Over the past few years, my training has evolved from a general ride the bike, to more specific targeted training sessions. Specific training aims to target and improve those areas which will be most beneficial for your goals and type of races.
Both Eddy Merckx and Fausto Coppi gave pretty much the same advice for would be cyclists
- ‘ride a bike’.
For simplicity you can’t beat that advice. It’s a good quote to remind you of the fundamentals. Eddy Merckx himself was quite a mile muncher, upto 30,000Km per year. It was classic old school. Train 5-6 hours a day in the winter, then race unto 170 days a year in the summer. It didn’t do him any harm…
Riding a bike, will definitely get you fitter. If you are just starting, whatever kind of riding you do – you will see huge gains in performance just because the body is adapting to cycling. In the beginning, just riding the bike will make a big improvement.
However, at a certain level of fitness, just riding a bike isn’t enough to maximise your potential, this is when you need to be more specific and target certain areas of improvement. The good thing about specific training is that you can also maximise your limited training time. Even if you have a full time job, you can see yourself competing at a high level.
Principles of Specific Training
Clear Target
Is your target to complete a 100 mile sportive, to do a faster 1 hour time trial or to get a 2nd cat road license? If it is a sportive, the main target is to be comfortable with the distance and have practise on the training. For 10 mile and 25 mile time trials, the endurance aspect is much less important. There are only so many goals you can have at once.
Each Training Session has a Specific Focus.
If it is a recovery ride, you need to make sure you actually recover. For example, keep your legs spinning, use a heart rate monitor to prevent yourself going too hard. These recovery rides can require quite a lot of patience. The temptation is to cycle fast because you enjoy it, but then you never fully recover. If you don’t recover, you won’t be able to train as hard on the rides where you need to stretch yourself.
Train at levels which you need.
If you are wanting to go faster in a 40Km time trial, you need to train at the kind of intensities that you will be racing at. Long hours in the saddle, can give a certain base endurance capacity. But, the key training sessions will be those focused on stretching your capacity for one hour efforst. For a 25 mile time trial, you need to increase your threshold power you can maintain at that level and time. I would do several 5 minute intervals at just above race pace. This is stretching your capacity. Also, I would see doing a 25 mile time trial as training for the next race. It is quite a common mistake to do a lot of riding, but not very much at what you will actually be doing in a race.
Focus During Training and Racing.
As well as having specific training sessions, it is also very important to be fully focused during the actual training session. If you have a training session where you train at just above your threshold, you have to be very committed and focused on keeping that level. You can’t allow your mind to start wander and give up half way through because it starts to rain. For example, concentrating on a breathing technique can make sure you remain fully in the present moment of the training session.
Adaptability
With targeted training, you have a clear goal and clear training sessions. But, you still need room for adaptability. If you are over-tired, an interval session may do more harm than good. The goal is always to get the most out of yourself. But, this may require a juggling of training sessions. Specific training doesn’t mean you become overly rigid.
Issues in Specific Training
To do your specific training it may require a willingness to train alone. With a group you may end up going too fast for recovery or too slow for high end improvement. But, on the other hand, it is important to maintain enthusiasm and the joy of cycling. If you find it very boring on your own, try to find a small group of similar riders. Some people tell me they can only stretch themselves when riding with other people. So there is no hard and fast rule about what works for you. But, in my case I tend to end up training a lot on my own.
Training Periods.
Breaking the year up into different training blocks helps to peak for the right time of the year. See more on training blocks
Questions to Ask yourself to help focus your training
- What do I hope to get from cycling?
- What are goals for this year?
- What do I need to do well at that distance / type of race?
- What is purpose of each training ride that you do?
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