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Winter Training Tips
Concentrate on low intensity training at Zones 1/2/3. Winter training is about building a base of aerobic fitness, which means long, steady training rides on flat routes. Low intensity training will increase your riding speeds at all intensities. Avoid riding at anything above Zone 3 except for occasional winter races, and short periods of time on steep hills. Each week aim to do;
-An L.S.D. ride of 150-300% normal race duration, keep to Zones 1/2 as much as possible. Use small gears on the hills to keep your heart rate down.
-One or two Zone 2 rides of 70-130% normal race duration. Find a flat road route away from traffic junctions, and try to ride in Zone 2 for the whole ride.
-A Technique Turbo Session lasting between 40-60 minutes. Choose from 1-Leg Reps, or Spinning, (notes provided) depending on your weaknesses.
Concentrate on smooth pedalling at around 90rpm. The low intensity winter rides are also about developing good, efficient, pedalling and riding styles. During these long, steady winter rides think about pedalling in full circles, holding the handlebars lightly, and keeping the upper-body as still as possible. This will transfer to greater speed and endurance in the summer.
Take energy drink and food on all training rides. Your energy stores are very limited and can easily run out totally in just a 90 minute Zone 2 ride. De-hydration will start to cause fatigue after only 1 hour of Zone 2 exercise on even the coldest days. Taking on board energy and water in the form of Carbohydrate (CHO) drinks is absolutely essential for a cyclist. It will increase endurance levels dramatically, speed up post ride recovery time dramatically, and ultimately make you a much faster cyclist.
-Mix CHO drinks at 8-10% solution for winter riding. 10% means 75gms in a 750ml (large) bottle.
-Drink at least 500ml per hour. Even at Zones 1/2/3 you will sweat out 500ml per hour on a winter’s day. When riding harder you will need to drink more.
Eat a high CHO diet at all times. In order to keep your energy stores topped up, and promote post exercise recovery, all meals should contain a large portion of CHO rich food. This means pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, fruit and cereals. This is especially important for breakfast on days when you have a long or hard training ride to do, and for the first snack, and meal, you have after riding.
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Pre Season XC Training Tips
Training Plan. The aim is still to spend the majority of training time at Zones 1/2/3, however you should now introduce some structured riding at Zones 3+4. This will mean the training is becoming progressively more intense over the next two months. Keep a detailed daily training diary, including notes on how you felt during each session. Each week aim to do:
A L.S.D. road/MTB ride of 2-4 hours. Keep to Zones 1/2 as much as possible. Use small gears on the hills to keep your heart rate down.
One or two Zone3 rides of 1-1½ hours duration. Find a flat road route away from traffic junctions, and try to stay in Zone3 all the time (the ride should include a Zone1/2 Warm-up and Cool-down of 5mins). If time allows you may increase the duration of one of these rides by 30mins by adding a prolonged 15min W-up and C-down.
One or two Turbo Sessions lasting between 45-65mins. Choose from Strength Endurance or Cruise Intervals (see further sections).
Two Rest/Recovery days. This means a complete day away from exercise or at most a Zone1 ride of less than 1 hour.
Concentrate on smooth pedalling at around 90rpm. Continue to concentrate on pedalling smoothly and efficiently at all times. Think about pedalling in full circles, holding the handlebars lightly, and keeping the upper-body as still as possible. The Strength Endurance turbo sessions are the only time you should be pedalling significantly slower than 90rpm.
Take energy drink and food on all training rides. Taking on board energy and water in the form of a Carbohydrate (CHO) drink (such as ‘PSP22’) is absolutely essential for a cyclist. It will increase endurance levels dramatically, speed up post ride recovery time dramatically, and ultimately make you a much faster cyclist.
Mix CHO drinks at 8-10% solution for pre-season riding. 10% means 75gms in a 750ml (large) bottle.
Drink at least 500ml per hour. Even at low intensities you could sweat out 500ml per hour on a winter’s day. When riding harder you will need to drink more.
Eat solid food on long rides. When riding for 2 hours or more eat solid food as well, this can be in the form of energy bars or gels, fruit or anything sweet.
Eat a high CHO diet at all times. In order to keep your energy stores topped up, and promote post exercise recovery, all meals should contain a large portion of CHO rich food. This is especially important for breakfast on days when you have a long or hard training ride to do, and for the first snack, and meal, you have after riding.
Make CHO the biggest portion on your plate. Choose foods such as pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, fruit and cereals.
Use a recovery drink. A combined CHO and protein recovery drink (such as ‘Rego’) taken immediately after exercise will speed up your day-to-day recovery, and maximise your improvements in fitness. These drinks are especially useful after interval training sessions on the turbo trainer, and after races.
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Pre Season Road and TT Training Tips
Concentrate on low intensity training at Zones 1/2/3. Pre-season training is about building a base of aerobic fitness, which means long, steady training rides. Low intensity training will increase your aerobic capacity and therefore riding speeds at race intensities. Avoid riding at anything above Zone 4 except for occasional winter races. Each week aim to do:
-A Long Steady Distance (LSD) ride of 2-4 hours, keep to Zones 1/2 as much as possible. Use small gears on the hills to keep your heart rate down.
-One or two Zone 2 rides of 1-2 hours. Find a flat road route away from traffic junctions, and try to ride in Zone 2 for the whole ride.
-One or two Turbo Sessions lasting between 40-65 minutes. Alternate between Spinning Technique and Cruise Intervals (notes provided).
Concentrate on smooth pedalling at around 90rpm. The low intensity pre-season rides are also about developing good, efficient, pedalling and riding styles. During these long-steady rides think about pedalling in full circles, holding the handlebars lightly, and keeping the upper-body as still as possible. This will transfer to greater speed and endurance in the summer.
Take energy drink and food on all training rides. Your energy stores are very limited and can easily run out totally in just a 1½ hour Zone 2 ride. De-hydration will start to cause fatigue after only 1 hour of Zone 2 exercise on even the coldest days. Taking on board energy and water in the form of a Carbohydrate (CHO) drink (such as ‘PSP22’) is absolutely essential for a cyclist. It will increase performance dramatically.
-Mix CHO drinks at 8-10% solution for Winter/Spring riding. 10% means 75gms in a 750ml (large) bottle.
-Drink at least 500ml per hour. Even at Zones 1/2/3 you could sweat out 500ml per hour on a cold day. When riding harder you will need to drink more.
-Eat solid food on long rides. When riding for over 2 hours eat solid food also, this can be in the form of energy bars or gels, fruit or anything sweet.
Eat a high CHO diet at all times. In order to keep your energy stores topped up, and promote post exercise recovery, all meals should contain a large portion of CHO rich food. This is especially important for breakfast on days when you have a long or hard training ride to do, and for the first snack, and meal, you have after riding.
-Make CHO the biggest portion on your plate. Choose foods such as pasta, rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, fruit and cereals.
-Use a recovery drink. A combined CHO and protein recovery drink (such as ‘Rego’) taken immediately after exercise will speed up your day-to-day recovery, and maximise your improvements in fitness. These drinks are especially useful after intense training sessions on the turbo trainer, and after races.
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