Winter training update...

davoj

So i did a post at the end of September asking when to start winter training and how often to train and got some good mixed advise...

Here were some of the tips i had gotten as i had planned on two turbo sessions during the week and one to two rides at the weekend...

1. you need to be doing 5-6 sessions a week if you plan on doing racing and want to stick with bunch from Oct on
2. you need to be doing specific sessions i.e a plan or coach
3. just long steady rides from from Oct to January & avoid the hills (old school team mates)
4. weight training & core (cycling specific)

What folks actually do re Winter training seems to have become a secret society with no one actually really telling you the truth so i am curious to see if i can find answers to the following 3 questions for cyclists who plan on racing Cat 3 and above next year.

I think if i can get feedback from experienced colleagues than this will help me and fellow cyclist starting off in 4th cat or who are have recently been moved up to 3rd Cat to get a better understanding of what winter training involves and also feedback from some who maybe over trained and what the do now differently..

Q1. How many sessions have you be doing a week from Oct-Dec?
Q2. Do you include hills & interval training on weekend spins from Oct to Dec?
Q3. Have you been doing weights and how often?

Thanks

imposter2.0

Let me ask you a set of questions first, based on yours...

Q1 - how much time per week can you devote to riding/training?
Q2 - what type of racing are you planning on doing? (ie open RRs, crits, circuits, TTs etc)
Q3 - Do you currently have normal leg and core function?

Tom Dean

1. 5
2. Yes ('interval training' covers a wide range of types of sessions though)
3. No

diamonddog

Tom Dean wrote:

1. 5
2. Yes ('interval training' covers a wide range of types of sessions though)
3. No

Mostly this except 1 = 6 times a week and not for racing just for fitness.

davoj

Imposter wrote:

Let me ask you a set of questions first, based on yours...

Q1 - how much time per week can you devote to riding/training?
Q2 - what type of racing are you planning on doing? (ie open RRs, crits, circuits, TTs etc)
Q3 - Do you currently have normal leg and core function?

Q1. I can devote 5-6 days if needed
Q2. Open road races mainly-
Q3. Its ok but needs a bit of work

As per Q1 i have been advised by many experienced racers that training 5-6 days now will turn me in to a winter warrior and come April/May i will have peaked and to start 5-6 days from January so its hard to know what to do. A coach will tell you to train now for 5-6 days (now) but how many of these coaches have raced i wonder

imposter2.0

davoj wrote:

Q1. I can devote 5-6 days if needed
Q2. Open road races mainly-
Q3. Its ok but needs a bit of work

As per Q1 i have been advised by many experienced racers that training 5-6 days now will turn me in to a winter warrior and come April/May i will have peaked and to start 5-6 days from January so its hard to know what to do. A coach will tell you to train now for 5-6 days (now) but how many of these coaches have raced i wonder

Training 5-6 days per week is fine, but it depends what you do during those rides. I'm not clear on whether you have raced before, or even whether you are currenly a regular rider or not.

davoj

Imposter wrote:

davoj wrote:

Q1. I can devote 5-6 days if needed
Q2. Open road races mainly-
Q3. Its ok but needs a bit of work

As per Q1 i have been advised by many experienced racers that training 5-6 days now will turn me in to a winter warrior and come April/May i will have peaked and to start 5-6 days from January so its hard to know what to do. A coach will tell you to train now for 5-6 days (now) but how many of these coaches have raced i wonder

Training 5-6 days per week is fine, but it depends what you do during those rides. I'm not clear on whether you have raced before, or even whether you are currenly a regular rider or not.

Yes i have done 1 year of racing inc club leagues and moved up from 4th Cat to 3rd cat by the end of the year. I have been cycling for 4 years.

should i be doing for e.g hill repeats now or just a case of steady rides.

Thanks for your feedback

Intherain

Hi, I think it depends what your limiters are (so what are your weakest areas) and then structure your training around building those up. So hill repeats may not be the right thing for you (or indeed they might be). Its tempting to train on what you are already good at (like good climbers keep riding up hills) but instead consider what is holding you back performance wise and look at that.

