Traning programme

[aka0019]

Hi all,

At present I cycle to and from work 5 days a week. The ride is 12 miles there and 12 back. At present I just sort of have a steady ride there and back with the odd sprint here and there. I also attend a training session with my club on a wed night so do about 50 miles that night which includes the training. I know that I should be mixing things up a bit on my way to and from work but not sure what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[lukesdad]

Depends on what your training for.

 

[Dayvo]

You could mix the ride up with some climbing/uphill sprinting in short bursts, if you have that kind of terrain available.

 

[aka0019]

Sorry I should have said. I want to start racing next year. I have only been cycling since April, I will be racing in the TLI league.

Yes I have some hills, most on the way to work though so downhill coming home. I've heard about interval traning, will that help? I would like to make a plan of what i will do each day if possible.

 

[lukesdad]

You re going to open a can of worms here hope your ready for it!

Before you go into specifics,(which I would do with some of your more expeirienced clubmates)they will be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses.You need to work out what you are aiming to achieve at each particular point of the season.

As we are in winter now (Unless you are doing cyclo cross or xc)most racers are working on base training and core strength. If you go back into the posts in this section you will find plenty of usefull info on these subjects.

I would say you need to increase your mileage to include what has allready been said hills etc. resistance training is always good for building your strength.

Come the spring you should be looking to tune your training to peaking for your first race remembering to taper down in the last week.There are loads of different plans around for this but again you need help from someone who knows you and your personal preferences different things work for different people;for example I hate doing weights or any gym work I cross train in winter (swimming running aswell as using cross trainer and turbo trainer when I cant get out on the bike) average 300 miles aweek on bike this time of year. (goes up to about 450 in early spring drrop the cross training) late spring tend to concentrate on specfics. then work on three week cycles trying to tie a race in at the end of each cycle.

Best of luck let us know how you get on.

 

[ttcycle]

yes agree with Lukesdad - now is the time to get the miles in at an easy, steady not quick pace to build a solid base to work from - mix it up a bit with some running or swimming and possibly some light weight training to build strength not bulk up.

Good luck!!

There's tons of info out there but I'd focus on getting some miles in first of all (and remember to get plenty of good food and decent rest days)

 

[Bill Gates]

Hi all,

At present I cycle to and from work 5 days a week. The ride is 12 miles there and 12 back. At present I just sort of have a steady ride there and back with the odd sprint here and there. I also attend a training session with my club on a wed night so do about 50 miles that night which includes the training. I know that I should be mixing things up a bit on my way to and from work but not sure what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions/advice?

Thanks
Andrew

The same miles commute that I used to have on a straight there and back basis. This time of the year that's all you need. It won't do any harm of course to go out at the weekend as well but anything you do now in the way of serious training is IMO a waste of time and could even be counter productive.

Think about it.

Most riders would do around 2000 miles or 100/120 hours as their base before building up the intensity to train for speed and racing. Work back from the date for your first planned race then see where you need to start the regular base building miles. If you are going to race early season, let's say April, then there is no need to start the build up until 12 weeks before, and that is after Christmas, Jan 1st.

Grinding out the miles when it's wet and windy and even dangerous conditions is just not worth it. There are icy roads to come yet so the chances are that those fitness gains will be get lost. I would agree that other forms of training are very beneficial at this time. I used to play squash and do a bit of running plus gym training. Riding the bike was for just ticking over.

I joined a mate at a new club in 1980 and early season he and a couple of the other fast men were bashing away doing intervals along the dual carriageways having been riding all autumn and winter, while I was still building a base during Feb and Mar and sure enough early season they were flying. Come the Nat 25 TT on the 1st June, and I finished 16th and beat the other riders in the club by 23 seconds, 39 seconds and 2.51. From then on I went on to get club records for 50 miles and 100 miles. IMO they had done too much too early.

 

[zacklaws]

From experience I have found a regular route you ride, especially a commuting route, one of the worst to try and improve your cycling on. My experience is that you may start to think your improving your fitness levels by chopping minutes off your time etc but in reality a lot of it is due to becoming too familiar with the route and your techniques have improved, knowing when to change gear, when to stand on hills, going faster round corners etc and eventually you become a cropper.

My solution was and still is, ride a route several times and then change it when you get that feeling your beginning to push your luck, after riding a few other routes or variations of the original, go back to the original when your not so familiar with it and then see how you perform to judge if your fitness level has improved.

 

[aka0019]

Thanks everyone for the replies, lots of info to take in! I do at present go to the gym and do weights, nothing major though, i'm not planning on bulking up. I thought my 160 miles per week at the minute was a lot, 300 then 450 leading up to the season, bloody hell!

