SU training plan, spring 2011

SU PERIODIZED TRAINING PLAN

The principle of periodized training is this: Put your muscles under increased loads of stress, then give them time to heal and recover. This process, over time, will make you stronger.

This plays out on three levels: (1) macro level--over the course of several months or a year (what is shown below is one macro cycle); (2) meso level--over the course of generally about a month, but might be longer or shorter, depending; and (3) micro levels--over the course of a single week.

The chart below (and the attached spreadsheet) maps out a generic training plan for the collegiate cyclist wanting to peak for Easterns--the ECCC championship (in 2011, Penn State is hosting). Note the Key / Glossary of Terms below which explains the shorthand used in the chart.

You'll no doubt have questions. Either email me or post them in the comments section below and I'll address them best I can.

Happy riding!

Notes:

The Excel file from which these images are derived is attached. Feel free to download and play around with the numbers to create your own customized plan. For instance, if you look at those weekly hour totals and know there's no way you can ride that much, pare it down to what you can do. Or if those hours seem slim, pump it up a bit...but don't get too ambitious if this is your first year of serious riding.

I've also attached two documents outlining a variety of different workouts Peaks Cycling Group uses for their clients. Feel free to plug these into your training plan as needed.

KEY / GLOSSARY OF TERMS

TSS: A measure of how much stress you're putting on your body. TSS is a function of both (1) time in the saddle and (2) workout intensity. But don't stress about the actual number (unless you're training with a power meter and using software that does it for you), you're best off just understanding the principle: a higher number means you're riding either longer or harder or both.

END: Endurance. A pace that isn't crazy easy, but one through which you can hold a conversation. On Saturdays, when not racing, your endurance ride might be peppered with periods of race-pace sort of activity.

SST: Sweet-spot training. About 90 percent of LT; a harder-than-conversational pace. An SST interval will be about 15-20 minutes long. Do 2-3 a session. (A good place to do a SST interval might be on the road up to Big Flat.)

Sub-LT: Sub-lactate threshold, which is to say a pace between SST and LT. A sub-LT interval should be about 8-10 minutes long. Do 3-4 a session.

LT: Lactate threshold. For our purposes, the same thing as anaerobic threshold (AT) and functional threshold power (FTP). If you're training with a power meter, your FTP is 95 percent of your normalized power over a 20-minute all-out effort (or 100 percent of normalized power over a 60-minute all-out effort). But since you're likely not training with a power meter, you need to begin to feel what riding at LT is like. Do this by throwing down a maximal effort over 20 minutes. That's what it feels like. It hurts.

VO2 int: VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen your body can use in a minute. A VO2 max interval is an effort at 105-120% of LT. A VO2 max interval should be about 3-5 minutes long. Do 3-5 a session.

AC: Anaerobic capacity. Short, all-out efforts of 90 to 120 seconds. Do 6-8 per session, perhaps in two sets.

NP: Nominal power. I.e. sprinting. An NP interval will be about 15-30 seconds in duration. Or measure out a distances of 100m, 200m, and 300m and do your sprints over those distances (it helps an awful lot come race time to be able to know your capacity over 200m). Do several in a series of 2-3 sets. It's a good idea to start and end LT and VO2 max intervals with sprints as well, simulating race breakaway / race ending conditions.

TNR: Tuesday night races. Use the TNR to work in a little of everything, or focus your race strategy around the workout focus of the week.