A lot of people write in asking for training plans. I give everyone just about the same answer, so if you’re looking for a training plan, please read this. I’ll go through the various types of questions I get…

The Vague Request

I want to do a race this summer, how do I train for it? Can you give me a training plan?

How do you train for a race? It depends. It depends on the type of race, race distance, your previous experience, your existing fitness levels, history of injury, time available, short and long-term goals, and much more.

So, to prepare a training plan, I would need to know all of that information I just listed. It’s very difficult to give you any sort of training plan without that data. And even if you had sent me all that data, designing a training plan is a long, detailed process.

Much like a doctor isn’t going to diagnose you through email, I’m not going to send out a training plan based on email. I simply cannot give out free, customized training plans to everyone that asks.

If you write in with a vague question, I will probably just tell you to read The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel.

The Race-Specific Request:

I am new to road racing, Crits particularly. Can you give me a training plan for preparing for a Crit.

If you’re new to racing, just about any training is going to help you improve. You don’t need to get into anything too fancy. So go out and ride. Ride slow, ride fast, and ride moderately. Then ride fast some more, like you would in a race.

You will also benefit greatly from going out and practicing cornering!

If you are really interested in learning the principles behind a good training plan, as a new racer, it is very worthwhile to pick up of a copy of The Cyclist’s Training Bible. It will take a while to read, but the result is worth it!

The Last Minute Request:

I am new to mountain bike raceing and I have a mountain bike race in two weeks. What do you suggest I do over the next two weeks. I would like to come up with a 4 week and 2 week pre-race training plan.

Umm… it really depends on what your current training plan is, your fitness level, and the actual race you have coming up. If you’re serious about racing, I’d suggest getting more serious about your planning – a 2 week training plan isn’t going to change much and would probably leave you worn out on race day.

So, if you want to come up with a good 4 month training plan and know how to adapt it to the days right before a race, take a look at Joe Friel’s The Cyclist’s Training Bible. It’s pretty cheap and the time spent reading it is a great investment in your cycling career.

As you can see, writing in asking for a training plan won’t get you any further than if you just did a search for “training” on my website. I try to provide as much advice as I can on my website, 100% free. Please take a look at that!

For example, I have an analysis of a generalized training week: An Example Training Week.

The Lance Armstrong Performance Program: 7 Weeks to the Perfect Ride

When this book came out on September 9, 2000, Lance Armstrong had only won two Tours de France. That seemed amazing at the time, but today, that is just a small part of Lance’s legacy. (Isn’t it crazy? Two Tour wins for nearly any other rider would be amazing, but with Lance, it’s “only two” of his seven total victories.)

The timing was perfect for me because I was beginning to get competitive in sports (one of them being cycling.) Buying a book by Lance Armstrong and his coach Chris Carmichael was a no-brainer!

The book turned out to be perfect for budding cyclists. There was plenty of training and racing advice, training plans for all levels, and lots of tips on nutrition, what the pros eat, bike fit, bicycle maintenance, stretching, etc.

It covered all those topics that beginners might overlook, so by reading this book, I probably took at least two years off my learning curve. After reading the book and completing a 7-week training plan, I was ready to race!

Speaking of those training plans…

While this book is a thorough resource for anyone new to cycling, the 7-week training plans are the real draw. There are three plans laid out in the book: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Not wanting to label myself a beginner (I could already ride pretty fast when hitting little jumps on my kids bike,) I started out with the Intermediate Plan. This plan had me riding six days per week from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours per day.

The goal with the Intermediate plan seemed to be getting your legs used to putting in some serious time (~ eight hours on the bike) as well as developing a good aerobic capacity. There were no intervals in this plan, which made for enjoyable riding.

Moving on to the Advanced Plan, that’s where I ran into a variety of intervals, plus the concept of riding all seven days each week (there was one rest day out of the 49 days.)

Things were different, though – you busted your hump three days per week, then did four recovery rides. Being new to structured training, I thought four easy days was lame, so I added in some running and BMX workouts on the easy days.

It wasn’t long before I was burnt out and couldn’t recover properly. I should have trusted that Chris Carmichael knew how to put a training plan together!

But I learned my lesson early and from then on, knew that my intense workouts required quite a bit of rest afterward. (Sure, I burnt myself out a few more times over the next couple years, but what 16 year old kid doesn’t push the limits now and then?)

What happens when you complete the three plans?

