Advice on training plan

chrisb177

Hi,

This is my proposed training plan for next few weeks to basically do a few TTs and sportives and maybe a road race and just general fitness.

Monday: Interval Training (45 Mins)

Tuesday: Cross Training (4 Mile Run)

Wednesday: 20 Mile Ride

Thursday: Interval Training (45 Mins)

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 20 Mile Ride

Sunday: 40 Mile Ride

I work all week except sunday hence only 20 miles on sat and wed

Will it help for the season?

Roadie Rods

I reckon you'll certainly be fit and healthy with this programme.However, what distance TTs are you looking at doing? You might want to consider doing some longer rides if you're thinking of doing some sportives in the summer - build up the distance of your Sunday rides slowly, so that you are comfortable with riding 100 miles.

fuzzynavel

Why do you use times against some activities and distances against others?

what is your current fitness like?
If you are new to this then working out 6 days out of 7 may not be conducive to a healthy training plan. You could struggle to get any meaningful exercise on a couple of those days and it may end up just being a recovery spin on the bike rather than the workout that was planned.
You should also think about the intensity of the rides. You have 2 x 20 miles and 1 x 40 in the week. What sort of pace are you planning doing. Is it just going to be a pootle around town or are you actually going to push yourself?

I would be tempted to drop the sunday 40 miles in favour of another easy 20 mile recovery ride to set you up for the next week. The other 2 x 20 milers should be timed efforts with an aim on either staying static week to week or even showing some improvement in your time.

Once you have built up a base level of fitness then you can start ramp[ing up the Sunday ride distance. Do this too early and there will be no point attempting the Monday intervals as you will be knackered from the previous day.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Ditch the run.

GavH

I would have a look at your Monday plans. If you are new to cycling (like I am) then you'll find aches and pains manifesting themselves on Monday morning as a result of your long ride on Sunday (assuming you DO increase the mileage each sunday). If this is the case, you just won't feel like doing intervals and to be honest, even if you did do it, your just asking for injuries. My Monday is an out and out rest day following my sunday long ride because I feel like I need it!!! On the other hand, if you feel the need to do something, a very, VERY easy 30-45 min low-intesntity ride on a turbo could actually help loosen the legs a bit.

GavH

I would have a look at your Monday plans. If you are new to cycling (like I am) then you'll find aches and pains manifesting themselves on Monday morning as a result of your long ride on Sunday (assuming you DO increase the mileage each sunday). If this is the case, you just won't feel like doing intervals and to be honest, even if you did do it, your just asking for injuries. My Monday is an out and out rest day following my sunday long ride because I feel like I need it!!! On the other hand, if you feel the need to do something, a very, VERY easy 30-45 min low-intesntity ride on a turbo could actually help loosen the legs a bit.

mclarent

I agree, I'd ditch the run and do rest days Monday and Thursday. I would also focus on time in the saddle over distance , e.g. 2 hours for your shorter rides, 4 hours for your Sunday ride, and do the longer ride at an easy pace. And if you haven't I would also get an HRM and read up on how to target training zones - plenty on this board to help you (plus a cool search function ).

Anonymous

Go to www.trainingpeaks.com.

Virtual coach is your friend!

doyler78

NapoleonD wrote:

Go to www.trainingpeaks.com.

Virtual coach is your friend!

Unless the OP has any sort of racing history I wouldn't touch the Virtual Coach as it bases it program on limiters which it determines from how you answer questions related to racing such as how easily you get dropped on climbs, or how well you can respond to attacks, etc. If you haven't got a racing history (like me) when you came to this questionnaire then I was just answering at the low end of everything which may or may not have been accurate (probably was for me :oops: ) . In any case it is simply Joe Friel's Training Bible stuff put in an online format - buy the book if that's your bag and at least you will then get the full knowledge of his training methodology which you can then apply to yourself however best suits your aim and at considerably less cost. I paid for it and didn't use but then that's maybe just me.

I use the Cycling Weekly Health & Fitness for Cyclists 12 Week training programme which I have to say looks a lot like yours just there's a bit more flesh on the bones. You may want to take a look at it next time your in the shop. I've done the autumn one and I'm currently now doing (nothing really as I'm recovering from flu so suppose should be doing is more accurate) the winter program (7 hour one - the committed cyclist one is beyond my current fitness though saving them up for later this year or next year maybe )

colint

how about a session doing core exercises etc

Anonymous

Oh well.

It'll be doing me wrong then!

I have no racing history but I based it on how I get on on hard group rides.

It wasn't a major part of the training plan anyway so I wasn't too bothered.

doyler78

NapoleonD wrote:

Oh well.

It'll be doing me wrong then!

I have no racing history but I based it on how I get on on hard group rides.

It wasn't a major part of the training plan anyway so I wasn't too bothered.

Oh calm down. I gave my reasons why I didn't think the plan would be useful and it was because of the whole ability to determine limiters. If the OP has another way of determining his, like you, I am sure he can make the leap just like you.

How can you say that the limiters are not important to the training plan. They are essential. Limiters = your weaknesses. Weakness and strengths along with your goals and the time scale within which you wish to achieve these goals determine the composition of any training plan otherwise whats the purpose of the plan in the first place. If your plan is spending time concentrating your efforts on your neuromuscular limiters when all you want to do is ride your first sportive in a certain time then its wasted effort is it not!

Anonymous

So, you set your limiter as endurance

doyler78 wrote:

Oh calm down.

doyler78

NapoleonD wrote:

So, you set your limiter as endurance

doyler78 wrote:

Oh calm down.

You're missing the point if you don't understand what the questions are for and just blindly fill the questions in guessing as you go then who knows what limiters it determines is important and therefore how that affects your plan. You are assuming a level of knowledge which may not present in the person that uses the plan. It may be but I am not assuming anything. As I said gave my reasons for why I didn't like the plan and they remain the same now. I have since read more on this and understand a little more so I now understand why it didn't make sense to me a few months back when I bought my sub therefore I can see from someone like my owns point of view just as you have seen it from yours.

mclarent

bore-off.

this thread has been hijacked.

And if it's going to be hijacked, should at least be done for the right reasons - Spurs 4-1 up against Burnley

"are you Arsenal in disguise"...

chrisb177

mclarent wrote:

bore-off.

this thread has been hijacked.

And if it's going to be hijacked, should at least be done for the right reasons - Spurs 4-1 up against Burnley

"are you Arsenal in disguise"...

C'mon Spurs!!!! Super-Sub O'Hara

wheeler585

You lot want to support a proper team.......Like Norwich city Mwahhhhh!!

MyCycling.com

Your program looks OK, but not great. Here's my thoughts.

Drop the run.
Add in another recovery day maybe on the monday.
During the week, so Tues, Wed, Thur, focus on intensity, but mix it up.
While you've got time, get the miles in on the weekend.

In saying all that, you really need to looking at some form of periodization and changing what you do each week. While it's useful to have a routine, you need to scaffold the systems in your body correctly.

For example, if you're just starting out, I wouldn't recommending doing any intervals of any intensity. Focus on building your core capillary system and aerobic capacity.

Your training should be part of a bigger plan if you want to see very good results. If you've got no foundation, you'll find yourself unable to reach your real potential and find yourself injured and sick as you increase things.