Now that you have seen Cyclo-Club and everything it has to offer, you might still have a few questions. One that I had to ask myself was “what is the better deal, the Cyclo-Core DVDs or the free video downloads in Cyclo-Club?”

On one hand you can order the DVDs and you get very nice DVDs shipped to you. The upfront cost is pretty high, but it’s a one-time fee.

On the other hand, you can join Cyclo-Club and access $150+ worth of videos and download them, all for under $10 a month.

So we have to weigh the pros and cons of each, and that’s what we’ll discuss today. Keep reading for my DVD vs Download comparison…

Cyclo-Core Workouts on DVD

Pros: If you get the DVDs, you’ll be laying out a lot more than $9.95, but it’s a one-time payment. Once you buy, you’ll get hard-copy DVDs that are yours to keep and use as you wish.

My favorite thing with the DVDs is that you can use them anywhere in your house, without hassle. You can play them straight on your plasma TV in the comfort of your living room, on a laptop or portable DVD player, or you can carry it to your friend’s house and do a group workout.

No matter where you play the DVD, it will provide a high-quality picture.

And of course, no downloads required!

Cons: The one-time payment is expensive. It could be in the $300 range depending on how many programs you buy. Then, once you buy them, you have to wait around while they get shipped to you.

Cyclo-Core Workout Downloads

Pros: First, the downloads are cheaper to start with. It’s just $9.95/month to get into Cyclo-Club where you can download $150+ worth of videos. (Or, if you get a platinum membership, it’s like $750+ worth of video downloads for a $199.95 annual rate.)

Second, they’re perfect if you have a video iPod! The downloads come in MP4 format at just the right resolution for your iPod. So you could carry your iPod with you, then take a break from your ride and get in a core workout along the beach, then go home. Just carry your iPod and it’s done.

So the portability is different, but it’s still there.

Cons: The quality, while pretty good at the 320×240 resolution, is not so good if you watch it full-screen at home. It’s not necessarily bad, as you can still see what is going on, but it’s not the same as DVD quality.

And you’re kind of limited to your computer or laptop though, as there’s no DVD to pop in your living room’s DVD player. (But you can hook your computer to your TV if you have the necessary cables and connections.)

Of course, the download time. You’ll want a high speed internet connection! (A 12 minute video, which would be one section of the workout, is like 72 MB; a full video is more like 200-300 MB.) So that takes a while.

Here’s a screenshot from me watching one of my downloads:

And here’s the actual screenshot from the 320×240 resolution:

Pretty good. But as mentioned, full-screen at 640×680 has a slight drop in quality.

Don’t Forget the Cyclo-Club Discount!

One more thing to consider… As a Cyclo-Club member, you get a 20% discount on any Cyclo-Core DVD purchase!

Yes, just look in the Cyclo-Core store that’s part of the Cyclo-Club members-only section. All the titles are 20% off.

My final verdict is…

The best value is to join Cyclo-Club as a platinum member. Then you get all the good Cyclo-Club stuff and you even get to download a lot of the programs for free. Then buy the DVDs if you really need to, at 20% off.

If you join as a regular member, you’ll be missing some downloads so you’ll have to buy some of the DVDs anyway.

I already have the DVDs so it’s hard to make just one unbiased recommendation, but if I didn’t have the DVDs, I think I’d be happy with the quality of the video downloads. Just weigh the pros and cons I mentioned and see what suits you.

Then…

Go to www.Cyclo-Club.com!

Getting back to my “Susquehanna Experiment” weight training program, it only took a couple practice sessions to realize that low-volume, high-intensity training programs can get pretty complicated. And it only took a couple reps to see how hard it is!

Here are my thoughts on some parts of the routine:

The 5/5 cadence. Lifting a weight for five seconds and then lowering it down for five seconds, all in the same breath, is just plain hard. There is nothing like a constant load on your muscles to show you how long 10 seconds can be!

Under normal circumstances, I have no problem breathing in for a count of 5 and then breathing out for a count of 5. But when that breath takes place while lifting a barbell, and is followed by another eight long breaths under load, it’s a lot harder to concentrate on your breath!

Counting. Normally I would just count my reps and be done with it. In this experiment, I had to keep track of my reps and my breath! That meant I was counting from one to five twice for each rep.

This is where a spotter comes in handy! Have a spotter count your reps for you while you focus on counting your breath. (Eventually I managed to count my reps and just go by feel for the 5/5 cadence, though.)

The weight. Figuring out what weight to use is tricky, too. Even though this is supposed to be intense, and you are only doing 8-10 reps of each exercise, the amount of weight you lift will be fairly low. Trust me, the constant load on your muscles from the slow cadence is more than enough intensity!

I actually did two test sessions just to figure out the proper weight to start with, and even then I wasn’t positive what was best.

