How’s your training routine looking this week? If it’s the same as it was last week, last month or even last year, it’s probably high time for a revamp.
There are three main problems with doing the same old thing day in, day out. First, it’s dull, which means you’re less likely to get out there. Second, the very nature of training means that once your body has got used to a particular regime, you need to change it, in order to continue reaping new benefits. But most importantly, training should have a specific focus, a purpose behind it.
Set your target
Olympic gold medallist Nicole Cooke likens the process of devising your training regime to planning a trip from A to B. “A is your current level of fitness and B is where you want it to be by the end of the trip,” she says. Figuring out how you’ll get there — just like planning a journey before you get in the car — prevents you taking wrong turns or breaking down along the way, and gives you a sense of direction.
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Granted, says Cooke, just getting out on your bike will bring some benefits if you’re starting from a low level of fitness, “but if you want to ride faster, or more competitively, you will benefit from a well thought out structured schedule”. Step one, then, is to determine what it is you want to achieve.
“Set yourself a realistic target, but make sure it’s one that excites and challenges you, otherwise you’ll run out of steam before you get there,” advises British Cycling coach Andy Cook. If your goal relates to a specific race, you have an in-built deadline. If not, you need to give yourself a time frame in which to achieve it. Otherwise, you could still be talking about losing that half a stone, or breaking the hour for a 25-mile time-trial in five years’ time…
Once you’ve determined where you’re going, you need to work out where you are now. “It’s important to be honest with yourself about where you are, and how long you’ll need to reach your goals,” says Cooke. “If your skill and fitness level don’t match your aims, you are in for a frustrating and unsuccessful time.”
Design your route
Training principles
Periodisation
Training to meet your goals
Goal 1: building a base
- If you always ride long and steady, chatting to your mates, you’ve already achieved a good level of aerobic fitness. But if you haven’t been riding regularly for long, allow six to 12 weeks minimum to build your base.
- How to do it: Long, steady rides at a low intensity. You should work at 60 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate (45 beats per minute below your max) and be able to converse. You only need do one long ride per week; other sessions should be shorter.
- The benefits: Improved use of fat as a fuel source, greater muscular endurance and getting accustomed to long periods in the saddle. It primes the body for higher intensity work — a solid foundation is essential.
- Need to know: “If you ride with a group, make sure you work within your level,” advises Cook. “It’s easy to get carried away and start racing.” You can also work on your aerobic base by doing running or swimming.
Goal 2: adding strength
- With a good aerobic base, you can reduce the mileage of some rides and bring in higher-quality work, such as tempo rides. “This is a pace at which you can really feel you are working but you can still converse,” says Cook. “You shouldn’t be flat-out.”
- How to do it: Sustained pace rides at 75 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate (or 25-40bpm below your max).
- The benefits: Improved aerobic capacity and pedalling efficiency.
- Need to know: You’re using a mix of carbohydrate and fat, so take energy on board: sports drinks, gels or bars.
Goal 3: developing speed
- This step helps improve your ability to sustain a high effort level for a prolonged period, so you can climb better and ride faster on the flat.
- How to do it: After a good warm-up, work in intervals of three to 12 minutes at 85 to 95 percent of your max heart rate (or 15-25bpm below your max) with easy-paced ‘recovery’ riding (60 to 65 percent of max heart rate) in between.
- The benefits: This high-intensity training improves your ‘lactate threshold’ – your ability to ride fast without going anaerobic. Training at this level will improve your strength and speed and is spot-on for 25-mile time-trial training.
- Need to know: If you are training for a hilly ride, use hills within this session to make your training more specific to your event. “If there isn’t a decent hilly ride nearby, you can repeat climbs on one hill,” suggests Cook.
Goal 4: building power
- Power is the ability to apply maximum force in the shortest time possible,” says Joe Friel. “Well developed power – or the lack of it – is obvious on short hills, in sprints and in sudden pace changes.”
- How to do it: All-out efforts lasting a few seconds up to three minutes. You will be working at your maximum heart rate or as close to it as you can get. Take recoveries of an equal length between each interval. These intense sessions can be done on a turbo trainer if you prefer.
- The benefits: Improved anaerobic fitness, greater recruitment of muscle fibres in the leg muscles and improved neuromuscular co-ordination for better efficiency.
- Need to know: “Power training is best done when you are well rested,”advises Friel.
Sticking with it
- Build some time-trials or races into your training programme to monitor progress and stay motivated. Write your goals down to make them feel more real — and keep a training log to monitor your progress.
- Get a gadget: a heart rate monitor, bike computer or cadence monitor (or ideally, all three) helps you keep tabs on your training and provides extra motivation.
- Fast-track your training by joining a cycling club.
- Find yourself a coach.
- Reward yourself when you attain your goals (preferably not with six beers and a cheeseburger, though) then set yourself new targets.
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