Train Smart, not more.

Train smart, not more. Getting the most out of your training is not down to training more, it’s about training smarter. 

 

By training smarter, you can become a better athlete whilst committing fewer hours of your week. The key is to train smart, not more – avoid the junk miles.. Here are a few fundamentals to remember;

 

Nothing changes overnight

Your training needs to be progressive, working towards an end goal. If you are a novice cyclist and want to be able to complete a 120-mile sportive with 5000ft of climbing in 4 months time, don’t expect to be able to be in that sort of condition next week. It’s all about making progress, slowly but steadily. Without the endurance riding, you wont have the fitness to benefit properly from the intense efforts that come later down the line.

Picture this, it’s your first week of training – imagine going out on day 1 and doing intervals up a mountain. You are not going to be able to walk the next day.

Splitting your training in to phases will ensure you build up to your goal in a sustainable way.

 

Train with intensity

If you were lucky enough to have a spare 30 hours a week to dedicate to cycling, it is likely that you will get the most out of yourself if you didn’t ride your bike 30 hours a week. Very few people can handle that sort of workload, at any sort of intensity. Unless your aim is to complete ultra long distance events like 12 or 24-hour time trials, or rides across countries – then stay away from riding in ‘no mans zone’ for hours on end. Instead, get smart with your training and put some structure in place, giving yourself time to work on those specifics that will help achieve you end goal. Train smart.

Train your strengths

The old saying ‘Train your weakness, race your strengths’ is fine. However, without training your strength, it is never going to really be a massive strength. Your natural strengths are what separate you from the rest. You are born with ability, so make the most of it and ensure it remains your strength. This may be technique or bike handling, climbing, time trialing, sprinting, etc. Whatever it is that you find comes natural, make sure you dedicate training time towards it, ensuring your natural strength really pack a punch.

 

Don’t abandon your weakness

You can’t abandon your weakness. If you find climbing difficult, and you never put any focus on climbing in training – as soon as an event goes uphill, both physically and mentally you are finished. Be sure to train smart.

By giving your weakness some attention in training, you know when you come to that dreaded uphill section, you have worked on it in training so physically and mentally the challenge is less. Train smart!

 

All the above components, plus more make a structured training plan

A properly structured training plan needs to take into consideration you as an individual, your strengths, weaknesses and goals. Put the whole lot in to a melting pot, along with the right training techniques and sessions and you have the basis of a thorough training programme. Following on from that, it is the constant dialogue between rider and coach, which enables performance and any change in circumstance to be monitored and decisions made on prescribed training. If for example you are heavily fatigued from last nights training session, which really took it out of you, there may be little value in continuing with the original training plan. Depending on the phase you are in, and when your next rest day is, the smart option may be to alter your training plan in favour of a lighter session – or it may be a case of cracking on and getting it done. There is rarely one-size fits all answer – we are all different and for this reason, training plans must be too. Train smart!

 

Luke ‘I am naturally quite a powerful rider and can have a decent sprint – handy in lead-outs. Naturally, I struggle on the climbs as I am towards the bigger end of the scale in terms of rider size. For me, its important that I maintain my power and sprint, as this is what makes me the rider I am – I have some natural power which I draw upon across the cobbles in the classics, and in positioning the team leader at the front of the bunch in a hectic bunch sprint, or before the final climb of the race.

That’s all well and good being able to produce that power and speed when needed, however without being able to get over the climbs – like in the Tour de France, I am unable to do my job. For this reason, I ensure I focus on my climbing in training, not just my sprinting.

Dani ‘Similar to Luke I guess, my riding style is quite punchy, and with a track background – I struggle on the climbs. For this reason, I spend as much time as I can on my endurance rides doing climbs. In Mallorca at the start of the year, I always head in to the mountains where I naturally struggle, and ensure I factor some climbing specific efforts in to my training, forcing me in to the red on a long climb, and forcing me to recover whilst still climbing at speed. That said, I am always doing sprint specific sessions as this is where my natural abilities lie and what gives me an edge. If you don’t use it, you loose it!’ Train smart!

 

 

Check out Rowe & King’s Training Packages to see how Rowe & King can help you train smart and achieve your goals!

Picture credit: Huw Fairclough.