He Said, She Said: Body Concepts Cycling Presentation Series

Body Concepts owner Rob Kopitzke teaching the first of his Cycling Presentations series.

Usually GroveTribe blogs are written by Chris or Dawn and then they help each other edit their articles, today’s blog is a departure, an experiment if you will. On March 10 they both attended a presentation, the first in a series by Body Concepts’ Rob Kopitzke (aka “The Wizard”). In this blog they will present a “He said, She Said” version of what they took from the presentation without consulting with each other.

(He Said) On Thursday night I attended the Body Concepts Presentation on “Testing…  What are Your Strengths and Weaknesses as a Cyclist?”  My primary goal was to get my wife there so that she could learn more about cycling.  For myself; I wasn’t sure if I would hear anything new but figured it would be good to go to be reminded of things I should or shouldn’t be doing.  My wife is going to tell you what she learned in the “she said” section, so I will cover what I picked up in the “he said” section.

One of the things that stood out was when Rob mentioned that you don’t get stronger by working hard, you get stronger by recovering.  In other words, you do the hard work out to tear down the muscles, but you don’t get stronger until your muscles have a chance to heal.  Working out again before you recover only works to tear down the muscles farther.  It isn’t that I hadn’t heard that before.  I have heard it before and have got much better this past year at taking recovery rides.  However, there are many times that I am still doing too many hard rides in a week, I am not going easy enough on recovery rides, and I rarely recover for more than two days.  Sometimes it is good to give your body a longer stretch to replenish and heal.

Rob also talked about pedaling strokes in a way that I finally understood what people are talking about when you are told you need to work on pedaling efficiency.  Rob drew up the ¼ of the stroke where you get more power, the ¼ of the stroke where your legs are coming back up, and then the two ¼ top and bottom parts of the stroke that is where your legs would stall out.  After the power part of the stroke, you want to get your leg back around as fast as possible for the next power stroke.  In doing so, visualize that you are on cross-country ski’s (or an elliptical trainer) where you are pushing your legs forwards and backwards.  Don’t worry about focusing on pushing down, that will come naturally and doesn’t require that you think about it.  I haven’t applied this to my riding yet as I had a race coming up in less than 48 hours and didn’t want to do anything different than what I have been on such short notice.  Now that the race is done (I will blog about that later) I will put this knowledge to action on my next ride.

We also discussed flexibility to go faster.  Essentially, the more flexible you are, the farther and longer you can tuck down into an aerodynamic position.  Unless you are climbing, fighting the wind is your biggest enemy. I have already been working on my flexibility and trying to increase the time I can hold an aerodynamic position. This lesson reminds me to double my effort.  The more energy I can save the higher the chances of winning are.

While my primary goal was to get my wife to the clinic, I must admit that I got a lot out of this presentation.  Rob does an excellent job explaining the nuances of cycling and I feel motivated to do what I need to do to be a better rider.  I can’t wait for the next presentation!

-Chris Grove

(She Said) It’s About the Engine.

Lance was right; “It’s Not About The Bike” it is about the engine. If you take nothing else from this blog -or the Body Concepts presentation that spawned it- it is simply that maximum performance is so much more about the engine, namely YOU. You can spend thousands on a bike trying to wrest every last ounce of performance out of a more and more brittle frame but dollar for dollar your investment is better spent on your performance. Spend an extra thousand to lose a few ounces off your bike or invest in your health, maybe shed a couple of POUNDS, and end up a lot better off not only in performance but in your entire quality of life.

The presentation touched on many concepts from the need to understand your fuel, how your cadence and spin can win or lose a race to how your physiology affects performance. I took pages and pages of notes and by the end of the presentation I looked down at them and realized that trying to impart the entire presentation to you not only would become a massive undertaking but it would be a disservice to you. My eyes were opened and I was energized by the presentation and all I can say is that you need to see the Wizard in action to appreciate his knowledge.

Rob not only understands how the human body works but he has a special focus on how the cyclist works and how to help that cyclist be their best. Learning basic human physiology and anatomy is as easy as looking it up in a book (wiki, google… whatever)  but understanding your own individual workings and how they apply to your performance as a cyclist is much more complex and you could spend years trying to figure it out with no guarantee of success.

I knew that Rob and the Body Concepts Team had exponentially increased my husband’s ability to tap into his athletic potential but until I had the chance to sit and experience the magic of the Wizard I could only see the tip of the iceberg. Now I am left to re-examine my priorities and my own dreams of better equipment have been supplanted by a desire to learn more about and improve my greatest piece of equipment, the engine that is me.

-Dawn Grove

If you would like to attend one of these cycling presentation classes here is the information sent out by Body Concepts. See you there!

Please RSVP to: nrobyn@bodyconceptsinc.com  or (916) 939-6800 ... only 30-spots available per presentation 

DATES:

All presentations 7-8:30 pm at Body Concepts

March 10^th   Training #1- testing: what are your strengths & weaknesses

March 24^th   Training #2- principles of training

April 14^th     Training #3- what and when

April 28^th      Injuries- how to prevent/recover from them

May 12^th       Flexibility- a less painful performance enhancer

May 26^th       Core Strength- turbo charge your leg power

June 16^th      Bike Fit- a balance between comfort and performance

June 23^rd      Biomechanics- optimize your efficiency

PRESENTER:

Robert Kopitzke has been an Orthopedic-Sports Physical Therapist for over 23-years, he obtained an "Elite" USA Cycling Coaching license in 1998, is a Master Pilates Instructor and certified Neuromuscular Reprogrammer. He has worked with hundreds of cyclists throughout the Sacramento region since 1994 as Peak Cycling and established Body Concepts in 1998.

For more information about Rob and Body Concepts: www.bodyconceptsinc.com