SiS Beginner Sportive Training Plan - 12 weeks This sportive training plan should give you a great start to your training if you re used to exercising 2-3 times per week already, with at least one bike ride a week as one of those sessions. The intention is that your target event ride is around 50-60 miles in length. The key is to build up gradually, so try and not overreach early on even if you are feeling good. If you have any injury niggles that do not clear up quickly, make sure you see a sports physiotherapist or check with your GP. You may want to plan out your rides online before you go out to check the mileage of what you intend to do. Apps such as Strava and Garmin Connect are useful for this, and you ll often to be able to find somebody else s routes as inspiration in your local area. What do I eat and drink in the sessions? Most of us have enough stored carbohydrate in our bodies to last for at least 90 minutes of exercise, depending on the intensity. Generally you don t need any additional energy during your sessions if they don t last longer than 90 minutes. Hydration is still key though, so you can use SiS GO Hydro most of the time to provide electrolytes to aid hydration without any additional carbohydrate. Aim for 500ml-1000ml per hour, depending on your sweat rate. If you are going to be cycling for longer than 90 minutes, you need to take in additional carbohydrate during your ride in order to avoid completely depleting your carbohydrate stores and risk hitting the wall. You can absorb up to 60g carbohydrate per hour, and you need energy in a fast digesting, convenient format that is light on your stomach. Combining and SiS GO Isotonic Energy Gels or SiS GO Energy Bars are an ideal way to achieve this. There are meal and product recommendations throughout this plan as suggestions, but of course you can move these around as suits your schedule best. If it s more practical for you to do your long ride on a Saturday rather than a Sunday, go for it! Just swap the Saturday and Monday session around to a give you an easier recovery day the day after your long ride. If you have any questions, please get in touch at nutrition@scienceinsport.com
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Monday Rapid Rest Tuesday Rapid Rapid Rapid Rapid Rapid
WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5 Week 6 Wednesday Pedal @90-95rpm Rapid Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Thursday steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @ 80rpm - then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm - warm down for 20 mins to a steady pace Rapid steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @ 80rpm,- then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm, - warm down for 20 mins to a steady pace Rapid Pedal Rapid steady pace of 90-95 rpm - 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm - followed by 10 mins easy @ 80rpm - then 5 mins brisk @ 110 rpm - warm down for 20 mins to a steady pace Rapid followed by,10 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 10 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, and finally warm down for 20 mins steady Rapid
week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5 week 6 Friday Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest 1-1 - Saturday 1.5-1 - Sunday Steady paced ride @ 95-100 rpm. Try some efforts on the hills - keep pedalling over the top. Steady paced ride @ 95-100 rpm. Try some efforts on the hills - keep pedalling over the top.
Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Monday Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Tuesday Steady pace, Increase your cadence up the hills, sitting in saddle as long as possible. Steady pace ride - increase effort by pedalling faster not by using a bigger gear. Steady pace. Keep cadence high. Wednesday Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest
WEEK 7 WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 10 WEEK 11 WEEK 12 1 - Thursday followed by,8 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, and finally warm down for 20 mins steady Relax and enjoy. Practice using bottle while riding and taking energy bars out of back pocket. SiS GO Hydro followed by,8 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm and finally warm down for 20 mins steady followed by,8 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm and finally warm down for 20 mins steady followed by,8 mins easy @ 80rpm, then 5 mins brisk @110 rpm, then 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm, 8 mins easy @ 80 rpm, 5 mins brisk @ 110rpm and finally warm down for 20 mins steady Steady pace, throw in a few sprints up the hills to break up ride. Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Rest Friday See further articles on carb loading for diet recommendations
WEEK 7 WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 10 WEEK 11 WEEK 12 2-2.5 hour ride Rest 3 hour ride 3 hour ride Saturday Pedal Pedal Steady pace, keep your cadence high, concentrate on climbing smoothly. Steady pace, keep cadence high. Have a nice light spin. Enjoy a bike ride at an easy pace. SiS GO Hydro 3 hour ride 3.5 hour ride 4 hour ride 4 hour ride 4.5 hour ride Sportive Event Day Sunday Pedal Pedal Pedal Ride with group or club. Have one tea stop - 15 mins. Ride with group. Have one tea stop. Keep cadence high. Keep going over the hills. required per hour. Have breakfast 2-3 hrs before. required per hour. Take a serving of SiS Overnight Protein before bed to aid recovery.
