Your Basic Bike Training Philosophy: Mixing Volume + Intensity + Recovery
Athletic training blends training volume with intensity followed by adequate recovery. The classic bike training philosophy builds a base of volume riding first. That's followed by improving high-end power with high intensity intervals. This traditional approach is the least risky training method. Some coaches call it Linear Periodization. We know it works because it’s time-proven.
Yet step back and take a bigger look at what Periodized Training generally means. In different training periods we emphasize training different body systems. As you get closer to goal events, training must resemble actual competition demands. Training becomes specific.
All athletic training is based on applying a stress, followed by recovery. The body becomes stronger as it reacts to training stress. Too little stress and development is slow or non-existent. Either too much stress or not allowing enough recovery time will break the body down. This leads to mal-adapted training called overtraining.
So, the key to training success is periodizing system stress and recovery. Target individual systems at different times in the season. As they adapt over time, the systems reinforce each other. Merge training in the few weeks before competition using the principle of specificity (see below). You're on the journey to becoming the Ultimate Cyclist.
Now let’s “reverse” the traditional base-then-intensity approach. Train over months with intensity first, then apply volume. Being opposite to Linear Periodization, some coaches call this approach Reverse Periodization. High intensity interval training (HIIT) research suggests it can be an equally effective training approach. [REF: Gibala, M. (2017) The One Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That's Smarter, Faster, Shorter. New York, NY: Avery.]
For winter-bound athletes that’s great news. It means you can do most short-session interval work in the winter. No need to slog hours indoors with base training. Later, when outdoor weather allows, you can ride hours outside to build your endurance. To make this work properly you must respect your recovery between HIIT sessions.
Keep It Periodized
Stress and recover. Switch to hard workouts every other day. A hard workout should challenge one of these systems: endurance, sustained power, maximum power, and strength.
Divide your training calendar into 3 to 6 week Periods. Focus your training to one or two of your systems during each Period. This type of variety also keeps training interesting across your season.
The final 3 week Period of training before your goal event must merge everything. Make sure more of your workouts are closer in length and intensity demands of your event. This is the principle of …
Specificity
Running does not make a faster cyclist and vice versa. Each activity will improve your general fitness. But eventually, training needs to look specifically like your goal event. Baseball hitters take batting practice. Cyclists ride and leave their cross-training activities behind.
The closer your training looks like your event, the better adapted you’ll be. What do pro cyclists do? In-season they spend more time racing week-to-week than focusing on training rides. Nothing beats racing for training.
Though specific training is important, we must acknowledge the power of variety. Training too much using only one technique will lead to mental burnout.
So, here's another way to look at specificity. Break down the components of bike racing and work on each with a specific method. Bike races contain attacks, hills, chases and sprints. Specific workouts must develop your speed. Getting to the finish line will always need endurance. Training involves consistent doses of long steady rides.
Discipline
Self-control is an overarching principle of training. Disciplined mental functions will support your improved muscle functions. Sometimes being able to suffer a little more than your opponent is all you need to win. That can be the difference when you're an elite athlete competing against elites much the same as you.
Recovery
But high motivation can lead to anxiety issues. Recovery days — and weeks — are necessary. But the anxious mind has trouble letting go. Embrace the ebb and flow of your periodized training. Take disciplined recovery days and return to work-life-training synchronicity.
Recovery also aids your body's release of its own natural bodybuilding hormones: thyroid hormone, human growth hormone and testosterone. Your true performance enhancements will be well-deserved days off.
The Most Basic Periodized Plan
Race shape takes time. Training 9 hours a week? You can't do them all in a single Sunday ride and get the same deep results from spreading the hours across daily workouts all week long. Consistency matters more than raw intensity. By itself, a daily workout does very little. It's consistent daily repetition that builds results.
Ride hard one day. Ride easy or not at all the next day. On your hard day, break the work up into chunks called intervals. The shorter the interval, the harder you make it. Recover with easy spinning between intervals. Go hard again.
Power meters make if easy to measure your "hard." Put a number on your version of hard, and try to hit it again in your next interval. Week-by-week, you should see your target power numbers rise. You're getting stronger!
About 4 weeks before your event, at least one or two of your weekly rides must look like the effort demands of the event. The hardest parts of your workouts need to look like the hardest parts of your goal event.
- For gran fondos and charity rides, that will mean riding a distance about the length of the event and at a good steady pace.
- For road racing, you’ll need to be adapted to many speed changes. You need training rides with a mix of short and hard power efforts.
- For criteriums you also need to get comfortable taking corners at high speeds. You need high power bursts with the ability to recover while your legs are still spinning fast.
- For time trials you need steady efforts at the highest power you can hold. Almost unbearable pain becomes your riding partner.