If you are a relatively new rider, you may not know how to prevent the most common mistakes that can lead to physical discomfort during a ride. Even if you have been riding for a long time you can slip into bad habits, and end up hurting more than is necessary. Here are a few tips to help make every ride more comfortable:

Bi-lateral breathing (BLB) is a great tool to have in your bag of tricks. I have been swimming to one side my whole life and I figure it’s time to change that. And I want all of my athletes to learn to swim bi-laterally too.

The treadmill is a great training tool. It helps to accurately quantify sessions, set up great structured workouts and fitness progressions, and is a controlled environment to work on technique and run cadence.

An athlete can be sure that adding one treadmill workout per week will add value to the running that he or she is doing. The treadmill will encourage a faster turn over or cadence, make it easier to settle into a rhythm and hold on to it, and most of all will make it simple to quantify progress the athlete has made.

Run economy is an often overlooked aspect of a proper training program, mainly due to lack of technical knowledge. Along with VO2 max and lactate threshold, economy is one of the three pillars of running. Utilizing your energy in the most efficient manner possible is the key part of speed progression.

Lance has revolutionized cycling in several ways. He's shown you CAN come back from a serious illness like cancer and return to top form. And, unlike other top European racers, he's shown the value of focusing intently on ONE race, the one that matters the most to him ' Le Tour de France.

At least one time each week during your indoor 'trainer' rides, it is important to devote some time to improving pedaling efficiency and skills. Among your goals for this skill work are: 1. to refine your pedal stroke and promote pedaling efficiency/coordination/strength, and 2. to develop easily referenced drills that you can employ in training and racing situations.

An introduction for Multisport Athletes and Endurance Runners By Coach Paul