Throughout 2021, Verve Cycling’s CEO Bryan Taylor is hosting a series of webinars – designed to help you get the most out of your training. The next webinar will look at five ways to improve your training and make it more enjoyable, as Bryan explains.
Everyone knows that you have to train regularly to improve and that means you have to keep it interesting and challenging. It’s much easier these days with online platforms such as RGT and Zwift for those long winter months or even just for a fun race or event when you would like a change from outside.
But the key that we need to explore first is the difference between training and just riding. Riding is great fun, but it is possible to ride for fun, while achieving training aims.
The first thing we’ll cover in this webinar is how to think about and create an annual plan. This is based on what you know in advance about any plans that you might have for events, races or special trips and your overall goals. If annual is too much, we can break it down into quarters or shorter periods, but doing the planning is essential.
We need then to consider some key concepts that will affect the plan and possibly lead to you succeeding or failing. If you want your training to be successful, it cannot be too restrictive. We need to understand the things that stand in our way – learn what we can change and how to measure it so that changes work for us and not against us.
For instance, what if you come down with a sickness or injury that puts you off the bike for a week or two? How do you handle that and not allow it to destroy the season? It is possible to wreck the plan by not recovering from the setback and also by trying too hard to come back – we’ll talk about how to measure this and come back stronger. Maybe you also need to find that balance between your training and family or work commitments?
Photo credit: Michael Blann
This is why planning is so important. Clear and true measurement is vital. Knowing what you need to do and what you have achieved also gives you flexibility. One overlooked aspect relates to rest – genuine rest. If you live in an area where you can ride most days, this might be of most importance to you. Allowing your body to actively rest leads to improvement – it is the step up.
I have been stunned looking on the number of miles done during the lockdowns by many riders on Zwift. My guess is that most riders are not capable of sustaining that intensity once they get back outside and will have gained almost no performance by so much intense effort.
So, we look forward to talking to you about these simple things to focus on to make training and riding more enjoyable while continuing to improve better than the others.
Verve Cycling is hosting a number of webinars over the coming weeks – check out the full schedule to find out what’s on and sign-up.
