8 Week INTERMEDIATE 30-60MILE CYCLING TRAINING PLAN

Transcription

1 RG Active 8 Week Intermediate 30-60mile Cycling Training Plan Page 1 8 Week INTERMEDIATE 30-60MILE CYCLING TRAINING PLAN

2 RG Active 8 Week Intermediate 30-60mile Cycling Training Plan Page 2 The NSPCC has teamed up with RG Active to be the charity s official training partner for running and challenge events. Putting together plans and providing tips and advice to make sure your training goes to plan and you stay injury free. Please find below an 8 week intermediate cycling training plan to help you prepare for your event. If you have any questions about your training or need some advice on nutrition or injuries, please drop the team a line at Missed a session? From time to time your busy lives may get in the way of the training schedule, sometimes this is unavoidable, don t feel guilty! In this situation don t try and make up the session you ve missed, simply pick up your schedule as normal the following day. Refer to the session note on page 4 for further instruction on your weekly sessions.

3 RG Active 8 Week Intermediate 30-60mile Cycling Training Plan Page 3 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Test Complete once through to set yourself a benchmark for future efforts Session 1 - Repeat last week s effort aiming to beat power by 5-10W or Heart rate 5 bpm Session 1 - Start with an RPE 5 on the 4 min sets and work to an RPE 6 on the 6 min sets. Session 1 - Complete the 4 min sets at as hard intensity as you can, then do the 6 min sets at RPE 5-6. Session 1 - Increase efforts across the 4 & 6 min efforts RPE 6,7,8,6,7,8 Session 1 - Reverse week; do the 6 min climb intervals first then the 4 min intervals Session 2 - complete 2 x 15 min sets of the main block, aim for consistency on each set Session 2 - Using your first week as a bench mark, complete 3 x 15 min main sets Session 2 - Complete 3 x 15 min main sets at a higher speed/rpe than the first two weeks Session 2 - Complete 4 x 15 min working sets at the same intensity Session 2-3 x 15 min sets but at the highest power/rpe/fastest speed yet Session 2 - go out hard, complete all 4 sets, if you're working hard each one will get slower Session 3 - (17 miles) Steady ride; get to know your bike, experiment with gearing and any new kit; shoes etc. Session 3 - (22-25 miles) Steady ride. Maintain a constant effort and smooth pedal movement Session 3 - (25-30 miles) explore new roads and look for hills on your route Session 3 - (30-35 miles) focus on endurance, trying to finish the ride in good form, don't set off too hard Session 3 - (37-45 miles) experiment with fuelling on the bike. Work hard up the hills Session 3 - (48-50 miles) steady effort, include a stop if you need to Week 7 Session 1 - Alternate 4 min, then 6 min through this set Session 2 - pace yourself so that all 4 sets get quicker Session 3 - (55 miles) - work in some hard efforts on the hills, recover on the flats Week 8 Session1 - Taper week Complete only 2 of the 4 min and 6 min climbs. Session 2 - taper week; complete only twice through but at high intensity RACE DAY

4 RG Active 8 Week Intermediate 30-60mile Cycling Training Plan Page 4 Session Information Session #1 - Climbing (Indoor; turbo/gym/watt bike) Approx 1 Hr Warm up: RPE 6 Main Set: 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) 3 recovery 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 3 recovery 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) Cool Down: 10 RPE 5 & stretches Measure effort using indoor bikes power output (W) or rate of perceived exertion (RPE). You may do this session outside if you've a good size hill near you that takes around 4-6 min to ascend and do repeats, ideally with a little flat ground in between. Session #2 - Strength vs. Cadence (indoor or outdoor) min Warm up: 10 RPE 6 Main Set: 10 min high gear/over gear (cadence rpm) RPE 8 5 min low gear/light (cadence rpm) RPE 7-8 Cool Down: RPE6 & stretches This session is aimed at strengthening your legs and giving you a variety of cadence options to find your sweet spot, generally though a cruising cadence should be around 90 rpm. While midweek sessions may be more practical on an indoor trainer if, with longer daylight hours, you've the opportunity for riding outside in the week then add this in too. Session #3 - "Just ride", outdoor cycle The focus of this session is to just get out on the road, learn your bike, get used to time in the saddle and improve bike handling. This should be a low to moderate intensity session overall but you can add in random efforts when you feel such as attacking a hill or working hard on your favourite flat section. Explore a variety of routes, ride alone, with a friend or head out as a group. Try out hydration and nutrition that you might want to use. Depending on your starting ability aim to increase this steadily up to near the distance you'd be expected to ride in a day.

5 Rate of Perceived Exertion We will use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale illustrated below to determine the intensity of your sessions. RG Active 8 Week Intermediate 30-60mile Cycling Training Plan Page 5 These will be highlighted in each session text to make it clear as to what is expected. This table helps you understand exactly how you should feel when executing the training session. Due to the nature of the scale, it is subjective and requires you to feel how your body is responding to the exercise, when doing this consider how your heart is pumping, how quickly you are breathing, how much you are sweating and how much discomfort you are experiencing in your legs. Please remember that everybody s RPE figure could be different to yours when exercising at the same speed because we all respond differently to exercise. RPE 0 Complete rest 1 Very Weak: I am just about moving 2 Weak: I am walking at a faster pace and can hold a conversation easily DESCRIPTION 3 Light: I am beginning to sweat a little, but can hold conversation throughout 4 Moderate: I am very happy at this effort 5 Somewhat Strong: I am sweating more heavily and starting to feel my breathing is becoming more stressed 6 Strong: I am beginning to feel more out of breath but could maintain this pace for a few hours 7 Very Strong: My breathing is very laboured, but I can still maintain pace for an hour without slowing 8 Hard: I am starting to struggle to hold this pace and my heart is racing and am sweating heavily 9 Very Hard: This is hurting and I can only hold this effort for up to 5mins 10 Extremely Hard: I am absolutely flat out and this is sprinting. I will need to stop after 30secs