Training
is not just for those that want to race. Training has benefits
for all. I know people who have trained simply to go on a specific
holiday and even a few who simply wanted to get to the pub and
back. Whether you are a recreational cyclist or race 200km races
every weekend the principles and approach to training are basically
the same. It is usually time and personal commitment based upon
personal objectives that differ.
If we all trained, we'd all get fitter, which is of course assuming
each did the correct form of training and that's what this section
is all about. We will highlight general and specific principles
of training for cycling but will endeavour to personalise the
technique to the various forms of cyclist there are. We will
concentrate on three sectors of cyclist:
The
first and most important thing to do before designing any training
program for cycling is to answer the question," What do I want
from cycling?" What you want out of the sport will determine
what you have to put into it. This is because as with most things
in life you can only get out what you put into it.
The basics of training programmes for each group
Casual
Cyclist
Most casual cyclists go out for very short and relatively slow
pleasure rides, often with a spouse and/or the children. Some
only ride on weekends while others may ride every day. For minimum
basic fitness, you need to ride at least two to three times
per week for at least forty minutes. The minimum could be something
like Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. You can move these days
around to fit your life style. Any three days spread out during
the week are fine and the minimum.
Intermediate Cyclist
This is where you really need to start having at least some
form of structure to your training. You should ride at least
three to four days per week, and probably up to 100 miles per
week. Let's say that you don't ride more than about 30 miles
in one ride. Do from 10 to 30 miles on Sunday, Tuesday, and
Thursday or some variation of that schedule. If you ride on
Saturday, it should only be about 10 miles easy spinning to
loosen your legs up for Sunday's ride.
Serious
Cyclist
You need a minimum of four to five days per week and anything
between 100 and 200 miles per week. You need to do close to
the distance you like to ride in tours or races on a regular
basis. Your most important concern however will be the quality
of your aerobic fitness. Remember that long is a relative term.
If you like 50-mile rides, or your average race distance is
60 miles, your long Sunday rides should be 10-20% longer. You
want more aerobic fitness than will be required by your tour
or race so it will be easier and you will have more fun, though
when the line is strung out and you're not the guy driving it,
fun is probably not an appropriate word.
Above we talk about distance relative to training. Modern schools
of thought suggest that as distance can be dependent upon so
many factors outside your control, that the use of timed periods
of training is more appropriate. This is the measurement for
training that we therefore favour and will be used in conjunction
with a reasonable emphasis is placed upon the use of heart rates
as an effective method of measuring effort and therefore helping
specificity of training and preventing over training. For a
wide selection of the best heart rate monitors from POLAR,
click the name.