You simply begin to create your own workouts! You can use a template similar to the Advanced training plan, but add in a variety of workouts depending on your goals.

There are many workout ideas in the “Expanding Your Repertoire” section, so if you put in a little elbow grease, you could get nearly a lifetime’s worth of training plans.

(But I’ll warn you – the Advanced plan is for an advanced recreational cyclist, not an advanced (pro) rider. That means if you’re not a beginner, you’ll be developing a lot of your own plans.)

And with a decent weight lifting section, you could develop some off-season training plans, too. (Some of the weight lifting, stretching, and nutrition stuff is getting a bit outdated, but it’s still helpful.)

My final verdict is…

If you are new to cycling and would like to train for some local road races, this is a great book to get you on the right track. It’s not too in-depth, but that’s what makes it so great – it’s easy to comprehend.

As you progress, you will probably want to pick up a copy of Joe Friel’s book (The Cyclist’s Training Bible,) and possibly hire your own coach in the future. But the Lance Armstrong Performance Program is a great book to start with, and for $10.85, it’s a definite no-brainer.

Buy online: www.Amazon.com

The first thing you need if you’re going to train for a big event, such as a mountain bike race, is a training plan. If you’re just starting out, you can get in pretty good shape just by going out for a ride whenever you feel like it, but if you want to get serious results, you need to do some serious training.

The best training plan is going to come from a coach who has customized the training plan to your specific needs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a decent plan on your own.

Below I will show you what a training week might look like, plus I’ll explain why it might look like that…

An Example Week from a Cyclist’s Training Plan

Here is an example week of training that a cyclist may use in the Spring, Summer, or Fall:

In a little more detail:

Monday – Recovery ride.

Weekends are usually filled with hard riding, so Monday is a good time to take it easy and go for a 30-45 minute recovery ride. This will get some blood circulating through your legs, cleaning up any leftover byproducts of racing and delivering fresh oxygen. Your legs may be sore, but going out for an easy spin will make you feel better.

Tuesday – Sprints.

Hopefully you are fresh after the recovery day, in which case you can do some sprints. Sprints are all-out efforts that last about 8-15 seconds. You might do 2 sets of 3, or maybe 3 sets of 5 sprints, depending on your fitness. Total ride time should be around 90 minutes.

Wednesday – Recovery ride.

To recover from Tuesday’s workout and prepare for Thursday, another recovery ride is in order. Ride easy for 30-60 minutes.

Thursday – Intervals.

Now that you are rested, it’s time for some intervals. There are so many types of intervals you can do, I can’t name them all here, but here’s an idea:

You could do 2 sets of 3 reps of 2 minute intervals (at the fastest pace you can hold for the entire duration of the interval.) 2 minutes recovery between intervals, 10 minutes recovery between sets. Overall, go for a 90 minute ride.

Friday – Recovery ride.

Another 30 minute recovery ride is in order.

Saturday – Intense ride.

If you have a race scheduled, race. If not, go out for 1-2 hours, riding like you’re in a race. It won’t be structured like an interval workout, but it will be hard and fast and should mimic the types of races you do.

Sunday – Endurance ride.

To maintain endurance during the season, you will want to do a long ride at least once every other week, if not once per week. This ride should be pretty slow, totally aerobic, and it will last from 3-6 hours, depending on your fitness and goals.

Adapting the Plan to Fit your Goals

You could use the above week as a good starting point for developing a plan, but you can’t just do that workout each week – you need to adjust the plan to fit your need!!

You’ll need to adjust the number and length of intervals, the length of the recovery rides and endurance rides, intensity level, etc. And that will adjust continually as you increase your fitness.

A few examples of changes you might make:

Back-to-Back Interval Workouts

If you’re training for stage races or other instances where you typically have to ride hard for two days in a row, you could do your interval workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of separating them with a rest day.

One Hard Weekday Ride

Let’s say it’s the heart of racing season and you just want to maintain fitness, since your primary goal is being well-rested for the weekend. In this case, you might do a hard workout on Wednesday, but take it easy on the other days. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and maybe even Sunday will be easy recovery rides.

Intense Fridays

If you have a race on Saturday, you’ll want to ride a little bit on Friday to keep your legs fresh. This ride won’t be long, but it should have incorporate some intense intervals to make sure you’re ready and raring to go (rather than sluggish) come Saturday.