Understanding the plans To get the most from your training, you need to understand the different types of training that you are doing, what each ride is trying to achieve, its intensity and duration. Athletes generally plateau because their training is not structured, progressive or appropriate for their fitness level, experience or goal event. Listed below are the different elements of training that we incorporate into our training schedules. Obviously the combination, intensity and duration of these elements will depend on your level of experience, current fitness, time of year and the racing goals you are aiming for. Definitions With the increased use of technology many of us now have access to heart rate monitors and even power meters. Whilst these instruments help us measure our effort when training it is not essential to invest in more expensive kit unnecessarily. It is possible to ride on feel alone and with practice you will know instinctively what zone the effort being expended equates to if you were using either a heart rate monitor or power meter. Old-style coaches used to describe how hard the intensity was by how freely you could speak whilst riding. The basic zones are broken down as thus: Zone Effort 1 Easy You can speak as freely as if you were not riding you could probably even sing! 2 Slow Possible to hold a normal conversation 3a Steady Speaking becomes less easy but still just about able to hold a conversation. 3b Brisk Speaking will be difficult and require you to take a breath between sentences. 4 Threshold/Tempo only able to speak in short sentences between taking deep breaths 5 Hard possible to utter the odd word only 6 Very Hard unpleasant caveman type grunts at best Obviously this method of measuring effort is less objective than modern methods but does allow riders without such devices the chance to understand what effort they are making. In terms of heart rate: Zone 1 would equate to <60% Maximum heart rate Zone 2 around 70% Zone 3a around 75% Zone 3b around 80% Zone 4 around 85% Zone 5 around 90% Zone 6 as hard as you can. For more accuracy it is advisable to contact a coach and arrange to complete a simple test to determine your exact values based on your heart rate. Functional Threshold (FT) is described as the average effort that one can sustain in 1 hour of non-stop riding. It is similar to the power produced when riding a 25 mile time trial. There is a simple test devised by Hunter Allen of training Peaks that is used extensively to determine FT. Warm up for 20 mins Complete 3 X 1min efforts at around 120rpm with a minute rest after each. Ride easy for a further 4 minutes Ride as hard as possible for 5 minutes Ride easy for 10 minutes Ride as hard as you can for 20 minutes. (You should finish feeling that you can give no more!) You need to find out what your average power or heart rate for the final 20 minute effort would be. Multiply that average by 0.95 to arrive at your Functional Threshold. You will need access to a heart rate monitor or power meter for this test. Do not complete this test unless you are fit to do so.
EXample meal plans During the build up to your sportive event day your energy expenditure is likely to be increasing. As most of your training will be done at 65% or above of your heart rate max, carbohydrate will be your major fuel source. The amount of stored glycogen in your body will decrease if you do not replenish it completely. This can leave you struggling in your subsequent sessions. Recommendations for this kind of activity level in endurance athletes range from 6-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body mass per day. To try and complement the advanced training program above, the below meal plan is aimed at high intakes of 7 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body mass per day for a rider weighing 70kg. Typical day Example Sunday (long ride day) Breakfast Porridge oats 50g With 275ml skimmed milk 1 x Tablespoon honey 250ml Mixed berry smoothie 1 x Toasted bagel Breakfast 2 hours before: porridge oats 50g With 275ml skimmed milk + 1 x tablespoon honey Drink at least more 500ml of water/sis GO Hydro between waking up and starting your training session. Morning Snack SiS GO Energy Bar 40g During Ride -- longer than 90 minutes Take your first SiS GO Isotonic Energy Gel or SiS GO Energy bar 30 minutes into your ride, then repeat every 30 minutes alongside drinking 500ml per hour of. Lunch Large jacket potato with tuna mayo Cereal bar Post-ride -- within 30 minutes of finishing Have a as soon as possible after you finish, preferably. Continue to gradually rehydrate with SiS GO Hydro. Afternoon Snack Large banana 125g x Fruit yogurt 30g Dried fruit Lunch -- within 2 hours 1 x Chicken breast 175g Rice Large serving of mixed vegetables 200g Rice pudding & 1 x tablespoon jam Dinner 350g Chicken risotto 200g Rice pudding & 1 tablespoon jam Afternoon Snack 150g Greek yogurt, 25g oats & 200g mixed red berries. Dinner Salmon fillet Mixed roasted vegetables e.g. courgette, peppers, aubergine, cherry tomatoes, including two sweet potatoes. 200g Rice pudding & 1 tablespoon jam Evening Snack 400ml Strawberry milkshake Evening Snack SiS Overnight Protein