Whether you’re a pro cyclist with years of experience or just starting to ride the saddle, the ability to create your own annual training plan cycling is great to have. It can help you keep track of what you want to achieve and serve as a guide towards your goals.
How to Create your Annual Training Plan Cycling
Talking about making your cycling training plan is easier said than done. You should put effort into it so that you don’t miss crucial details to add so that you can keep to your training. Here are some tips for building your cycling training program from scratch.
Build a Calendar
You should keep a calendar of your entire training cycle which would cover the entire year. This calendar can come in whatever form is best for you:
- You can keep a physical calendar with a diary or journal
- Use an app on your smartphone
- Create a spreadsheet of your calendar
Once you’ve chosen your calendar of choice, the first step is to mark out all the important events and holidays for the year that you know of. Your anniversary, your kid’s birthdays, graduations, planned trips, put these all in your calendar right now. At the same time, take note of holidays you would take for the year.
You should also take note of planned long rides with your local club or even races/events that you plan to join. These will act as important markers in your annual training plan cycling since you’d want to up your training leading to such events and provide rest days right before.
Having this information would give you clear dates on when you can do your training rides and long rides. So basically, you’ve scheduled all your rides throughout the year.
Now that you know when you will get on the bike, the next step is to understand why you will get on the bike.
Choose your Goals
If you are creating an annual training plan cycling, you would have a goal. For some, it’s to get better and faster generally. Others want to concentrate on certain aspects of their ride such as climbing or maybe sprinting.
Maybe you want to prepare yourself for a race or a Gran Fondo. This means you would have to focus your training on building stamina and speed at the same time.
Then there are those who aim to improve their overall fitness through riding their bike because this is an exercise they enjoy.
Whatever your goal is, you have to decide on them now and commit to it because the rest of your cycling training program will be built around these goals. It might be difficult to start training for a specific thing for the first few months then switch to something completely different later on.
Once you have your goals, post them somewhere you can easily see them. Maybe put them right above your training calendar or on a corkboard right beside your bike.
Use Fitness Test
Before you start your actual training, it would be a good idea to get a fitness test. This is a general look at your physical capabilities. You can do this with a professional or do it on your own.
Use a tracking metric that you have such as:
- Power meter
- Cycling computer
- Cycling performance app on your smartphone
Go to your favourite route and go all out on it. Now record your data. This is your baseline and would be a way to measure your improvements.
Every 2 or 3 weeks, you can do this test again and compare the numbers.
Balance your Training
When it comes to your annual training plan cycling, it shouldn’t just be all about the bike. Now that may sound counterproductive, but you do have to give other areas of your body some attention. Your core for example.
Doing core exercises at home can help you greatly with your posture and overall performance on the bike. Stretching exercises on the other hand can help build up your tendons to reduce chances of injuries.
Make sure to have these types of training sessions in your calendar. Even if it means removing a few bike training sessions.
Add Progression
In planning your drills, you should make sure to add progression to them. This means gradually adding time and distance to your training so that you don’t get stuck in a rut.
In the same regard, you should mix up your bike routes as well. This is because your body can get used to certain routes and this may affect your gains. By mixing it up, you can get maximum results from your training.
And, it’s a mental thing as well. Doing the same thing over and over again for the entire year can be detrimental to your goals. You might lose motivation or interest in your training. Change things up every few weeks.
Remember to Recover
Last, but certainly not the least, is to add adequate recovery days in your annual training plan cycling. You can’t just go all out each day, every day of the year. This can lead to injuries which is detrimental to your overall goal.