Play to your strengths or minimise your weaknesses?

cframe

Say, for example, you're much more of a climber than a sprinter or roleur would you think it's better to concentrate your training on you strengths or try and bring up your weaknesses to a better level?

Same could apply to kit you might buy, ultra light climbing wheels or a set of aero section wheels to hammer along the flats.

Just curious really

ded

Surely depends on your aims? If you want to enter loads of races and crush everyone all the time, then better to eliminate all weaknesses, since you won't get to choose what terrain you are on. If you're already a skinny mountain goat and want to be first home in the Etape or Marmotte then makes more sense to build on your current strengths, no?

Alex_Simmons/RST

cframe wrote:

Same could apply to kit you might buy, ultra light climbing wheels or a set of aero section wheels to hammer along the flats.

The aero wheels are more than likely still faster for climbs anyway. It takes LOT of mass (even rim mass) to trump better aero.

Franco_OFFICIAL

I a have no weakness. 8)

Splottboy

What's a marra you -hey, shaduppa you face!
Best song ever!

mackdaddy

As ded said, depends on your aims, but if you're serious, the answer is both.
Build on your strengths. This keeps your strengths as strengths, you can't afford to let them slip. Also, psychologically this helps in both training and races.
Eliminate your weaknesses. If you're weak on hills, get strong on hills. Not as easy to do as it sounds but it is possible.
All depends on what you are trying to achieve. There's no point being particularly strong on sprints if you're going to race time trials all year.

Splottboy

Balance, "Grasshopper", is what you need. A fully Balanced training scheme is needed.
Look at the demands of the activity you are doing, then try to see which areas you are lacking in. It could be Fitness, Technical Skill or Race Tactics etc.
You'll probably already be doing the stuff you're good at or like doing, so keep doing it!
But, you'll avoid the areas you are not comfortable with, Eg. Sprinting, climbing, drop offs etc.
So "weaknesses" have to be: 1. Identified,
2. An "Action Plan" decided upon to address these.
3. Practice and focus are required to improve them.
4. You might need a Coach or friend/rider to assist you.
Progress may be slow, but I've read it takes about 2,000 repeats of an activity before it becomes a "Natural" movement, so practice, Practice, PRACTICE!
Did I say Practice?
We all avoid things we don't like, Dentist, Exams, Confrontations. But if we don't tackle them they may become an "issue" which you'll eventually perceive as a "problem".
Use the problem as a small hurdle that you has to be overcome...eventually!

cframe

Cheers for all the advice guys!

I'm already pretty good on the hills (I'm a 10st hill-dancer, you might say )

I always suffer into a stiff headwind and wanna work on getting my average pace on the flats up, figure it's just a bit more power and strength I'm needing in the old legs!

Gonna be working on some TTing as well as prep for a Tri/Duathlon or two next year. Gonna try some of the training plans that are up on the Tacx site soon, see if they make any difference. http://www.tacx.com/beleef+tacx.php?lan ... letrainers

nolf

cframe wrote:

Cheers for all the advice guys!

I'm already pretty good on the hills (I'm a 10st hill-dancer, you might say )

I always suffer into a stiff headwind and wanna work on getting my average pace on the flats up, figure it's just a bit more power and strength I'm needing in the old legs!

Same here, I've found some training on flats has really helped me though.
usually I like going around up hills, but training on the flatish roads has taught me how to find my rhythm on the flats, what kind of effort is sustainable for me, and also improved my aero position (just on the drops), it means in a race I can keep a low profile and that feels natural.

Make sure you keep up training on the hills though. Cav spends a heck of a lot of time hill climbing, because going up hills is the best way to ensure a hard workout, with peaks in effort, much like racing.

Anonymous

Franco_OFFICIAL wrote:

I a have no weakness. 8)

bada bing.