20yo Amateur Limited time to train

slackydave

I'm a 20year old, very amateur cyclist and being at university i have limited time to train, i can get out on the road about 3 times a week, and weather depending usually do anywhere between 40-120miles.

I do have a turbo trainier, which i hate, who doesn't?... Also have a HRM and a cadence sensor.

I live in a flat area when at university, but when i'm at home i live on the edge of the peak district, about 10miles from the bottom of the cat and fiddle. I'm wondering what can i do here that'll help me climb hills over the summer when i'm back home?

Also does anyone have any tips on endurance training? At the end of last year in october i did a 100mile ride for the first time averaging almost 17mph and i didn't get cramps i was just basically really tired, I wanna be able to maybe not this year because of university but next year be able to enter events such as the etape or tour of the peaks, cause i live around hills and secretly i love them even if my legs tell me otherwise when i'm going up near 20-25% :P

Any advice is welcome

*Edit - On mondays the university cycling club goes to a gym and has a personal trainer for some cross training.

skinnyrider

I'll tell you one thing. If you're time limited, bugger cross training.
Spend every little moment you have on your bike.
Oh and learn to love the turbo, or respect it's efficiency for time limited training.

How many hours can you train a week?

slackydave

It really depends on the weather, the only free afternoon i get is wednesday and we usually do intervals mixed into a 20mile ride, so thats usually an hour long. Standard ride is saturday and thats anywhere from 20miles to a 75mile last weekend which took just over 4hours, i can get out on sundays too, depends if i have any work to do.

So at the moment its around 4-5hours on the bike +

alihisgreat

If you really don't have the time then the Turbo is going to be the most time efficient way of training.. but there is not much point if you're just trying to improve, rather than training for a specific goal because its horrendously tedious.

I'm in a similar position as a student, but didn't take my Turbo to uni so focused on consistently getting some miles in -> 3 hours+ with the club on a saturday at tempo... then one or two other rides during the week -> a few interval sessions, but mainly base miles.

I agree with the other comments about the cross training.. since its only really necessary if you're doing a big volume.. and you can do a limited amount of work independently to keep yourself balanced -> proper stretching, foam roller massage, limited core and strength work etc.

I'm on my Easter vacation now though so time to up the volume! (I'm planning ~15-17hours this week )

slackydave

I've got another week before i'm on my easter break, although started to finish up some modules so i do have more free time now, got tomorrow morning off so will get out then.

My specific goal is hills, because when i go back home i can't really avoid them and i wanna enjoy it when i'm back.

skinnyrider

You must be able to do an hour a day right?
So do that on the turbo. Every day. And make it a good, tempo pace.
And if you do a long ride outside, skip the turbo the next day or do an hour easy if you want to.

Or alternatively, just ride when you're free and want to. If you're not training for anything then just ride for fun and enjoy it. Bugger getting on the turbo and training seriously if you just want to ride for fun. If you want to ride for fun, then train for fun too.


As an aside, I'm studying an Economics BSc and put in 20h+ weeks on the bike.
It's all about prioritising things in life.

slackydave

I'm studying a BSc in Applied physics and 'currently' have around 20hours of contact time a week, the timetable is so screwed, with gaps etc so wednesday afternoons are my only free time currently, however modules are finishing so it is opening up new slots.

my long term goal is to do etape and tour of the peaks next year, although this year i'd like to coast to coast at least, and possibly lands end as a friend is already planning to do it again who did it last year.

skinnyrider

I'd recommend riding an hours tempo every day on the turbo or every other day if you can't give an hour every day. But everyone can find a free hour in a day. Ride at a PE of 4-5 4 at the start 5 at the end. Easy to begin, but not easy to end, a little concentration needed and some discomfort but not a strong sensation of anything in the legs. It's not fun, it's not pleasurable. But it's quick and simple. But it'll keep you fit and raise your threshold. Which is key. Then get out for a longer ride every weekend and a really long ride when you can. And lose the tempo the day after to recover. And maybe the day before if you want to have fresher legs for the long ride.

