TRAINING FOR THE 2024 SEASON
If you want to be in the best shape possible for spring and summer 2024, what you do in the first 3 months of the year will dictate how good you can be. But time is short! Whether you’re training to race or your goals are performance and fitness based, what you do now will determine how strong you’ll be when as days get warmer. The work put in over this period will set the parameters for next year’s performance and can build a foundation that will allow you to explore your full potential. Get it wrong and it will likely limit your capacity for the year. It is arguably the most critical training phase
So, why would a coached winter be more effective than a club ride and a couple of Zwift sessions a week?
Specificity – to create a training effect, you need to overload, adapt & recover in a manner that is specific to you. Your plan needs to reflect your age, sporting background, previous training, objectives and it needs to fit around real life and, when unexpected interruptions occur, to adapt. Performance data analysis using power and heart rate measurement means, carefully interpreted, a program can be accurately tailored to you and fitness improvements tracked empirically. There's no need for guess work.
A structured program – The content of each training session is important but their sequencing more so. Rest and recovery between sessions is critical to creating the training effect. Understanding when to rest to consolidate the gains made by your efforts means you can rely on the structure of the program to keep you on target.
Objectivity – It’s rare to find somebody who can be wholly objective about their own training. To have an experienced coach overseeing your progress ensures your training remains at the right intensity, duration and volume. Objectivity is key to durable performance improvements and removes the doubt and whether you're doing the right thing. Planning your own training can be a lonely and uncertain business.
Accountability – If you’ve made a conscious decision to invest in the development of your physical health it means you value your training and are prepared to pay to ensure its quality. To know your coach is planning, monitoring and giving feedback on your sessions aids compliance and consistency, both critical to success.
Mental coaching – Psychologically plays a big part in effective training. Not only do the physiological demands of your training need to match your goals, but winter training must also be engaging, stimulating and interesting. Get somebody interested in you as a person and they will be able to keep you motivated as an athlete.
Drop me a line here if you want to talk your preparation for 2024 though.
So, why would a coached winter be more effective than a club ride and a couple of Zwift sessions a week?
Specificity – to create a training effect, you need to overload, adapt & recover in a manner that is specific to you. Your plan needs to reflect your age, sporting background, previous training, objectives and it needs to fit around real life and, when unexpected interruptions occur, to adapt. Performance data analysis using power and heart rate measurement means, carefully interpreted, a program can be accurately tailored to you and fitness improvements tracked empirically. There's no need for guess work.
A structured program – The content of each training session is important but their sequencing more so. Rest and recovery between sessions is critical to creating the training effect. Understanding when to rest to consolidate the gains made by your efforts means you can rely on the structure of the program to keep you on target.
Objectivity – It’s rare to find somebody who can be wholly objective about their own training. To have an experienced coach overseeing your progress ensures your training remains at the right intensity, duration and volume. Objectivity is key to durable performance improvements and removes the doubt and whether you're doing the right thing. Planning your own training can be a lonely and uncertain business.
Accountability – If you’ve made a conscious decision to invest in the development of your physical health it means you value your training and are prepared to pay to ensure its quality. To know your coach is planning, monitoring and giving feedback on your sessions aids compliance and consistency, both critical to success.
Mental coaching – Psychologically plays a big part in effective training. Not only do the physiological demands of your training need to match your goals, but winter training must also be engaging, stimulating and interesting. Get somebody interested in you as a person and they will be able to keep you motivated as an athlete.
Drop me a line here if you want to talk your preparation for 2024 though.
Rich Smith BSc (Hons) Psychology is a Level 3 British Cycling qualified road and time trial coach. He established RideFast Coaching in 2015 to provide effective training for passionate cyclists.
