Basic Cycling Training Plan
From CRCycling
There are many good references about training for bicycle racing. The approach outlined below is loosely based on information from the following books:
- Maximum Performance for Cyclists by M.D. Michael J. Ross.
- Bicycling Science by David Gordon Wilson
The approach described here avoids the "cookbook" training plan approach where an author provides many sets of workouts. Instead, it takes a first principles approach. That is, a rider can use these basic concepts to come up with his or her own plan for training.
Contents |
Simplified Rider Model
The human body has three systems for converting chemical energy into kinetic energy[1]. Each system delivers an amount of power that's inversely proportional to the duration the power is produced. The systems are responsible for producing distinct types of efforts:
- Sprinting (5 to 10 seconds): the highest power effort
- Attacking (10 seconds to 2 minutes): a moderately high powered effort
- Time Trial and Tempo: An extended duration effort. A Time Trial takes place at the highest possible level of effort that can be sustained. Tempo riding varies from a 12 mph stroll in the park up to a hard, extended chase at the front of a peloton.
The ability of the body to produce power at these durations, specifically the power per body weight (Watts/kg), is a good indicator of a rider's competitiveness. The simplified rider model characterists are:
- Sprint--how fast can you go for 10 seconds
- Anaerobic capacity--how fast, and for how long can you attack up a hill, or jump onto a breakaway as it's pulling away from the field
- Anaerobic frequency--the ability to recover and repeat anaerobic efforts
- Aerobic Threshold--the upper limit of time trialing power
The basic plan is to measure these characteristics, and then to train them and keep track of progress through each season, and from season to season.
How to Measure
The easiest way to measure these characteristics is to use a power meter and software to process power meter files.
If a power meter is not available, another valuable way to measure these characteristics is to setup some well known training routes with features that tax particular energy systems in a reproducible way.
For example, a long hill climb or a time trial course can be used to track the aerobic threshold. In fact, fairly accurate estimates of power output can be calculated from hill climb performances or time trial performances.
A short steep hill, or a 1 to 5 km time trial course can be used to measure anaerobic capacity.
The ability of the body to recover from hard efforts can be measured by doing intervals on a well known course, and recording the time, and the number of intervals required to cover a 10 km course, for example.
Sprinting capability can easily be measured by doing a sprint on a flat road and recording the maximum speed.
How to Train
Michael Ross makes a compelling argument for spending as much training time near and above the anaerobic threshold as possible. In a nutshell, putting in lots of easy miles doesn't do much to train the body to generate high power. Conversely, high intensity training boosts the performance of all the energy systems. So, it makes more sense to train at high intensity for shorter durations with more rest days between training sessions. This approach is especially appealing for amateur cyclists who have limited time to spend on their sport.
Every cycling training manual offers a prescription of workouts. However, it's easy to get lost in those plans. A less cluttered approach starts from first principles: a rider trains to race, so it makes sense to do workouts that are related to racing situations. Short high frequency efforts prepare the body for criterium racing, where a sprint is required out of every corner. The longer high frequency efforts prepare the body to react to repeated attacks as riders try to break away from the field. Longer time trial and tempo rides build endurance.
So, a training session will consist of one or more types of workout, e.g. sprints, intervals, hill climbs. The next question is, how many to do?
Training Volume
The effort expended during a training session can be measured directly with a power meter. Energy is the product of Power and Time:
- Energy (Joules) = Power (Watts) x Time (Seconds)
For example, a sprint might only be 10 seconds, but the average power during the sprint might be 1500 Watts. The energy used in the sprint would be 15,000 joules, or 15 kilo-joules (kJ). A session of 8 sprints will take 15x8 = 120 kJ. A session of 8 1x1 intervals might consist of 4 minutes at 400 Watts, and 4 minutes at 200 Watts, or 144 kJ. (Note, since the body is only about 25% efficient when it comes to converting chemical energy into mechanical energy, and 1 calorie = 4.18400 joules, it's a common practice to basically assume that an effort that resulted in 15 kJ or work took 15 kCalories, or 6% of a Snicker's bar, to do.)
Energy, however, is not a sufficient measure of training volume. Experience shows that energy expenditure at higher intensity will cause more fatigue, and require more recovery time than the same energy expenditure at lower intensity. For example, a rider might feel a workout of 8 all out sprints the next day, but would hardly notice a 5 mile round trip ride to the store even though the energy expenditure is the same.
So the energy burned during training should be weighted by the intensity of the effort to get a better measure of training volume:
- Sprinting Energy x 4
- Attacking Energy x 3
- Time Trial Energy x 2
- Tempo and Below x 1
So, on a two hour ride, if you planned to do an equally weighted volume of sprints, attacks and aerobic training, and planned to burn 1500 calories (ouch!) the breakdown would be something like:
- 180 kJ on Sprints (8-10 sprints);
- 240 kJ on Attacks (2 or 3 sets of 8 1x1 intervals);
- 360 kJ near the threshold (Two 10 minute climbs);
- 720 kJ just riding (tempo riding for between 1 and two hours).
A rider needs to determine what volume of training he or she can do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The best way to figure this out is to keep a log. A power meter is a useful tool for this purpose. If no power meter is available, simply record the time spent doing each type of effort. Also, a rider should record how he feels in general. Training fatigue shows up as sore muscles and crankiness. Persistent overtraining will turn into sickness, depression, etc...
After monitoring moods and training volume for a month, a few months, a whole season, some patterns will emerge, and a rider will be able to plan for the next year, and will be better informed about how contingencies affect the body's response to training. A stressful period at work might hamper the ability to recover, for example.
Training Cycles
Experience shows that cyclically varying training volumes yields better overall improvement in fitness rather than sustaining the same volume week in and week out. The idea is to structure your training so there are significant rest periods that will allow your body to rebuild stronger than it was before.
A simple scheme is to break the training year down into sets of multi-week periods. For example:
- Week 1, easy (cut training volume by 50% or more)
- Week 2, hard (boost the previous cycle's hard week by 10-20%)
- Week 3, same as previous cycle's hard week
Three sets of 3 week periods fit nicely into a semester, and is probably a reasonable chunk of time to contemplate before it starts, and to evaluate after it's over.
Putting it All Together
The cycling season is long! It's possible to race from February through November. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be possible to continually improve fitness throughout the year. Rather, the semester approach will probably deliver peak form sometime during the second semester. From there, after several consecutive months of training, it's possible to lose fitness in spite of a regular training schedule. It's probably necessary, then, to take some time to recover before rebuilding to high levels again at the end of the cycling season, or a transition to cyclocross or other winter sports and get ready for the next season.
