Preparing for any event/competition is likely to require a rigorous training programme to achieve the best performance on the day and helps to gear your body for the challenge. When it comes to training, though, your programme should reflect the kind of cycling that you will be taking part in, as this will best prepare your body for the event. As such, you should ensure that you have an achievable plan to work towards that will help you to achieve your goal.
Since people train for different reasons, here’s a selection of common training programmes that cyclists will generally work towards improving their abilities both overall and in certain areas.
Nutrition
Training programmes are the best way to improve a rider’s ability and fitness, particularly since many have been developed by pro racing teams to offer expert plans to all kinds of riders. However, while training is critical, nothing is more important than making sure that your body is well nourished before, during and after cycling.
Put simply, you may struggle to complete your training programme/s if you’re malnourished. As such, alongside whichever training programme you feel is best for you, you should also have a strict diet that will aid recovery and replenish lost energy and salts for the best results.
Compete
Workouts that are designed to prime riders for competitive events of all difficulties are the perfect introduction for inexperienced riders or the ideal plan for intermediate riders looking to sharpen their race-day skills. By simulating attacks and sprint situations, riders can gain more experience through practicing these sessions and build their anaerobic capacity and threshold power, which is crucial to becoming race-ready.
Climbing
Climbing training programmes are generally suitable for riders who want to improve their ascending ability and performance when cycling against gravity. These kind of plans are perfect for continually improving your performance in preparation for hilly sportives or athletes looking to stay with the pack when climbing. Through a series of regular workouts, riders can benefit from increased strength endurance, anaerobic capacity and VO2 Max, meaning that they can progressively increase their threshold climbing ability.
Racing
Racing training programmes are more suited to those looking to improve their combative racing style, through the use of high-power, low-cadence workouts that focus on strength and maximal effort. Not only that, but it should also improve anaerobic capacity maintenance and phosphate conversion too, while other workouts aim to manage fatigue and optimise the adaptation of your body to the workload.
Power (Functional Power Threshold – FTP)
Functional Power Threshold (FTP) represents the maximum wattage you can sustain over 60 minutes and is a fundamental training exercise aimed at improving your athletic performance – rather than a goal specific objective. The main purpose of this kind of training regime is to increase the duration of sustained power output to make you go faster, for longer, regardless of gradient. While improving performance is the main desired outcome, plans such as these also aim to maximise fitness gains and reduce fatigue through active recovery sessions.
Gran Fondo
A Gran Fondo – which essentially translates as “Big Ride” – is a long-distance event that’s at least 120km in length and can be one of the most challenging cycling events. Designed for intermediate to experienced riders that are starting from a higher fitness base, Gran Fondo training plans offer a more endurance-focused workout programme that aims to increase your climbing ability. By increasing anaerobic capacity and FTP, riders will be much more prepared for completing a long-distance sportive event with a Gran Fondo plan.
Summary
In short, training programmes are the perfect way to improve your overall riding ability, but you should ensure that you have a comprehensive plan in place that ensures to keep you well nourished before, during and after sessions. If you’re not suitably prepared for events through rigorous practice, then you’ll find yourself lacking what you need to keep pushing for the finish line.
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