Tom Danielson - Tom Danielsons Core Advantage: Core Strength for Cyclings Winning Edge

Copyright 2013 by Tom Danielson and Allison Westfahl

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America by VeloPress, a division of Competitor Group, Inc.

3002 Sterling Circle, Suite 100

Boulder, Colorado 80301-2338 USA

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Distributed in the United States and Canada by Ingram Publisher Services

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Danielson, Tom, 1978

Tom Danielsons core advantage: strength routines for cyclings winning edge /

Tom Danielson and Allison Westfahl.1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-934030-97-4 (pbk.: alk. paper); ISBN 978-1-937716-30-1 (e-book)

1. CyclingTraining. 2. Muscle strength. I. Westfahl, Allison. II. Title.

III. Title: Core advantage.

GV1048.D36 2013

796.6dc23

2012042139

For information on purchasing VeloPress books,

please call (800) 811-4210, ext. 2138, or visit www.velopress.com.

Cover design by Rick Landers

Front cover photograph by Gilbert Dupuy

Interior photographs by Brad Kaminski except author photographs by Casey B. Gibson (Tom Danielson)

and Kirsten Boyer (Allison Westfahl)

Illustrations by Charlie Layton

Interior design and composition by Vicki Hopewell

Version 3.1

CONTENTS

Cycling has always represented freedom to me. The bike has been a tangible grounding mechanism that has stayed with me from an early age through major life changes and has come to be a foundational element of who I am. My relationship with cycling started when I was 12, growing up in Maine; I would ride around for hours, exploring the roads and indulging my curiosity for finding out whats out there. As I matured and changed, my relationship with cycling also evolved. Today, cycling represents not only a tool for maintaining my fitness and pushing my physical boundaries but also a way for me to unplug from the demands of a frantic Hollywood lifestyle.

One of the ways that my enthusiasm for cycling has been expressed is through my love of professional cycling. It was in this arena that I first met Tommy D. I have always been a big fan and supporter of the Tour of California, and I had the pleasure of meeting Tom at the 2010 race. Our first conversation was brief, but even from that initial interaction I could tell that Tom shared my deep infatuation with the bike. It was clear that Toms relationship with the sport of cycling was much more than simply a professional obligation.

It was this connection that led me to ask Tom to make an appearance in the 2011 Dempsey Challenge. The annual Dempsey Challenge is an international fund-raising platform in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine, which benefits The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center. At the 2011 event, Tom and I had a chance to spend more time together, and I told him to please call me if he ever found himself in Southern California in need of a training partner. Much to my delight, my phone rang just a few weeks later. That was the first of countless training rides that Tom and I would go on over the next year.

Given Toms stature in the world of professional cycling, I was not surprised to witness just how strong he is on the bike. As an actor, Im expected to stay in shape for the camera, so Im no stranger to tough workouts and long hours in the gym. However, trying to keep up with Tom took my workouts to a whole new level! We both like to have fun while riding, but were also both willing to work hard to get better, and Toms level of excellence really inspired me to challenge my own limits on the bike. Tom shared with me that one of his secret weapons is core strength, and that his trainer Allison had designed some unique workouts that were specifically geared toward cycling. He showed me some of the exercises, and I immediately adopted them into my own routine.

When Tom told me that he was writing a book that contained all these core exercises, I knew it would be no ordinary workout book. Tom likes preparing for his sport as much as he likes participating in itthe training, the research, and the implementation are all part of his commitment to cycling. This book is a perfect reflection of Toms detailed, well-studied approach to training.

The simple fact that you are reading this foreword indicates two things: Youre a cyclist, and youre serious about progressing in the sport. By adopting the innovative ideas found in this work, I have little doubt that your skills on the bike will see drastic improvementsimprovements that will be obvious to your friends as you leave them behind on your favorite ride!

Patrick Dempsey

As a professional cyclist, I have always known how important it is to spend my daylight hours training on the bike. No matter what, time on the bike comes first. Raining? Go ride my bike. Sick? Go ride my bike. Burned out, sore, and unmotivated? Go ride my bike. Injured? Well... sit on my couch and wish I could go ride my bike.

In the fall of 2007 I was in a horrible bike crash during the Vuelta a Espaa. I shattered my glenoid cavitya part of the shoulder jointand herniated the L5-S1 disc in my back. I had just signed a new contract with Slipstream Sports, which is based in Boulder, Colorado, and shortly after the crash I moved to Boulder from my former base in Durango, Colorado, in quite a broken state. Not only was I getting used to a new town and a new team, but I also didnt have my coaches and therapists whom I had grown to know and trust back in Durango. I needed some major rehab on my back and shoulder, so I started doing everything possible to get betterphysical therapy, dry needling, massage, chiropractic. But nothing was working, and my injuries were becoming a huge liability. I needed to get healed and get back on the bike.

I heard through word of mouth that there was a trainer in Boulder named Allison Westfahl who had a real knack for fixing injuries in endurance athletes. I met with Allison in February 2008 and was immediately impressed with how she looked at the big picture instead of just focusing on the site of the injury. With her extensive background in physiology and her understanding of how the human body works during sports, she was able to diagnose muscular weaknesses and imbalances that were at the root of my injury.

Allison wanted to know my lifelong history of injuries, and I realized that my low back had actually been a problem for a long time. She had me do a little series of movements while she walked around me with a clipboard taking notes. After about 30 seconds, she said, Okay, I know whats wrong. Your glute max isnt firing correctly, and your psoas is tight and overworked. Plus you have thoracic kyphosis, and your shoulder will never heal correctly if we dont fix that.

I reminded her that the pain was in my low back, not my glutes, but she insisted that fixing the source of the injury instead of just the site of the pain was the best approach. She said I should strengthen my core muscles in order to solve my injuries. Great, I thought. More crunches and back extensions. I had been put on core strengthening programs for years, and none had ever seemed to make a difference. But I decided to give it a chance since I was already there.