Event-Specific Training (When You Already Have a Base)
Written By Kyle Ligon - MovementLink.FIT Head Coach
I just rode the MS 150, a 2-day, 150-mile bike ride from Austin to College Station, TX, to raise awareness and money for the MS Society. It’s an incredible event for an amazing cause (you can find more information or donate here).
We rode 85 miles on Day 1 and 70 miles on Day 2. So, although this is a charity ride and not a race, it is definitely not an event most people can just join on a whim. It takes training.
But what type of training?
There’s one obvious answer: ride your bike, a lot. This is what 99% of the riders in the event do. They are cyclists. They have the gear, the expensive bikes, and they spend hours upon hours in the saddle. Most don’t lift weights, cross-train, or do targeted mobility work; they cycle. This gets them ready for the event, mostly.
But, watching the pack, their biggest pain points seem to boil down to two things:
Strength and Power for Hills: The elite bikers have no issues on the climbs we came across, but the vast majority of the amateur riders did, big time. Strength and power training is very different from long endurance pacing. Because most amateur cyclists don’t train with sprints or weights—opting instead for long, steady rides—they only train for hills when they actually happen to come across them, leaving them exposed.
Nagging Pains: Without a dedicated mobility practice or the habit of training through full, functional ranges of motion, many cyclists develop nagging pains (usually around the knee). This is often a simple case of tight quads and a lack of hip extension. It makes perfect sense when you picture the posture of being on a bike—those muscles are constantly locked in a shortened position. Over time, without corrective exercises, things start to tug and pull in annoying, performance-draining ways.
If these pure cyclists replaced just a few of their long endurance miles with heavy strength training, bike sprints, hill climbs, and mobility work, their performance in an event like the MS 150 would drastically improve.
But here is where it gets interesting: when you start incorporating those elements, you notice what else the fitness spills over into. You start resolving daily nagging pains. You build strength and power that can be used for everyday activities, longevity, and overall health. We start to see that by diversifying our workouts, we not only improve our event-specific performance, but we start opening up additional paths for our lives. (More on how workouts produce options for life here).
The ROI of a Functional Base
I love the opportunities my base of functional fitness provides me, allowing me to jump into adventures like this. Let’s look at how I trained for the MS 150. I'm always amazed by how simple my prep is, but I’m also proud because it feels like a true testament to the type of training we do year-round at CrossFit City Limits.
Starting about 5-6 weeks out, I used my Tuesday gym commute for event-specific 'over-under' training. I rode hard on my bike up to the gym (simulating steep hill climbs), and then immediately joined our long, slow Lactate Zone 2 cardio class. This wasn't just a pure Zone 2 workout; it was a deliberate simulation to train my legs to clear lactate and recover while still maintaining a steady endurance pace—exactly what happens when you crest a hill and hit the flats on a 150-mile ride.
Because we do weekly Lactate Zone 2 workouts year-round, those short hard rides to the gym, and subsequent slower rides back home are literally all the extra training I needed outside of my normal 4-6 gym classes a week. Because of the foundation of functional fitness I already have, my cardio, strength, and power were already capable of the 150 mile ride, I just needed to adapt my local tissues and posture to being on a bike for that long. Through just a few dedicated bike-specific workouts, I am able to take on challenging adventures without reorganizing my entire life to prepare for them and without sacrificing any of my non-negotiable fitness goals.
The Takeaway
Here is the ultimate difference:
The cyclist who only does long endurance rides is okay at long endurance rides (hopefully there’s not much elevation change), but not much else.
The cyclist who adds in a little bit of strength, power, and mobility training is very good at long endurance rides, but still not much else.
The functional fitness follower who adds in a pinch of cycling is good at long endurance rides, but also retains the ability to add pinches of other things and jump into a marathon, a Hyrox event, a Spartan Race, or play a competitive game of pickleball—all with minimal changes to their year-round routine.
Functional fitness is the ultimate vehicle for injecting spontaneous, challenging physical adventures into a modern, comfortable life. I’m not just training for a 150 mile bike ride; I’m training to ensure I never have to decline an invitation to do it.
