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Training Plans for Cyclists

In the coming weeks, I will be posting training plans you can use to enhance your fitness and development as a cyclist.  These plans will incorporate my High Impact Cycling Workouts and correspond to a particular phase of the periodization process: endurance, intensity, competition and recovery.  To provide you with a real life example, I will begin by posting my Endurance Phase training for the 2010 competitive season.  My primary goal for this phase is to enhance aerobic and muscular endurance.  I will continue to post plans for other training phases and a variety of cycling disciplines including road, mountain and track.

Endurance Phase - 15 Weeks

SS = Steady Spinning        HCS = High Cadence Spinning

PB = Power Bursts            AR = Active Recovery

SI = Strength Intervals       CI = Cadence Intervals

PI = Pyramid Intervals

Please note that the hours listed on this training plan are based on indoor training (we have long, cold winters in Michigan).  To follow this plan while riding outdoors, increase training time by one-third.  For example, a 60-minute indoor ride is equivalent to a 90-minute outdoor ride.

Intensity Phase - 12 Weeks

SS = Steady Spinning        HC = Hill Climb

HI = Hill Intervals             AR = Active Recovery

SI = Sprint Intervals          VO2max = VO2max Intervals

PI = Pyramid Intervals      GR = Group Ride

TT = Time Trials              3B TT = 30K Time Trial Race

My primary goal for this phase is to increase my power at lactate threshold.  This will lead to improved performances in my primary races, which are Time Trials and Hill Climbs. 

Competition Phase - 24 Weeks

SS = Steady Spinning        VO2max = VO2max Intervals

HI = Hill Intervals             AR = Active Recovery

SI = Sprint Intervals          TT = Time Trials

My primary goal for this phase is to have fun racing!  Since it is more fun to do well in races, I want to maximize my performance by training twice a week at a high intensity (this includes interval workouts and races).  My objective is to peak during the next to last mesocycle (August 23 through September 12, 2010) when my three most significant races take place in New Mexico and Arizona.

My 2010 Racing Goal

I have identified my racing (outcome) SMART goal for the 2010 cycling season.  I recently relocated from Southeast Michigan to the greater Phoenix metropolitan area so I will be racing in the heat of the Arizona summer!  For more information on the SMART goal development process, please visit my Fitness Corner blog.

Copyright © 2005  Holmes Fitness Coaching, LLC
Last modified: July 21, 2010