I'll have a look around and see what other info there is I can find.

Thanks again and i'll let you know how I get on. One more thing, think i'm going to get some rollers for xmas so will be able to get some more miles done using that.

Andrew

 

[lukesdad]

Andrew although my mileage may seem a lot at the moment they are only ridden at a relatively easy pace (for me that is) its what I call my seasons grounding.

 

[lukesdad]

I ought to add I race xc as well so a lot of miles are done off road in regards to Daves refrence to icy roads so my fitness levels don t drop.

 

[Bill Gates]

Thanks everyone for the replies, lots of info to take in! I do at present go to the gym and do weights, nothing major though, i'm not planning on bulking up. I thought my 160 miles per week at the minute was a lot, 300 then 450 leading up to the season, bloody hell!

I'll have a look around and see what other info there is I can find.

Thanks again and i'll let you know how I get on. One more thing, think i'm going to get some rollers for xmas so will be able to get some more miles done using that.

Andrew

It's very easy to get caught up in this weekly mileage thing. No one does this mileage week in week out through autumn/winter/spring. It's a certain recipe for mediocrity. if you want to get fast, then shorter rides at high intensity are what is called for. Sure, when you are in the base building stage then the extra mileage will/may be of benefit.

Your current 160 miles a week is well enough IMO.

 

[jimboalee]

It's very easy to get caught up in this weekly mileage thing. No one does this mileage week in week out through autumn/winter/spring. It's a certain recipe for mediocrity. if you want to get fast, then shorter rides at high intensity are what is called for. Sure, when you are in the base building stage then the extra mileage will/may be of benefit.

Your current 160 miles a week is well enough IMO.

+1.

Higher intensity shorter rides, like 25 TTs, build sustained power.

An AUK rider like myself can ride all day long 300 km at low/med intensity, but don't ask me to ride a 25 TT without letting me do some high intensity intervals within a ride of equal distance to the event.

Increase the intervals steadily until the 25 is one long interval.

 

[lukesdad]

It's very easy to get caught up in this weekly mileage thing. No one does this mileage week in week out through autumn/winter/spring. It's a certain recipe for mediocrity. if you want to get fast, then shorter rides at high intensity are what is called for. Sure, when you are in the base building stage then the extra mileage will/may be of benefit.

Your current 160 miles a week is well enough IMO.

Hope your speaking for yourself.Work it out I dont drive and I work 40 miles away and I work 4 days a week.The odd day i might take the train and I ride 7 days a week, and I certainly don t know what mediocrity is may be you might be able to explain it to me.

My performances remain constant throughout the season. One of the main reasons I can train like this is because of the cadence that I ride at. Something that the grinders don t take into account with their snapshot number crunching. Recovery periods are much shorter,while we are on the subject of recovery taking a day off is not recovery its rest.To recover properly after a hard ride you need to do a recovery ride,this is where a lot of riders go wrong because they dont conduct them properly.

As Ive said before different things work for different people, and just because something is right for you does not mean it is right for everybody
sometimes you have to think outside the box.

The OP is looking for ideas on his training and Ive just tried to give him a different perspective on it. Sure the majority of people may disagree but, then again as you say the majority of people have never tried training this way for any length of time.

 

[Bill Gates]

Hope your speaking for yourself.Work it out I dont drive and I work 40 miles away and I work 4 days a week.The odd day i might take the train and I ride 7 days a week, and I certainly don t know what mediocrity is may be you might be able to explain it to me.

My performances remain constant throughout the season. One of the main reasons I can train like this is because of the cadence that I ride at. Something that the grinders don t take into account with their snapshot number crunching. Recovery periods are much shorter,while we are on the subject of recovery taking a day off is not recovery its rest.To recover properly after a hard ride you need to do a recovery ride,this is where a lot of riders go wrong because they dont conduct them properly.

As Ive said before different things work for different people, and just because something is right for you does not mean it is right for everybody
sometimes you have to think outside the box.

The OP is looking for ideas on his training and Ive just tried to give him a different perspective on it. Sure the majority of people may disagree but, then again as you say the majority of people have never tried training this way for any length of time.

Glad to be of service

Mediocrity - one definition. averageness: ordinariness as a consequence of being average and not outstanding.

You should build towards a peak two or three times of year. Maintaining the same performance all year round is another nail in the coffin of mediocrity.

Cycling mediocrity - Anyone who regularly finishes lower than the first 10% in whatever event you're doing. How many races/events do you compete in and win or come in the top 6 or top 10 or top 10%?

Jury is out on recovery rides. In any case they should be no longer than an hour at a low intensity. Not much of a contribution to your weekly mileage total there.