Distance

If you’re focusing on events like long time trials, or real long events like RAAM or 24-hour mountain bike races, you might forget the sprints and stick with longer intervals and/or more endurance days.

A Day Off

Sometimes even a recovery ride will be too much. In that case, you need to take a day and lay in bed all day!

Cross Training

To maintain your body, you should also incorporate other exercises, such as weight lifting, body weight calisthenics, and/or yoga.

The “Why” Behind the Training Plan

Even though you should adapt your training plan, there are a couple basic principles at play. Keep this in mind:

1. Hard then Easy.

In this plan, each hard ride is followed by an easy ride, so you end up alternating hard and easy days.

By going very easy on your easy days, you can go very hard on your hard days. This style of training will produce bigger gains than if you rode every day at a mediocre pace.

2. Big Rides on the Weekend.

If you work Mon-Fri, 9-5, it’s kind of obvious you have to save the big rides for the weekend.

But this is also because that’s when races are. You want to get in the groove and establish a routine, so you schedule your training to match your race schedule.

You can take it even further if you want and match your workouts to your actual race times. Some races may start at 8:00 AM, while others take place at 2:30 PM. You want your body used to delivering at the specified time.

Think about it – if you’ll be racing in the afternoon heat, you want to get accustomed to that. So don’t do all your rides at 7:00 AM. If you’ll be racing early in the morning, train early in the morning. A big thing in this case is determining what to eat and drink.

Designing Your Own Training Plan

To do the best job designing your own training plan, I highly recommend purchasing a book on the subject. The best choice for a dedicated cyclist is The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel. It’s a big book which features in-depth coverage of virtually every aspect of training.

If you’re just starting out and want some training advice coupled with a training plan, try The Lance Armstrong Performance Program, which provides three separate training plans (beginner, intermediate, and advanced.)

You will learn a lot from those books, and you’ll get a good start on a training plan. You can get both for under $25, which is less than what a coach would cost per month!

I’ve been reading the RoadBikeRider.com newsletter each Thursday for as long as I can remember. It’s a great e-zine for roadies, and they also offer some eBooks.

What I’m reviewing today is one of their eArticles, “Power to the Pedals” by Fred Matheny. This is a 16 page guide and training plan designed to increase your power output over a 12-week period.

The price? Just $3.99.

Best of all, the workout only requires two, one-hour workouts per week. So you can get in shape even with very limited training time. (You can also include weight lifting and/or a long endurance ride, if you choose.)

I wasn’t expecting a whole lot for $3.99, maybe a basic workout plan that’s better than training haphazardly. But you know what, this turned out to be pretty good!

About the Book

The article is 16 pages total, with the first 8 pages devoted to theory, pages 9-13 for workout explanations, and pages 13-16 contain the actual plan. It’s a quick read, but it’s not low on substance.

Power to the Pedals starts with some reasons why you want to increase your power, then reveals that you don’t have to spend hour after hour, day after day, riding. Just two, one-hour workouts each week will do the trick.

Then there is some info on doing a baseline test with a power meter or HRM (so you can guide your training and better determine fitness gains made while using this program.)

Next, Coach Fred answers questions about weight lifting, knee injuries from power training, etc. Once that’s out of the way, he explains each drill, type of interval, etc.. Compared to other workout plans, this one is pretty easy to understand, even if you’re not used to the terminology.

Finally, the plan is laid out.

The Value of Power to the Pedals

The theory behind these workouts is nothing new. If you’ve been riding a while, you’ve probably heard of sprints, intervals, and one-leg pedaling drills.

But that doesn’t really matter, because the value here is that the workout is laid out for you. There’s no need to read huge books like The Cyclist’s Training Bible and spend hours concocting your own plan, or paying a coach hundreds if not thousands of dollars per month for their customized advice.

You just pay the $3.99, do what it says, and you get stronger and faster.

My final verdict is…

If you’ve been riding and racing for years and already put together your own training plans for each part of the year or already have a personal coach, you probably won’t learn anything new in this eArticle, and you probably already have your own customized plan anyway.

But if you are fairly new to the sport of cycling and have yet to study the science behind training, and you don’t have a structured training plan, this could be just what you need to get strong and in shape for the summer racing season.

Heck, I might even incorporate this into my Spring training.

Official website: www.RoadBikeRider.com

What’s the most important part of any training plan? The recovery periods.

For a training plan to be worthwhile, it needs to allow time for recovery. Otherwise all your hard work won’t matter.