Preparation. I don’t know if there’s anything that could have prepared me for this! I hadn’t been lifting a lot, but I hit the weights every so often since I have some light weights at home. I also did a lot of Cyclo-Core routines and lots of extra push-ups.

However, this “Super-Slow” type of lifting still destroyed me!

Soreness. You better believe I was sore! I decided that once every four days is probably all my body can handle, so I went with a Monday/Thursday schedule.

Number of Exercises. At first, when Tim Ferriss recommended doing only 4-7 exercises each time, I didn’t think I’d be getting my money’s worth at the gym, so to speak. But if you do it right, you’ll be too exhausted to do a seventh set of anything!

High Protein Diet. Even though I’m close to being a vegetarian, I enjoyed the high protein diet. Turkey sandwiches, protein smoothies, mmm mmm good!

Now go ahead and get started on your weight lifting routines!

(And remember, you will be able to see all the details at the official Susquehanna Experiment page.)

Here’s a quick ab workout you can do at home that’s geared towards building your lower abs. Take 10 minutes after your rides to do some ab work and you’ll be riding stronger in no time.

That video is one routine from a new program called Turbulence Training for Amazing Lower Abs which was released in celebration of “Ab Workout Month” at Turbulence Training. (In other words, swimsuit season is getting close, it’s time to get ripped!)

Here’s the deal though, if you’re interested in learning more or purchasing the workout… When you get started with Turbulence Training, you’ll get access to two killer ab workouts, including this latest workout. However, this program is ONLY available for a limited time - it will be removed at the end of April.

(You’ll find these two ab workouts in Craig’s TT membership section, which you can access for 3 months when you get started with Turbulence Training.)

Get started today at www.TurbulenceTraining.com

The time has finally arrived… after some careful preparation I’m starting my workout experiment to gain 34 lb of muscle in 4 weeks! (Check that post for all the background info…)

All these weight lifting guides are “experiments” so I’m calling this The Susquehanna Experiment. The experiment is to take a skinny cyclist with big legs but no upper body and turn him into a muscular bodybuilder. The test subject is myself. Based on the guidelines I posted about before, here’s the outline of my plan:

“Before”

In order to do before and after comparisons, I got some “before” pictures and took various measurements to gauge progress.

It also didn’t hurt that I had done quite a bit of Cyclo-Core and other bodweight workouts beforehand, to get my body ready.

Workout Basics

Here are the basic principles for this weight training program:

• One set to failure.
• Aiming for 8-10 reps per set, leading to muscular failure.
• Slow cadence. 5 seconds up and then 5 seconds down.
• Low frequency. (Max 2x per week, perhaps once every 4 days.)
• 3 minutes rest between exercises.
• Each workout will consist of 4-7 multi-joint exercises.
• Each workout will work the entire body (arms and then legs.)

The Exercises

Here are a few example exercises:

• Leg press
• Trap bar deadlift
• Overhead press
• Dips
• Incline bench press
• Yates Bent Row
• Close-grip shoulder press
• Close grip supinated pulldowns
• Hamstring curl
• Leg extension

Plus some jogging or stationary biking for a warm-up and cool-down.

The Diet

It’s simple: Lots of protein.

Building muscle means eating a lot of food, specifically protein. And of course the basics like avoiding anything white, so I only get high-quality carbs.

Finally, one day each week, cut calories by 50%. (Something about protein synthesis and/or metabolism; in other words, because Tim Ferriss says so.)

Other Notes

Very important: Record each workout in detail to track progress.

However I won’t be recording too much detail, especially about my diet. I just don’t feel like counting grams of protein each day

Stay Tuned

This is just the beginning! I’ll be posting updates along with a complete report when this is all said and done.

Climbing is the most prestigious part of cycling, and for good reason - it’s freaking hard! Climbing to the top of an Alp (or two,) or just staying with the pack to the top of the “local monster” is a challenge.

So I thought you might interested in some tips I picked up from Graeme Street, creator of the Cyclo-Core off-season training program. The tips were part of a special report titled “3 Climbing Mistakes Most Cyclists Make” that you can probably get if you sign-up for the special report listed on his website.

So here we go:

MISTAKE 1: More miles = Stronger climbing

Just going out and riding doesn’t mean you’ll get better. You could ride all day long and still get beat by someone that rides 25 miles/week.

The key is to do quality miles!

MISTAKE 2: Lack of Attention to the Powerful Climbing Muscles

Sure, your typical rides work your quads and glutes, which do play a critical role in climbing. But the phenomenon known as “climbing” requires a lot of other muscles to start working - your hamstrings, for example.

And to work your hamstrings and core muscle groups, you’ll have to do off the bike workouts to really make a difference.

MISTAKE 3: Not Reading This Sooner

To get the real mistake number 3, plus the full details on the other two, check out Cyclo-Core and sign-up for the email list. (Scroll down and the sign-up box is right beside the “5 Cycling Training & Nutrition Secrets to Drop Weight and Add Power!” box.)