Training and nutrition tips

We all wish we had more training time! As endurance athletes, balancing training with our professional and personal lives often limits our training time to 8-10 hours per week.  So if we can’t find more time, what else can we do? Maximize the time we have! Here are a few tips to optimize our cycling training.

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Be consistent
Consistency is key to success in any sport, and cycling is no exception. If we want to perform our best in a cycling race, we need to be consistent with our training. This means riding regularly and gradually increasing the intensity and duration of rides as we get fitter. When we train/ride regularly, our bodies adapt to the demands of consistent training by improving base fitness while becoming more efficient at using energy.

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Tips to build consistency:

• Schedule your week! Pick a time each week to schedule your next week's training. This means finding fifteen minutes of quiet time with your calendar to determine when (and where) you will train. Put it on your calendar to ensure you don’t overschedule.

• Be consistent in your training consistency. Target 4-5 days of training each week, even if it means the training rides need to be a little shorter; you’ll adapt better to the consistent application of training stimuli. 

 

Improve your Zone 2 efficiency
Cycling is an aerobic sport, and 70-90% of your training time should focus on the development of your aerobic capacity. This means riding as much time in Zone 2 as possible. Learn to control your power and increase time in Zone 2 during all aerobic capacity rides.

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Tips for improving your Zone 2 efficiency:

• Choose the right routes. The single best thing you can do is select routes that are well suited to the constant pedaling required to maximize your Zone 2 rides. Look for routes that do not have challenging downhills or high traffic that will force you to stop pedaling or go easy for large chunks of time.

• Track time-in-zone in realtime. Many head units feature a time-in-zone display, so make sure you have your FTP set correctly in the unit so you can utilize this display to check how you’re doing every 30 minutes or so.

• Score the ride. Once you complete your ride, review your time in zones and score it. The goal should be to keep time in Zone 1 under 20% for each ride. 

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Focus on your limiter
We have a natural inclination to ride to our strengths and do the types of efforts we enjoy, but this is not always the best training. Spend one day each week training the types of efforts that limit you. Do you struggle on long climbs? Train on long climbs. Do you struggle with short power efforts and surges? Train these by mimicking the surges of a group.

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Tips for focusing on your limiter:

• If you don’t like it, try to do it. We like the things we’re good at, so if you don’t like something, that is probably a limiter. Training our limiters takes some mental discipline, but focus in these areas will pay off.

• How do you lose or fail? Ask yourself this tough question: In your last event or group ride, how did you fail, or where did you struggle? Did you get dropped on the long climb but kept up on the short ones? This means you need to work on your ability to sustain power. Use this question to determine key needs, particularly if they align with tip number one.

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Go long! 
Try to build one long day into your training each week. This long day should be at least 20% longer than your typical workout duration, and it should progress (get a little longer) each week. The conditioning benefit of this long ride is significant and worth finding the time for.

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Tips for going long:

• Plan it. Schedule this day, select the route, and prepare for it in advance. The long rides do not need to be a chore, but rather a way for us to get out and explore.

• Pace it. Start easier than you normally would and only ramp up power/speed if you’re feeling good. The long ride does not need to be hard, just consistent.

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Go to bed!
Train hard and sleep hard! One of the easiest ways to improve your training and performance results is to improve your sleep habits. Focus on getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night.

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Tips for better sleep:

• Build a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends. This will help regulate your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.

• Create a relaxing bedtime routine. This could include taking a warm bath, reading a book, or listening to calming music. Avoid watching TV or using electronic devices in the hour before bed, as the blue light emitted from these devices can interfere with sleep.

• Create a good sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and cool. Darkness helps to promote the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps to regulate sleep. Noise and light can disrupt sleep, so make sure your bedroom is as dark and quiet as possible. A cool temperature is also ideal for sleep.

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed, as these can both interfere with sleep. Caffeine is a stimulant that can make it difficult to fall asleep, while alcohol can disrupt sleep later in the night.

 

Optimizing our training time and making the most out of what we have can lead to significant improvements, but it does take some discipline. You can do it!