

"Ride safely, vehicle bumpers hurt!"


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Cervelo S-5 said:


> It is obvious that you prepare on a trainer over on the road.


For ITT's it's much easier to complete your warm up on a trainer...and considering the cost of some cheap mag or fluid trainers...they are worth the cost if you do a lot of ITT's.

The benifits of using a trainer include:

1. Being able to control your efforts easier
2. Being close to the start line
3. Being able to watch the clock (most of the time)
4. If the weather is bad you can bring along a pop-tent or hang out under the hatch of your car before heading to the start line

Others like to use the road to warm up and there is nothing wrong with that...I just much prefer a trainer since I have more control of the things listed above.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Cervelo S-5 said:


> Thanks for the advice Wookiebiker. It is obvious that you prepare on a trainer over on the road. A similar warm up that I have seen from Troy Jacobson. Your input is respected and appreciated!
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> "Ride safely, vehicle bumpers hurt!"


If you go to some local crits or time trials, you'll probably see lots of riders warming up on a trainer. 

For me, I've discovered that I don't need much of a warmup for a 20-40k ITT other than spinning and calming my nerves. For less than a 20k, I need to calm my nerves and get in a really nice warmup. For a crit, I need a really good warmup, especially since I'm typically pretty bad at them.


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## bytewalls (Feb 14, 2010)

My TT warmups are always about 15 minutes. 

5 min Endurance pace, 5 min Tempo, 3min FTP, 2min CD. Then 5 minutes to wander over to the start and let the nerves keep that HR up.


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## Cervelo S-5 (Dec 16, 2011)

Thanks for all the great avice. There is definately a theme out there WRT soft pedal, tempo, lactate build up, high cadence spin out and recovery. I am finding that depending on the day, my warm up for regular rides or TT training will vary based on how I feel and of course the profile of the route. It is nice to have a consenus on an outline because as a rookie I am sure that the brain will shut off and the nerves will take over so the less thinking I have to do to prepare the better for now. I will experiment with different "recipes" until it becomes an easy constant that I do without alot of thought. 

Cheers all!

Ride safely, vehicle bumpers hurt!


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

I personally wouldn't over think the warmup process. Get in a good 30 minute ride on a trainer or rollers at a fairly easy pace (zone 2), and you should be plenty warmed up for your race.


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## Cervelo S-5 (Dec 16, 2011)

nightfend said:


> I personally wouldn't over think the warmup process. Get in a good 30 minute ride on a trainer or rollers at a fairly easy pace (zone 2), and you should be plenty warmed up for your race.


Thanks for that nightfend! Just getting a routine will be good, and a simple routine even better!

Cheers!


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## bytewalls (Feb 14, 2010)

Simple is good, but it is important to make sure you get the HR up just a little bit without using up too much energy. If you don't get it up then you have to build up to npace more which is time wasted.


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## Cervelo S-5 (Dec 16, 2011)

bytewalls said:


> Simple is good, but it is important to make sure you get the HR up just a little bit without using up too much energy. If you don't get it up then you have to build up to npace more which is time wasted.


Agreed! I usually do get the HR up to where I will be for most of the TT for short period and then have a recoupe prior to start so that it takes no time at all to get back to the TT HR. If I have a decent sweat going prior to the start I am good for the duration. Thanks for the input!

Cheers!


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## eddymerckxwannabe (Aug 17, 2007)

wookiebiker gives some good advice. In general, the shorter the race, the more warmed up you need to be.


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## megmarc (Oct 7, 2005)

This isn't exactly what you asked about, but given you are new at this, i think it will benefit you. You can skip the first part. I refer back to this at the begining of each season, just for reference sake. Our stories are similar. I'm now 61 and still enjoy TT's but started about the same time as you. Hope this helps. What ever you do, dont forget, "dont go out too fast".

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/421441-Before-you-start-another-TT-thread-click-here


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