Supercharge Your Riding This Winter: Your 4-Week Plan
Your riding feeling a bit stale? Recharge with this four-week plateau-busting workout.
Your riding feeling a bit stale? Recharge with this four-week plateau-busting workout. – By Jeremy Katz
If you’ve been riding the same way for a while, you may simply need a fresh approach to your training. Mix things up a bit by following this four-week training programme- you’ll come out the other side fitter, faster and more motivated than ever before.
* We recommend that you have at least eight weeks base training in your legs before breaking out with this programme.
Explanations of all workouts can be found below.
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Week 1
Monday
Tuesday
1h15 min bike with rolling hills
Wednesday
REST
Thursday
Short sprints
Friday
REST
Saturday
1hr30min bike with microbursts
Sunday
1hr20min bike with out-&-back
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Week 2
Monday
Tuesday
REST
Wednesday
Stationary skills ride
Thursday
Race or short sprints
Friday
REST
Saturday
Swim or hike:
1hr30min bike with microbursts
Sunday
1hr20mins bike with out-&-back
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Week 3
Monday
Tuesday
1hr30mins bike with rolling hills
Wednesday
Short sprints
Thursday
REST
Friday
REST
Saturday
2 hr bike with microbursts
Sunday
1hr20mis bike with out-&-back
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Week 4
Monday
Tuesday
Short sprints
Wednesday
REST
Thursday
1hr30min bike with rolling hills
Friday
REST
Saturday
Swim or hike; 2hr bike with microbursts
Sunday
1hr20min bike with out-&-back
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Workout Notes
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Rolling Hills
Challenging the backside of a hill helps you meter out your effort over the whole climb and descent, to maintain a steadier, faster speed with less energy expended.
Warm up by riding easy for 10 to 15 minutes, at a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 2 or 3. (On this scale a 1 would be no exertion at all and a 10 would be an all-out effort.) Keep your cadence at 90 rpm. Then ride for at least 1 hour on a hilly route. Power over the last four or 5m of each climb and down the backside until you hit top speed, then coast and recover.
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Short Sprints
This fun workout will test your legs without trashing your anaerobic system . Do it on the same course each week (or on the trainer) to track your progress . To get your competitive juices flowing, race with a friend.
Warm up for 20 minutes easy at a high cadence (90-plus rpm).
Main set:
5 seconds all-out, 1 minute rest
30 seconds all-out, 1 minute rest
1 minute all-out
Repeat two more times, riding three minutes easy between sets
Cool down with 10 minutes easy at 90-plus rpm.
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Microbursts
By adding short, hard efforts to your standard endurance rides, you’ll help recruit
fast-twitch muscle fibres for sprinting and train your ability to change speeds quickly.
Warm up with 20 minutes of easy riding (RP E 2) at a higher-thannormal cadence (95-plus rpm). During the endurance section, do a 30-second, out-of-the-saddle hard effort (RP E 9) every five minutes. Keep your cadence at 95-plus rpm. Between bursts, cruise at an RP E of 2 to 4. Cool down with 15 minutes easy riding.
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Swim
Like a massage, swimming flushes tired muscles . And a change of venue can break up mental monotony.
Warm up with 400m. Then swim 1 650m nonstop, negativesplitting (the second 825m should be faster than the first). Don’t go too hard too early. Cool down with 200m.
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Hike
If you aren’t a strong swimmer or don’t have access to a pool, substitute a one-hour hike.
For the first 30 minutes shoot for an RP E of 2 to 5; during the second half walk or jog at an RP E of 5 to 8.
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Out-&-Back
Adding structured cycling to a ride along undiscovered roads will build your speed and rest your mind.
Warm up for 20 minutes. Then take an unknown road and ride for 20 minutes: five minutes moderate (RPE 5 or 6), five minutes easy (RPE 2), five minutes moderate, five minutes easy. Turn around and retrace your route, completing this sequence four times: 3 minutes hard (RPE 7 to 9), 2 minutes easy. Take note of how many minutes you shave on the way back. Cool down for 20 minutes.
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Stationary Skills
Drills on a stationary bike or trainer help you develop a more efficient pedal stroke.
Warm up, then repeat the following cycle four times: 45 seconds pedalling with one leg, 1 minute using both legs, 45 seconds pedalling with the opposite leg. Use light resistance and keep your cadence as high as you can without bouncing. Make sure you are lifting from the hip flexors and pushing with your quads. You may notice dead spots – times when you’re not applying pressure on the pedal – especially at the 12- and 6-o’clock positions. Try and apply force to the pedal along the full revolution. Cool down with five minutes easy.
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