Jimmy Whelan is the former EF Education WorldTour cyclist who, after retirement, became a competitive runner — and one of the most useful guides for cyclists trying to add running into their week without injury. His perspective matters because he has the bike fitness most amateurs aspire to AND the running mechanics most cyclists lack, which makes his guidance on shoe choice, aerobic intensity, and the cyclist-specific traps of jumping into running unusually credible. For Roadman's audience trying to add running without losing their cycling base, he's the right starting point.
The major positions Whelan is known for in cycling and endurance sport.
Every appearance by Jimmy Whelan on The Roadman Cycling Podcast — 1 episode in total.
“A pro cyclist can do two runs in their off season and can find themselves in a pretty tricky situation with their with their team if they're not careful. Like you hear horror stories of some some riders doing runs or even hikes in the offseason team camps and then all of a sudden they can't ride for months or a year.”
“The biggest thing I'd recommend to bike rider would be to do plyometrics in the gym. That's a really easy and your body and tendons react really well to that stuff. Just learning how to skip doing that at the end, like doing that for five minutes at the end of a gym session or whatever, you can do it at home.”
“When riders do their first jog, they might not notice the tight hip flexors or tight glutes, but when they try and go a little bit quicker, when they open up their gate, your glute med, your TFL, your hip flexor insertion will all get stressed in a way that you're not used to.”
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