winter training plan for unfit 28 yr old

Felix-da-house-mouse

Hi folks,

i'm needing to get a training plan for over the winter and i dont have a clue what to do as i never done one before and last year i never managed to get any help with making one up. This year i have done very little riding whatsoever and i need to get myself back into it as i really enjoy it. I started roadie cycling about a year and a half ago but never really got my fitness levels up to a decent level so i'm basically starting from scratch. i.e not very fit

What i want to achieve is:-

a. build up my fitness and stamina
b. increase avg speed and top speed althought this will happen with above
c. do the sat and sun morning club rides and not be dropped and possibly partake in some tt's although i'm not too fussed about this yet.


i've recently started running and plan to carry this on as this will obv improve bike performance and general wellbeing.

my stats are

age 28
height 5ft 7 and a half lol
weight 10 stone 2 although this can fluctuate
fat % 23

if you can give any advice or help to make me up a plan i will be very gratefull.

i thank you in advance.

ColinJ

Hi Felix.

Do you really need a formal plan? Why not just commit yourself to making time to go out 2 or 3 times a week and do what you can? It doesn't sound like you have much of a cycling base so I'd say that you need to get some steady miles in before taking training too seriously.

Make sure that you have suitable winter clothing or you probably won't want to do even that. It might be worth adding mudguards to your bike if it doesn't have them already. It is possible to bodge them on even if the bike isn't designed for them (if you like, I can show you how).

PS I've just looked at the photo of your bike - it looks too nice for riding in the winter. Can you afford to get something like a Ribble winter bike to ride when the salt and grit are on the roads?

It might be worth investing in a turbo-trainer so that you can do something even if the conditions outside put you off.

I'd definitely recommend getting some decent overshoes, a pair of long-fingered cycling gloves and something to keep your head/face/neck warm (maybe a skull-cap, balaclava or 'Buff'?).

ride_whenever

I'd look at starting with moderate rides at UT2 (between 45-60% max effort ie able to hold a conversation with short sentances) of around 10-25 miles depending on how fit you really are. for the next 3-4 weeks (try to add 5miles a week) ending up at training rides of 30-40miles at UT2. Then start adding in more intense sessions.

It'll take time, but fitness will come along with a toned muscley physique!

Ste_S

If you're starting from scratch I'm recomend :-

1. Ride your bike lots
2. Enjoy it

idaviesmoore

Ste_S wrote:

If you're starting from scratch I'm recomend :-

1. Ride your bike lots
2. Enjoy it

+1. If you're starting from scratch then the more you ride the better you'll be, especially if you're up for riding with faster lads and lasses (as long as they're not too fast and drop you at every turn.)
IMHO running will not necessarilly make you a better rider, differant muscle actions, you see. It will obviously help you shed some pounds (no that you wanted this), but in terms of bike specific stamina, I don't think it'll help that much.

Anyway, you're more likely to be spending your time on here posting stuff about Lance-Bloody-Armstrong, so you won't have time to bike and run

Felix-da-house-mouse

see i'm not a total beginner over the past 18 months i've bought decent kit like the bike, top quality shoes, helmet, glasses, gore tex jacket and bib tights etc so its not like a total rookie but fitness wise i need to set myself a plan or i just wont ride cos i'll force myself to go out on it or get on the turbo if i set nights for riding.

I'm selling a bike i bought thats too big for me on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0298297286

so when thats gone i can buy a winter bike cos lucy's too good for wet salty dirty roads, lol.

Thinking about rollers aswell cos i hate i mean HATE the boring turbo, it drives me insane. lol

Mog Uk

As has already been stated you don't need a plan, you just need to get out and ride your bike, build up the miles and the rest will follow....

Finbar Saunders

You could join a club and go on weekend rides with them.

verloren

Off on a tangent... Are you sure you're 23% fat? I'm the same height (down to the half inch!) as you, and at 13 stone I'm 25% fat and negligible amounts of muscle So either one of us is measuring wrong, or you have hollow bones

Felix-da-house-mouse

maybe i've got it wrong, well i'm selling that bike so if someone buys it for the buy it now price then i'll need to get a winter bike but whats the best bike for that money? saying that i'll post that on a seperate topic.