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"HOW MUCH SHOULD I TRAIN?"
The question often arises, "How much should I train?" The answer depends on your goals. The chart below shows some possible goals and appropriate training volumes. These are based on my experience with many hundreds of athletes. A few special individuals may be able to get away with less or need more, but these will work for the majority. One thing to keep in mind is that one does not get the maximum benefit of training from hitting these volumes once. The benefits come graduallyover many months and more gradually over several years.
The volume is in hours per week of cycling (not counting strength training, yoga, basketball and other activities) at the peak. To avoid injury and early burnout, one should increase training gradually from current levels with the goal of reaching peak training volumes in the few months leading up to the racing or endurance event seasons. Gradually means adding an hour or less per week to current tolerance. That means that if you are getting tired from your current volume, you add no more than an hour per week, but if you are not challenged by your current volume you may be able to add more.
You'll notice that I have not split out women or masters (age 35+) racers. Their races used to be less competitive than the senior (18-35) men, but this is no longer the case. If you don't see your goal on the list or you would like some guidance on how to set up your program, feel free to email or call me.
If you don't currently have the time to commit to training consistent with your goals that doesn't mean you have to give up your goals. It means that you should consider ways to make more time available, or set some intermediate goals that will serve as stepping stones to your larger goals but that you can strive for until you have more time.
TIME COMMITTED TO TRAINING & REALISTIC GOALS
- Half day once on weekends = Injuries, not much fitness, "weakened warrior"
- 1 hours on 3 weekdays + 1 weekend day = Real fitness, slow group rides, weight loss
- 1-2 hour on 3 weekdays + 1 long weekend day = Centuries, slow to medium club rides, weight loss
- 8 hours, riding every other day or more = Faster club rides, begin racing but not be very competitive
- 10-12 hours per week = Competitive beginner racer
- 12-15 hours per week = Competitive category 3 racer
- 18-25 hours or more per week = Competitive elite racer
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