Are You Training To Be A Better Athlete, Triathlete or Cyclist ButMissing Out On One key Fitness Component – Rest?
These Rules For Training and Rest are relevant for every keen sportsman or woman, whether you are a seasoned athlete, cyclist, rower, triathlete, or a beginner, whether you are a top Iron Man, or a jogger new to cycling and now contemplating some testing sportives. We have learned our training methods through many hours and days riding with some of the world's top bike-riders. Here is a brief summary of some of the points that we feel really matter. It's important to keep a training and eating diary too, for each day's activity and calorie consumption. But just track your weight once each week. We suggest on Monday mornings, Then, if you feel you are behind on your weight-loss goals, you can normally put in a really strong Sunday training session and then be really careful with Sunday lunch and tea-time food consumption and calories!
You Should Rest Every Third Day
The more you train or race as an athlete or cyclist, then the more important this rule is. Do not push yourself and overtrain. It can set your form and fitness back for quite a few weeks. Only the pros and Olympic Squad Members can ride every day at full tempo. But they have to, in order to be conditioned for doing their job, including a season of three possible European three week stage races. And the pros can often grab 14 hours of sleep on some days, to support their body's recovery process. Your body will need to recover from training without such a sleep luxury. In fact the less fit that you are, then the more this rule of Rest should apply. And then, getting on the bike again after a rest day will feel fantastic!
Do not attempt to train when you feel hungry or unwell
Either will drain you and you will do your body more harm than good. After eating good carbs more than one hour before, you can train for 90 minutes without re-fuelling your muscles with some more glycogen. Never feel that it is making you stronger by 'running on empty'. You can deplete muscle strength and it ruins your body's fat burning capabilities. If you ever feel at all unwell, pushing your heart rate can be extremely dangerous. So just treat it as a rest day. Never feel guilty about interrupting any training regime if you feel any symptoms of flu, nausea, or any other illness. And if you are on any painkillers, do not train until 24 hours after a course is completed. Again, just treat it as rest and then feel refreshed and ready when you can get back out on your bike or go running.
Train alternate days for each of leg rides, tempo riding and cardio boosting intervals
Variety really can be good for elite cycling or athletic life! Unless you have the luxury advantage of lots of free time, to train twice a day (and then get the requisite rest), you should try to get your body accustomed to the season's race conditions. So, for an average sportive or club rider, these two week's' cycling training examples would be:
Week One
Monday. Rest
Tuesday. 60km tempo ride
Wednesday. One-hour cardio intervals
Thursday. Rest
Friday. 80 km easy
Saturday. 80 km tempo ride
Sunday. Rest Day
Week Number Two
Monday. One hour cardio intervals
Tuesday. 100km easy ride
Wednesday. Rest
Thursday. 60km tempo
Friday. One-hour sprint intervals
Saturday. Rest
Sunday. 120km easy ride
For an average standard racing cyclist during the season, we recommend as much racing as possible to achieve real leg speed. It beats lonely painful intervals every time, when you are pumped up with adrenaline during competition. However an elite rider or athlete will need easy days too, training one day for 4-6 hours midweek, between weekend races. Check with your club coach or more senior riders in your own training groups. Just remember to follow the rule to rest. Enjoy that day off and you will relish the next day on the bike even more! We hope these Elite Fitness Training Tips have given you some insights on achieving more through your training.
Elite Cycling Fitness was founded by former Elite Riders and Top Triathletes. Get the FREE E-BOOK on Elite Cycling and Triathlon Fitness With Enough Rest