That's my 2c. But if i were you I'd just ride my bike when you can and have fun, as it's not a race.

Tom Butcher

If you have Wednesday afternoon free then intervals mixed into a 20 mile ride seems a waste of time. I'd use that for a long ride. Intervals can be done either before or after lectures on other week nights either on a turbo or on the road - or perhaps there is a local chaingang you can join.

I think my training would look something like :
- Monday or Tuesday - Turbo - high intensity depending on goals.
- Wednesday 4 hours
- Thursday - Chaingang
- Saturday - 4 hours pref with others of similar ability.
- Sunday - bonus if you can get out.

jgsi

Just ride your bike when you can... aim to become a 'roadie' and a half decent 1 at that.

Get yourself into that club...gym?? personal trainer?? . is it an out and out roadie club or tri focussed?
Probably more women for you then.

ShutUpLegs

I'm struggling to see how a student has limited time to train.

alihisgreat

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I'm struggling to see how a student has limited time to train.

Science subjects are notorious for having loads of contact hours because they do labs etc.

slackydave

JGSI wrote:

Just ride your bike when you can... aim to become a 'roadie' and a half decent 1 at that.

Get yourself into that club...gym?? personal trainer?? . is it an out and out roadie club or tri focussed?
Probably more women for you then.

In 2 clubs at the minute, university club which goes the gym monday nights and we have a trainer for that, usually like 10 or so turn up to that so you can't slack you get pushed hard, then wednesday everyone has the afternoon off and we often to intensity workouts, whether it be 10mile TT (which i hate) or intervals, usually intervals.

Then saturdays are club rides, depends who turns up really as to distance covered there.

The other club im a member of alternates it club runs between saturday and sunday every other week as some can't make some days, so every other week i go out with them, and they're not a racing club just a 'get out on your bike' kinda club.

And i start at 9 on 3 days and 10 on others and often finish around 3-4 and fridays are 5pm.

Will see how much i can get done and just aim to get more time riding, and try not chicken out if the conditions are 'abit shit' :P

Herbsman

If your goal is simply to enjoy riding up hills (as opposed to riding up them faster), and you're not seriously unfit or obese, then I'd look for another way of acheiving this than training. The only way hills can be made enjoyable for a rider with reasonable fitness is by riding up them at a relaxed pace that doesn't cause pain and suffering, or by becoming a masochist and learning to enjoy the pain and suffering that comes from riding up them as hard as you can.

ShutUpLegs

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I'm struggling to see how a student has limited time to train.

Science subjects are notorious for having loads of contact hours because they do labs etc.

I don't know what this means, but doing a 5 hour day at Uni should give anyone more than enough time to train if they so desire, even in winter with limited daylight hours.

slackydave

Just discovered starting this friday i'm supposed to have 3weeks studying before my some exams, not sure if i'm going home yet or not but when im at home a typical ride is only like 40miles in length but will usually include around 4000ft of climbs, gotta love the peak district.

ShutUpLegs

slackydave wrote:

Just discovered starting this friday i'm supposed to have 3weeks studying before my some exams,

I suggest you get some structure to your studying. And your cycle training.

springtide9

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

I'm struggling to see how a student has limited time to train.

Science subjects are notorious for having loads of contact hours because they do labs etc.

As a person who did a degree in a science subject (with similar hours) and now has a full time job and a family, I would say you now have the most time you'll ever have in your life - so make the most of it!

Wrath Rob

If your aim is to improve your endurance with the aim of doing longer distance rides and you're not racing then your training should be focused on longer "tempo" efforts and long threshold intervals (this will be lactate threshold heart rate in your case as you've only got a HRM). Shorter intervals will be great for your above threshold work, VO2max and lactate tolerance but its unlikely that these are important to you given your goals. So if the club is doing training that doesn't suit your goals, why bother training with them? Use the club for social rides or finding new routes, don't waste your precious training time doing something that won't benefit you!