There is no right or wrong answer on training specifics for you, it depends on your own circumstances and goals really. If you are worried about burn out come April or May why not take a week off then and build towards more peak performance in August and September?

glasgowbhoy

I don't think there is any definitive 'winter plan' that all the top amatuer racers are following but won't provide you with the details.
Having spent the last 2 winters training to race I've found it's a case of learning from the things that didn't work as much as repeating what did work.
For me this year it's as much about building in recovery and be ready to do the hard sessions and blocks rather than over reaching constantly, digging myself into the 'exhausted hole' getting unwell and ending up ill like last spring when I spent 2 weeks in bed when my body had just given up. Thankfully with enforced rest I was able to make a good recovery and had a great race season.
I also tried weights last year but didn't feel it was of much benefit,so, to compliment all my on the bike training this winter I've been focussing on a lot of core, stability and strength excercises but only using my body weight as resistance (push ups ,pull ups etc).
Unless you want to commit to a coach then it is a lot of trial and error but in some ways thats the journey and although it can be frustrating and many of us like things mapped out to get the results we want, it's a bit like the racing in itself that you can prepare all you want, sometimes it just doesn't all go to plan.

davoj

Glasgowbhoy wrote:

I don't think there is any definitive 'winter plan' that all the top amatuer racers are following but won't provide you with the details.
Having spent the last 2 winters training to race I've found it's a case of learning from the things that didn't work as much as repeating what did work.
For me this year it's as much about building in recovery and be ready to do the hard sessions and blocks rather than over reaching constantly, digging myself into the 'exhausted hole' getting unwell and ending up ill like last spring when I spent 2 weeks in bed when my body had just given up. Thankfully with enforced rest I was able to make a good recovery and had a great race season.
I also tried weights last year but didn't feel it was of much benefit,so, to compliment all my on the bike training this winter I've been focussing on a lot of core, stability and strength excercises but only using my body weight as resistance (push ups ,pull ups etc).
Unless you want to commit to a coach then it is a lot of trial and error but in some ways thats the journey and although it can be frustrating and many of us like things mapped out to get the results we want, it's a bit like the racing in itself that you can prepare all you want, sometimes it just doesn't all go to plan.

That make sense.

Thanks

ric/rstsport

1) 5 to 8 sessions a week (occasionally more), i.e., some day i do double days. very occasionally, i do 4 sessions a week (i.e., one week it rained really badly and that plus work meant i could only be bothered to do 4 sessions)

2) i do hills every day i ride outside. although hills is obviously a relative term - what is a hill to me, could be a flat pimple to someone else. i do intervals 2 or 3 times a week

3) i think i last did weights in 1984

these are such basics questions though. i can't imagine they provide any actionable ideas for anyone?

5 or 6 or 7 days a week training won't turn you into a winter warrior. nor will they make you peak.

i'm a coach. my first season of racing was 1984. i haven't raced the last two years though (work/family). i will be racing next year. i have trained every year since '84

i coach riders at a variety of levels from people like you, through to elite World Champions.

Ric

mentalalex

1- 6 session on the bike a week, Currently.

2- Yes *does help being only 1 hours or so riding from the cat and fiddle

3- Weights/core 2-3 times a week.

poynedexter

1. 5 or 6, various times, distances, turbo, road.
2. yes
3. no (but might do some core, if maybe etc)

i giving training 100% at the min which means as 100% effective as i feel i can.

macroadie

I've read and heard winter is the time to let your body heal so you reduce training intensity/time and get in the gym. I currently do Tue & Wed, lifting + 1.5 hrs sub-threshold interval training (trainer), then Saturday endurance ride (45-55miles) and sunday recovery ride (30-35 miles). In January I'll start threshold/vomax intervals. Plan to race Cat5/4 in May and MS150

cyco2

macroadie wrote:

I've read and heard winter is the time to let your body heal so you reduce training intensity/time and get in the gym.

When I see advice like this given I wonder what they would say if they lived in a warmer winter climate and racing was possible all year round. :roll:

dw300

macroadie wrote:

I've read and heard winter is the time to let your body heal so you reduce training intensity/time and get in the gym. I currently do Tue & Wed, lifting + 1.5 hrs sub-threshold interval training (trainer), then Saturday endurance ride (45-55miles) and sunday recovery ride (30-35 miles). In January I'll start threshold/vomax intervals. Plan to race Cat5/4 in May and MS150

If I wanted to come into the new season with an edge I'd tell my opponents that too.

Aside from their natural gifts, the pros are pros because they have put in more training, more over-reaching, they continually overload their body so that it responds. They may take some time off, but that's because they work a lot harder than an amateur or club cyclist.

You might need a week or two rest after a period where you are putting more stress on your body than it can handle due to a hard racing schedule. But recreational riding or training should be managed so that you never need to take a significant period off because the training stress and workout schedule is within your control.

Illness and injury are two good exceptions to this.