WHO ARE OUR PHYSICAL PREPARATION ADVISORS?
Dorian Godon,
Dorian is a 25-year-old professional cyclist with the AG2R Citroën team. A native of the Lyon region, Dorian Godon loves nature and the great outdoors. He rides to discover, share and perform! Three victories, a panache-filled breakaway on 14 July in the Tour de France and overall victory in the French Cup round off a magnificent 2021 season. At the same time, Dorian is studying physiotherapy in Girona, a cycling paradise!
A few figures: 31,000 km in 2021 for 450,000 d+, 1,000 hours in the saddle, 69 days of racing and 730,841 calories burned by turning his legs!
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julien chorier,
Julien is a Baouwer from the very beginning, and we're proud of that! At 41, Julien is a specialist in ultra trail formats, with a track record to match his motivation: twice winner of the Diagonale des fous, the Mount Fuji ultra trail and the legendary Hard Rock 100. As well as his incredible performances, Julien is closely linked to nature, as he runs trail courses in his favourite playground, Savoie!
Here are some figures for 2021: 4,000 km on foot for 170,000 m d+, 8,000 km (110,000d+) of cycling per year and more than 50,000m d+ of ski touring!
© Justin Galant
Baouw's tips for adjusting your nutrition in winter
Winter is an ideal time to think about your sports nutrition and test what works best during training. Summer goals may sometimes require dietary adjustments to optimize energy intake, promote recovery, or improve digestive comfort.
This is also a time when new ideas emerge, whether in nutritional habits or in the products themselves. At Baouw, our chef and nutritionist develop solutions every year that are designed to meet the specific needs of athletes, while maintaining a natural, high-performance, and delicious approach.
For example, our new organic 2 in 1 gels, designed to be used as is or diluted in water, offer a practical and effective alternative for exercise, even in winter. Testing these innovations during training will help you find what works best for you to perform at your best during the big summer events.
Use appropriate training programs
GENERAL PHYSICAL PREPARATION (GPP)
PPG is often popular in winter because it provides physical stability throughout the season. It can take many forms, from reinforced yoga to squats with bars. What advice do our two champions have?
Julien Chorier is not a big fan of PPG. But he still does one session a week in winter.
Julien - ‘In trail running, there's a lot of impact on the ankles and knees. So you need to strengthen them to limit the damage once the season starts’. He therefore recommends regular muscle-strengthening work throughout the year, with mobility exercises to maintain a good transfer of power from the lower to the upper body. He adds that ‘working the muscles I don't use is pointless for me’. As with all bodyweight sports, the weight has to be an ally, not a burden. Julien therefore takes care to strengthen his deep muscles, such as the ischios, rather than the biceps, which are useless for his practice.
Dorian Godon - « Le gainage prend une vraie place dans ma programmation PPG ». Pour Dorian, à vélo, le gainage est essentiel. En effet tenir des heures de selles à hautes intensités tout en étant "aéro" nécessite un maintien au niveau du corps. La préparation physique permet de se prémunir des blessures tout en augmentant certaines de ses capacités, dont l'explosivité sur des sprints et sur les efforts de 5 minutes à plusieurs heures.
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What advice would you give a beginner?
Work the deep muscles, the abdominal belt and the hamstrings regularly and consistently. You also need to strengthen the parts of the body that are going to be put under a lot of strain throughout the season, such as the ankles, neck and knees. Ideally, you should do one to three 40-minute sessions a week throughout the winter. Once the season is under way, try to maintain at least one session a week. If you run out of time, our pros recommend that you do some mobility exercises, such as yoga, two mornings a week to keep your muscles supple. It's an exercise that Dorian also does for time trials, like during stage 5 of the last Tour de France, to open up his shoulder blades for a more than violent effort!
You don't have to do this exercise in the gym. Like Julien and Dorian, you can do it at home on a mat using only your body weight. You can do the exercises yourself, or follow a roadmap like those suggested on the Litobox.
Do you ever cross-train?
Dorian - ‘With over 30,000 km this year, I can't afford to do any physical preparation with another sport or to add to my fatigue through other activities. On the other hand, I do trail running or hiking during the break. That allows me to let go of the handlebars and still enjoy the effort’.
Julien - ‘On the contrary, for me cross-training is essential, because on foot I can't do the volume needed for ultra. So I juggle it with cycling and ski touring’.
For both athletes, winter is the ideal time to build up their endurance and consolidate their foundations for the season through endurance training and strength work, with a view to reaching the intensity levels required for the races in early March.
Julien and Dorian, how do you motivate the Baouwers to go out and play in winter? What's a typical winter week for an athlete who wants to progress?
Julien - “To stay motivated during training, you need to have fun and enjoy yourself. You can train with others and set yourself little challenges on climbs.”
Dorian - “For cyclists, ice in winter can be a problem. But you can always switch to gravel biking, mountain biking, or even skiing!” Find the perfect schedule to get in shape for summer!
Have a great season, everyone!
