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Get inspired, Read our cycling & triathlon coaching articles. Any questions get in touch.



A NUTRITIONIST'S GUIDE ON SURVIVING CHRISTMAS



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





Christmas and New Year are widely associated with indulgence. As the year comes to an end, the social events with family, friends & colleagues build up, in conjunction with meet-ups often centered on and around food & drink.


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THE SECRETS OF WEIGHT LOSS



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





Many diets, supplements, and meal plans promise rapid weight loss, but very few are backed by scientific evidence. However, there are some strategies backed by science that have a positive impact on weight management.


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IS CHERRY JUICE REALLY WORTH THE HYPE ?



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





You may have heard of tart cherry juice as the latest and greatest drink to improve your performance, your recovery, your sleep, and even your immunity. But is it really worth the hype ?


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WHAT SHOULD THE DIET OF A CYCLIST LOOK LIKE?



By Founder a Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Whether you are a recreational cyclist or a performance athlete the food you eat can have a big impact on your general health and performance. However, there is so much information out there, that it can be complicated and confusing.


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EFFECTIVE FUELLING TECHNIQUES FOR WINTER TRAINING FOR CYCLISTS



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





It's that time of year again, it sneaks up on us and before you know it the days are short, the temperature drops and it’s time to reunite with that turbo or drag the thermal kit out.


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TIPS FOR GRAVEL RACING



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala.





Gravel can be two things: the adventure and the racing. My way of doing gravel combines the two: escaping from the routine, discover new trails, being close to nature and the freedom from traffic while competing against some of the best gravel riders in the world.


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HOMEMADE SPORTS DRINKS



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





Sports drinks are advertised to replenish glucose, fluids, and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium) lost during strenuous exercise as well as to enhance endurance.


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GETTING STARTED WITH GRAVEL



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala.





I have fallen in love with gravel when I first rode on the white roads of Tuscany before our first cycling holiday there. The passion grew when I won my first Gran Fondo Strade Bianche. However, that was all on a road bike...


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WHY IS HYDRATION VITAL TO OPTIMISE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE?



By Marine Lenehan, Nutritionist at Vivify Sports & Cigala Cycling





Water is the most vital element for human health. We can survive a few months without food but only 3 days without water. Getting enough water every day is one of the keys to a healthy body.


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THE SECRETS OF STRETCHING: HOW TO DO IT CORRECTLY



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





How many of you can correctly perform stretching, so as to derive maximum benefits for sports performance? HOW and WHEN to do it?


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OVER & UNDER INDOOR SESSION



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Over & Under. A great session for indoor training


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ZWIFT RACING GUIDE



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





The 20 best tips for racing on Zwift


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RACING THOUGHTS



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





The racing season is just around the corner. Here are some tips.


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HEART RATE VARIABILITY AND ITS BENEFITS



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





HRV to improve the effectiveness of your training


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TIPS TO TRAIN IN THE COLD



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





10 Tips to train in the cold.


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MANAGING CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS & NUTRITION



By Cigala Cycling's Sports Nutritionist, Evan Lynch





Practical application series.


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UNDERSTANDING YOUR BODY



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Understating your body, what to do when you are too tired to do a key session


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TAPERING



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Tapering before major sports competition or events offers many benefits to endurance athletes. Here some guidelines:


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THOUGHTS ON STAGE RACES



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





In this article I want to outline some personal thoughts on stage races.


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TAPERING



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Coming into the final week before a race, the bulk of your preparation should be done to keep your mind stress-free and relaxed. Given the importance of the next 7 days, you need to do everything you can to ensure your legs are at 100% come race day.


read more

HOW TO MAKE THE BREAKAWAY



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





5 important points to make the breakaway


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CALIBRATE A POWER METER



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





The calibration of the power meter is essential to have greater reliability and therefore train with the almost total certainty that the power is equal to that of previous workouts.


read more

BIKE THROW



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Bike races can be won by ​few hundred meters, a km or even by few centimetres! One of the techniques that riders use to win races on the line is the bike throw.


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THE BENEFITS OF NITRATES IN SPORT



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





In recent years, nitrates in sports, and especially in the cycling performance has become increasingly important and popular. Recent studies show that supplementation with nitrate (NO3−) can improve performance and cardiovascular (CV) responses, due to an increased nitric oxide (NO) availability.


read more

SUPERCOMPENSATION



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





A period of training of enough duration and intensity (training overloaded) causes a decrease in performance, which is followed by the adjustments implemented by the body during recovery, not just the requisition of the same performance level (compensation) of the initial prestative capacity, but also the overcoming of such capabilities: supercompensation.


read more

HYDRATION TIPS



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Water is a crucial factor for training/racing and recovery and it's one of most important nutrient for the cyclist. Without the right amount of fluids on board, you are at unnecessary risk for dehydration, lower training intensity, and heat illness.


read more

10 HABITS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER CYCLIST



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Here are 10 habits that can help you being a better cyclist. Enjoy the reading.


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HOW TO IMPROVE ON DESCENTS



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Let's think about the world of MTB: are strongest athletes that win only good uphill? Or do they also have a great technique in downhill? Obviously in the MTB this aspect is more highlighted, but also in the road racing world affects performance; many times you can keep with the best guys uphill, but you lose them because they are better than you descending


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5 MISTAKE TO AVOID WHEN STARTING A TRAINING PROGRAM



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





As a starting point for everyone, I write these 5 mistakes that you should avoid when approaching the world of structured training.


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THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD WARM DOWN AND A GOOD RECOVERY



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





The warm down is often underestimated, but plays a key role: if the warm up is the task of getting ready to the performance, the warm down has to bring the athletes to rest after the load and to start the recovery processes as quickly as possible, thus providing an important contribution to the psychophysical regeneration of athletes.​


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TRAINING FASTED. AT HIGH INTENSITY OR LOW INTENSITY?



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





I wrote this article because I see that many cyclists are not sure of what type of training they should be doing when fasted.

Let's start with this concept: muscles glycogen also has the function of protector of the muscles.

From this, we can easily deduce that it is strongly recommended to carry out vigorous exercises/activities while not in depletion of glycogen.


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HOW TO MAXIMSE YOUR RECOVERY



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Recovery is a critical component in sport performance and should be included in any successful training program, as it is in those moments when we are resting that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real training effect takes place. Recovery also allows the body to rejuvenate energy stores and repair damaged tissues.


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TIPS FOR NOT GETTING DROPPED ON THE BIKE



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





Getting dropped is not a nice feeling. Here a few tips to avoid getting dropped on the bike.


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HOW TO TRAIN TO BECOME A BETTER SPRINTER



By Founder and Head Coach, Matteo Cigala





​Being able to sprint well at the end of a race is crucial and can be your biggest area of improvement.
Whether you sprint for a race win or for a smaller result, having a good sprint sometimes can be what makes the difference between getting the result that you want or not.
In saying this, it is important that you get to the finish of a race in order for your sprint to be of any value.


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