My suggestion would be:
- Monday - Rest or 1 hour active recover (very low intensity)
- Tuesday - Threshold intervals, e.g. the classic 2*20
- Wednesday - Tempo or sweetspot ride. Aim to do 2 longer tempo intervals, e.g. 45 mins tempo, 30-60 mins endurance and then another 45 mins tempo
- Thursday - 1 hour active recovery
- Friday - Rest
- Saturday - Sweetspot intervals, e.g. 3*15 mins
- Sunday - Endurance ride, 4 hours at endurance/tempo

If you want to get a little more advanced, build this into a 4 week cycle where you increase the "training load", i.e. interval duration or number, from week 1 to 3 and then scale the training right back in week 4 before repeating the cycle. The 4th week will really benefit you as your body will recover from the stress you've put on it and you'll feel fresh and motivated to start the cycle again.

If you have access to a Watt bike or a power meter (someone else in the club?) then it might be worth doing a benchmark FTP test now and then at the end of every 4 week cycle. It won't help you with the training, as you're not training with a power meter, but it will provide measurable improvements and motivate you to keep training.

slackydave

wish i had access to a power meter, and training with the club is only once a week, cancelled today due to persistent snow so i gave 2x20 a go on the turbo and its a good workout.

I think i'll try and do work during the week inside on my turbo doing stuff like 2x20 or active recovery rides, as i do need to study too!
and then on the weekends try average 4hour+ rides on saturday and maybe a steady pace ride on a sunday.

Thanks for the advice.

skinnyrider

You're barely training.
Any active recovery is a pointless waste of time, especially for a time crunched cyclist.
Just train more at a lower intensity, or don't get on your bike and do something productive.

When your training 25hours a week, then do some active recovery.

slackydave

I feel asthough i am training as this morning my legs are abit sore from going hard doing intervals yesterday, and i'm going from doing 5-6hours a week at barely any sorta tempo to doing 10-12hours training a week about 1/4 of which will be at high intensity.

Tom Butcher

I don't really have strong views on active recovery vs total rest either way - but I'd have thought that the theory behind it was just as applicable to the amateur doing maybe 8 hours a week the day after a hard training session with sore legs as it was to the rider doing 25 miles a week. The idea behind it isn't about cumulative fatigue is it, I thought it was more to do with recovery from a particular session.

joe.90

to the people saying 'just ride your bike its all you need to do'

its people saying things like that, which led me to a host of injuries. ie muscle imbalances, core strength, pelvic tilt etc.

i was pre season doing 15-20 hours per week on the bike just fine before i started getting tendon problems. upon some rest and re-evaluation of my riding and bio mechanics discovered areas i needed to work on off the bike in order for me to ride as much as i like, sustainably.

dont get me wrong, you wouldn't be able to look at me and see something dramatically wrong with my riding or technique.

cycling is notoriously bad for muscle imbalances, epically quads/hamstrings...riding a lot will build up your quads but if you just ride how will you train your hamstrings? injury waiting to happen.

strength and conditioning is vital in any sport if you wanna do it seriously. it seems cycling is full of stupid traditions that are passed down through generations of cyclists...

Tom Dean

If you want to work on all your muscles equally, then yes, you will need to do some work off the bike. If you just want to be a faster bike rider however...

The advice 'just ride your bike' doesn't mean you can jump into 20 hours a week and not expect problems.

slackydave

alot of the gym work we do on mondays works hamstrings, i must admit i find them harder to do that the calf/ thigh work and i never gave it a thought why.

Tom Dean

Did you give a thought to why you do any of that stuff in the first place?

junglist_matty

How are you at uni and ONLY have 4 hours a week to ride!?

I've commuted just two days this week (not feeling 100%), and still that's 4 hours on the bike! ...Usually in commuting alone I ride 10 hours average a week.... And I work 9-5 and have home commitments that usually mean no riding at weekends!

....Not looking forward to riding home today, it's pouring out!

slackydave

weather is another annoying factor... i'm not a fair weather ride but i do feel the cold easily and its been wet and snowy recently.

Out tomorrow morning in heavy rain, joys :P