Typically, training will be done in four-week cycles where there are three weeks of hard riding (with 3-4 hard days per week,) followed by a recovery week, where training volume and/or intensity are reduced.

But aside from less riding, how do you get the most out of your recovery week?

Here are 10 ideas:

1. Massage

There’s nothing better for sore, aching muscles than a professional massage. (Beer is a close second, though.)

Massage provides tons of recovery benefits. It will increase blood flow to your muscles, giving them fresh oxygen and flushing out any byproducts of exercise. It will relieve muscle cramps and spasms, not to mention stress and tension.

Massage is also good for treating any nagging injuries, as it reduces the build-up of scar tissue inside your body.

A professional massage could easily cost $50-90 per hour, and although it’s worth it, there are a couple budget options: a hand-held electric massager, or a massager like The Stick or MuscleTrac. (You have to hold them yourself, and it’s not very fun or luxurious, but your muscles will still feel better afterward.)

2. Soothing Creams and Gels

If you can’t afford a professional massage every day, and you don’t feel like doing self-massage, here’s an idea – spread some gel on your legs and let it do the work for you!

You can get some pain-relieving gel and rub that into your legs, which should provide a nice warming or tingling sensation.

I use Mineral Ice, although there are other products such as Tiger Balm and Flex All, plus specialty products for cyclists from companies such as Freddy’s Choice, Elite Ozone, and Qoleum.

3. Hydration

This is free and easy – keep yourself hydrated! Keeping your body properly hydrated ensures that your body can perform all the tasks necessary to help you recovery, as well as flush out any build-up of toxins from intense riding.

I personally try to drink three cups of green or white tea per day during recovery periods, along with plenty of water. You won’t need sports drinks packed with sugar and electrolytes, but you do want nutrients, which is why I favor home-brewed tea.

4. Sleep

Duh! Sleep is the ultimate recovery tool. Getting enough sleep every night is a good idea, but it’s especially important during recovery weeks.

While you sleep, your body restores itself and performs vital actions that don’t happen when you’re awake, so don’t skip sleep. That means going to bed early enough that you can sleep until you are ready to get up (as opposed to getting up when the alarm clock says to.)

5. Stretching and Flexibility

Since your riding time is cut back, now is a good time to work on your flexibility. Enhanced flexibility means less pain and a more aerodynamic position on the bike. Just two or three 20-minute stretching sessions this week will really improve your riding.

I do yoga and stretching routines (such as those in Cyclo-Zen) every week, but I like to focus on them even more during recovery weeks so that my body stays loose and supple and my mind stays relaxed.

6. Relaxation

Speaking of relaxing… extra sleep, massages, and green tea only go so far – if your recovery week is full of stress, it’s not a recovery week!

This is one week where you really want to avoid stressful situations and “go with the flow.”

7. Recovery Rides

Yes, you still have to ride during recovery weeks! (You could do a “rest week” on occasion, with no riding, but that’s not what we’re talking about today…)

You’ll want to go out and spin on a flat road or on your rollers, keeping your cadence high and your heart rate low. The length of the ride could range from 15 minutes on the rollers to an hour outside on flat roads.

The point is to get your blood flowing and circulating through your body. You don’t want your legs to get stale!

8. Proper Nutrition

While it might be OK to sneak in a little junk food, you should load up on healthy foods during a recovery week. You want a variety of nutrients, so eat a variety of healthy foods to give your body what it needs to rebuild itself.

Obviously, start with plenty of fruits and vegetables (which you could get as pizza toppings, even.) Then throw in whole grains, perhaps from oatmeal. And top it off with some quality proteins and healthy fats; I’m a big fan of natural peanut butter for this.

9. A Good Book

If you get sick of planning race strategies and dealing with travel logistics, relax your mind by taking a little mental break from the bike.

To do this, I like to read an enjoyable book. It could be anything that interests you, just NOT something about setting up a training plan or interval workouts!

10. An Action/Adventure Movie

After you finish the book, get back into gear by capping off the recovery week with an intense, action-packed movie. This will get your mind back in the game and get you motivated!

You could try a classic cycling flick like RAD or Breaking Away for the emotion and triumph, or something more adventurous, with more fight scenes, like Blade: Trinity.

Just don’t pamper yourself too much, because the hard riding will be back on your schedule before you know it!

Photo credits: frankh and austinevan